Rules of Capitalization

[MikeBarone]

Rules of Capitalization"

Take note that the "of" is not capitalized in the title of this thread.

However, I am not sure if this rule pertains only to titles. It looked out of place in the quote, "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death."

Read the last entry in this list found on Dictionary.com:

The rules of capitalization are quite extensive and depend somewhat on the context in which the words are used. The basic rules are to capitalize:

The first word of a sentence
Names of the days of the week, months of the year
The pronoun I
Names, including initials, of individuals
Titles which precede names
All names of holidays (excluding any prepositions)
The first word and all nouns in a salutation
The first word in the complimentary closing of a letter
Family relationship names when they precede a name or are used in place of person's name, especially in direct address
All words in the names of specific organizations and agencies excluding prepositions, conjunctions, and articles
Names of languages
Names of definite sections of a country or the world
Names of nationalities
Names of religions and deities
Adjectives formed from names of geographical locations, languages, races, nationalities, and religions
The first word and all the words in titles of books, articles, works of art, etc. excluding short prepositions, conjunctions, and articles.

Mike Barone

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[CajunCenturion]

If I cut and paste a phrase from another source, such as Patrick Henry's speech, and there is disagreement with your rules, who is responsible for the error?

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[Dimandja]

I kinda like the following rules:

1. Always capitalize the first and the last word.
2. Capitalize all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions ("as", "because", "although").
3. Lowercase all articles, coordinate conjunctions ("and", "or", "nor"), and prepositions regardless of length, when they are other than the first or last word. 4. Lowercase the "to" in an infinitive.

From

http://www.writersblock.ca/tips/monthtip/tipmar98.htm

 

[sleipnir214]

As I remember being taught, those rules shoulc apply to everything but titles of works.

The title of a work is often considered a product of the creative process that created the entire work. As such, titles of works can and often do violate the rules.

But the quote would best comply with the rules you've quoted if written Give me liberty or give me death. if it were a quote or a statement. If it were the title of a book, then the capitalization could be anything the author wanted.



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[MikeBarone]

It is not a matter of assigning blame CajunCenturion. It is a matter of learning what is proper. I hear an undertone of humor in your comment. To that I would reply, "Two wrong's does not make a right!"

Now, look at the quote I just typed. Apparently we were both wrong. Upon further investigation I found:

"Prose in drama looks as prose does normally: the first words of sentences are capitalized and the lines do run to the end of the page. Poetry in drama looks as poetry does normally: the first words of lines are capitalized and the lines do not run to the end of the page."

Reference:

http://www.csulb.edu/~mvanelk/quotinst.htm

Mike Barone

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[MikeBarone]

I mean to say, "Two wrong's do not make a right!" - sorry!


Mike Barone

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[CajunCenturion]

What are the two wrongs?

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[sleipnir214]

I think that should read either:

"Two wrongs' {something} do not make a right", if you're talking about something that is possessed in common by two wrongs.

or

"A wrong's two {something} do not make a right", if you're talking about two somethings that are possessed by a single wrong.

or

"Two wrongs do not make a right" if you are talking about debasing the often-assumed an erroneously-assumed effect that doing two wrong acts can cancel out the total effect of the acts.





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[MikeBarone]

If I cut and paste a phrase from another source, such as Patrick Henry's speech, and there is disagreement with your rules, who is responsible for the error?"

This statement reminded me of when my son pushes my daughter and she pushes him back. "Two wrongs..."

It was an attempt at being humorous.



Mike Barone

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[rosieb]

If you are looking at capitalisation, a lot of it is style - many organisations have a "house style" which sets rules for their writing, these won't necessarily exactly follow any other pre-defined rules.

To me, the important factor is "Does it make the text more comprehensible?" I think too many caps make text hard to read, but that's just an opinion.

Rosie
"Never express yourself more clearly than you think" (Niels Bohr)

 

[medic]

I agree with rosieb. Capitalization rules is not always followed especially when dealing with titles and proper names. Consider, for example, the name dBase or dBASE (before it became DBASE).

 

[MikeBarone]

Medic, Internet terminology is always an exception to the rules of grammar.

dBase is a title, the creators chose to name it using a lower case d. All the grammar rules on Earth cannot change that.

Similar to mySQL and a million others.



Mike Barone

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"One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die."

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[GwydionM]

Title Cases Are A Valid Usage
AND SO IS HEADLINE ENGLISH, though in a forum it is shouting and is considered rude. I am not being rude, but just giving an example of the richness of text when you recognise all of its possibilities.
There are many valid modes of speech and writing within the generality of English. This includes 'loose English', the stuff you'd use among friends but not in a formal context. Foreigners who learn a language can master formal English but usually never manage 'loose English', which is distinct from bad English or broken English.

As for Headline English, it is fine for headlines, a quick overview, just as Title Case has its uses. There is in fact a well-known English poem that seems to be written in Headline English, even though it gets presented with standard capitalisation. Each line or pair of lines could have appeared as a contemporary headline without looking out of place. Some of you may want to guess: it is

[white]The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, click here for the text.[/white]

The richness of English is that we don't have to obey anyone's rules. There is no one authoritative centre, and this has its benefits.



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