This tags is for questions about the use of capital letters in writing.
2
votes
3answers
66 views
Is it acceptable to capitalize class names and attributes when referencing my programming code in a message?
In programming we often create reusable data structures that contain attributes to store information. For example, if writing a piece of software that has to do with cars we may have a Car class that ...
-1
votes
0answers
26 views
Where and why were capital letters first used in English headlines? [duplicate]
The words in headlines are capitalized. I'm interested in the history of this.
Where and why were capital letters first used in headlines? Where is this practice of capitalization of words in English ...
5
votes
0answers
110 views
Where and why were capital letters first used in headlines?
The words in headlines are capitalized. I'm interested in the history of this.
Where and why were capital letters first used in headlines? Where is this practice of capitalization of words in English ...
-1
votes
2answers
58 views
Do I capitalize or write out 'first' if I write: “Her birthday was May First.”?
I'm writing a story in which a character's birthday (May 1st) is significant. A characters notes in conversation that, "Her birthday is May first." Should I write out 'first' or refer to it as '1st'? ...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
Capitalization of Captain [closed]
The Chicago Manual of Style sets out these rules for capitalizing "Captain":
Robert greeted Captain Jones, "Hello Captain."
"Good evening," replied the captain.
I looked at 20 books by the most ...
2
votes
0answers
33 views
What is the correct capitalization of code examples when beginning a sentence? [duplicate]
I am writing a technical book and a lot of it is structured as explanations of code examples.
For instance:
var links = data.map(function (d) {
return {source: nick_id(d.from),
...
1
vote
1answer
28 views
Capitalise 'squadron'?
Should the word 'squadron' be written with a capital? In some contexts it seems more appropriate than in others, but I'd like to do it consistently.
The 12th squadron set sail.
versus
The ...
0
votes
2answers
64 views
Plaque Wording and Capitalization
When writing a message on a plaque using multiple lines to communicate the message, is it appropriate to capitalize the first word of each line, even if the line is a continuation of a sentence shown ...
-1
votes
1answer
71 views
When to capitalize [closed]
I designed a map from scratch and added some descriptions for the indicators or signs, stores and type of roads at the very bottom side of the page.
My questions is, shall I capitalize the first ...
2
votes
1answer
59 views
Should words be capitalized because they're loanwords?
In the English language Wikipedia article on noh theatre, "Noh" is frequently capitalized even when it's in the middle of a sentence. The only reason I could see someone doing that deliberately is ...
0
votes
4answers
150 views
When are you 'You', and when 'you'?
When is it in spelling that the personal pronoun 'you' should be written with capital Y?
1
vote
2answers
182 views
How should “The Cloud” be capitalized?
"We are migrating our core systems into (1) The Cloud ... or (2) the cloud ... or (3) the Cloud???"
I've googled (Googled?) this and found the usual range of differing opinions but as yet no ...
2
votes
2answers
185 views
In what contexts would I capitalize “city” and “county”?
In the following context, it is obvious that County is a proper noun and deserves capitalization.
Currently, Albemarle County has four main reservoirs.
However, in these other contexts below, I ...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
Do you have to capitalize a question that is after a comma?
Do you have to capitalize a question that is after a comma?
Example:
I'm not hungry, why do I have to eat?
EDIT
The sentence are formed by dependent clauses with the next structure:
...
2
votes
2answers
73 views
Capitalization of “School” as an adjective
I am working on a research poster, and the teacher supervising wrote the following language. It doesn't seem to me like "School" is a proper noun, but he tells me it is when referring to a specific ...
2
votes
6answers
528 views
Email Capitalization: “Hi Michael, please bring…” or “Hi Michael, Please bring…”
In an email, if I don't put a new line after the heading, how am I supposed to capitalize the next word?
With a new line, it's straightforward:
Hi Michael,
Please bring the books.
But ...
