Q. In CMOS (chapter 8), I have read that one should italicize the genus name of an organism even without its species name written. Like the example in paragraph 8.120: “The Pleistocene saber-toothed cats all belonged to the genus Smilodon.” I am a BS biology major and have been taught not to italicize the genus name if it doesn’t have a species name with it or an sp. for unspecified species. Since the current guide the company I am in uses CMOS, do I have to write/type every genus name in italicized form? I am currently copyediting a book for grade 7 teachers and I have seen genus names such as Micrococcus, Diplococcus, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Bacillus, Proteus, Spirillum, Thiospillum, and Vibrio.
Q. Hi, Style Experts—I’ve found the discussion on indexing in the Chicago Manual (15th ed.) very helpful. Still, I’d like to ask if you could recommend a book specifically on indexing names. We’ll be creating name indexes that will include people of different nationalities. Thank you very much.
Q. I know that ship and vessel names are italicized, but what is your criterion for determining what is a ship or vessel? I thought the idea was that the thing could carry people, but I must be wrong, because you set the Phoenix Mars lander in italics in your example. Are artificial satellites such as Sputnik set in italics? How about things like the International Space Station or the James Webb Telescope?
Q. How are recipe titles treated within text? Do they use uppercase? Quotation marks?
Q. I have a place nickname question. When referring to Ellis Island as the “Golden Door,” would you cap the term and place it within quotation marks, as you suggest for people names? Also, would you use this same style throughout a paper for multiple usages? Say, for instance, if you indicate that the “Golden Door” swung open for certain groups of people but not others?
Q. Hello from Poland! While I have never actually seen CMOS (there is no copy in the US Consulate Library in Poznan where I live), I have seen it mentioned as an authority everywhere. I am now working on a project that requires automated identification of persons and would be grateful to know if CMOS addresses the question of translating given names. When and where are they translated and when do they remain in the original language? Are there any rules in English for this? Of course, one knows the most obvious cases such as Karl Marx and Charles the Bald, but many other cases are not so obvious. For instance, Russian princes are usually named Yuri rather than George. I shall be most grateful for any tips/suggestions.
Q. My question is about the proper font of a boat name as a possessive as in “the Ibis’s lower decks.” CMOS 8.116 says italics for the boat’s name; 6.2 specifies the use of italics when the punctuation is part of the word. This seems a Talmudic moment. Thanks.
Q. The author enclosed the translation of a name in both quotation marks and parentheses. I removed the quotation marks and left just the parentheses. Are both types of punctuation needed? What is the best way to handle this? Example: The Foreign Name (“translated name”) blah blah . . .
Q. When using proper names in a book, what is the rule for subsequent use of that name? For example, in a book that mentions Herbert Hoover, if I use his full name the first time it is mentioned, and then do so again 20 pages later, can I just say “Hoover” or must I say “Herbert Hoover”? What is the longest you can go without repeating the full name? Does the beginning of a new chapter affect this?
Q. I wonder what your ruling is on using Latin-based (but non-Latin) characters as part of a person’s name. At my job, I am often required to write about Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan. English publications usually write it as “Erdogan,” but this has the side effect of people pronouncing it “Er-do-gan” and looking foolish. I would argue we should write it “Erdoğan,” as this more closely reflects the name’s pronunciation (as well as its actual spelling), and the alphabet is still comprehensible to an English speaker. However, what is your take?