Metafilter or MetaFilter?

August 26, 2006 11:09 AM

NitFilter: In the title of the front page ("Metafilter | Community Weblog"), shouldn't Metafilter be Bactrian CamelCase? Or is this one of those sly MetaFilter conventions that only Original Mefites understand?
posted by thinman to Bugs at 11:09 AM (31 comments total)

The capitalization actually varies from week to week, according to a script Matt set up back in '01. Check it again on Monday.
posted by cortex at 11:13 AM on August 26, 2006

You found the Secret of MetaFilter Island!
posted by chrismear at 11:34 AM on August 26, 2006

cortex is pulling your leg.
posted by mendel at 11:43 AM on August 26, 2006

Monday isn't the day it changes.
posted by mendel at 11:44 AM on August 26, 2006

I had a Bactrian CamelCase once, but the latches were sticky and the handle broke.
posted by hangashore at 11:48 AM on August 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

You can get a cream to fix that, hangashore.
posted by raedyn at 11:53 AM on August 26, 2006

Your peevish need for consistency will be the undoing of us all!
posted by boo_radley at 12:14 PM on August 26, 2006

Does anal retentive have a hyphen?

Why or why not?

Don't people wonder if it has a hyphen??!

Why or why not?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:41 PM on August 26, 2006 [2 favorites]

"Does anal retentive have a hyphen?

Why or why not?"

Depends on how it's used. If used to modify a noun, yes ("That anal-rentive editor). If used as a stand-alone phrase, no ("That editor is anal retentive"). The why is all about clarity, my friend.

"Don't people wonder if it has a hyphen??!

Why or why not?"

Not usually. They're more concerned with your sloppy interrobangs.
posted by klangklangston at 12:45 PM on August 26, 2006

AnalRetentive.
posted by smackfu at 1:00 PM on August 26, 2006

We only have so many capital letters in the world. We can't be capitalizing things willynilly, that is dangerous!
posted by TwelveTwo at 1:03 PM on August 26, 2006

Does anal retentive have a hyphen?

It's only, you know, the name of the site.

Kidding. I like it.
posted by gsteff at 1:12 PM on August 26, 2006

I thought that said
Does anal retentive have a hymen?

I wish I hadn't thought that.
posted by dash_slot- at 1:16 PM on August 26, 2006

Depends on how it's used.

Nope, unlike well- and ill- words, anal-retentive always has a hyphen. (See: Merriam-Webster.)

Don't people wonder if it has a hyphen??!

Yes, they do. And they pay people like me to tell them.
posted by languagehat at 1:30 PM on August 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

LanguageHat, let me buy you a well-prepared smoothy.
posted by Plutor at 1:40 PM on August 26, 2006

I didn't purposely misspell "smoothie". I made the other misteaks on porpoise, though.
posted by Plutor at 1:40 PM on August 26, 2006

languagehat writes 'Depends on how it's used.

'Nope'

I always knew you where a closet prescriptivist.
posted by signal at 2:08 PM on August 26, 2006

Does anal retentive have a hyphen?

I feel you, Matt. I have this coworker who QAs my client work, and sometimes he'll assign me a Jira issue that's something like, "Looks good. Except this one thing looks like it's off by a pixel. Can you fix that?" And I won't even use Jira to respond, because he sits right across for me. I'll be all, "What the hell, dude? Are you kidding me? A pixel? Jesus, why would you even mention that?!" And even though he is totally right, and it'd take me all of a minute to fix it, he'll be like, "It's okay. No big deal. Forget I even mentioned it." And then we'll go downstairs and have a smoke, and everything is fine.

Forget I even mentioned it, Matt.
posted by thinman at 2:09 PM on August 26, 2006

I vote for Metafilter throughout from here on. CamelCase is, like, so over. Held back the adoption of wikis for years, I tell you.
posted by reklaw at 2:21 PM on August 26, 2006

meta_filter

I've been writing a lot of Ruby lately.
posted by chrismear at 2:54 PM on August 26, 2006

CamelCase is, like, so over.

*cries*
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 3:47 PM on August 26, 2006

Another vote for Metafilter.
posted by joshuaconner at 4:38 PM on August 26, 2006

I always knew you where a closet prescriptivist.

They pay me to be a prescriptivist. I bloviate descriptivistically for free.
posted by languagehat at 5:28 PM on August 26, 2006

Shouldn't it be anally-retentive, anyway?
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:39 PM on August 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

UbuRoivas: No, it's Freudian terminology. It's to do with the "anal stage" in child development.
posted by Kattullus at 7:07 PM on August 26, 2006

Dammit. I have no excuse here. I actually belong to the smallish proportion of people using the term who not only read, but even formally studied the theory.
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:27 PM on August 26, 2006

Anal-expulsive is a little more Metafilter style. tubgirl notwithstanding.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:33 PM on August 26, 2006

UbuRoivas writes "Shouldn't it be anally-retentive, anyway?"

Well, if you choose to use the adverbial form of "anal", you certainly should omit the hyphen. Christ.
posted by mr_roboto at 8:38 PM on August 26, 2006

*high-fives mr_roboto*
posted by languagehat at 5:47 AM on August 27, 2006

Forget the hyphen, hymen, and cAmElcAsE! I'm also very concerned about Mathowie and the Sloppy Interrobangs. I've looked all over and find them.

I'm guessing ska/polka fusion, but I'm afraid they're a Huey Lewis cover band.
posted by ?! at 11:02 AM on August 27, 2006

I wish I knew how preview worked.
posted by ?! at 11:03 AM on August 27, 2006