Case-sensitivity: why -- or why not? (was Re: Damnation!)

[Andrew Dalke]

Juergen A. Erhard wrote:
>you might know enough German to know the difference between
>   "Dort haben sie etwas hingelegt"
>and
>   "Dort haben Sie etwas hingelegt"
>
>One is "There they've put something down" and the other is "There
>you've put something down."  Okay, so it's the only word in German
>that I'm aware of that changes meaning with capitalization... but
>nontheless it proves there *are* words that mean different things
>because of their capitalization.


In English, an example is:

  Where is the polish container?
  Where is the Polish container?

The first is where you might keep shoe shine, and the second is a
container made in Poland.  Unlike the following, the two words are
even pronounced differently!


Here's another:
  Do you like china?        -- asking about ceramic preferences
  Do you like China?        -- asking about country preferences

Stretching some,
  That is my french toast.  -- bread dunked in a mixture of eggs and milk,
                                then toasted on the stove top
  That is my French toast.  -- toast from France, or a congratulatory
                                remark to be made in French.

Switching to names of people instead of countries:
  If it weren't for Faith ...  -- person named Faith helped out
  If it weren't for faith ...  -- belief helped out

And corporate names:
  What was next?    -- curious about ordering
  What was NeXT?    -- curious about the company Jobs started after
                         leaving Apple.


                    Andrew
                    dalke at acm.org