"Matt M." <matt_mcl@sympatico.ca> wrote:

>But the situation is so muddled that writing guides simply ask
> writers to be consistent within their own works.. Translating
> "Fran?ais" as "french man" is acceptable, but I would prefer "French
> man" with a capital letter.

Buh? What style guides are you reading? I've read a few (my field is
proofreading and translation) and I have not ever come across one that
suggests that not capitalizing nationalities is acceptable. Names of
nationalities and languages are always capitalized. English capitalization
has got rules. Some of them can be bent - some cannot.

I know some guide exist. I have a Merriam Webster's Guide to Punctuation and Style at home. Had to be bought because of one American who insisted very much on how important punctuation was ! I don't use it anymore.

 

> Sexism doesn't enter into this at all.

Well, I wasn't really talking about sexism, but just pointing out that
different languages have different rules, and that Anthere shouldn't get too
exercised about an English speaker getting "fran?ais" and "Fran?ais" mixed up by accident because they forgot the French rule.

Please Matt, my comment was a "matter of fact" one. Sorry it was not clear; I *never* intended to imply english should know themselves about our rules. English-speaking have no reason of course to know or to remember them!!