Q. I am writing a book on a movement practice called Authentic Movement that distinguishes those in the role of movers and those in the role of witnesses. Should the words Mover and Witness be capitalized since they have a specialized meaning in this context? And if so, should they be capitalized in just the first usage, or throughout the entire book?
A. Chicago style lowercases words like these. If your goal is to promote Authentic Movement into franchises or some other commercial use, then caps might be appropriate. But in normal contexts, even if these words denote practitioners of Authentic Movement, they are still common nouns (not proper nouns) with no need for capitalization.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I wonder if I am correct in capitalizing the word Resident when referring to a physician who is in residency training, in order to distinguish this specific type of person/professional from the generic resident of a community.
A. It’s not Chicago style to cap a common noun like resident, but if you think lowercasing would cause confusion in a given context, capping might be the best solution.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I have a situation in which I am writing about the East China Sea and the South China Sea. When I refer to them separately, I of course capitalize each word (e.g., “East China Sea and South China Sea”). My question is whether I ought to capitalize the s in sea when I refer to them together: is it “East and South China Seas” or “East and South China seas”?
A. We prefer to cap Seas in this situation, although other stylebooks may lowercase.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. We often refer to Chesapeake Bay as “the bay” on second mention (e.g., Chesapeake Bay is one of the largest estuaries in the world; we often visit the bay to conduct trawl surveys). My question is whether it is correct.
A. Chicago style lowercases “the bay” as you do, but uppercasing it is not incorrect, and you are likely to see it capped in various publications.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. When pointing to a particular rule within a set of rules, would you capitalize rule? I.e., Federal Rules of Evidence, rule 103, or Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 103? Thank you.
A. Chicago style lowercases generic usages like “rule 103,” but such words are routinely capped in other style manuals, and it’s not wrong to cap them.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. There is much inconsistency regarding the capitalization of the term evangelical used as an adjective or noun. What do you advise?
A. We advise consistency, but that sometimes involves consistently using different treatments in different contexts. Lowercase as a rule, reserving caps for proper nouns or adjectives when referring to a particular denomination or congregation: the Evangelical Church embraces that tenet. I go to First Evangelical; its mission is evangelical in nature.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Hello style gurus—I’m editing a historical monograph. The author and I are trying to figure out if he should bracket the first letter of quotations if he changes capitalization. For example, “[T]he judge said” versus “the judge said.” I’ve looked at CMOS 13.21, but we’re not sure if that applies in a historical monograph. How can you tell if it’s obligatory or not? Thanks so much!
A. The brackets are obligatory only if the capitalization is part of the subject under discussion, which is rare outside of legal or textual criticism documents. Please read further at CMOS 13.18–21.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Are terms of endearment capped when used as a form of address, for example, in “Bring me my shoes, Precious” or “Turn off the TV, Darling”? I believe this used to be a rule, but with the trend toward “down” styling, most editors perhaps have thrown it out.
A. Chicago’s preferred style has always been to lowercase pet names, but you can’t go wrong unless you’re inconsistent, since the issue is guided by preference rather than rule. Please see section 8.39 of the 15th edition. (The issue is not addressed in the 16th or 17th editions.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am making certificates of awards where the recipient’s name is in all caps. One recipient spells her name desJardins. On an all-capitalized document should the first letter of the last name still be a lowercase d?
A. There’s no rule; people do what looks best. Some names look fine with a single letter lowercased (McCOUGHLIN), but more than that risks looking like a mistake: desJARDINS. Another option is to put the particle in small caps: DESJARDINS. Before you make your decision about how to treat these rogue letters, consider all the names in the list.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Sometimes, in spiritual circles, people like to capitalize words like Love or Truth or Divine. For example, “that which is ultimately beyond the mind itself, but is what I call the Divine” or “this deep Love that resides within you at this moment.” My feeling is that capitalizing these “concept” words gives them an air of importance and sacredness, and they are quite often written with this intention. But they really aren’t proper nouns. Are there any guidelines for using such capitalizations? And even more important, what about using both capital and lowercase throughout a book-length manuscript with some policy of consistency?
A. We like consistency, but the problem is that even in a book with spiritual content, not every use of Truth or Love will merit caps: sometimes the terms will have a generic meaning. Writers and editors of such content must work mindfully when they uppercase and lowercase so as not to confuse readers. There will naturally be gray areas where either styling would do. In many documents, the safe choice (and Chicago style) is to simply lowercase everywhere, since uppercasing everywhere would almost certainly lead to inappropriate capping in some cases.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]