Q. I copyedit a technical journal, and I have a question about how CMOS would handle the term “Fortune 500.” Is “Fortune” (as the name of a publication) set in italics while “500” is not, or is “Fortune 500” treated as a standalone brand or fixed term akin to a trademark, where “Fortune” would be set roman? Thanks.
A. That term could go either way, but we’d refer to it as the Fortune 500, without italics for “Fortune,” following CMOS 8.174: “When the title of a newspaper or periodical is part of the name of a building, organization, prize, or the like, it is not italicized.”
The Fortune 500 (an annual ranking of the top 500 companies in the United States published by Fortune magazine) is analogous to a prize, and the fact that the word “Fortune” is part of the name of the list is what determines our choice.
The Billboard Hot 100 presents a similar case. Some editors would style that as the Billboard Hot 100. But we’d use italics only if referring to that list in terms of the magazine that publishes it, as in Billboard magazine’s Hot 100, or Billboard’s Hot 100 for short.
[This answer relies on the 18th edition of CMOS (2024) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Does a term following the word “called” need to be in italics or quotation marks—or neither? For example, “a series of bends called meanders.”
A. CMOS takes a relatively hands-off approach to terms introduced by called, known as, referred to as, and the like. The idea is that these are simply extensions of the linking verb to be:
Those are potatoes.
or, more specifically,
Those are called potatoes.
But if you want to draw attention to such a term for any reason, you can use italics (or quotation marks). CMOS does this, for example, in certain passages in chapter 5 where we wanted to emphasize grammar-related vocabulary—as in the following sentence from CMOS 5.180:
A phrasal preposition, sometimes called a complex preposition, is two or more separate words used as a prepositional unit.
For the related issue of what to do following so-called (where quotation marks are considered unnecessary in Chicago style), see CMOS 7.62.
[This answer relies on the 18th edition of CMOS (2024) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In CMOS 8.117, why are Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Polar Lander not italicized? Aren’t they the names of specific spacecraft?
A. Italics are normally reserved for creative as opposed to descriptive names. Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Polar Lander are the names of specific vehicles launched by NASA, but they’re both based on generic descriptions: The first name refers to a spacecraft that was launched to do a global survey of Mars (while orbiting that planet), and the second names a spacecraft designed to explore the south polar region of that same planet (after having landed on its surface).
Phoenix also refers to a specific spacecraft that was sent to Mars, but “Phoenix” is a name, not a description, so it gets italics (including when used with a generic description, as in “NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander”).
Trivia: Though italics for names are now usually limited to ships and other named vessels, it was once relatively common to find the names of people and places in italics, as in two influential eighteenth-century English novels: Samuel Richardson’s Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded (vol. 4, London, 1742, via Internet Archive) and Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (vol. 1, 1749, via HathiTrust).
[This answer relies on the 18th edition of CMOS (2024) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. If a word is used as a word but presented in all caps (or small caps), should it still be italicized or set in quotation marks (per CMOS 7.66)? For example: Fill in the squares with the letters that spell out BINGO. Or: Fill in the squares with the letters B, I, N, G, and O. In the latter case, the letters would be italicized. But putting the letters and the word in all caps and also italicizing them feels like overkill to me. It looks hideous. HELP!
A. Don’t worry, your editorial instincts align with ours. Capital letters, like italics and quotation marks, are very good at distinguishing a letter, word, or phrase from its surroundings. So unless you’re quoting from a specific source, please feel free to refer to the letters in bingo exactly as you’ve done in your question (both individually and when combined to form a word). Such an exception would be similar to the ones for the letter grades A–F (see CMOS 7.68) and the expression “the three R’s” (note the apostrophe; see 7.15 in the 18th ed. of CMOS).
[This answer relies on the 18th edition of CMOS (2024) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am the managing editor of a business journal. Many of the authors I edit put the word “learn” in quotation marks when it applies to AI. For example, “The algorithm can be trained to ‘learn’ how people interact.” Does CMOS approve of this usage, or does it prefer to allow AI to learn like the rest of us, free from quotation marks?