0
votes
2answers
144 views
Capitalization of biological abbreviations at the beginning of a sentence
In the beginning of a sentence, should I capitalize abbreviations such as the following:
hPSC (human pluripotent stem cell)
mESC (mouse embryonic stem cell)
rDNA (recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid)
...
0
votes
0answers
37 views
What words are commonly lowercase when using Chicago Style Title Case? [duplicate]
My father has a website with over a thousand posts with the titles in UPPERCASE.
We'd like to change the post titles to follow the Chicago Manual of Style Title Case rules.
To speed things up I am ...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
What is the correct way to refer to a web page that is part of the same website?
When referring to specific web pages that are part of the same website, should the name of the page be capitalized, put in quotation marks, or both?
In other words, which of the following sentences ...
1
vote
3answers
299 views
Must OK only be written in capital letters? [duplicate]
Whenever I write ok the spell checkers underline it with a red line and suggest that I should OK. Not even Ok works. Why is this so?
1
vote
2answers
108 views
Capitalization of job title
Would you capitalize the job title in the following sentence?
I am writing this letter in regard to Joe Brown who is applying for the director of teaching and learning position in the XYZ School ...
-1
votes
2answers
74 views
Capitalizing can be a form of respect or always seen as an error and sloppiness? [duplicate]
In Italian they have this way to show formal respect to another person in writing,
by capitalizing all the direct or indirect references to him.
A random example might be:
"Porgo i miei più sentiti ...
1
vote
4answers
387 views
Proper use of “TV”
It seems "TV" is always preferred when used as an abbreviation for "television" in informal writing, but is "tv" ever acceptable? (The capitalization seems to me to place undue emphasis on it.)
2
votes
2answers
186 views
Should I capitalize “Billion” in a bulleted list?
I have list of values in a report used to highlight demographic information. For dollar values, should I capitalize the word "Billion", or leave it lower case?
Here's a sample:
Appraised Value: ...
-1
votes
1answer
97 views
Confusion about book title capitalization [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Which words in a title should be capitalized?
Why are some book titles written with all letters in all words capitalized, while others choose to capitalize some words in ...
1
vote
2answers
97 views
Is the ACA nickname capitalized “Obamacare” or “ObamaCare” or “Obama Care”? [closed]
I’m writing a term paper and need to know the appropriate acceptable case for “Obamacare”; preferably, I’d refer to it as “The Affordable Care Act”, but the subject of the paper warrants the nickname. ...
6
votes
2answers
201 views
Why are some words not capitalized in titles?
I understand the how, but the why escapes me completely. After a decent amount of searching on the internet I can only find people talking about how to capitalize a title (or more importantly which ...
1
vote
3answers
382 views
Wording and Capitalization of Western food
I have two questions on the following sentence:
Have you ever been in a foreign country for half year without eating western food?
Q1: Do I need to capitalize Western ?
Q2: Assume the writer is ...
1
vote
2answers
234 views
Should the abbreviation for “identifier” be capitalized?
I'm a programmer and I often see the abbreviation ID (capitalized) in technical documents and code. Is this correct, or should it be id?
0
votes
2answers
142 views
Capitalization for “Federal”
I'm writing an article for publication and I want to capitalize the following sentence appropriately. "You need to know that Federal law bars the lender from accelerating the mortgage on your ...
7
votes
1answer
197 views
Hyphenation and capitalization of “Great-Uncle” when signing books to my nephew's son
When great-uncle is used as a common noun, the hyphen and lack of caps make sense. However, when I sign a book to my nephew, is it Great-Uncle Don, Great-uncle Don, or perhaps Great Uncle Don?
3
votes
1answer
414 views
Should words be capitalized for being religious terms?
While googling about whether "atheist" should be capitalized, and skimming past posts by people blogging about atheism rather than about English grammar, I came across ...
1
vote
1answer
233 views
When to use or omit periods in acronyms, abbreviations, and initials [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is it OK to drop the periods in abbreviations?
