calling an engine a motor is usually the result of never being taught correctly
saying ain't instead of isn't is usually lazy disregard for what one was taught correctly
Wiktionary seems to support the other person's position, while respecting your view too:
Therefore, if following Wiktionary as a guideline, I would be accepting of someone using the non-proper-noun version of the term to refer to other star or planetary systems, but I wouldn't capitalize the words in the term unless referring to the one I'm in.
Now, that said, I usually don't like to base a serious opinion on just one source. Therefore, I pulled out the World Book Dictionary that came with my 1991 encyclopedia set. It's a giant 2-volume dictionary, alongside a 29-volume encyclopedia set. It says:
Quote:
solar system [lower cased], the sun and all the planets, satellites, comets, and other heavenly bodies, that revolve around it. See picture below on next page.
[of course the next page has an illustration showing the sun (lower cased), 9 planets by name (including the listing of Pluto as a planet), and the asteroid zone/belt]
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This entry seems to support just your position in the debate.
Looking at the encyclopedia entry from this set, it's far too long to type out, but I did actually read the whole thing to see whether it would make mention of any other systems. It does not. It keeps the sun and the words "solar system" all lower cased while only making mention of the system we live in and many details about it, its contents, it's history, its properties, etc.
That's the same encyclopedia set I used as a backdrop for a beer picture, but really I do use it occasionally for reference; not sure why.
Honestly I do dislike a lot of cases of term mis-usage because they lead to not being able to be specific enough when it becomes necessary while also leading to too many synonyms, making many words redundant. In this case, I'm not sure how I'd react. It all depends on the setting.
For example, in a counseling session, I let the client/student say what he/she needs to say without correcting him/her, so that he/she can have some flow to their communication so that they don't lose their line of thought. At that place and time I have a need to get the message more than I have a need to get specific words. Then I repeat it back to them in my words in a paraphrasing way (with corrections slipped in there) to see if they agree that I understand what they're saying. After handling the issue, then I might add some corrections to what he/she said, as I am a school employee and need to teach what is correct, but I wait until the presenting concern is addressed first.
In a classroom, I correct more quickly, as it's not a situation where the line of thought can be lost so easily, and a place where the correction is more appropriately handles that way.
When having a casual discussion with other adults, I usually either let it slide or I restate back in the way I see correct in a backhanded sorta way, without really pointing out that I'm correcting them. Well... unless it's something like the engine vs. motor thing, in which case I usually make a pretty entertaining rant about it. e.g. [size=infinity][bold as fuck][underlined in an eleven-stroke scribble]"for the last fucking time, motors make motion out of electricity! engines make motion out of fuel!"[/size][/b][/u]
