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Please see this question for difference in definitions and capitalisation of earth/Earth

In the expression "walk the earth", e.g. "when dinosaurs walked the earth". Should earth be capitalised?

I always assumed that it was referring to the planet, and should therefore be capitalised. However I noticed that a lot of the time it isn't capitalised, indicating that the saying is the equivalent of "walked the ground/soil".

Is there a correct/more accepted usage of this expression? Should earth be capitalised?

Community
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Moogle
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1 Answers1

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It is Biblical.

Here's the opening of Genesis, the first chapter of the Bible (the King James Version):

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Ricky
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  • While researching your answer, I came across a site that offers scans of the text of the original 1611 King James Bible, in which "Earth" in Genesis is sometimes capitalized and sometimes not. To access the scans, you just need to sign up for John's newsletter. I hope you enjoy this site as much as I did. http://greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/index.html Welcome back, Ricky. – Mark Hubbard Jan 06 '16 at 17:07