A politician pal with an eye for English has long kvetched about the gall of of realtors to demand that their profession be capitalized: Realtor.
"Lookee here—now the entire word is in caps," he grouses, referring me to a handwritten note thanking him for "the time you gave your REALTOR constituents" who "would love to host a REALTOR town hall in your district."
He signs his note with his name, followed by some of his roles in life:
HUSBAND
FATHER
FRIEND
LEGISLATOR
CARNIVORE
MOTORIST
TAXPAYER
READER
NEIGHBOR
RABID LISTENER
LAWN MOWER
LEAF RAKER
GROCERY SHOPPER
Realtor simply means a member of the National Assn of Realtors. All Realtors are real estate agents, but not all agents are Realtors. It’s their brand and they defend it vigorously. In fact, there were a couple of lawsuits filed by the NAR against members in 2005 for using the word “realtor” in a URL.