Q. When should the word “century” be capitalized? I know it would not be capitalized
in this case: “It’s not happened in this century.” But what
about this: “Were many people rich in the eighteenth century?” or “What
did people wear in eighteenth-century Pennsylvania?”
A. Chicago style treats “century” like “day,”
“month,” or “year”; we would lowercase
it in all the contexts you cite.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. My grammar books say to cap the first word of what comes after a colon if what comes after the colon is a complete sentence. I noticed you didn’t do that. (“Check it out in printed books and magazines and newspapers: you probably won’t find any double periods after abbreviations.”)
A. It’s fine to capitalize there, although Chicago style is to lowercase after a colon unless what follows consists of two or more complete sentences. Please see CMOS 6.61–67 for examples and exceptions.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Throughout a book I am editing, there are numerous references to rules and laws that the author defines, for example, the
Law of Cause and Effect, the Rules of the Game. She also capitalizes other words that are normally lowercased: Light (as in
“toward the Light”) and Habit (when referring to a behavior that keeps us from
following the rules of the game). I realize that she is capitalizing to place an emphasis on these words and make them stand
out, but I am not entirely comfortable with this. Do you have any suggestions?
A. Depending on your level of confidence, you can try to talk the author out of the caps. I recently addressed this problem
in a manuscript with slashes through the caps on “Cultural Movement” and a cheerful
note: “I’m going to be slashing away at these kinds of caps—only
Plato still gets to cap Truth, Beauty, and Cultural Movements.” My note was intended to suggest that
such capping is old-fashioned, and my author understood and agreed. Another comment I like to use (usually with regard to
italics for emphasis, but it might also work for excessive capping) is “Your prose tends to provide
emphasis naturally and absolutely does not need these crutches.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I would like additional clarification regarding a recent Q&A. You stated that a word that is part of a proper name should not be capitalized if such word is being used as an article in the sentence. The example given was “We evaluated the University of Texas’s enrollment data.” You stated that this was correct even if the proper name of this school is “The University of Texas.” I thought that the goal of good editing was to produce clear, accurate, and comprehensible text. If “The” as part of a proper name is not capitalized, the reader will be led to believe that it is not part of the name. Why create confusion, to say nothing of the insult that may be given in certain cultures and communities where a name may have great significance?
A. Chicago’s style is to lowercase, probably because it’s not practical for editors to research the capitalization of “the” in every organization name in a manuscript. Even quick internet searches leave questions, since websites often show inconsistencies in spelling and capitalization. That’s the idea behind having a style manual in the first place: to make arbitrary decisions (which we would not call “correct,” since there are many acceptable styles) that an editor can impose efficiently within a document for the sake of consistency. Readers are not likely to be insulted if the name of their organization is treated the same as that of every other organization in a document.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I understand the general rules about titles (academic, civic, etc.), but I am working on a project that has quite a few instances
of the following: “We are pleased to have the Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock here with
us today. . . . We appreciate the support of the Prime Minister of India.”
I would lowercase “prime minister of India,” but what to do about the minister
of food, agriculture, and livestock? Should it be the minister of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock, all lowercase, or title
case? Thanks for your help.
A. It wouldn’t seem right to lowercase the prime minister and uppercase the livestock. Chicago style would
lowercase everything in your titles (except India).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. What is the proper pronoun form to use to refer to God? I was taught to capitalize the pronoun “He”
when “God” was the antecedent. However, I checked a number of standard grammar
handbooks and can’t find any information on this point. Have the rules changed?
A. Chicago lowercases such pronouns, but it’s not wrong to uppercase, especially if you are writing for
a religious readership or anyone else who might take lowercasing as a sign of disrespect. In matters of style, in contrast
to those of grammar, there are few right or wrong answers. Different houses follow different style guides in order to make
their publications consistent.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. CMOS mentions that titles are commonly lowercase (president of the United States) but that there is an exception with the title of Speaker. There is debate in my office over the titles of archivist of the United States, Smithsonian secretary, and librarian of Congress. If they do not precede a name, do they remain lowercase?
A. Yes, lowercase the titles. After all, how fair would it be to lowercase the president and uppercase the librarian? The Speaker gets special treatment, though, probably because in an institution like the House, where everyone wants to talk and all the talk is recorded for posterity, it has to be clear whether the reference is to the presiding officer (the Speaker) or the person currently blabbing away (the speaker).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Besides italicization, does “ceteris paribus” require an initial C? In an article of mine, I wrote: “With this notation, the ceteris paribus cost relevant to the source . . .” The copyeditor capitalized “ceteris” but not “paribus.” Why would that be?
A. I can only imagine that your copyeditor thought that “ceteris paribus” was some sort of species of the animal kingdom, perhaps a distant relative of the wood pigeon (Columba palumbus). Note also that, all things being equal, CMOS doesn’t recommend italicizing any Latin phrase common enough to be included in a dictionary like American Heritage or Merriam-Webster.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]