Q. Megan often revs up her motorcycle and speeds south, arriving at the shores of the mississippi river around sunset. A. correct, Mississippi River. The first underlined word is a direction, not an area, so lower- case is appropriate for south. The second underlined term is a proper, specific name, so capital letters are needed. 41. Rowing across the hudson river is difficult for Andy, who hates oceans, lakes, and all bodies of water. 42. Andy, who was born in schenectady , new york, pretends to be a ukranian prince. 43. His latest bride, Abby, hails from an island near Andy’s castle, which is just north of the strait of gibraltar . 44. Megan gave a wedding present to the happy couple: two round-trip tickets to a beautiful natural canyon in the southwest. 45. The last time Megan visited new mexico , she was arrested by a constable visiting from eur ope. 46. “The fact that I am not from this continent is no reason to deny my arresting privileges,” said Constable Creary. “The nor th american justice system was modeled after the one in my countr y.” 47. “Do you expect me to honor a trans-atlantic arrest?” queried the judge. 48. The eur opean cop, who was actually from belgium, was so discouraged that he grabbed a turkish towel and sent out for a spanish omelet. 49. Megan did no jail time in santa fe , but she was imprisoned briefly in a small village north of omaha. 50. Her offense was wading in a str eam and trampling on six gardens in the west. AM or p.m.? Capitalizing Abbreviations Abbreviations save you time, but they also present you with a couple of annoying problems, namely whether to capitalize or lowercase and whether a period is needed. The world of abbreviations, I must confess, is prime real estate for turf wars. Some publications and institutions proudly announce that “we don’t capitalize a.m.” whereas others declare exactly the opposite, choosing “AM” instead. (Both are correct, but don’t mix the forms.) So if you’re writing for an organization with a chip on its collec- tive shoulder, you’re wise to ask in advance for a list of the publication’s or school’s preferences. In this section I give you the one-size-fits-most abbreviated forms. These are the general guidelines: ߜ Acronyms — forms created by the first letter of each word (NATO, UNICEF, OPEC, and so forth) — take capitals but not periods. ߜ Initials and titles are capitalized and take periods (George W. Bush and Msgr. Sullivan, for example). The three most common titles — Mr., Mrs., and Ms.— are always capitalized and usually written with periods, though the current trend is to skip the period because the long forms of these words are never used, with the exception of “Mister,” and even that is rare. 118 Part II: Mastering Mechanics 14_599321 ch09.qxp 4/3/06 11:26 PM Page 118 ߜ Latin abbreviations aren’t usually capitalized but do end with a period. Latinate abbreviations include e.g. (for example), ibid. (in the same place), and etc. (and so forth). The abbreviations for morning and afternoon may be written with capi- tal letters and no periods (AM and PM) or without capitals but with periods (a.m. and p.m.). Your choice, but be consistent. ߜ State abbreviations used to be written with an initial capital letter, lowercase let- ters as needed, and a concluding period (Ind. and Ala. for Indiana and Alabama, for example). However, people now use the two-letter, no-period, capitalized forms created by the post office (IN and AL). ߜ A capitalized long form normally has a capitalized abbreviation, and vice versa (lowercase long forms pair with lowercase abbreviations). ߜ When an abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, the period for the abbre- viation does double duty as an endmark. Don’t place two periods in a row! Okay, try your hand at abbreviating. Check out the full word, which I place in lower- case letters, even when capital letters are called for. See whether you can insert the proper abbreviation or acronym for the following words, taking care to capitalize where necessary and filling in the blanks with your answers. Q. figure _______________ A. fig. 51. illustration _______________ 52. before common era _______________ 53. mister Burns _______________ 54. united states president _______________ 55. national hockey league _______________ 56. reverend Smith _______________ 57. new york _______________ 58. Adams boulevard _______________ 59. irregular _______________ 60. incorporated _______________ 119 Chapter 9: Hitting the Big Time: Capital Letters 14_599321 ch09.qxp 4/3/06 11:26 PM Page 119 Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Capital Letters Use the information in this chapter to help you find ten capitalization mistakes in Figure 9-1, which is an excerpt from possibly the worst book report ever written. Moby, the Life Of a Duck: A Book Report If you are ever given a book about