Sunday, March 27, 2011

Polish polish

I am breaking my usual rule of capitalizing all of my titles to illustrate a point. A "polish" is something that makes things shiny and smooth.  "Polish", however, is something that comes from Poland.

I find it amusing that these words have nothing to do with each other, are pronounced differently, but use the exact same letters; the only difference is that one of them is capitalized.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, I cannot say.  It simply is the language we speak.  However, it is an excellent example of why we need to be careful when we write.  Sure, we can make a lot of typos and misspellings and be understood, but if you can be exact in your writing, including capitalizing "Polish" when referring to the nationality, you will be sure to avoid confusion (unless the reader just isn't paying attention, but at least it's not your fault).

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