tarot vs. Tarot?

Midnite

Bit if a random question here...

So, I am just curious to know how people refer to the word 'Tarot' and whether they give Tarot a capital T or not. I always write Tarot with a capital T but I've noticed a lot of people don't.
What's your preference and why? :)
 

danieljuk

Tarot is the name for something and so I do capitalise. But on wikipedia they call it tarot!

had a look online and you only capitalise if its a noun which are places, nations or people. I didn't know that so a proper noun is capitalised but tarot is a common noun. However if tarot was named after the people of Tarotland then it would be a proper noun! one example online is dog breeds! some are capitalised and some not, it depends if they are named after places, nations or people. In Germany and some other countries all nouns are capitalised regardless, so its a regional rule as well!

so strictly I think it's not capitalised but I would probably still do it cos it looks nicer and gives it greater importance :)
 

Midnite

danieljuk said:
Tarot is the name for something and so I do capitalise. But on wikipedia they call it tarot!

had a look online and you only capitalise if its a noun which are places, nations or people. I didn't know that so a proper noun is capitalised but tarot is a common noun. However if tarot was named after the people of Tarotland then it would be a proper noun! one example online is dog breeds! some are capitalised and some not, it depends if they are named after places, nations or people. In Germany and some other countries all nouns are capitalised regardless, so its a regional rule as well!

so strictly I think it's not capitalised but I would probably still do it cos it looks nicer and gives it greater importance :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, danieljuk! I wasn't too sure about the whole noun thing so thanks for clearing that up :thumbsup:
I'm going to continue capitalising it too. It definitely looks better and I think it deserves the respect of a capital T ;)
 

Sulis

Tarot is a noun so don't usually capitalise it..
 

Rosanne

Well I think one would have to decide if they think Tarot is a common or a proper noun.
Officially the difference is this (apart from the capital letter starting a sentence as in Sulis's answer)
A common noun is the word for something (like 'road'). A proper noun is the name of something (like 'The Royal Road').
example:
I went down two roads, one was Hilltop Road.
I use two types of playing cards, one type is Tarot.
So I always Capitalise 'Tarot' as it is a specific naming word.
~Rosanne
 

VioletEye

Rosanne said:
Well I think one would have to decide if they think Tarot is a common or a proper noun.
Officially the difference is this (apart from the capital letter starting a sentence as in Sulis's answer)
A common noun is the word for something (like 'road'). A proper noun is the name of something (like 'The Royal Road').
example:
I went down two roads, one was Hilltop Road.
I use two types of playing cards, one type is Tarot.
So I always Capitalise 'Tarot' as it is a specific naming word.
~Rosanne
Click to expand...


well, i think you're right in that you can just decide to capitalize tarot if you want to, i don't think there's anything wrong with that!
but tarot is not officially a proper noun - to use your example, you wouldn't write:
I use two types of playing cards, one type is Tarot, and the other type is Standard Playing Cards.
however - if you're talking about a specific deck, then that would be capitalized, since it's a title! as in:
When i read tarot, I always use the Bohemian Gothic Tarot deck.

anyway, that's just me being persnickety - myself, i don't like to capitalize anything when i'm typing - i never did get the hang of that shift key... :)
 

tarotbear

Tarot !

I discuss this in the 'Afterword' of my first book. I capitalize the word Tarot 99.44% of the time - OUT OF RESPECT for the cards. After typing something Tarot up I usually go back and capitalize the word Tarot if I missed it while typing.

Of course 'Tarot' is a noun - it can't be a verb! ;) And for me it is a very Proper noun! No slovenly nouns for me! :p

*** ETA ***
{pure sarcasm:} :D

Let's tarot our bikes around the block!
I want to tarot speghetti for supper.
He always tarots when I kiss him!
If I have to tarot this car you'll be sorry!
Tarot the Door! Were you taroted in a barn?
 

VioletEye

tarotbear said:
Of course 'Tarot' is a noun - it can't be a verb! :D
Click to expand...

just to clarify: yes, tarot is of course a noun - but is a common noun, as opposed to a proper noun :)
 

VioletEye

tarotbear said:
I discuss this in the 'Afterword' of my first book. I capitalize the word Tarot 99 & 44/100% of the time - OUT OF RESPECT for the cards.
Click to expand...

sorry tarotbear, i haven't (yet!) read your book!
do you mean that you capitalize it 100% of the time? i'm confused by the 99 & 44....
 

Annabelle

I almost always just use lowercase for the word "tarot".
 
How many cards do you work with Anyone hate the celtic cross?