Q. I’m helping a French writer edit a book he has written in English. I’ve been
following the convention of writing French words and phrases in italics and also using italics for movie titles, book titles,
etc. Now I come upon a French song title, and I can’t figure out what to do with it. Here is the phrase:
He called it “La non-demande en mariage.” Do I keep the quotation marks? Do I
italicize the French song title? Both?
A. Chicago puts longer French phrases and sentences in quotation marks (no italics) and reserves italics for single words and
very short phrases. Poem or song titles are quoted no matter what language they’re in. Chapter 11 of
CMOS has more information on editing French and other languages.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I see in CMOS that civil titles, such as “secretary of state,” should be lowercase unless appearing as, for example, “Secretary of State Smith.” What about titles such as “assistant secretary of state for bureaucracy and obfuscation”? Should “bureaucracy and obfuscation” be lowercase to match “assistant secretary of state” or should it be capitalized as the name of a specific department?
A. Chicago style lowercases the title of the person but uppercases the department name: Jordan Smith is assistant secretary of bureaucracy and obfuscation. The Department of Bureaucracy and Obfuscation requires advance notice of emergency absences. Anyone who works for Bureaucracy and Obfuscation should keep her resume up to date.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am editing a cookbook. When I am referring to a recipe by its full name in introductory text—say,
Spelt Butterhorn Rolls—would the name be capitalized as I just did, should it be enclosed in quotation
marks, or should it just be lowercase?
A. The caps will suffice. In a cookbook, they are useful in distinguishing actual recipes from generic descriptions of food.
As the editor of a cookbook, you would do well to look at a few classic or popular cookbooks to see what stylings are conventional.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Hi there. Please advise those of us who have to deal with music questions in our copyediting. How would you style the name
of a concert—in roman or italics? For example, One World: The Concert for Tsunami Relief.
A. CMOS doesn’t treat concert titles, but you could style them exactly as you did or put quotation marks around
them, as you would the title of a lecture.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m an editor at a law firm. I was recently asked whether there is any difference between “no
more than” and “not more than,” as in “Violator
will be sentenced to no/not more than five years in prison.” I took a poll in the office, and the other
editors said they prefer “no more than,” but they pointed out that “not
more than” is common in the legal context.
A. Unless there is some difference in official top-secret legal lingo (which would not surprise me), “no”
= “not” in this phrase.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m editing a university press book about the romance genre in England with references and comparisons to the rest of Europe. My question is about CMOS 8.47, which indicates “Continental cuisine; but continental breakfast.” This MS uses “continental” to modify any number of objects and concepts. Which are the exceptions, and which the rule (and why)?
A. Just between you and me, I suspect many editors struggle with these subtleties. I assume that CMOS takes its lead from Merriam-Webster, which certainly leaves me scratching my head. A good strategy is to ask the author if he or she capped and lowercased according to a plan, and if not, then you are justified in styling as you think best—perhaps lowercasing the adjective but capping “the Continent.” Just keep a record in your style sheet.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How should I treat names of apps?
A. Treat apps and software with initial caps, as you would any commercial product name. For examples, see CMOS 8.155.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I understand that a title following a person’s name should be presented in lowercase. Our Human Resources
Department defines official job titles at my college. We have titles that are presented with a comma rather than a preposition.
For example: director, human resources, rather than director of human resources. What is the correct way to present the title
after a name that includes the comma? Should “human resources” be uppercase or
lowercase? Should it be Mary Smith, director, human resources?
A. In running text, Chicago style lowercases titles but caps the names of departments: Mary Smith, director of Human Resources.
On a résumé, business card, diploma, door plaque, or such, your comma is appropriate
and the title may be capped: Mary Smith, Director, Human Resources.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. My professor has requested that one of our assignments have the titles of tables in headline-style capitalization. What does
this mean?
A. Headline style capitalizes the important words in a title: Six Reasons Susan Buys Shoes. In sentence-style capping, only
the first word and proper nouns are capped: Six reasons Susan buys shoes.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Should the first letter of all words in the title of a book, movie, or play be capped? I’ve sometimes
seen the first letter of prepositions and articles in lowercase.
A. Although computer automation favors capping all the words in a title because it’s easy to do, traditionally
only the important words (and not prepositions) are capped. There are exceptions; CMOS lays them out in its section on headline style.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]