An exploration of the uses and misuses of the English language, including amusing signage, mind-boggling linguistic contortions, grammatical debates, etymological musings, and other forays of interest to those of us obsessed with this strange and often absurd language.
This comes up a lot in law school. It's definitely a singular noun when you are talking about the nation that results from a union of 50 states. If you're talking about the 50 individual states, it's plural and not capitalized.
Also, when you're talking about the states rather than the union, it's common to refer to them as "U.S. states" or by name.
Examples:
The United States has not legalized gay marriage. Six U.S. states have legalized gay marriage. The fifty united states have governors. The United States has fifty states.
The bit about capitalization is, of course, patently false, as both the Declaration and the Constitution always capitalize "States" and that was the common practice up through the Civil War and beyond. That is not the practice NOW, of course, but that has nothing to do with the reality or rightness of the situation. It has to do with pulling the wool over the eyes of people.
And if there was ever a bit of sophistry more transparent than "U.S. states," I don't know what it could be. This is all the result of an attempt to deny that the nation is a confederation of sovereign states which have each lent a portion of their sovereignty for certain limited, specific purposes to a common federal government, in favor of the notion that state divisions are merely administrative conveniences allowed by the all-powerful and all-encompassing federal tyranny in Washington.
If the capitalization conventions of the Constitution are still to be adhered to, then words like "enumeration" and "representation" can be capitalized regardless of where they appear in sentences.
It is not sophistry, or indeed a political statement regarding the sovereignty of the political units of this nation, to say that the second "s" in "U.S. states" need not be capitalized any more than it is the same not to capitalize the "c" when referring to our country.
This comes up a lot in law school. It's definitely a singular noun when you are talking about the nation that results from a union of 50 states. If you're talking about the 50 individual states, it's plural and not capitalized.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when you're talking about the states rather than the union, it's common to refer to them as "U.S. states" or by name.
ReplyDeleteExamples:
The United States has not legalized gay marriage.
Six U.S. states have legalized gay marriage.
The fifty united states have governors.
The United States has fifty states.
Thanks for the clarification, Barry! It seems law school IS good for something :)
ReplyDeleteThe bit about capitalization is, of course, patently false, as both the Declaration and the Constitution always capitalize "States" and that was the common practice up through the Civil War and beyond. That is not the practice NOW, of course, but that has nothing to do with the reality or rightness of the situation. It has to do with pulling the wool over the eyes of people.
ReplyDeleteAnd if there was ever a bit of sophistry more transparent than "U.S. states," I don't know what it could be. This is all the result of an attempt to deny that the nation is a confederation of sovereign states which have each lent a portion of their sovereignty for certain limited, specific purposes to a common federal government, in favor of the notion that state divisions are merely administrative conveniences allowed by the all-powerful and all-encompassing federal tyranny in Washington.
If the capitalization conventions of the Constitution are still to be adhered to, then words like "enumeration" and "representation" can be capitalized regardless of where they appear in sentences.
ReplyDeleteIt is not sophistry, or indeed a political statement regarding the sovereignty of the political units of this nation, to say that the second "s" in "U.S. states" need not be capitalized any more than it is the same not to capitalize the "c" when referring to our country.