form follows function

[dubdobdee]

i: "World War Two"
ii: "World War 2
iii: "World War II"
iv: "the Second World War"
v: "the 2nd World War"

none of these are wrong, though v is seriously ugly -- however, as a sub and house-style gatekeeper i prefer the format of i-iii and the style of i

this is because
a: you should write out small numbers in full (one-to-nine in my book),
but more inportantly
b: the cardinal in iv is too big long and dominant a word, so that it leaves you with the subliminal impression that what's important in the phrase (and thus the event) is secondness, as opposed to it being a WAR involving the WHOLE WORLD

Comments

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

haha i think i ph34r (iii) because it implies an endless impending franchise series, viz "the howling vii" -- which DO NOT WANT re world wars

[hoshuteki.livejournal.com]

"More World More War"
"World War Too"
"Still (Know What You Did Last) World War"
"World War II: World War-ier"

I'm sure there are better ones

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

world war ii: atomic boogaloo
world war iii: the marsupials
world war iv: a new hope


(iii is what all iiis have to be called, after the howling iii)