A Capitalization Cheat Sheet

A Capitalization Cheat Sheet A Capitalization Cheat Sheet A Capitalization Cheat Sheet By Mark Nichol Capitalization is a bewilderingly complex issue, with many rules and exceptions. This post outlines the basic, most common guidelines for capitalization, with examples. Academic degrees: Lowercase- â€Å"bachelor’s degree†; capitalize entirety of most abbreviations (with a few exceptions, including PhD and DLitt) Academic disciplines: Capitalize only proper names- â€Å"Asian studies† (except as part of a full name of an entity (â€Å"the School of Business,† â€Å"the Department of Philosophy,† â€Å"the Commission on the Liberal Arts,† etc.) Acronyms and initialisms: Capitalize most abbreviations of proper names- NATO, FBI (but some style guides and writing handbooks call for using initial capitalization only for extensive and established acronyms, as with Nasdaq); most abbreviations for units of measurement are not capitalized, but check a dictionary or style guide for exceptions Animal names: Lowercase terms except in the case of proper names- â€Å"African elephant,† â€Å"Steller’s jay† (do the same for animal breeds, as in â€Å"Labrador retriever,† though specialized publications often capitalize all words in breed names); capitalize first word in binomial and trinomial nomenclature (â€Å"Homo sapiens,† â€Å"Gorilla gorilla gorilla†), but differentiate between nomenclature and popular name (â€Å"Pinus ponderosa,† but â€Å"ponderosa pine†) Astronomical terms: Capitalize most names of specific bodies and collections of bodies- â€Å"the Milky Way,† but â€Å"the solar system†; capitalize Earth (and Moon and Sun) in astronomical references but lowercase in terrestrial or figurative contexts- â€Å"The third planet is Earth,† but â€Å"The earth is flat† (do not capitalize earth when the word is preceded by the) and â€Å"Where on earth is he?† (and â€Å"The sun is about to rise† and â€Å"The moon is full†) Brand names and trademarks: Follow capitalization as used by the brand owner, but ignore logo format- for example, the brand names Lego and Time (the magazine) are treated as all-caps in the respective company logos; companies discourage genericization of trademarks such as kleenex and xerox, but writers have no obligation to honor such usage as â€Å"Kleenex Brand Facial Tissue† Color terms for ethnic identification: Lowercase unless a company or publication prefers otherwise- â€Å"black man,† â€Å"white people† Compass points: Generally lowercase, but capitalize in geopolitical contexts- â€Å"the Pacific Northwest,† â€Å"customs prevalent in the East†) Cultural terms: Look up specific terms, as treatment varies widely- â€Å"art deco,† but Beaux-Arts Emphasis: Capitalize only in ironic contexts- â€Å"He was apparently a Big Man on Campus†; do not capitalize entire words, except perhaps to denote a newspaper headline or signage (and then, small caps are recommended) Epithets: Capitalize key words- â€Å"Alfred the Great,† â€Å"Babe Ruth,† â€Å"Michael ‘Air’ Jordan,† â€Å"the Windy City,† â€Å"Big Pharma† File formats: The Chicago Manual of Style recommends capitalizing names of formats, but do so only in such usage as â€Å"I made a GIF from the video,† and lowercase (and precede with a dot) in references to files such as â€Å"The latest version of Microsoft Word uses the file extension .docx† Foreign terms: German capitalizes all nouns, but lowercase German words adopted into English- hausfrau, schadenfreude, weltanschauung (if it’s in the dictionary, it’s English) Generations: Lowercase except in the case of initials or other single letters- â€Å"baby boomers,† â€Å"generation X† Geographical names: Capitalize in proper names, but lowercase in generic usage- â€Å"the Mississippi River,† but â€Å"the river†; check style guides for variations such as â€Å"the Pacific coast†/â€Å"the West Coast†; lowercase metaphorical and nonliteral use of proper names- â€Å"manila envelope,† â€Å"They set out to create a utopia† Historical terms: Look up specific terms, as treatment varies widely- â€Å"the colonial period,† but â€Å"the Gilded Age† Honorifics: Capitalize key words- â€Å"the First Lady,† â€Å"Your Honor† (but â€Å"Yes, my lord†) Key commands: Capitalize words denoting switch, keyboard, and command functions- â€Å"the Pause button,† â€Å"the Command key,† â€Å"the Save command,† etc. Kinship names: Capitalize only in direct address or in place of or in combination with a name- â€Å"Yes, Mother,† â€Å"We’re going to Grandmother’s house,† â€Å"Uncle Joe† (but â€Å"my uncle Joe†) Laws, theories, and the like: Capitalize only proper names- â€Å"Newton’s third law,† â€Å"the Pythagorean theorem† Letters as letters: Capitalize only if the letter is specified as an uppercase letter- â€Å"a capital C† (exception: letter grades, as in â€Å"She earned four As†) Letters as shapes or musical notes, or points, concepts, or hypothetical names: Capitalize- â€Å"a V-shaped symbol,† â€Å"from point A to point B,† etc. (exception, lowercase- but italicize- letters in rhyming schemes, as in â€Å"an abab pattern†) Medical conditions: Capitalize only proper names- â€Å"Alzheimer’s disease,† but â€Å"muscular dystrophy† Natural events and phenomena: Capitalize names of storms but otherwise lowercase generic words- â€Å"Hurricane Harvey,† but â€Å"the San Francisco earthquake† Organizational entities: Capitalize in proper names, but lowercase in generic usage- â€Å"the Federal Bureau of Investigation,† but â€Å"the bureau†- and â€Å"the federal government†); lowercase generic versions of entity names- â€Å"the company,† â€Å"the museum,† â€Å"the committee,† etc.; lowercase the preceding entities’ names (unless house style allows exceptions) People’s names: Capitalize names of real and fictional people, but lowercase figurative usage- â€Å"Jack Nicholson,† â€Å"Jack Sprat,† but â€Å"every man jack†; capitalize personifications- â€Å"Mother Nature,† â€Å"Ol’ Man River† Prefixes for proper names: Look up specific terms, as treatment varies- pre-Columbian, but transatlantic Seasons: Lowercase- winter, spring, summer, fall Titles of compositions: Capitalize key words- â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† (check a style guide for specifics) Titles of jobs and offices: Capitalize key words before the name (except when modified) and lowercase after the name or in isolation- â€Å"Director of Marketing John Smith,† â€Å"Pastor Jane Jones† (but â€Å"former director of marketing John Smith,† â€Å"John Smith, director of marketing,† and â€Å"the director of marketing,† as well as â€Å"the pastor†); capitalize in direct address (â€Å"As you were, Sergeant†) or in formal written contexts or in a ceremonial or promotional list Titles of nobility: Capitalize before names and when using full title in isolation- â€Å"There’s Prince Charles,† â€Å"the Duke of Windsor† (but â€Å"the duke†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? 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