Talk:Nuclear holocaust

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[edit] Capitalization

This came up as a result of a move discussion at List of nuclear holocaust fiction. I'd like to reword the article slightly, as "nuclear holocaust" is incorrectly capitalized ("Nuclear Holocaust") in the body text and the article title. Common usage is to spell it as "nuclear holocaust" (lower case), as demonstrated by a Google search on the term. (The upper-case spellings tend to occur only in headline text, where most words are capitalized; the term is in lower case in body text.) Thoughts? --Ckatz^chat_spy 02:58, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Further to this, the American Heritage Dictionary defines holocaust as follows:

"Great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire."

"Holocaust: The genocide of European Jews and others by the Nazis during World War II"

The definition is accompanied by a usage note that says:

"When capitalized Holocaust refers specifically to the destruction of Jews and other Europeans by the Nazis and may also encompass the Nazi persecution of Jews that preceded the outbreak of the war."

The usage note also references the term nuclear holocaust using the lower-case form. --Ckatz^chat_spy 03:13, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the appropriate thing to do here is, but the closest thing to a relevant style guide is this: WP:MILHIST#NAME. There's currently no explicit mention of particular major events/conflicts/conflagrations in the Manual of Style for capitalization.]] It seems as though the caps for this article and the associated list might be best determined by whether we define "Nuclear Holocaust" as a single, particular event like The Holocaust or a class of events. In the former case, it should likely remain capitalized, like World War III. If not, should drop the case of holocaust. Suggestions? Ideas?

Noted this discussion in Requested Moves MrZaius^talk 03:12, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

The article may need a reworking in respect to the "Holocaust" reference - some descriptions of the term attribute it to the "fire" definition ("holocaust") as opposed to a connection with, or comparison to, the World War II atrocity ("The Holocaust"). --Ckatz^chat_spy 03:18, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Lowercase is appropriate. Unlike the Holocaust, "nuclear holocaust" is a concept, not a proper name. Croctotheface 12:21, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

I've moved the page, per the request at WP:RM and the above discussion. -GTBacchus^(talk) 08:48, 24 February 2007 (UTC)