Talk:Spanish flu

Tea room discussion
Noun or proper noun? SemperBlotto 11:29, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
 * An excellent question. The first thought that comes to mind is that if it were regarded as a proper noun by its users, the second word would be capitalized, too.  But the second thought that comes to mind is that that actually can be found happening.  &#9786;  ("Although the article spotlighted influenza as a serious health threat, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 is [&hellip;]" &mdash; ISBN 9780231133463 pp. 80) Uncle G 11:59, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
 * (After edit conflict) The lowercase spelling suggest a common noun to me. The Spanish flu can still be thought of as an individual, but so can inventions such as "the computer", or particular substances such as epinephrine. Other names of specific diseases such as Barrett's esophagus and Japanese encephalitis are classified as common nouns, too. So I'd think that no name of a disease, regardless of how specific it is, can be classified as proper noun. --Dan Polansky 12:05, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Since the Spanish flu refers to a specific pandemic, I think it is a proper noun. It is a named epidemic. It's a specific incidence of an outbreak of a disease. I would say it's analogous to Hurricane Andrew being a hurricane, or the Middle Ages being an age. The Spanish Flu is a flu pandemic, but a particular one. 76.66.193.90 12:54, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
 * See Black Death, which is listed as a proper noun. 76.66.193.90 12:59, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Sounds convincing to me. I think I have confused a disease, which basically has no extension in time, with a specific pandemic, which has a narrow extension in time. It still remains unclear whether there is a disease "Spanish flu", which in its turn has caused the pandemic of "Spanish Flu". 1918 flu pandemic tells me that the pandemic was caused by "an unusually severe and deadly Influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1." For comparison, gives mixed results as regards capitalization of the term, with many hits of the lowercase "flu". --Dan Polansky 14:35, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Perhaps a divided defintion, the "disease" would be Spanish flu and the pandemic would be Spanish Flu? (The definition at Spanish flu is for the pandemic, so that would need to be moved) 76.66.193.90 12:48, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
 * That doesn't wholly work, either. "Known as Spanish flu or la grippe, the influenza epidemic of 1918 and 1919 was a global disaster." &mdash; ISBN 9780763724252 pp. 119. "The horror of the Spanish flu was that, like the war itself, it seemed especially fatal to the young and healthy. " &mdash; ISBN 9780774811088 pp. 207. Uncle G 15:53, 8 March 2009 (UTC)