Do Not Answer Unless You Are An English Major

College Confidential Community
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<p>I was just sparking attention - if you’re good in your grammar rules then answer, too. I was just wondering since I’ve seen this error several times on university websites. </p>

<p>“This coming Fall (capital f) there will be a new seminar on…”</p>

<p>"Applicants applying for admission in the Fall (is it Fall or fall?)</p>

<p>so my question is, is the capital F or lower f used differently from the two above, is there no difference whether it’s F or f, (e.g., matter of preference) or should it always be lower f?</p>

<p>Just asking because I’ve seen capital and lower used in professional looking websites, so I realized one has to be wrong while the other isn’t.</p>

<p>I’m assuming the rule you give is the same for spring, winter, and summer.</p>

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<p>According to Purdue’s OWL, you should use lowercase letters for seasons. The only exception is when you use seasons in titles. Then you would need to use uppercase letters.</p>

<p>Here is the link: <a href=“Purdue OWL® - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University”>Purdue OWL® - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University;

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<p>Thanks for clarifying. So if it reads something like,</p>

<p>“The University of Michigan expects undergraduate students who are admitted for the Fall Term to attend one of the many Summer Orientation Programs offered from June to early August.” <a href=“http://www.onsp.umich.edu/incoming_freshmen/orientation/fall.html[/url]”>http://www.onsp.umich.edu/incoming_freshmen/orientation/fall.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The fall term is not its own designated title in that sentence. If you click above, you’ll see to the left side the designated titles for each term. But it is capitalized in the sentence too. Has UM just been pwned?</p>

<p>Don’t say I’m nit-picky, because institutions are nit-picky with us, so its payback time to humiliate them.</p>

<p>According to the God of the English language, Harvard Law School shows it different.</p>

<p>“The J.D. degree requires three years of full-time study, and new students begin their studies only in the fall semester each year.”
<a href=“http://www.law.harvard.edu/admissions/jd/apply/jdfaq.php[/url]”>http://www.law.harvard.edu/admissions/jd/apply/jdfaq.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>“Semester” is the same connotation as “term” as is mentioned in UM’s sentence above. Therefore, has UM flawed? Or Harvard? Don’t critcize me for this - I was dying to know when it should be used properly because institutions can screw up easily, too, and therefore should be ridiculed and be called idiots since they have “qualified” people writing some of the most basic stuff.</p>

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<p>So somebody clarify.</p>

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<p>Semester and terms are two different words, but you can use “term” to refer to “semester.” I do not want to patronize you, but term means a period of time and semester is defined as half of an academic year. So, you can not use semester to refer to term. Schools have different schedules. Some schools will use the semester scheduling. Others will use the trimester (never seen before) or the blocking schedule (four terms in a year). It is appropriate to use “term” to describe all three types of scheduling. Semester does not describe the latter two.</p>

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<p>somtimes ppl capitilize for emphasis… “Fall” can be used to grab ur attention so if u are applying for “Spring” u do not use the wrong application.</p>

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<p>kind of like on test…when teachers/SAT bold the world or capitalize “NOT”</p>

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<p>I agree with GA. I do not think UM did it unconciously. They probably wanted to emphasize “fall,” so they capitalized “f.”</p>

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<p>I have a Ph.D. in English, and I think you are giving published materials too much credit. Errors are becoming standard in written English. Then again, not all authorities agree on these fine point. Language is alive and always evolving.</p>

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<p>Since we’re nitpicking, I’ll point out my favorite misuse of a word. The word is “comprise.” It seems to be on every college website I read, and I rarely, if ever, see it used correctly.</p>

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<p>Mythmom, so was UM wrong in how they wrote it? Should it be like Harvard’s way. And yeah, we are giving too much credit.
And KG, is that grammatically permissible?</p>

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<p>On the other hand, I could not picture “if you are applying for the spring” to be “if you are applying for the Spring”, or winter, or summer.</p>

<p>It might be because “fall” has multiple meanings, i.e. to descend. so does spring, but spring is more recognisable. “if you are applying for fall” kind of reads like you are vying a way to tumble down. :p</p>