Let's stop capitalizing "trojan"

If you write about malware, how many times a day do see something like this?

There�s absolutely no sound grammatical reason to consider the word �trojan�, in the context of malware, a proper noun.

This capitalization came from the original long-form, Trojan horse, which become shortened to �trojan�.

Spell checkers aren't wrong to recommend capitalizing the word, since it very well could be a reference to a citizen of Troy (a Trojan), the Trojan horse, or even the USC Trojans. But I see no technical reason to capitalize the word itself in the context of malware, since it�s clearly a common noun.

One would capitalize Trojan when using the compound �Trojan horse� in the context of malware, given that this is the use of the original proper noun in an analogous context.

If you agree or think otherwise, comment!


Alex Eckelberry