This blog is mostly about images. A photo captures a moment in time and lets us slow down long enough to see the rich texture of the life all around us. It's mostly for my own amusement, but if you stumbled here somehow, please enjoy.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Capitol

What a difference a single letter makes.  According to Merriam-Webster, a capitol is a building where a state legislative body meets.  But if you capitalize the word, it becomes the building where the U.S. Congress meets.  Then change the "o" to an "a" and it's not a building any longer but a lot of other things:
  • the crown at the top of a column,
  • a stock of accumulated goods,
  • an "upper-case" letter (used above as in "to capitalize",
  • and, just to keep it interesting, a city serving as a seat of government; where, incidentally, you are likely to find a building called the capitol.  Or the Capitol.
Got it?  Aren't you glad you learned English as a primary language?

2 comments:

  1. This makes me smile. I go to school in CT's capitol, at a college called Capital. Yes, with an 'a.' :) And I am glad I'm not an ESL student. Not an easy language to master.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oops. CT's capitAl. :) Near the State Capitol Bldg. Whew!

    ReplyDelete