Capitalization

Q. If a word is not capitalized in the dictionary but is capitalized in the author’s book manuscript, should I capitalize or not? The specific word in question is “cosmos.” Thanks.

Q. CMOS 8.61 says that words derived from proper nouns like “champagne” are often lowercased when used with a nonliteral meaning. What does “nonliteral” mean when it comes to sparkling wine?

Q. I found nothing in the Manual regarding this, and maybe there is no actual standard on this topic. My English-speaking colleagues capitalize the word following “Dear” in a group letter—for example, “Dear Colleagues,” or “Dear Teachers.” Is the capital necessary? Thank you for your help.

Q. If the word “god” is capitalized only when it is a proper name, why would you capitalize it in the expression “Oh my god!” unless you know that the speaker is referring to the specific deity worshipped by Christians and other monotheists? Does Chicago style uppercase or lowercase “Oh my god!”?

Q. I am editing a series about the Communist Party of Italy in the early 1900s. My question is specifically whether to capitalize “communist” when used as an adjective. For instance, when the work references workers who are sympathetic to communism, should I refer to them as “Communist workers” or “communist workers”? Similarly, would I capitalize the C in the following phrases: “communist cells”; “communist vanguard”; “communist program”?

Q. When an author speaks of a particularly difficult experience with the following metaphor, how should it be styled: “category 5 storm,” “category five storm,” “Category 5 storm,” “Category Five storm”?

Q. When writing a name that has a mix of capital and lowercase letters, such as “LeBron James,” in all caps, should it be written as “LeBRON JAMES” or “LEBRON JAMES”?

Q. Searching through CMOS, I can’t determine if this sentence is properly capitalized: “It is the sign that sat squarely on the Earth’s eastern horizon when you were born.” (It’s for an astrological publication.) Specifically, should the words earth, eastern, and horizon be capitalized, and is the “the” before Earth correct? Thank you.

Q. Hi, I see that CMOS 8.36 discusses kinship names and when to capitalize versus when to lowercase. I’m wondering about a term like “sir” or “ma’am” used in direct address: “Yes, ma’am” or “Yes, Ma’am”? I think probably the former, but what do you recommend? Thank you.

Q. I see that CMOS 8.155 has “Google Docs” as an example. Would you also cap the singular “Google Doc,” or because it’s not the name of a program and just referring to a document in the Google Docs platform, would it be “Google doc,” akin to “Word doc”?