Q. “[Name of organization] wishes a Happy 75th Birthday to [name of person].” Is this correct? What are the rules of capitalization for “Happy Birthday”?
Q. Your rule that titles such as captain must be in lowercase is giving me trouble in a work about drilling oil wells. I have dutifully rendered a title such as Well Superintendent as lowercase, only to have multiple reviewers complain that they tripped over it in phrases such as “the well superintendent then called the office,” gaining a first impression that I was distinguishing the well superintendent from the ill superintendent. Also, the individual with that title is generally known as the “WS,” and it seems inconsistent to have the full title in lowercase and the abbreviation capitalized.
Q. Would you consider creating a rule about the capitalization of wine varietals? In my dictionary Chablis is capitalized, cabernet sauvignon and merlot are lowercase but “often capitalized,” prosecco is lowercase, barbera is lowercase. I edit a lot of books containing wine names, including one book solely about wine varietals, and there does not appear to be an industry-specific source.
Q. I’m hoping you can clarify the meaning of this line in CMOS 8.23: “Queen Elizabeth; Elizabeth II; the queen (in a British Commonwealth context, the Queen).” What counts as a “British Commonwealth context”? I’m editing a novel that takes place in the UK but refers to a meeting between the sovereigns of the UK and another country. Should these be styled as “the Queen” and “the king,” or “the queen” and “the king”?
Q. I am writing a book on a movement practice called Authentic Movement that distinguishes those in the role of movers and those in the role of witnesses. Should the words Mover and Witness be capitalized since they have a specialized meaning in this context? And if so, should they be capitalized in just the first usage, or throughout the entire book?
Q. I wonder if I am correct in capitalizing the word Resident when referring to a physician who is in residency training, in order to distinguish this specific type of person/professional from the generic resident of a community.
Q. I have a situation in which I am writing about the East China Sea and the South China Sea. When I refer to them separately, I of course capitalize each word (e.g., “East China Sea and South China Sea”). My question is whether I ought to capitalize the s in sea when I refer to them together: is it “East and South China Seas” or “East and South China seas”?
Q. We often refer to Chesapeake Bay as “the bay” on second mention (e.g., Chesapeake Bay is one of the largest estuaries in the world; we often visit the bay to conduct trawl surveys). My question is whether it is correct.
Q. When pointing to a particular rule within a set of rules, would you capitalize rule? I.e., Federal Rules of Evidence, rule 103, or Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 103? Thank you.
Q. There is much inconsistency regarding the capitalization of the term evangelical used as an adjective or noun. What do you advise?