Q. For rock fans, such as myself, it is sometimes important to know whether one is to capitalize the “the”
preceding a rock group’s name. For instance, the group “the Who.”
In the middle of a sentence, do I say “the Who” or “The
Who,” given that the “the” is an integral part of the title
and furthermore is the first word in the title?
A. When the name of a band requires the definite article, lowercase it in running text:
When I first saw the Who, they had short hair; when I last saw them, that was again true.
I can’t believe the Rolling Stones didn’t retire with all their money years ago.
The day I was introduced to the The was the day I learned that irony was finished.
It is true that “the” often gets capitalized on album covers, but our rule is
to capitalize the first and last word in any title, which fits in with that practice (the The has usually employed a lowercase
“the” nested above an uppercase “The”
on its covers). Exceptions to the proper the rule are names that are captured within italics or quotation marks within running text. Hence,
Have you ever heard “The Real Me,” that song by the Who?
I have three copies of The Soft Parade, one of the Doors’ lesser-known albums.
but
Hey! Where did you put my Soft Parade LP?
The very last example illustrates the dropping of the article when it is grammatically convenient.
Q. Every institution for which I have worked seems to have a different practice relating to the capitalization of college or university when referring to the specific institution while dropping the proper name. I used to work for Cornell University’s
admissions office. That office insisted on not capitalizing university when using the word without Cornell but still referring to CU specifically. For example,
Once I visited Cornell, there was no choice left for me to make. I fell in love with the university—the
people were so friendly and helpful. It didn’t hurt that the campus was gorgeous either!
I had previously been told that one should capitalize university or college when referring to a specific institution. If Cornell’s practice is correct, could you please explain
why?
A. Cornell’s practice strictly follows the recommendations set forth in The Chicago Manual of Style. Most institutions (including the University of Chicago itself) do not follow our rule, however. The purpose of a university’s
literature about itself is to promote itself. Each university is, to itself, the only University in the entire world that
matters. That’s fine. The recommendations in CMOS are intended to promote objective analytical writing—a mission that’s not always
convenient in promotional settings. But maybe more universities (including ours) should follow the example of Cornell—especially
if they want to attract more prospective copyeditors.
Q. I hope you can definitively answer this question. Should the word following a colon in a sentence be capitalized or not?
A. When a colon is used within a sentence, the first word following the colon is lowercased unless it is a proper name. When
a colon introduces two or more sentences, or when it introduces speech in dialogue or an extract, the first word following
it is capitalized.
That’s a little more cut and dried than what we’ve advised in the past, but we’ve
found that it’s just not practical to make separate distinctions based on criteria like degree of emphasis
or formality of the statement that follows the colon. Besides, a second initial capital in a single sentence—colon
or no colon—can be distracting.
Q. My colleagues and I are perplexed by the format of film series titles. According to paragraph 8.174, book series are not
italicized. Television series, according to 8.185, are italicized. My inclination is to call the Tolkien adaptations “the
Lord of the Rings series,” but to call the Rowling adaptations “the Harry Potter series.”
One colleague says both series titles should be roman; another wonders whether both should be italicized. And then there’s
the pesky matter of the initial article, which I think modifies series in this case and should not be considered part of the title.
A. Paragraph 8.174 refers to titles of series under which a number of more or less related books, often by different authors,
have been published. Roman type ensures that the titles of these series will not be mistaken for the title of a book itself.
The Lord of the Rings—in book and movie media—is the name of a single work (often presented in the
form of a trilogy), not a series. In the same way, Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet is the name of a quartet, not a series. The Raj Quartet is a book—a book in four books. The Jewel in the Crown is the name of Granada television’s multiepisode adaptation of The Raj Quartet. Phoenix Fiction, on the other hand, comprises a number of books (including The Raj Quartet) published by the series editors for Phoenix Fiction. These books are only loosely related (in this case, they are republications
of overlooked or out-of-print novelists), and to italicize Phoenix Fiction might give the false indication of a single, coherent
work of some sort.
Harry Potter is both the protagonist and part of each of the seven titles in the series. The name “Harry
Potter” characterizes the Harry Potter series. To write “Harry Potter series” would falsely suggest that the work itself is known as Harry Potter.
This is all a long way of saying you are right—even down to the “the”:
an initial “the” in an italicized book title can be dropped (or considered to
be part of the surrounding text)—but only when it’s grammatically convenient to
do so. (See 8.167; cf. 8.168.)
Q. When I refer to the government of the United States in text, should it be US Federal Government or US federal government?
A. The government of the United States is not a single official entity. Nor is it when it is referred to as the federal government
or the US government or the US federal government. It’s just a government, which, like those in all
countries, has some official bodies that act and operate in the name of government: the Congress, the Senate, the Department
of State, etc.
Q. Are there any exceptions to paragraph 8.168 in CMOS 16, which states that the “the” in newspaper and magazine titles should be lowercase
and roman? I’ve seen some publications keep the article uppercase (i.e., The New Yorker). Thanks for your insight.
