Rainbow Dash just got out of gym class, and she's off to English 101. A few years ago, a portal opened up and a bunch of weird monkey things came through and started attending classes to help learn about Equestrian society, while ponies started learning things about human society. One of the biggest issues these races ended up running into is capitalization on pony races.
For years now, Firefox and Chrome have corrected the word "pegasus" to have a capital letter. The word itself is actually the name of a mythological winged horse (which any of you who watched Disney movies as a kid would know of), which is why your browser flips out on you. We use it in a completely different way though, describing a race of winged ponies that live in the ponyland.
On the fanfiction side of the fandom, axing the capital "P" has been the norm, but is this correct? Should we consider the use of describing the "Pegasus race" a reason for capitalization?
head on down below for AN EXCITING DUEL OF INTELLECT. Also two opinions on which it should be.
And toss your two cents in the comments!
The case FOR capitalizing Pegasus:
I'm personally in this camp now. For years, I haven't capitalized the word here on EQD. Coming from a Dungeons and Dragons background, it's pretty common to get a "pegasus" mount. In that context we consider them simply a beast of burden, like a horse.
In order to get to the bottom of it, we need to figure out what exactly each pony subset "is" in the eyes of... a pony! Do they see them as actual races? Or are they different types of creatures? The Hearths Warming Eve episode argued that they are indeed races. Here is my take.
We don't capitalize "human", just like we don't capitalize "pony", or even "horse", but if we get more specific, we do capitalize different subsets of each of these. Asians, Africans, Americans, Europeans, and the thousands of others all fall into this category. In my eyes, cartoon horses cover one overarching, uncapitalized "pony" with each "race" running with a capital letter; Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus.
On the other side of the debate, the idea that they need to all come from one specific location (Greece, Germany, ect) is an argument for axing the capital, but there are quite a few capitalized subsets that cover far greater distances than a single country. We capitalize "Hispanic", or "Aryan", and neither of these were from a specific single location, but more the biological look of a person. In the case of ponies, you are an equine with wings.
So in the end, in the context of the race within My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, I'd say, out of respect for our equine brethren, we should actually capitalize their races, including Pegasus.
This also works in the case of Zebras. While humans see them as animals (zebra), I think ponies would see them as a race (the Zebra race) Twilight Sparkle would say "Zecora, you are a Zebra", like I would say "Jackie Chan, you are an Asian".
Arguing the other side, I've Invited one of the Pre-readers in. Blueshift will cover:
The case AGAINST capitalizing pegasus.
Seth doesn't understand how proper nouns work. We don't capitalise 'human' or 'dog' or 'cat' or even 'pony'. We capitalise words like 'African' as they are derived from proper nouns, and words that are derived from proper nouns are capitalised. The words 'Hispanic' and 'Aryan' are very old ones with complex/weird origins. Also 'Hispania' was a place, so BURRRRRN.
If pegasi were revealed to come from the land of Pegasus, then yes, that would be correct. But they don't.
English is a weird and mysterious thing. There are all sorts of weird exceptions, and you can find evidence to support any weird interpretation. As a general rule, as long as you are consistent in what you do, it is fine (APART FROM IN THIS CASE OF COURSE)
Have we already forgotten the rampant destruction to our economy that capitalism has caused? All the anti-capitalist protests? Are we really going to start embracing capitalism more now? Where will it end!? (That is what all that was about, right?)
I phoned up the Queen to check this, and she assured me that you should not capitalise 'pegasus', and that anyone who does so is committing an act of treason punishable by ten years in the Tower of London. I didn't show her Seth's comments, as his American spelling of capitalise would have sparked an international incident. I will visit you in the Tower, Seth.
So, what do you all think? Capitalize, or no captalize? Hit those comments up.