I don't understand when or where to use or discard a period when writing short forms.
For example, my college is the ...
0
votes
1answer
137 views
Is capitalization of special words acceptable without another rule to justify it?
I've found that it's a rather contentious issue in the Pokémon fandom whether names like "Pikachu" should be capitalized when referring to the general species (and similarly for certain other words). ...
3
votes
2answers
158 views
Why are I and O always capitalized, but a is not?
There are three single-letter words. They are the article a, the pronoun I, and the interjection O.
The pronoun I and the interjection O are always capitalized, but the article a follows normal ...
1
vote
0answers
21 views
Capitalisation of hyphenated words in title [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Do you capitalize both parts of a hyphenated word in a title?
I contribute to a journal with a policy of capitalisation of the article titles. My title is ...
0
votes
1answer
92 views
Should there be capitalization after an equation?
In continuation of this question, Should one capitalize the first letter after an equation which is not at the end of a sentence?
For instance in the following example, should the second 'the' be ...
1
vote
2answers
163 views
Is “on” part of a verb phrase in “Put Item on Hold?”
For an interface I'm working on, there's a command available to a user called "Put Item On Hold." Or possibly it should be "Put Item on Hold," since the style guide I'm using says that prepositions ...
7
votes
1answer
323 views
What is the term for when one letter is lowercased when a name is in all caps?
Oftentimes when my last name is used in all caps on official documents, one of the letters is lowercased to denote that the following letter is capitalized. For example:
DeVos = DeVOS
What is the ...
1
vote
1answer
926 views
“Masters degree” — capital M or not?
When someone states "I have a Masters in Computer Science" should the word masters have a capital M? I've seen arguments for both and can't determine which is correct.
3
votes
2answers
304 views
Should “brother” be capitalized in a letter salutation?
John Smith, a member of my congregation, would be addressed as brother in face-to-face conversation. If I write a letter to him, should I capitalize this word? For example, as in:
Dear Brother ...
3
votes
3answers
442 views
“the” is in my business name, capitalize it or not?
I'm starting a new business and recently decided on a name. The problem is that the name has the word "the" stuck right in the middle, like so:
__ the __, LLC
My question, should the "the" be ...
-1
votes
2answers
589 views
Upper or lowercase letter if name at the start of the sentence? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How do you capitalize a proper noun such as “iPhone”?
Capitalization of names that begin lowercased, at the beginning of a sentence
I have a product that is called ...
6
votes
1answer
130 views
Should taxonomy terms such as Crustacea be capitalized?
Should taxonomy terms such as Crustacea be capitalized? I think yes, but am unsure.
0
votes
1answer
363 views
Capital letters in headlines [closed]
I’m not a native English speaker. I’ve noticed that in titles or headlines, many words often start with a capital letter while others are still lowercase. As an example, the title of my question ...
3
votes
1answer
602 views
Should names of scientific theories be capitalized?
I'd really like to safely write stuff like Special Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Theory of Evolution without capitals; but I don't want to regret it, whence my question.
Should the name of ...
1
vote
0answers
33 views
Capitalization rules for “the” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Capitalising the definite article in names
I'm a bit confused on the proper capitalization rules when "the" is part of someone's title. For example, if I have a ...
0
votes
2answers
118 views
Capitalization of “lady” [closed]
In quoting a character who wants to attract the attention of an unknown female, would the word "lady" be capitalized? As in: "Hey, lady! You dropped your wallet!" The character is referring to a ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
Do you capitalize the names of holidays?
I always thought the names of holidays were proper names, and should thus be capitalized "Christmas", "Thanksgiving", etc. However, I recently made a typo when talking about Christmas (Christmsa), and ...
3
votes
1answer
329 views
When to capitalize the name of a season
Which sentence uses the correct capitalization for the name of the season?
I will travel in the summer of 2013.
or
I will travel in the Summer of 2013.
