Arctic vs arctic

Buffysquirrel · Feb 4, 2013

My beta and I violently disagree on this, so I'm throwing it open for help here

.

All this time, the shabby man had been approaching her, trudging the short distance as if facing into the teeth of an Arctic blizzard. At the pole, he stood awkwardly, his left shoulder lower than his right.

They're in a small British seaside town. I have Arctic; my beta insists it should be arctic. Thoughts?

alleycat · Feb 4, 2013

I believe your beta is correct when arctic is used in that way.

Buffysquirrel · Feb 4, 2013

She'd be pleased to hear that

.

alleycat · Feb 4, 2013

Well, you will probably gets some differing opinions. Don't do anything until you hear from others.

alleycat · Feb 4, 2013

This might be of some interest. It uses a similar example as arctic wind. But it also states: "often initial capital letter".

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/arctic?s=t

Buffysquirrel · Feb 4, 2013

Thanks

. I wonder if the capital letter might be distracting anyway....

alleycat · Feb 4, 2013

What would decide it for me would be that arctic is an adjective in this case.

alleycat · Feb 4, 2013

I'm waiting for someone to point out the use of pole and start another discussion.

blacbird · Feb 4, 2013

I'd vote for capitalization as a personal preference, but the choice appears to be optional. It's an adjective derived from a formal noun, thereby being similar to things like

European car
Asian food
New York minute

etc.

But the dictionaries I've looked up say "often capitalized", or something similar. In any event, it wouldn't bother me much one way or the other. You can tell that to your beta.

caw

Buffysquirrel · Feb 4, 2013

Pole is a last-minute substitution inserted when I realised I was mixing my metaphors. It has therefore not yet passed under the beta's scrutiny XD.

alleycat · Feb 4, 2013

I'm staying out of that one.

milkweed · Feb 4, 2013

Buffysquirrel said:
My beta and I violently disagree on this, so I'm throwing it open for help here .

They're in a small British seaside town. I have Arctic; my beta insists it should be arctic. Thoughts?

Ok I had to read that serveral times to realize you were't at the north pole or even the magnetic north pole, menopause brain is doing weird things today. My question is is that what y'all over in the UK call blizzards when they blast the land there? Or do they have specific names like they do here in the states such as Nor'easter? Another words why are you calling it an Artic Blizzard? Which me thinks if you are going to capitialize Artic here then Blizzard should also be capitialized since it's the formal name of a weather event.

Buffysquirrel · Feb 4, 2013

We pretty much call them snowstorms or blizzards. They don't have names, no, as they're not regular incidents, but largely unexpected for some reason. I think my protagonist was attempting to emphasise the apparent strength of the metaphorical force holding back the other character.

guttersquid · Feb 4, 2013

If you just mean any old icy wind, then it's arctic. If you mean the icy wind actually comes from the Arctic, then it's Arctic.

Buffysquirrel · Feb 4, 2013

Makes sense. Thanks!

King Neptune · Feb 4, 2013

I agree with the squid. If it refers to the Arctic, then it should have a capital, and it must be referring to the Arctic, or you would not have used the word "Arctic".

brianjanuary · Feb 5, 2013

I believe that "Arctic" is correct--it should always be capitalized, even when useed as an adjectival form. Just as you wouldn't write, for example, "he took his first breath of brazilian air".

guttersquid · Feb 5, 2013

The adjective arctic means extremely cold; frigid. Look at these two (poorly written) examples.

"He stood his ground. He felt the arctic blood in his veins." (His blood had gone cold. Afraid? Determined?)

"He stood his ground. He felt the Arctic blood in his veins." (He was of Arctic heritage. Ennobled?)

See the difference?

MttStrn · Feb 5, 2013

King Neptune said:
I agree with the squid. If it refers to the Arctic, then it should have a capital, and it must be referring to the Arctic, or you would not have used the word "Arctic".

Why do you say this? He could be using it figuratively, in which case it would be arctic, small a. At least in my opinion.

Jamesaritchie · Feb 5, 2013

If you aren't in the Arctic, but have a very cold wind, it's arctic. It's an artic climate. In other words, if you're talking about the place, you capitalize it. If you're talking abut something that's similar to the place, you don't capitalize it.

King Neptune · Feb 5, 2013

MttStrn said:
Why do you say this? He could be using it figuratively, in which case it would be arctic, small a. At least in my opinion.

Whether literal or figurative, it would refer to the Arctic. Is there another Arctic? One that is not the Northern part of the Earth? If there is another one, or a whole pile of them, then is would be lowercase.

Spell-it-out · Feb 6, 2013

brianjanuary said:
I believe that "Arctic" is correct--it should always be capitalized, even when useed as an adjectival form. Just as you wouldn't write, for example, "he took his first breath of brazilian air".

Yes, that is correct, if he took a breath of air that is undoubtedly from Brazil. Brazilian air is uniquely Brazilian, whereas arctic can be used as an adjective. (Well, Brazilian can be used in other ways, but that is defo off topic...)

If you are describing air that came from inside the arctic circle, I'd use Arctic air. But, if you want to say the air was very cold, etc, I'd use arctic.

For those in Ireland and Britain, a lot of our cold air that brings snow and blizzards comes from Eastern Europe or Russia.

Just realized we're after developing a topic on where air originates :Shrug:

Torgo · Feb 6, 2013

blacbird said:
I'd vote for capitalization as a personal preference, but the choice appears to be optional. It's an adjective derived from a formal noun, thereby being similar to things like

European car
Asian food
New York minute

Hmm, not sure about those analogies. A European car is presumably actually from Europe - Asian food is actually Asian in some way - but the Arctic wind is only Arctic if it's actually in the Arctic. If we're just saying it's very cold, then it's a metaphor instead. ("New York minute" seems like a third category of thing, as it's not really a minute, unlike the car, food and wind.)

I think I'd be inclined to use 'arctic' where I mean 'really cold' and 'Arctic' when I'm talking about the actual Arctic.

(In the OP we're invoking the idea of an actual Arctic blizzard as part of a simile, so I think you cap it there.)

Buffysquirrel · Feb 6, 2013

Thanks to everyone who commented

. I'm still on the (non-Arctic) fence!

Susan Coffin · Feb 6, 2013

Buffysquirrel said:
My beta and I violently disagree on this, so I'm throwing it open for help here .

They're in a small British seaside town. I have Arctic; my beta insists it should be arctic. Thoughts?

You are not using Arctic as a proper noun (place), but generalizing it as arctic storm. Your beta is correct.

Arctic vs arctic

Buffysquirrel

alleycat

Still around

Buffysquirrel

alleycat

Still around

alleycat

Still around

Buffysquirrel

alleycat

Still around

alleycat

Still around

blacbird

Buffysquirrel

alleycat

Still around

milkweed

Abuses commas at will.

Buffysquirrel

guttersquid

I agree with Roxxsmom.

Buffysquirrel

King Neptune

brianjanuary

guttersquid

I agree with Roxxsmom.

MttStrn

Action is my reward..that and bacon

Jamesaritchie

King Neptune

Spell-it-out

I'm gonna give all my secrets away

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

Buffysquirrel

Susan Coffin

Tell it like it Is