More about capital letters

More about capital letters

n this second of two parts about the proper use of capital letters, I'll be listing several categories where the question of capitalization applies. I wanted to start off with a quiz just to help you get a better idea of how strong (or weak) you are on capitals, but the post already is too long.

Instead, we'll move right into the categories, listed in no particular order. It is not an exhaustive list, and I'm certain you can think of many other situations where the question looms at to whether or not to capitalize. But we have to stop somewhere, so these are the categories I've chosen to highlight. My final source for resolving disputes or questions 

is  The Associated Press Stylebook, but I'm writing from memory and not trying to copy anything directly from the AP Stylebook unless clearly indicated. (See my previous blog entry, which printed a large portion of AP’s entry on capitalization, especially on what should be considered a proper noun.) I've selected most of the categories because they are the most common sources of errors in stories I have edited. See my previous post for some other common errors.

magazine  – Unless magazine is formally part of the periodical's title (and 95% of the time it is NOT), magazine, contrary to extremely common practice, is lowercased. For example, It's Time magazine, Forbes magazine, InStyle magazine, Playboy magazine, etc. But, the AP Stylebook 

reminds us, it would be    Harper's Magazine. 

I'm not sure I trust this as the way to determine whether to capitalize magazine or not, but one newspaper's internal stylebook says to use this as a guideline: If you don't see the word magazine printed clearly on the cover with the title (as you can see with the Harper's cover above), then it's NOT part of the official title and should be lowercased. So how do we know which magazines DO use magazine in their title? My answer would be our own familiarity with the publication, or it it's something we don't read regularly, I would closely examine the official website of the periodical for further guidance.

governmental bodies – Even reporters who cover politics all the time have a hard time getting it right. What most writers and editors fail to grasp (for those following AP style) is that many bodies get capitalized even without the city or state name when it’s obvious we’re referring to that city, state, county, etc.

For example, in a story with a Boston dateline or that mentions Boston earlier, it’s not necessary to have “Boston” next to it for Police Department, Fire Department, City Council, Department of Public Works  and similar departments to take capital letters when it’s clear that the department is a Boston government entity. In states such as New Jersey and New York, the same thing applies to State Police, which is the official name of the state’s police department. You wouldn’t need “New Jersey” in front of State Police – ever – for it to be capitalized as long as it’s clear you’re referring to the Garden State’s top cops. 

Example: In a high-speed chase that extended through five cities, including Newark, the State Police vehicles in pursuit of a slaying suspect reached speeds of 105 mph, officials confirmed.

* But important to remember is that no official's title – not governor, mayor, president, king,   dictator, senator or anyone else – is uppercased unless it’s in front of the person’s name. He is President Obama, but Obama is the president. He is the mayor, not the Mayor, of Seattle. About the only exception would be instances in which the title is used as a name itself, such as this case: “Mister Mayor, we hereby proclaim this Jody Dody Day!”

* Legislature is another word very frequently written incorrectly. In states where that is the name of the governmental body, you always uppercase it. Again, you don’t need (and it often would be redundant to do so) the name of the state. It’s the Legislature in a story dealing with political matters in Albany, not “the state Legislature” or the “New York Legislature.” Same thing with Senate: Whether it’s the state version or the U.S. one, you should always capitalize it. It’s a Senate committee and a vote by the U.S. Senate.

directions and regions – We’re referring to words like east, west, south, western, southern, etc. When are they uppercased? It’s not always clear. Some guidelines:

   * Compass directions    always get lowercased. He headed west, then traveled south. The compass points to the north. The school is 50 miles north of Boston.

   * Regions often but not always call for capital letters. New York is in the East/Northeast, is on the East Coast and is part of the Eastern Seaboard. The South is a region where the Baptist religion is strong. There is a constant fear of tsunamis along the West Coast. John Mellencamp is a proud Midwesterner. The North defeated the South in the Civil War. Other uses depend on whether the area is a widely known region/entity in itself worthy of capitalization. For example, southern New Hampshire does NOT enjoy such a distinction and as such  “southern” would be lowercased. But Southern California is a region commonly known and passes the test as an entity worthy of capitalization even though there is no official government body with such a name. Some other regions that would take capitals include the South Side (of Chicago, where bad, bad Leroy Brown   lives!), the East Side (in Manhattan), West Texas, South Florida, the Demilitarized Zone (the area between North and South Korea), the Far East, the Middle East and much more.

   * Western has many uses. In reference to country music, AP says to lowercase. For films and books (such as a book about the Wild West of the 1870s), AP says to uppercase Western. The region that consists of the U.S., most of Europe and other mostly democratic civilizations in the Western Hemisphere (names of the four hemispheres are uppercased, by the way) is known collectively as the West (think also Western civilization), such as the Soviet Union opposed the West during the Cold War. But it would be the western United States as it’s not a formal entity or widely known region like Southern California but rather just a description of a particular area.

