terms that are often confused
Living in the capital of Texas, I’m often annoyed by the misuse of the word “capitol.” Were the folks at Capitol Chevrolet absent that day in third grade when the teacher informed them that “capitol” refers to buildings while “capital” refers to cities and money? I’m not in the market to buy a car, but their poor word choice hardly makes me want to shop with them.
I guess this mistake is easy to make. A group of five designers honored this year in the National Design Awards declined an invitation to a White House breakfast in their honor. They cited the Bush adminstration’s use of design and language to distort facts as a reason to skip the event. They asked fellow designer Chip Kidd to join them in their protest, who refused. Although he shared the opinions of the designers, he said that the event was about design, not politics, adding “We were invited to recognize the National Design Awards, in our nation’s capitol, in an extraordinary building that is a cornerstone of our history.” After reading this, I tried to imagine the White House stuffed inside our nation’s capitol, but it’s clear that Kidd — whom I respect and admire — really meant “capital.”
This was always a pet peeve of mine, too, when I lived in Austin, and it’s unbelieveable how prevalent it is. Still, Capitol Chevrolet (and certain other businesses that use that spelling) might actually be referring to the building, you know? Is the capitol dome part of their logo or something, maybe?