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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. I’m confused why CMOS 15 suggests leaving “cold war” lowercase in rule 8.81. It seems to me that it should be capped, because it’s a clear historical period. Pleeaazze help.
A. In the seventeenth edition of CMOS, we make a distinction between the Cold War (i.e., between the United States and the former Soviet Union) and any old cold war (e.g., between feuding families). See paragraph 8.75.
Q. People Seem to Have Capitalitis These Days. I am editing our company directory and wondering if all titles must be capitalized. My column headings include “Name” and “Title.” Under “Name,” I have Joe Smith. Under “Title,” which is correct: “Customer Service” or “customer service”?
A. You may be happy to know that the University of Chicago Press considers almost all titles to be generic unless they are used as part of a name. Practically no one gets special treatment—neither the pope nor the president of the United States. But the recommendations in The Chicago Manual of Style apply for the most part to descriptive and analytical texts. Excess capitalization hinders an argument’s clarity.
We’d allow an exception for something like your directory, where corporate politics might be a factor:
In promotional or ceremonial contexts such as a displayed list of donors in the front matter of a book or a list of corporate officers in an annual report, titles are usually capitalized even when following a personal name. Exceptions may also be called for in other contexts for reasons of courtesy or diplomacy. (CMOS 8.20)
So though we at the press share your disdain for capitalization, please consider the exceptions and decide where your directory fits.
Q. When referring to a specific conference, would the word “conference” be capitalized
when used alone? For example, “I attended the Western Region Writing Style Conference earlier this year.
During the Conference I learned . . .”
A. “Conference” should be capitalized only if it is in fact part of the official
title of the conference. So,
the Fifteenth Computers and Writing Conference; the conference; that conference on computers and writing
Official titles are capitalized, whereas generic terms used to talk about the official conference are not.
Q. I am having a discussion/argument with my author’s editor over the presentation of Pizza and its Variations: Beyond Two Pi R, the title [changed for this forum] of a forthcoming book edited by myself. The title is so presented in the UK edition, and the American publisher is insisting that this is incorrect (or at any rate in defiance of normal convention), and “Its” should be used, despite the fact that the lowercase version appears in the book (whose text will be the same in both editions). Quite apart from the question of consistency, I feel that in the case of this particular title a capital ‘I’ would take the eye away from the two important words, “Pizza” and “Variations.” Do you have a (quick, please!) view?
A. Correct headline-style capitalization as defined by The Chicago Manual of Style would call for capital “Its.” All nouns—pronouns included—get capitalized according to our rule (see paragraph 8.159). And while we are flattered that the American publisher is following our guidelines to a tee, you do have a point. An opposite problem was encountered many years ago with our own publication of the novel A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. According to our rules, “through,” a preposition, would not get a capital “t” in titles. Somebody here objected to this (on the grounds of emphasis and prominence), so we capitalized it on the cover and in promotional materials.
Nonetheless, those who write about Maclean’s book—or cite it—should submit to their editors. We’d write A River Runs through It. And we’d capitalize your Its.