Last week I changed a headline from "Fog in the Lode" to "Fog in the Sierras". (You may have noticed that myMotherLode's headlines have been shorter and in some cases unique compared to the typically bland headlines in the past)
As the Internet Program Director at myMotherLode.com I didn't feel that "Lode" chosen by Mark Truppner was descriptive enough and as Motherlode was longer I opted for Sierras- a shortened version of Sierra Foothills. Later Mark pointed out that the Sierra Foothills is the area at a higher elevation than the Motherlode and the weather article was about here and the Valley (the area even lower elevation.) I didn't know that the local weather was divided between the two areas. While the information issued by the National Weather Service was specific and passed into irrelevance the debate over the headline continued.
I highly recommend reading the conversation attached to the article it is a priceless example of the quality of people who love this area!
Kev Barr insisted that it was not Sierras but the Sierra:
Thanks, BUT:
There is only one Sierra (in California) the other one is in Spain.
I've been there, looks just like our Sierra and that's why the Spaniards named in after their mountain range.
Only flat landers and city folk call it the Sierras, so please.... It's the Sierra.
Gracias!
L. Kevin Barr
I appreciate the seven comments insisting it was not an important issue but spelling and grammar are very important. It is our goal to get the news across not to hinder it with typo's or other errors.
The debate probably has no "right" conclusion for myMotherLode.com we will go on using Sierra because this is the Sierra Foothills. Consider Tom's comment:
My understanding is that:
1) "Sierra" means "mountain range" in Spanish.
2) "Nevada" means "snowy" in Spanish.
3) "Sierra Nevada" means "snowy mountain range" in Spanish.
4) Recorded history of these mountains began precisely on April 2,1772. The missionary Pedro Font, while at the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley, saw to the east a great snowy range. In his diary he sketched the mountains and termed them "una gran sierra nevada" - "a great snowy range"; today we use this name. (Excerpt from Sierra Nevada Natural History - Storer, Usinger and Lukas, 2004).
5) We have many "sierra" (mountains ranges) in California.
As you can see we have some wonderful comments and discussions on myMotherLode.com!
In addition to the Sierras the format of the word Motherlode was brought up.
Here was my response:
I have researched Mother Lode and when referring to the place Motherlode is also correct. It is an old fashion term and has changed over time. The name of course implies that a large lode (mother lode) of Gold was found here!
To which hill billy duly noted:
Actually Sabrina, The mother lode was never found. The prospectors back in the 1800's believed that all of the gold in the area came from one huge deposit of gold and they were trying to find the "mother lode" that produced all of the smaller deposits in the area. As we now know, there was no real "mother lode", there are just many individual lode deposits.
I know that this is a silly thing to correct, but it seems to fit with the nitpicky-ness already here.
Oh, and good job standing up for yourself in the Mother Lode...Motherlode... Sonora areas local news source.
I am all smiles here in my office and greatly enjoy all news story comments, thank you.
To view all the comments on Fog in the Sierra go here
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