CMOS

A. Please see paragraph 10.12 of the sixteenth edition, which (in line with 14.4 in the fourteenth), states the following:

Initials standing for given names are followed by a period and a space. A period is normally used even if the middle initial does not stand for a name (as in Harry S. Truman).

Note the word “normally”; purists are free to remain purists (and the world would be a lesser place without them).

A. The Chicago Manual of Style is not the oldest style manual in the world. In 1848, B. H. Smart’s Manual of rhetoric: with exercises for the improvement of style or diction, subjects for narratives, familiar letters, school orations, &c.: being one of two sequels to “Grammar on its true basis” was published by Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Smart wrote manuals about elocution, logic, thesis writing, and grammar. In 1892, William Minto’s Manual of English Prose Literature was published in Boston. The United States Government Printing Office has been publishing a manual since 1900 that is very similar to Chicago’s: Manual of style governing composition and proof reading in the Government printing office, together with decisions of the Board on geographic names. This information is based on a search of OCLC’s FirstSearch database and is probably the tip of the iceberg, though this date-restricted search seems to indicate that the first truly broad style manuals aimed at publishers began to be popular starting about 1900. The first Chicago “manual of style” was published in 1906. It was called A Manual of Style and included type specimens.

A. We don’t have such a list; rather, we rely entirely on editorial judgment. Can Paris stand alone? Usually, but not in an article about Paris, Texas. Can Rome stand alone? Usually. Chicago? Of course: nobody even knows for certain what “Chicago” means, and few have been tempted to copy it. But your departmental list is a great idea. Whereas we do not feel that our manual can speak definitively to the entire English-speaking world on this issue, a single department or publication can gain efficiency by agreeing on specific guidelines.

A. Sadly, no. Even we are capable of completely forgetting whole sections of CMOS at a time. And I’m sure few of us have read at full brainpower the chapters on mathematics and illustrations and tables rather than dip in when we need to know something specific. It’s simply not efficient to memorize CMOS when so much of it is needed infrequently, especially now that we can search it electronically. Your professor’s advice was excellent. Every time I browse through CMOS I see things that didn’t register on previous readings, and I’m fairly certain that increasing numbers of bells clang during editing.

A. Holy metaphysics—we aren’t that fancy. CMOS simply numbers each paragraph, starting over in each chapter; section 7.88 is the eighty-eighth paragraph of chapter 7. Wittgenstein’s system provides a complex nesting of his statements about his seven propositions. In the Tractatus, proposition 6 is elaborated in section 6.1, which is further elaborated in 6.11, and even further in 6.111. Thus you can read across levels for surface understanding, or down into them for greater detail.

A. I’m sure you meant to write to the APA’s Q&A and reached us by mistake—but we aren’t inclined to be petty. Maybe Chicago style isn’t right for your content. So for ten bucks, you can buy Charles Lipson’s Cite Right: A Quick Guide to Citation Styles: MLA, APA, Chicago, the Sciences, Professions, and More, at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/175320.ctl. The basics of APA style are also available online; just type “APA style” into your search engine.

A. Manuals that are specifically devoted to business writing can cover such topics much more thoroughly than CMOS. You might check the reference section of your local bookstore or library for books on business writing or business etiquette. The latest edition of The Gregg Reference Manual is a good resource to consult first.

A. Yes—we hear that Cliffs is going to work on CMOS as soon as they finish with their version of the Chicago Yellow Pages. In the meantime, you might check out Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, a much smaller style guide than CMOS, especially tailored for student research projects. (Turabian will tell you how to cite all the Cliffs Notes you used for your dissertation.)