Q. I recently started working for an institution founded on the values of the Sisters of Mercy. I am working on our magazine, and I’d truly appreciate your skilled recommendation on whether or not to capitalize the word mercy in various tricky/gray areas. For example, we know mercy should be lowercase when used in the generic sense, as in “he begged for mercy” or “at the mercy of the court,” and capitalized when used in a proper name, as in Mount Mercy University or Mercy Hospital. The trick is in situations like “a mercy education,” “a mercy institution,” or “providing mercy care.” We are looking through many guides and checking with other mercy institutions to figure out best practice, but I would love a CMOS ruling!
A. You could try mentally substituting the name Sisters of Mercy when considering whether you mean the institution and its specific tenets or the more generic (lowercased) term. If it makes sense to use Sisters of Mercy, uppercase Mercy. For instance, does “mercy care” involve specific practices outlined by the Sisters of Mercy, or is it a kind of merciful care that anyone could provide?
You and your team see gray areas because you conflate your institution’s name and brand with one of its values. Anyone outside your perspective can easily see that “a mercy education” makes little sense. A professional editor could help you and your team put together a style guide with sample sentences and guidelines.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. These two examples are given in CMOS 6.77: “My name is Phyllis; that’s p-h-y-l-l-i-s.” “A proficient signer can fingerspell C-O-L-O-R-A-D-O in less than two seconds.” Why are the separated letters caps in one example but lowercase in the other?
A. Because both ways are commonly used, and both work well!
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am drafting an editorial statement for a journal that adheres to CMOS and I’m not sure how to sign it. What is the proper capitalization of my title, co-Editor-in-Chief? Should it be “Jane Doe, co-Editor-in-Chief” or “Jane Doe, Co-editor-in-chief” or no capitalization at all? Does co- adhere to CMOS, or should our editorial leadership be simply “Editors-in-Chief” (and in that case, how would each editor refer to her individual title)?
A. It’s up to your journal what names to give its leaders, but in the absence of other instructions in CMOS, we follow Merriam Webster, which spells your terms “editor in chief” and “coeditor.” It’s customary to cap a title in a display line—in this case, Editor in Chief or Coeditor in Chief. (Chicago’s guidelines for lowercasing are meant to apply to running text, not display type.) Please see CMOS 8.19 and 8.20 for general rules on capitalizing titles and offices.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Hello, Chicago. I’m having a heck of a time with this one. Yes, I’m probably overanalyzing it, but . . . Chicago says to lowercase hell and heaven except in a purely religious context. I’m editing a romantic novel where the author makes several references to hell. I’m second-guessing myself on when to cap it. In an expression like “no way in hell,” I’d lowercase it. But in the next sentence, the heroine thinks she’s going to Hell. And what about words like hell-bound? Thanks.
A. By “purely religious context,” CMOS means “in a religious publication,” since readers of such publications may be offended by lowercasing. I’m guessing that this novel is not a religious publication. Lowercasing throughout should be fine.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m editing a Regency-era romance, and there are several references to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, shortened to Foreign Secretary in some places and Secretary in others. I’m aware of Chicago’s preference for lowercase in such circumstances. I find myself using lowercase for the prime minister with ease, but the secretary is giving me pause. I’m worried about creating confusion with the modern idea of clerical secretaries.
A. In a Regency-era romance where the full title and partial title of the secretary of foreign affairs appear in several places, you can probably trust readers to understand that this character is not an administrative assistant in the office of a modern start-up. (If not, capitalization should be the least of your worries.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is it okay to capitalize Modernist when speaking of the twentieth-century movement in English literature? Many sources favor the lowercase, but I’ve always done the opposite.
A. Either way is acceptable. Chicago style prefers the lowercase, but an editor should defer if possible to a writer who has reason to depart from style.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. My company has a handbook called The Standards and Expectations Handbook. We intend to call it “the handbook” for short. When written, should “the Handbook” be capitalized to denote that we’re talking about the specific book, or should it be lowercase?
A. You can do it either way. Here we write “the Manual” when referring to CMOS (italic, because it’s a shortened italic title), but it wouldn’t be wrong to call it “the manual.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. CMOS 13.7 recommends silently correcting typographic errors while retaining capitalization of older works. I am writing a book with numerous quotations from archival sources from the nineteenth century. Does that count as old? These sources seem to have idiosyncratic rules about capitalizing empire following proper names, such as “the Roman empire.” Is the text old enough to preserve that error?
A. You seem to have misunderstood the spirit of 13.7. The point is to try to distinguish between (a) modern sources, where typos and bizarre spellings are assumed to be unintended errors, and (b) writings that were published (or transcribed for print) before the time when consistency in spelling was a goal. There’s bound to be some overlap in the two—it’s not as though there’s a date when “old” turned into “new.” So try to think in terms of “intended” and “unintended” spellings. CMOS is saying that it’s fine to correct an unintended typo or two. We’re not saying that it’s OK to change the character of a document by changing all the old-fashioned spellings and stylings into modern ones. And incidentally, Chicago style uppercases Roman Empire (per CMOS 8.51).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am confused about the capitalization of giclée, which is a type of computer-generated art print. I see it both ways. It isn’t a proper noun or anyone’s name, so I don’t see why anyone would capitalize it. Can you weigh in? It is not in my dictionary.
A. People probably cap giclée for the same reason they cap president, chapter, or impressionism. We don’t know what that reason would be, so we lowercase it.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Our staff editing human-rights reports need help interpreting the rule re capitalization for administrative bodies (CMOS 8.63). In cases of more than one body should the first term still be capitalized, as in Ministries of Labor and Education? Would greatly appreciate your counsel.