A. It has been our policy for decades to recommend that any initial “the” in the
titles of periodicals (journals, magazines, and newspapers) be subsumed by the surrounding text or simply dropped, depending
on circumstances.
The New Yorker’s cartoons are great for people on the go, like me. I can justify the subscription without having to
feel bad about not reading the articles.
When I read the Times, I pretend not to see the crossword puzzle. I have enough work to do as it is.
In notes and bibliographies, an initial “the” is omitted:
Korte, Tim. “Jordan Lifts Wizards” (AP), Washington Post, March 27, 2003.
Publications like The Chicago Manual of Style—in other words, books—are not subject to this rule.
Q. When referring to a movie or book title while posting to Internet newsgroups, it’s generally impossible
to indicate with italics or underscoring. I usually use all upper-case letters (THE LORD OF THE RINGS, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF,
for example). What does CMOS suggest?
A. Notwithstanding the tradition among publishers of presenting book titles in full capitals in industry correspondence, interdepartmental
memos, and the like—the practice was popular because it saved time on typewriters that required extra
keystrokes for underscoring—we recommend avoiding all capitals to express titles that would otherwise
be italicized. Instead, use the underscore key (type Shift plus the hyphen key on standard keyboards) when italic type is
unavailable:
When I first read _The History of the Siege of Lisbon_, I was so grateful to discover a book about a proofreader that Saramago’s
hypnotic stringing together of sentences nearly sent me into an ecstatic trance.
Sometimes asterisks rather than the underscore key are used to express emphasis (e.g., I can’t *stand*
one more day of separation from you), but asterisks can be more strictly interpreted as indicating boldface.
Q. Hello, my name is Brett and I work for a law enforcement agency in Arizona. My colleagues and I were having a discussion
about what does and does not get capitalized in our reports pertaining to laws and arrest charges. I am seeking your guidance
on this subject. Could you tell me what gets capitalized and what does not get capitalized in the following sentence: “John
Doe was arrested for ADC Parole Violation Warrant 03W3250, Theft of Means of Transportation and Unlawful Flight from Law Enforcement.”
Some say the sentence is correct as is; however, others say that the letters in the arrest charges should not be capitalized.
Could you please assist me in this matter? Thank you for your help.
A. It’s heartwarming that Arizona law enforcers are taking care with capitalization! Your sentence is
fine as it is, although it wouldn’t be wrong to lowercase everything. If you and your colleagues feel
there should be consistency in these matters, you could agree on a house style and keep a list of examples. While Chicago
style tends to prefer lowercasing in general, there are good reasons to uppercase the titles of laws and charges—it
helps the reader know where the title begins and ends and makes it stand out in the text, so it’s quickly
found if someone is skimming for it.
Q. My question relates specifically to the term “world-class” and how it is used
at my firm. Essentially, the term “world-class” is core to our value proposition,
our products and deliverables, and our marketing material. Since this term is very special, we wonder if it is okay to capitalize
in the middle of a sentence: “In order for a firm to achieve World-class performance . . .”
Our inclination is to always capitalize the W and not the C. Finally, can we exercise our judgment, and just decide how it
should appear in all instances regardless of common standards, given the special nature of this term to our business?
A. Chicago editors would not approve of capping a regular word midsentence (even such a very special one), but we’re
not editing marketing copy. CMOS is not primarily aimed at that sort of content, and it’s not always appropriate for marketers to apply
Chicago guidelines. You might put together a house style sheet so everyone’s on the same page with signature
style decisions like the one you cite.
Q. We are preparing a publication on imperialism and are doing our best to follow CMOS 16’s instruction that “words denoting political divisions . . .
are capitalized when they follow a name and are used as an accepted part of the name” (8.50). And so
we have “the Ottoman Empire,” “the Roman Empire,”
“the American empire,” “the Japanese empire,”
etc. But we are concerned that such a treatment, in the scope of the whole publication, may appear inconsistent or preferential.
(Is it, after all, the British “Empire” or “empire”?)
Do you think it would be acceptable in this context to use the lowercase “empire”
in all instances? Of course, even as I put that question to you, writing “the Ottoman empire”
doesn’t seem quite right. We would be grateful for any advice you might have on this point.
A. Although we often bend a rule for the sake of “regional consistency,” I think
you risk confusion by tampering with a fairly strong tradition of capping officially recognized empires. The British and the
Romans ruled their empires, installing governors and courts, recruiting armies, and granting citizenship. The people in their
empires were subjects of the queen or king or emperor. However aggressive Americans have been in the affairs of other countries,
they have never established an identifiable empire of that nature. I doubt that many readers would think it inconsistent to
cap the British Empire and lowercase the American empire, when the intended meanings of the words are different.
If you choose not to make a distinction, you may appear to be making a political statement—perhaps less
preferable to appearing to be inconsistent.
Chicago Style Q&A: New Questions and Answers