Ducks, take my advice and burn it. When i had to read Moby Duck, the Teacher promised me that it was good. She said that “Excitement was on every page.” I don’t think so! The story is set in the northwest, where a duckling with special powers is born. Moby actually goes to school and earns a Doctorate in bird Science! After a really boring account of Moby’s Freshman year, the book turns to his career as a Flight Instructor. I was very happy to see him fly away at the end of the book. Figure 9-1: Sample book report of a lousy read. 120 Part II: Mastering Mechanics 14_599321 ch09.qxp 4/3/06 11:26 PM Page 120 Answers to Capitalization Problems a Mayor. Titles and proper names take capitals; common nouns, such as servants and tape, don’t. b Harris. Names take capitals, but titles written after the name usually don’t. c municipal dogcatcher, E. The title in this sentence isn’t attached to the name; in fact, it’s sepa- rated from the name by a comma. It should be in lowercase. Initials take capitals and periods. d Dogcatcher. Now the title is attached to the name, and thus it’s capitalized. e Ms. The title Ms. is always capitalized, but the period is optional. After you choose a style, how- ever, be consistent. Write either Mr., Mrs., and Ms. or Mr, Mrs, and Ms but not some from each set. f dogcatchers, Agnes. The common noun dogcatchers doesn’t need a capital letter, but the proper name Agnes does. g correct. The name of the champion must be capitalized. About that name — people are allowed to spell their own names (and the names of their pets) as they wish. The capital letter inside the name is a style; you may not like it, but the namer’s preference should be honored. h civil servants. Once again, the title and name are in caps, but the common job classification isn’t. i correct. This title isn’t attached to a name, so it takes lowercase. j correct. Names are in caps, but the title isn’t, except when it precedes the name. k vice president. A title that isn’t attached to a name shouldn’t be capitalized. l President. In this sentence the title precedes the name and thus should be capitalized. m chief financial officer. This title isn’t attached to a name. Go for lowercase. n president. Don’t capitalize the title of president written without a name unless you’re talking about a major world leader such as the President of the United States. (Even then, some style manuals call for lowercase.) o bank president. This title isn’t connected to a name; therefore, it should be lowercased. p Reverend. The title precedes the name and becomes part of the name, in a sense. A capital letter is appropriate. q bishop. In this sentence bishop doesn’t precede a name; lowercase is the way to go. r general manager. I love the Devils (my son’s favorite team), but even so, lowercase is best for this title, which isn’t connected to a name. s player development director. Another title that’s all by itself. Opt for lowercase. t president. To be president is a big deal, but not a big letter. u United Nose Ring Company. Although college freshmen think they’re really important (and, of course, they are), they rate only lowercase. The name of the company is specific and should be in uppercase. 121 Chapter 9: Hitting the Big Time: Capital Letters 14_599321 ch09.qxp 4/3/06 11:26 PM Page 121 v company. A common noun such as company isn’t capitalized. w Curriculum Critique Committee. The name of the committee and the person (Stileless) should be written in caps, but the other terms (student representative, university, and the like) aren’t cap-worthy. x correct. Years in school and school levels aren’t capitalized. y In Style or Else, Inc., Klepto Industrials. The names of companies are capitalized according to the preference of the company itself. Most companies follow “headline style,” which is explained in the section “Capitalizing Titles of Literary and Media Works” in this chapter. A jewelers. Don’t capitalize common nouns. B Department of Product Development. The name of a department should be capitalized, but the preposition (of) is lowercased. C Introduction to Fashion. Course titles get caps, but subject names and school years don’t. D correct. School degrees (bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate) are lowercased, though their abbrevi- ations aren’t (B.A., M.S., and so on). School subjects aren’t capitalized. E companies. This term isn’t the name of a specific company, just a common noun. Lowercase is what you want. F Moby Duck: A Tale of Obsessive Bird Watching In headline style, the first word of the title (Moby) and subtitle (A) are in caps. Nouns (Duck, Tale, and Watching) and descriptive words (Obsessive, Bird) are also uppercased. The preposition of merits only lowercase. G “An analysis of the Duckensis mobyous: The consequences of habitat shrinkage on popula- tion” In sentence style