Talk:carpal tunnel syndrome

"proper?"

note: this discussion was originally posted at Talk:proper noun

The recently created entry carpal tunnel syndrome is labelled "proper noun." What would be the reasoning? It's not named after a particular physician. Why would CTS be any more "proper" than any other ailment? Certainly not just because the abbreviation is in caps? The carpal tunnel is an anatomical structure, and as such, is not cap'd. A particular strain of flu virus would be capitalized, but "flu," or even "influenza," are not capitalized, any more than headache or colitis are. In a textbook it might do to cap carpal tunnel syndrome as a subject header or a section header, but otherwise it seems unnecessary. Ragityman 09:12, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

This should probably be at WT:TR or Talk:carpal tunnel syndrome. I suspect the reason is that by its very nature it can't have a plural - whether it's an eponym or not is irrelevant, as eponyms can be common nouns. I'd be happy to change it to a common noun. Mglovesfun (talk) 09:15, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. When i came here to post a question, the page had not been created yet, and i saw, "If you have a question, ask it at the Help Desk," or some such. I thought i'd get a quicker response at "Proper Noun," but i have to say, I've never had to wait for more than a couple of minutes for any answer, unless i asked a particular editor.

Ragityman 10:26, 13 December 2010 (UTC)