A. CMOS would approve (or rather its editors would), but only if the author needs to make a point about the nature of learning and isn’t simply trying to be clever, and provided the device isn’t overused (once is usually enough). A bit of editorial pushback along those lines might get your authors to drop the quotation marks. If that doesn’t work, you might remind them that it’s called artificial intelligence for a reason. Using so-called scare quotes around learn (or respond or any other word normally associated with living beings) would tend to belabor the obvious. (For more on scare quotes, see CMOS 7.57.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. If direct internal dialogue is set in italics, should the comma before the dialogue tag be set in italics or roman? CMOS 6.2 is very fuzzy on this. For example: “I lied, he thought, but maybe she will forgive me.” Imagine that the dialogue itself is set in italics. Should the first comma be italicized?
A. Good question! The comma after “lied” would be required both with the speaker tag (“I lied, he thought”) and without (“I lied, but maybe . . .”), so it could be said to belong to both the dialogue and the narrative. But adding quotation marks (as if the dialogue were speech) will suggest an answer:
“I lied,” he thought, “but maybe she will forgive me.”
becomes
I lied, he thought, but maybe she will forgive me.
The comma and period that are inside the closing quotation marks in the first version are in italics in the second version, whereas the comma after thought stays in roman. The difference is minuscule (without the bold for italics, would anyone notice?), and our solution is arbitrary. But it’s easy enough to understand and apply, so maybe we’ll make it a rule someday.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Are reverse italics [i.e., roman text in an otherwise italic context] used when a legal case includes names of newspapers that would normally be italicized on their own? Thank you!
A. The name of a newspaper or other periodical would be italicized in the name of a court case—just like the name of any other entity. The Bluebook, a widely used citation guide that we recommend for citing court cases and the like (see CMOS 14.269), includes a relevant example: Seattle Times v. Univ. of Wash. (see section B10.1.1 in the 21st ed. of The Bluebook [2020]).
That Bluebook example is intended to illustrate two principles: (1) an initial The in the name of a party to a cited case can be omitted (a rule that applies to both names in the Seattle Times case), and (2) abbreviations can be used for certain terms, including state names and words like “University.”
And though that example isn’t supposed to show the use of italics for case names (which in Bluebook usage depends on context), it does suggest that a newspaper name within the name of a court case doesn’t merit any special typographic treatment. That’s probably because the name “Seattle Times” is, in this context, that of a publishing company rather than a publication (publications don’t argue cases, but their publishers do).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Hello, I’m wondering how to style the name of a television program that has been assimilated into the cultural lexicon so that references to it are not truly references to the show. In particular, an author said, “When I landed at the airport, it was as if I had entered the Twilight Zone.” (He makes many references to this.) I feel it should be capitalized but not italicized, but I can’t find anything to say one way or another. Can you help? Thanks!
A. In your example, you’re right—the reference isn’t to the television show; rather, it’s to the fictional realm made famous by the show. So we agree with your treatment. Had your example been worded instead as follows, italics (and a capital T for The) would have been correct: “When I landed at the airport, it was as if I had arrived on the set of The Twilight Zone.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Would you italicize “x” in a phrase like “x number of dollars”? It seems like a variable, but I wasn’t sure if this casual use merited italics.
A. When an ordinary expression is borrowed from a specialized discipline like math, any basic convention that would be recognized by nonspecialists can often be retained, even in casual usage. For example, Chicago style is to italicize the n in “nth degree” (see CMOS 9.6); by extension, we would write “x number of dollars” (with the letter x in italics). As you suggest, these letters act like variables, which in math are usually italicized.
Another approach that’s common in published works is to use a capital X (normally without italics): “X number of dollars.” A capital X can stand in for anything that’s unknown or mysterious in some way—as in “X factor” or “X marks the spot”—and it’s arguably easier to read than a lowercase x. But either choice should work well as long as you’re consistent.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Should sounds made by animals or objects be italicized when they aren’t part of dialogue (e.g., “quack,” “choo choo,” etc.)?
A. Though not required, such italics might have their place. Italics are common in fiction for unspoken discourse (as for a narrator’s thoughts). Such italics signal to readers that the words come from somewhere other than the narrative or dialogue. Consider also the convention used by many video captioners of italicizing words spoken off-screen. Meow. (Sorry, our editorial assistant must be hungry again.) If you do end up deciding that italics would work for you, try not to overuse them.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]