Tardis talk:Universe

Forum announcement
Putting this here until such time as the damned forums decide to work again:

If you dig deep into wikipedia:talk:universe, you discover that there is no real consensus about whether "universe" should be capitalised. Both are really correct, as some people view it like the phrase "the world" — which is not capitalised in most modern sources — while others view it like "the Sun" — which often is. Both the British and American versions of the Oxford dictionary feel it should be universe, and make no special allowances for any sort of proper noun.

In other words, whether you choose to use universe or Universe is effectively arbitrary — even if some scholars may have an "official" position. Nevertheless, we need to essentially flip and coin and work to a common standard, just so that we are internally consistent.

Because the subject matter of this wiki deals primarily with the alternate universe of the Doctor Who universe, and we've already decided that universe in that case is not capitalised, the easiest rule to remember is that universe is not a proper noun.

Indeed, the only argument for universe being a proper noun is if it's this universe — the real universe we actually inhabit. All of our articles are focused on anything but the real Uinverse, so there is no reasonable cause to uppercase it.

So, it's universe — unless in a title. (Some bot runs have been made to enforce this decision, but others will be required.)

See T:UNIVERSE for the actual policy statement. 15:37: Tue 13 Aug 2013