"special forces" and "Special Forces" have different meanings.
The former is a general term in the English language. It doesn't even necessarily be a military term (but it normally would be since "forces" is normally used as a military term). It would be any collection of forces that was special. Also I think it was used to describe relatively elite military units before the formation of the United States Army Special Forces (and perhaps by other countries, with the words in their local languages, after the Special Forces where founded, edit- for example Fuerzas Especiales in Mexico which where founded long after the US Army Special Forces), but even if it was not that does not mean the current US military term of art is the only meaning for the term. When the US military (or any other organization) defines a formal meaning for a collection of English words, that doesn't make their use in other way invalid (except perhaps in the official communications of that organization). English isn't defined by the US government, its military, or any other body. English is defined by how people use words.
But with caps Special Forces, properly becomes a short form of United States Army Special Forces.
Proper nouns in English refer to things more specifically. The SEALS are a special force, but they are not Special Forces, just as a large ship may be titanic, but it is not the Titanic, unless your talking about a specific ship (or possibly another ship given the same name, but people have avoided that name since 1912). |
