Q. I’m editing a translated interview transcription for publication by a university press. The sentence in question reads as follows: I asked, “Mr. agent, why don’t you do me a favor.” The speaker is addressing an unidentified agent of a Colombian paramilitary. The uncapitalized agent looks strange following the title of address, but then of course agent isn’t an actual capitalizable name. Should I go with “Mr. Agent,” or would “Mister Agent” take some of the formal edge off, or is “Mr. agent” preferable?
A. “Mister Agent” or “Mr. Agent” would both follow the customary capitalization. I agree that there is little precedent for “Mr. agent.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m editing a biography of a WWII pilot. Would bomber training and fighter training be capitalized because they are referring to specific types of planes?
A. Fighters and bombers are not actually specific types of planes; they are general categories. Specific types of fighters would be (for example) the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, and the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. You can find a list of WWII fighters and bombers here.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am a government auditor who frequently issues findings to entities with long, cumbersome names (e.g., the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission for Widget Standards and Inspections). In my previous job, I was instructed to state the full name of the entity the first time it appeared in a report, followed by a capitalized abbreviated version (e.g., Commission) throughout the rest of the report. In my new job, I have been instructed to follow The Chicago Manual of Style, which has been interpreted to mean using lowercase for such abbreviations. Apparently, I am not the first person to question this practice, and it has become a source of contention in our office. Do you have any words of wisdom to help mediate this dispute?
A. Although Chicago style is to lowercase generic terms like commission in reference to a named organization, CMOS (always insistent upon flexibility in the application of its guidelines!) does offer support for capitalizing shortened forms of organization titles:
The full names of institutions, groups, and companies and the names of their departments, and often the shortened forms of such names (e.g., the Art Institute), are capitalized. . . . Such generic terms as company and university are usually lowercased when used alone (though they are routinely capitalized in promotional materials, business documents, and the like). (CMOS 8.68; emphasis added)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. When writing about the town in Massachusetts, should I use Foxboro or Foxborough? The latter is the technical, legal name; the former is what everybody (USPS included) prefers and actually uses.
A. Choose one and explain your choice. For instance: They lived in Foxboro, Massachusetts (officially Foxborough, although that spelling is largely ignored).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Would you capitalize both terms in “Easter Bunny”? One of my coworkers argues that we should not capitalize the “bunny.” While she grants that, for example, we would capitalize “Santa Claus,” she argues that that is the character’s proper name. The same does not apply here. We’re talking about an unnamed bunny who happens to be active on Easter; hence, “the Easter bunny.” My feeling is that we should capitalize it, as we’re not talking about just any bunny, but a specific mythological figure. I think it falls under the penumbra of CMOS 8.34 and 8.35; whether or not “Easter Bunny” is the character’s proper name, it’s certainly used as such. What say you?
A. Both arguments have merit. Both styles are perfectly understandable as naming the bunny who is active on Easter. You could flip a coin. However, “Santa Claus” appears in the two dictionaries I checked; “Easter Bunny/bunny” does not. Given that Chicago leans toward lowercasing when possible, we would opt for “Easter bunny.” [Update: Apparently the Bunny won the coin toss. Merriam-Webster now includes an entry for Easter Bunny (capital B), listing “Easter bunny” as an equal variant.]
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I know that CMOS prefers theater to theatre, but when referring to degrees from the Department of Theatre (the university’s determined spelling), which should I go with?
A. Proper names must not be edited for style or spelling. Just as an editor would not change the spelling of your name, a street name, or the name of a retail product for consistency, the name of a department should not be changed to match a style guide’s preference.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am confused by how to style bacteria names. Merriam-Webster lists salmonella, streptococcus, and staphylococcus, as well as E. coli. Should they be treated as roman and lowercase (except for E. coli)? The bacterium Listeria is not listed. Is it inconsistent to style this as initial capped and italic if the other names are roman and lowercase?
A. Genus names like Salmonella should be capped and italic; their species are lowercased and italic: Salmonella enterica. However, when popular genus names are used generically (“I think he died of salmonella poisoning”) they are not capped or italicized. Note that you will see genus names all over the internet lowercased and in roman type, but that is probably because someone didn’t know how to make them italic. Please see CMOS 8.119–27 for the treatment of genus and species names and vernacular names.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. With reference to the NYPD crime data collection system, should I write COMPSTAT, CompStat, Compstat, or CompSTAT? All four seem to be used in journals.
A. If professional journals use all these forms, then you probably can’t get into much trouble just picking one. But to make a more informed decision, look online to see how it is used by authoritative sources. With a single Google search you can see from the results page that the NYPD itself uses CompStat, as do the University of Maryland and the New York City government. Good enough?
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How do you handle real product names like Head & Shoulders Shampoo or Gorton’s of Gloucester? Do you italicize or put quotes around them, or just write them the way they are used on the product?
Q. The author of a journal article argues that the terms listed below should be capitalized because they are “descriptive units.” The terms are descriptive of the patterns seen on Native American rock art. However, they are not considered to be types of rock art and are capitalized unpredictably in published works. Should these terms be capitalized or not? Cross, Split Shield, Midpoint Band, Patterned Lines, Perching Crow, Teeth, Eyes, Face.
A. Capping is probably a good idea. Since many of the terms consist of common words, caps will aid comprehension of them as names of patterns and prevent the reader from taking the words in their common meaning. And if the manuscript was prepared with caps for all these names, retaining them will save work and lessen the possibility that you will miss a few and end up with inconsistency.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]