What do you suggest, John? Go table?

People also argue about whether Go/go should be capitalized.

[ for a floor board]

My own habit is to say something like 'traditional go board' or 'the old type of Japanese boards'. This conveys the extra implication that you don't need to have such a
board nowadays.

Fortunately taiji swept away much of the mystique for martial arts

And some people also argue whether it should be 'capitalised' (-ise for words from Latin, -ize for Greek).

I had always assumed (maybe incorrectly) that "capitalise" was from "British English", whereas "capitalize" was from "American English".

Common misconception.

People also argue about whether Go/go should be capitalized.

Pardon my ignorance about the English language, but why should it be? Is chess, bridge, etc? I would have never thought of writing "Go" instead of "go", but then again my mother tongue is Finnish (and in Finnish it is written in lowercase).

Would you like to elaborate?

Webster's dictionary seems to think that "capitalize" is an acceptable spelling: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitalize

It also says that "capitalise" is the "British version of capitalize": http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictiona ... 1305147225

...
Both are correct in British English now, but (depending on word origin) -ize endings were once the standard in British English. This has gradually changed, and people have come to believe it's an American innovation. Grammar snobs occasionally jump on it as some kind of vulgar Americanism, when in fact it's not.
...

/sense of humour bypass/

Pardon my ignorance about the English language, but why should it be? Is chess, bridge, etc? I would have never thought of writing "Go" instead of "go", but then again my mother tongue is Finnish (and in Finnish it is written in lowercase).

One reason to capitalize Go which is peculiar to English is that "go" is one of the most common English verbs, as in "to go to France" or "to go fishing." So calling the board game Go rather than go is a good way to convey what you mean. (In the final analysis, though, I have to agree with John... capitals are dying out.)

I would think that the noun meaning the game of go and the verb meaning movement from one place to another are easily distinguishable by context. (and if not, one can always clarify by using "game of go" or some other construct like that)

Being historical does not automatically make a GO BOARD famous or important. Recall that Genan lost all his money in his shipwreck and tried to recoup it by dishing out 1-dan diplomas left right and centre, hence the derogatory phrase Inseki shodan. It is probable that he signed BOARDS just as freely. This may be an Inseki BOARD.




That's easy. This BOARD says 百戦百勝不如一忍 - "Being victorious one hundred times in one hundred battles is not as good as being forbearing once". This (I think - don't quote me) is from the Chinese poet Huang Tingjian and he goes on with something like "One hundred words and one hundred barbs are not as good as being silent once". After that, rather like the second verses of national anthems, the subsequent lines become hazy in the memory, but it may have been something like "One hundred gobans are not as good as one GO BOARD".

The BOARD in question (if genuine) can be dated post 1830 from Genan's signature where he naughtily styles himself Inseki XI and Dagoushou (= Meijin). I don't know, but I'd be fairly confident that he was still willing to use that style after his shipwreck, since he was so far away from Edo in remote Kyushu. In that case this BOARD would be dated post 1853.

I think insisting on "goban" when we have a perfectly adequate term in English is a bit of an affectation. Why don't those goban people use goishi instead of go stone or goke instead of go bowl? Saying "After the game I put my stones back in the bowl and put the bowl on the goban" is really strange.