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Re:Change My Mind: Density Increases Local but Decreases Glo... by noduerme on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @04:40AM (#35784843)
>> if the capital was ever moved out

I initially read this as meaning "if the money was ever moved out", and then laughed ... yes, if they ever stopped being the capital ...

Re:Change My Mind: Density Increases Local but Decreases Glo... by midoridensha on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @10:48PM (#35797165)
"Capital" is a weird word in English. It can mean money as you refer to, but it can also refer to the city where a country's seat of government lies. Then there's "capitol" (with an 'o'), which refers to a building in the capital city where the legislative body meets.
Re:Change My Mind: Density Increases Local but Decreases Glo... by allturtles on Wednesday May 03, 2023 @11:31AM (#35803604)
There's also upper-case letters, the big letter at the head of a passage, and adjective forms: capital punishment, a capital idea (archaic). This article has a nice discussion of the etymology of capital: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/financial-word... Usages that started out as living metaphors become 'fossilized' over time as independent meanings.

Don't languages in general have single words with multiple meanings? Is this a special feature of English?

Re:Change My Mind: Density Increases Local but Decreases Glo... by midoridensha on Wednesday May 03, 2023 @09:07PM (#35810013)
>Don't languages in general have single words with multiple meanings? Is this a special feature of English?

That's not what I'm referring to; it's the confusion over "capital" vs "capitol" (in addition to the double meaning of capital city vs capital-money).