Word Confusions with Capitalization: lord versus Lord

Posted August 5, 2013 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

I can understand why writers would get confused over Lord versus lord. Most of us have been brought up with religion as an important part of our childhood — no matter which religion it was, and of course, one always thought Lord.

If you stop to think about it, Lord is a proper noun, which means it’s capitalized. It specifically refers to an individual person. The Lord my God is, well, a person as most people think of him (her!). Lord Wellington is a specific person. My lords and ladies are not specific people. It’s a generic noun, which means lowercase. Yep, that goes for using lord when swearing.

You could consider this confusion a formatting issue as well as it’s a question of whether to capitalize or not. The post on capitalization could be useful for more examples.

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Exploring Later . . .

See God versus god and “jesus versus Jesus” for their particularities.

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

If you found this post on “Lord versus lord” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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lord	Lord
Profanity is Tomia‘s derivative image, which is in the public domain, of Polylerus‘s original image, via Wikimedia Commons. — Oh, lord, he’s off and running his mouth again.	William Russell, Lord Russell, 1650, is a watercolor on vellum by Thomas Flatman and is under the Public Domain Mark 1.0 license courtesy of Bonham’s Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers, via Picryl.
Capitalization Issues
lowercase	CAPITALIZE
Part of Grammar:
Exclamation; Noun; Verb, transitive Plural for the noun: lords Third person present verb: lords Past tense or past participle: lorded Present participle: lording	Proper noun Plural: Lords
Do apply capitalization rules if lord begins a sentence. Exclamation: Used to express surprise, worry, or for emphasis Noun: Someone or something having power, authority, or influence [Generic honorific] Lowercase unless they begin a sentence or if the honorific is used as a specific name or nickname for a particular person [Astrology] Ruling planet of a sign, house, or chart [Historical] A feudal superior [Historical] Proprietor of a manor house Verb, transitive: Act in a superior and domineering manner toward someone [Archaic] Confer the title of “Lord” upon someone	A name for God or Christ In the UK: A title given formally to a baron, and less formally to a marquess, earl, or viscount and prefixed to a family or territorial name, i.e., Lord Derby This would also apply to their wives, i.e., Lady Derby A courtesy title given to a younger son of a duke or marquess prefixed with their first name, i.e., Lord John This would also apply to their daughters, i.e., Lady Jane [the Lords] An informal collective reference to the House of Lords [The Lord High Executioner] A compound title of people with authority
Examples:
Exclamation: Oh lord, what have you done! Lord, it’s hot! Oh lord, I can’t believe it’s such a beautiful day. Noun: He is the lord of the manor. There is someone at the door for you, my lord. Jesus, he’s drunk as a lord. Verb, transitive: Oh brother, why does he have to try and lord it over everyone! He was always lording it over us in school. “She’s lorded it over me all our adult lives because she went to college.” – Jane Stevenson	Lord, what have I done to offend thee? Lord Wellington trounced Napoleon at Waterloo. He is the Lord thy God. The Duke of Chiswell’s youngest son is Lord Richard. Are the Lords sitting today?
Derivatives:
Adjective: lordlike Noun: lordship
History of the Word:
Old English hlāford, from hlāfweard meaning bread-keeper, from a Germanic base.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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