capitalization, the first words of the title and subtitle are in caps, but everything else is in lowercase, with the exception of proper names. In this title, following pre- ferred scientific style, the names of the genus and species are in italics, with only the genus name in caps. H “Call Me Izzy Smell: My Life As a Duck Hunter” Per headline style, the article (a) is in lower- case. Did I catch you on “As”? It’s short, but it’s not an article or a preposition, so it rates a capital letter. I The duck and I: Essays on the relationship between human beings and feathered species Sentence style titles take caps for the first word of the title and subtitle. The personal pronoun I is always capitalized. J Duck and Cover: A Cookbook Headline style calls for capitals for the first word of the title and subtitle and all other nouns. The joining word and is lowercased in headline style, unless it begins a title or subtitle. K “The duck stops here: Political wisdom from the environmental movement” Sentence style gives you two capitals in this title — the first word of the title and subtitle. L Duck Upped: How the Duck Triumphed over the Hunter Because this title is in headline style, everything is in caps except articles (the) and prepositions (over). M “Moby Platypus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” Headline style gives capital letters for all the words here, as this title contains no articles or prepositions. N “Population estimates of the platypus: An inexact science” Sentence style calls for capital let- ters at the beginning of the title and subtitle. The term platypus isn’t the name of a genus (a sci- entific category), so it’s written in lowercase. 122 Part II: Mastering Mechanics 14_599321 ch09.qxp 4/3/06 11:26 PM Page 122 O For the Love of a Duck: A Sentimental Memoir Headline style mandates lowercase for arti- cles (the, a) and prepositions (of). The first words of the title and subtitle, even if they’re arti- cles or prepositions, merit capital letters. P Hudson River, correct, correct. The proper name (Hudson River) is in caps, but the common terms (oceans, lakes) are lowercased. Q Schenectady, New York, Ukranian. All proper names, all caps here. R correct, correct, Strait of Gibraltar. The names are all in caps, with a lowercase of for the Strait of Gibraltar. When capitalizing place names that contain several words, follow the “headline style” of capitalization described in detail in the section entitled “Capitalizing Titles of Literary and Media Works” in this chapter. The direction north is lowercased. S correct, Southwest. The common noun isn’t capitalized, but the area of the country is. T New Mexico, Europe. All proper names, all caps. U correct, North American, correct. Two common nouns (continent, country) are lowercased, but the description North American is derived from a proper name (North America) and thus needs capital letters. V trans-Atlantic. This question is a tricky one. The prefix trans- isn’t a proper name, so it’s written in lowercase. The name of the ocean, on the other hand, needs a capital letter. W European, Belgium, correct, correct. Another tricky question. The first two are capitalized because they’re proper, specific terms. The last two terms (turkish, spanish) are capitalized when they refer to the countries, but not when they refer to common, everyday objects. A turk- ish towel isn’t really talking about the country of Turkey but rather about a household object. Ditto for the omelet. X Santa Fe, correct, correct, Omaha. Two names, both in caps. One common term (village) and one direction (north), no caps. Y correct, West. The stream is a common term and doesn’t deserve uppercase. The area of the country is capitalized. z illus. Z BCE (The Latin expression Anno Domini — abbreviated “AD” — means “in the year of our Lord” and is used with dates that aren’t “BC,” or “before Christ.” To make this term more universal, his- torians often substitute “CE” or Common Era for AD and “BCE” or Before the Common Era for BC.) R Mr. Burns S U.S. Pres. T NHL (an acronym) U Rev. Smith V NY (postal abbreviation) or N.Y. (traditional form) W Adams Blvd. X irreg. Y Inc. 123 Chapter 9: Hitting the Big Time: Capital Letters 14_599321 ch09.qxp 4/3/06 11:26 PM Page 123 . used, with the exception of “Mister,” and even that is rare. 1 18 Part II: Mastering Mechanics 14_599321 ch09.qxp 4/3/06 11:26 PM Page 1 18 ߜ Latin abbreviations aren’t usually capitalized but do end. one in my countr y.” 47. “Do you expect me to honor a trans-atlantic arrest?” queried the judge. 48. The eur opean cop, who was actually from belgium, was so discouraged that he grabbed a turkish towel. hockey league _______________ 56. reverend Smith _______________ 57. new york _______________ 58. Adams boulevard _______________ 59. irregular _______________ 60. incorporated _______________ 119 Chapter