A question about capitalization.
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As a result of this, this forum is now closed.
The English dictionary community team would like the opportunity to say a huge thanks to all of you who participated by posting questions and helping other community members.
We hope this forum was useful, and that you enjoyed being a part of it.
If you would like to get in touch with any OED-related queries, please write to
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And if you would like to contribute suggestions to the OED, please do so by visiting: https://public.oed.com/contribute-to-the-oed/
Thank you very much indeed, and good bye!
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A question about capitalization.
I don't know if this should be in here, but here's my question. I have seen a few old names that use a double lowercase f as being capitalized. What is the term for this style of usage? Is it a font? Of should I just consider it an old usage?
Comments
This is an interesting question @hwgood2003. I will see if I can find someone to help with your query. Could I check if you mean surnames here, rather than place names?
I am only familiar with it in surnames.
And when I've seen it done in what appeared to be proper form, it was a pair of quite old style fs. To be precise, Sterling E. Lanier wrote several short stories, compiled into two or more books, about one Brigadier ffellowes. Also, a 1980 film with Roger Moore had him portraying a character named ffolkes, which was the title of the flick here in the U.S.
According to Wikipedia, ffolkes is the spelling of one family. That's how Martin ffolkes spelled his name when he was created a baronet in 1774. His descendants have preserved the spelling.
Wikipedia has entries for both Sterling E Lanier and his brigadier hero. The spelling used is Ffellowes. Amazon shows book titles and pictures of covers with the same capitalised spelling.
I suspect the use of ff is just capricious. Somebody found it quaint, or was being bloody-minded. Either way, the intention was to look unusual. Just possibly the idea came from Welsh spelling, where single f is used to represent a V-sound, so double ff is used to represent an F-sound.
Thank you, David. Even though you've proven my memory faulty, as I would have sworn that Lanier's works were shown with the doubled small, and old style, f. So I'd guess it would be considered usage.
Thank you, David for your answer.