This tags is for questions about the use of capital letters in writing.
53
votes
11answers
25k views
Which words in a title should be capitalized?
Are there any concrete rules that say which words (parts of speech) in a title should start with a capital letter? What would be a correct capitalization for the title of this question?
47
votes
2answers
6k views
Why should the first person pronoun 'I' always be capitalized?
Why should we capitalize first person pronoun 'I' even if it does not appear in the beginning of a sentence? Why it is not the case for other pronouns?
20
votes
5answers
1k views
King James Bible archaic style
I am currently reading the King James Version of the Bible and I have noticed some features that I would like to know more about.
Almost every verse of the First Book of Moses starts with “and”. ...
20
votes
2answers
3k views
How do you capitalize a proper noun such as “iPhone”?
I was always taught to capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence, and also the first letter of proper nouns. In the last few years it's been common for certain firms to name their ...
20
votes
6answers
2k views
Should the words “internet” and “web” be capitalized?
There seems to be some inconsistency on whether people capitalize the words internet and web (as in World Wide Web) as proper nouns. What is the official ruling on when or if these words should be ...
19
votes
8answers
3k views
Should I use capitalization when mentioning a domain name?
Let's say I have a product/brand with a website, for the purpose of this question the product is called Acme and the site is http://acme.com .
What's more correct when referring to the site without ...
19
votes
6answers
4k views
Which is correct: “Filename”, “File Name” or “FileName”?
Which is correct: "Filename", "File Name" or "FileName"?
18
votes
2answers
965 views
What is the “Ap” in the surname “ApSimon”?
There are two questions here (1,2) concerning names with “Mc” in them (such as McGregor), revealing that Mc comes from Mac, which is Gaelic for “son of”.
I have now come across the last name ApSimon. ...
18
votes
3answers
5k views
When a sentence starts with “e.g.”, should the e be capitalized?
When a sentence starts with e.g., should the e be capitalized?
Neverminding that it might be better to start with "For example," ... Thinking of SE posts and comments, should the starting e be ...
18
votes
3answers
3k views
Capitalisation of nouns in English in the 17th and 18th centuries
It seems to have been common practice in the 17th and 18th centuries in Britain to capitalise the first letters of nouns in English, e.g.
At which Time he prov'd himself the Noah's Dove, that ...
17
votes
4answers
4k views
When should the word “God” be capitalized?
Aside from proper noun usage, like "We're on a mission from God", when should "God" be capitalized? A few examples:
That's a god awful question.
Oh my god!
No god-damn way.
He played the part of the ...
17
votes
3answers
5k views
Should “Hell” be capitalized?
I am of the belief that Hell should be capitalized because real or not, it is the name of a place, and thus a proper noun. It should be capitalized correct?
I have seen it written without ...
17
votes
4answers
18k views
When should the word “English” be capitalized?
I am often confused how the word "English" should be written in phrases such as "English language", because I have seen both variants: capitalized and starting with lowercase letter.
What is the most ...
16
votes
4answers
5k views
“you” versus “You” as polite form of writing
Is it correct to write "You" with a capital Y as a form of politeness?
If yes, should I use that form throughout the entire letter/document, or only at specific places?
16
votes
1answer
5k views
Do you capitalize both parts of a hyphenated word in a title?
Do you capitalize both parts of a hyphenated word in a title?
"My Ex-Wife Hates Me"
or
"My Ex-wife Hates Me"
15
votes
6answers
2k views
Should the word Boolean be capitalized?
I keep second guessing myself on this one.
On one hand it seems like it should because the word Boolean is derived from the name of George Boole, the inventor of Boolean logic. However, the term as ...
14
votes
7answers
9k views
What do all capital letters typically refer to in writing?
In many error messages and conversations, I come across words in all capital letters, as demonstrated in the examples below.
ERROR: Please type your e-mail address.
or
ME: I can't make it
...
14
votes
7answers
3k views
Is there an antonym for “capitalize” (as in letter-case)
A word that starts with a lower-case (lowercase?) letter can be capitalized, but what is the converse action?
Google has only one page in the top results that addresses this and the closest thing to ...
14
votes
1answer
395 views
Is there a word for capitalizing in the middle of a word, as in “eBay”?
Usually this sort of word is a trademarked name, such as eBay or BlackBerry. Is there a word that describes capitalization mid-word?
13
votes
2answers
949 views
Should the names of seasons be capitalized?
When you are writing about the seasons, should you capitalize their names?
For example, would you say:
I love the colors of the leaves in Autumn.
Or should you say:
I love the colors of the ...
12
votes
4answers
3k views
When is it correct to capitalise 'earth'?
At the beginning of a sentence is obvious.
I'm referring to the following examples:
A handful of earth.
The earth under this house.
The earth beneath my feet.
What on earth?
The ...
12
votes
3answers
976 views
Should capitals be used when verbing trademarks?
When using a trademark as a verb ("hoovering", "xeroxing", "photoshopping" and "googling"), should it be capitalized or uncapitalized?
Strictly speaking, Google and Adobe are opposed to their ...
11
votes
2answers
33k views
Co-Founder, Co-founder, or cofounder?
I've seen all three used and there doesn't seem to be a definitive one that I can find. I'm hedging towards Co-Founder as it's a title, but any clarity would be appreciated.
Edit
If it makes it any ...
10
votes
4answers
482 views
Why are the words Reich and Kaiser capitalised in English?
It is the same with Diesel, which can be capitalised or not. Do the words Reich and Kaiser have some specific historic value as they are distinguished from non-capitalised words such as halt, ozone, ...
