Yet Another Case Question

[Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters]

|But I will re-iterate my whacked argument: one reason for
|case-sensitivity is that it avoids having to explain to beginners why
|the names of things are case-insensitive but the values of things are
|case-sensitive.

It seems almost self-evident to me that the explanatory burden of
explaining that a 'count' and a 'Count' are different things is far
higher.

I think the difference that us philosophers talk about between use and
mention is rather easily understood.  Words that are *used* are subject
to orthographic variations (case changes, but also sometimes hyphenation
variations, regional changes, and the like).  Words that are *mentioned*
are not so subject.

This understanding follows prose quoting conventions.  When you quote
what someone else wrote, you don't change the letters (except just a
little bit).  But when you write it yourself, you adjust for local
style.  E.g.:

    I think that Aussie Tim Churches mispells the word color when he
    writes, "David Mertz mipsleds [sic] the word colour."

Yours, David...

P.S. Before anyone facetiously suggests that Python be insensitive to
commonwealth/american spelling variant, take a look at Ruby.  After
that, the suggestions cannot be quite facetious :-).

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