  *   For compass points, capitalize when it’s a formal part of the title: North Dakota, West Virginia. But general references to a geographic region (again, unless some widely recognized entity like the East Coast, the North Pole, etc.) are lowercased: southern Georgia, northwestern Boston, eastern Michigan.

food – Another source of confusion for many. Perhaps the most common is    champagne/Champagne. If a sparkling wine comes from the region of Champagne, France, it would take a capital C as derivative of a formal name (Champagne the region). But how does an editor reading a story know where the wine comes from? To be safe, I would lowercase champagne unless you specifically know it came from Champagne.

The same concept used for uppercasing the C in Champagne would apply to most other food names. If part of the name derives from a region, you would capitalize the associated word: Roquefort cheese (comes from the region of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in France), Brussels sprouts (from Brussels, Belgium), Danish pastry (originating in Denmark), Chinese food, French bread, Canadian bacon, chicken Parmesan (Parmesan being the English version of the cheese Parmigiano-Reggiano, which Wikipedia says is named after the several producing areas in Italy)  and so on.

However, a few words have completely evolved into their own distinct identity separate from the derivative – hence, even though they are named after the German cities of Frankfurt and Hamburg, where they originated, in English we lowercase the words hamburger and frankfurter. AP also says to lowercase the french in french fries, insisting that it refers to the style of cut and not France.

racial identity – Usually does not take capitals. Not to be confused with ethnic identity, which derives from a proper noun. For example, he checked off white on the application. Nearly two-thirds of all black teens in the city enrolled in the program. But they are Italian (being from Italy), he is an African-American and she is Hispanic, with the last two phrases being categories of ethnicity (African, as in a person from Africa) or nationality (Hispanic describes people whose ethnic origin/language can be traced to the Latin hispanicus and the related word Hispania to describe the    Iberian Peninsula, which consists of Spain and Portugal). Also capitalize religious categories (he is Jewish and she is Catholic), tribes (His Navajo roots helped him get the job) and peoples (the Scandinavians are known for their hospitality).

Mass – Uppercase in all uses when referring to religious services, AP says. I’ve never seen a convincing argument for this, but I dutifully abide by it. By the way, Mass is celebrated or offered, never said or held.

Realtor – Another common error. It should be capitalized, AP insists, because a Realtor is a member of the National Association of Realtors. Still not sure why it deserves being capitalized by itself. You are a member of the U.S. Senate, another formal group, but are still a senator (lowercase) by itself. But that’s AP’s stance. 

manager, general manager, coach – Although one could make a convincing argument that these are formal titles, AP treats them more as job descriptions and lowercases them even before the name of a person. It’s general manager Brian Cashman, manager Joe Girardi and head coach Andy Reid. Many publications treat commissioner the same way and always lowercase it, but AP says to uppercase it immediately before a name as a formal title. So it’s NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, but the commissioner of baseball is Bud Selig.

ice age – It does not take capitals   because there were many so-called periods of extreme cold.

disease and syndrome – Both words nearly always are lowercased when part of the name of a malady: Alzheimer’s disease, Asperger’s sydrome, Down syndrome, Legionnaires' disease, Parkinson’s disease, carpel tunnel syndrome, etc.

compositions – This is taken directly from the AP Stylebook: Capitalize the principal words in the names of books, movies, plays, poems, operas, songs, radio and television programs, works of art, etc.

after a colon: Capitalize the first word, like this, if the portion after the colon constitutes a complete thought or independent phrase or clause that could stand on its own as a sentence. If it’s not, lowercase the first word.

   Some colon examples:

   Here’s the final test: Go and bring me the head of Willie  Boy!

  He lacked just one thing: the ability to see her point of view.

  This was his answer: a thousand times no.

  I’ll tell you this much: You have exceeded my expectations already.

  Here’s how he it was time to go: when he heard the trumpets play.

press secretary, national security adviser – These are considered more as job descriptions than formal titles and as such are never capitalized, AP says.

historical periods and events – From the AP Stylebook: Capitalize the names of widely recognized epochs in anthropology, archaeology, geology and history: the Bronze 

Age, the Dark Ages,   the Middle Ages, the Pliocene Epoch. Capitalize also widely recognized popular names for the periods and events: the Atomic Age, the Boston Tea Party, the Civil War, the Exodus (of the Israelites from Egypt), the Great Depression, Prohibition. But capitalize only the proper nouns or adjectives in general descriptions of a period: ancient Greece, classical Rome, the Victorian era, the fall of Rome.

century – lowercase century, as in the 18th century.

flip-flopped names – The wording and order do not have to be exact. You can write State Department for Department of State, for example, and retain the capitalization.

generic equivalents – From the AP Stylebook: If a generic term has become the equivalent of a proper name in popular use, treat it as a proper name: Walpole State Prison, for example, even though the proper name is the Massachusetts Correctional Institute-Walpole. 

second references – Some popular places or events still get capitalized even in shortened form on subsequent references. Some examples: the Tour (for Tour de France), the Derby (Kentucky Derby), the Stadium (Yankee Stadium), the Garden (Madison Square Garden), the Series (World Series), etc.

 

the – Usually is lowercased in titles such as    the Beatles, the Who, the Great Depression, the Civil War, the Holocaust, the World Series, etc.

	It's time to wrap it up. My next post will focus on while and although, words that should not be used interchangeably. Stay tuned ...