10
votes
1answer
523 views
Is there a Name for this Style of Capitalisation?
It seems quite common on the web to capitalise certain words in a heading, or navigation bar, but not others.
Here are some examples:
Visit the Member's Page
How to Format (as seen on this ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Is “Thank god”, as opposed to “Thank God”, acceptable?
People are quite stingy lately about anything with religious connotations, so I'm worried that the phrase "thank God" might tick some people off.
Is "thank god" acceptable? Would that offend people ...
10
votes
2answers
742 views
When referring to a specific war (or other named event), should the word “war” be capitalized when it appears alone?
The Cold War instilled a fear of nuclear war in the public; additionally, the [war] was responsible for an extreme anti-Communist sentiment that lingers to this day.
Should the bracketed instance ...
10
votes
4answers
498 views
Capitalisation of titles
Please excuse the contrived example below, but I am wondering if this example is properly capitalised? I'm assuming that capitals are used when addressing someone directly, but lower case is used ...
9
votes
5answers
881 views
“Upper-case” is to “capital” as “lowercase” is to what?
Is there a corresponding word to go with capital to mean lower-case?
9
votes
4answers
573 views
Capitalizing quotations with initial omission?
Let's say we wanted to omit the first four words of the following quotation.
"I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Generally ...
9
votes
2answers
9k views
When should “Mom” and “Dad” be capitalized?
I am trying to understand capitalization rules with Mom and Dad. I believe I have it correct below, but please let me know if I do not.
The one thing I learned from my dad was that it was good to ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
“grammar nazi” or “grammar Nazi”?
Should Nazi be capitalized in the phrase grammar nazi/Nazi?
While I can't think of any other examples right now, I would like to extend the question to ask if the words which are historically nouns ...
9
votes
2answers
23k views
How should “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year” be capitalized?
How should "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" be capitalized?
Here are some examples taken from some of the top results on Google:
I’d like to be among the first to wish you a very Merry ...
9
votes
4answers
522 views
Should initial e's after h-dropping be capitalized?
A new Victorian-set British novel begins sentences containing h-dropping with lower-case e's, as in " 'e took my money, 'e did." This seems incorrect but I'm at a loss to find the rule.
8
votes
2answers
319 views
What percentage of characters in normal English Literature is written in capitals?
I'm talking about percentage of letters, not words, in case it isn't clear. Is there a way to gauge this?
8
votes
3answers
341 views
Capitalization of “Internet” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Should the words “internet” and “web” be capitalized?
For the most part Internet is capitalized, less frequently it occurs uncapitalized. Is ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
How Should Trademarks be Written?
I'm a moderator at another StackExchange site and a debate has come up about the usage of the trademarked name for which I site is about, i.e. WordPress. Note as a trademark it is spelled in CamelCase ...
8
votes
4answers
656 views
Proper capitalization of commonly used acronyms
I was always under impression, that acronyms ought to be written all caps. However reading BBC News site very often I see some of the common acronyms written as proper names (first cap). For example ...
8
votes
2answers
562 views
Capitalization of German words in English sentences
If I write an English text and use some German nouns in there do I have to write them capitalized or not?
If I would have a whole sentence or quote in German I would probably use German grammar and ...
8
votes
1answer
2k views
Should north, south, east and west be capitalised?
Should cardinal points be capitalised? Please give a reason why they should or should not.
8
votes
3answers
888 views
Capitalization of User Interface Buttons
Being an amateur programmer and a bit of a perfectionist, I often find myself wondering about capitalization in user interfaces.
If you look towards the top of this very website, you'll notice the ...
8
votes
1answer
5k views
Capitalize fields of study?
Do I say "I study computer science," or "I study Computer Science"? Similarly, "I really liked that computer science course," vs. "I really liked that Computer Science course."
8
votes
3answers
2k views
8
votes
5answers
590 views
Correct capitalization for “of” in an acronym definition
For an acronym that includes the word "of", do you capitalize its usage within the definition (or expansion) of the acronym
For example, in the follow sentence:
My coworker Steve suffers from ...
8
votes
4answers
1k views
Is “Mecca” capitalized when used figuratively?
Waleed made his pilgrimage to Mecca.
This is a given.
But I would write:
Bombay is India’s entertainment mecca
Is this correct, or is Mecca capitalized in its figurative use, as well?
8
votes
2answers
543 views
Capitalising the definite article in names
When I was a youngster some mumble-mumble-mumble decades ago, I was taught that, in the instances of names of persons, places, and things which carried the definite article the, the article wasn’t ...
8
votes
1answer
273 views
Capital Letters from 1700 [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Capitalisation of nouns in English (historically)
After reading a recipe from 1747, I noticed that all of the nouns are capitalized. Is that a normal thing for that era? ...
7
votes
6answers
3k views
Are particular seasons proper nouns?
Should fall be capitalised in the following? If yes, is it because Fall 2011 is a proper noun?
Where should an app be released in Fall 2011?
Context.
In a Wikipedia article, Avatar (2009 ...
7
votes
7answers
3k views
Apostrophes and caps in Happy Mother’s Day / Happy Mothers’ Day
So, I’m writing this as it is Mother’s (or maybe Mothers’) Day today, and I was wondering what would be a correct way to write that.
Should the apostrophe come be between the r and the s, or after ...
7
votes
3answers
10k views
“Thanks and Regards” vs. “Thanks and regards”
I am almost certain that the R in regards must be in lower case because it follows a conjunction and is therefore a part of the same phrase/sentence. But I've been seeing a lot of emails of late that ...
