Transcript OST164 Text Editing Applications

OST164
Text Editing Applications
Section 3 – Capitalization
Part III: Paragraphs 346-364
Acts, Laws, Bills, Treaties ¶346

Capitalize formal titles of acts, laws, bills, treaties, and
amendments, but do not capitalize common-noun elements
that stand alone in place of the full name.
the First Amendment – the amendment
Public Law 480 – the law

Do not capitalize generic or informal references to existing or
pending legislation except for proper nouns and adjectives.
an environmental protection bill
the Brady gun control law

“Laws” that make humorous or satirical observations about
human and organizational behavior are capitalized to suggest
that they carry the same authority as an actual piece of
legislation.
Murphy’s Law (if something can go wrong, it will)
The Peter Principle (incompetent people get promoted)
Parkinson’s Law of Data (data expands to fill space available)
Programs, Movements, Concepts ¶347
Do not capitalize the names of programs,
movements, or concepts when they are used as
generic terms.
social security numbers
the civil rights movement
medicare payments
The Social Security Administration
The Civil Rights Act
The Medicare Act
Races, Peoples, Languages ¶348

Capitalize the names of races, peoples, tribes, and
languages.
Caucasians
Hispanics
the Japanese
Native Americans

Do not hyphenate terms like African Americans or
French Canadians when they are used as nouns.
Do hyphenate these terms when they are used as
adjectives.

(noun)
The French Canadians visit every year.
(adjective) The African-American voters….
Religious References ¶349

Capitalize all references to a supreme being.
God
the Holy Spirit
Allah
Yahweh

the Lord
the Messiah
the Almighty
Capitalize personal pronouns referring to a
supreme being when they stand alone.
Offer thanks unto Him.
Ask the Lord for His blessings.
Religious References ¶349

Capitalize references to persons revered as holy.
the Prince of Peace Buddha
the Good Shepherd the Prophet
the Blessed Virgin John the Baptist

Capitalize the names of religions, their members, and
their buildings.
Mormons
Zen Buddhism
Baptists

Methodists
Temple Beth Sholom
Reform Judaism
Capitalize references to religious events.
the Creation
the Second Coming
the Exodus
the Resurrection
Religious References ¶350
Capitalize (but to not quote, italicize, or
underline) references to works regarded as
sacred.
 the
King James Bible
 the Koran
 the Torah
 the Hebrew Bible
 the Ten Commandments
 Hail Mary
 the Apostles’ Creed
 the Lord’s Prayer
Celestial Bodies ¶351

Capitalize the names of:
Planets - Jupiter, Mars, etc
Stars - Polaris, the North Star, etc.
Constellations – the Big Dipper, the Milky Way

Do not capitalize the words “sun”, “moon”, and “earth”
unless they are used in connection with the
capitalized names of other plants or stars.
We need to take care of the earth we live in.
Compare the orbits of Mars, Venus, and Earth.
Course Titles and Subjects ¶352
Capitalize the names of specific course titles and
numbered courses.
American History 101 meets on Tuesdays.
My favorite class is Introduction to Art.
However, do not capitalize names of subjects or areas of
study (except for any proper nouns or adjectives in such
names.)
My accounting class meets on Wednesday nights.
We offer over 20 history courses.
How many students are in the business English class?
Academic Degrees ¶353

Do not capitalize academic degrees used as
general terms of classification.
She earned a bachelor of arts degree.
He is working towards a master’s degree.
Jo was awarded a bachelor of science degree.

However, capitalize the degree used after a
person’s name.
Ann Drew, Doctor of Divinity,
will be here this afternoon.
Academic Years ¶354

In references to academic years, do not
capitalize the words freshman, sophomore,
junior, and senior.
Joseph will be a sophomore in high school
I can’t believe Ashley is a senior this year.

In references to grade levels, capitalize the
word “Grade” when a number follows but not
when a number precedes.
My son is in Grade 6.
My son is in the sixth grade.
Commercial Products ¶355

Capitalize trademarks, brand names, proprietary names,
names of commercial products, and market grades.

The common noun following the name of a product
should not ordinarily be capitalized; however,
manufacturers and advertisers often capitalize such
words in the names of their own products to give them
special emphasis.
Elmer’s glue
TiVo
TraveLodge
Krazy Glue
PlaySkool toys
MasterCard
NutraSweet
NordicTrack
DieHard battery
Trademarks ¶356
Capitalize all trademarks except those that have become
clearly established as common nouns.
Zerox (versus photocopy)
Scotch tape
Post-it notes (versus sticky notes)
Jacuzzi (company product)
Kleenex (versus facial tissue)
Trademark holders typically use raised symbols such as
© and ® after their trademarks in all of their
correspondence, promotional material, and product
packaging.
If a mark of punctuation (such as a period or a comma)
falls at the same point as a trademark plus a raised
symbol, insert the punctuation after the symbol.
Legal Documents ¶358

Although it has been traditional in legal documents to
capitalize many words that would ordinarily be written in
lowercase, there is no agreement on one uniform style
for these documents.

The prevailing practice currently is to capitalize key
terms (Buyer, Seller, Tenant, Landlord, Plaintiff,
Defendant) and spelled-out amounts of money, such as
One Hundred Dollars ($100) or One Hundred (100)
Dollars.

The terms like ORDERED, GRANTED, and DENIED
may or may not be capitalized.
NOTE: Leading authorities for the plain language
movement advocate eliminating capitalization.
Nouns With Numbers or Letters ¶359

Capitalize a noun followed by a number or a
letter that indicates sequence.
Account 6066
Building 4
Column 1
Diagram 4

Act 1
Exhibit A
Lesson 20
Exercise 15
Exception: Do not capitalize the nouns: line,
note, page, paragraph, size, step, and verse.
line 25
page 100
size 10
verse 99
note 4
paragraph 3
step 17
Titles of Literary and Artistic Works ¶360-361

In titles of literary and artistic works and in displayed
headings, capitalize all words with four or more letters.

Do not capitalize:
Articles – a, an, the
Conjunctions – and, as, but, if, or, nor
Prepositions – at, by, for, in, of, off, on, out, to

Articles, conjunctions, and prepositions should be
capitalized under the following circumstances:
First or last word of a title
First word following a dash or colon
Awards and Medals ¶364
Capitalize the names of awards and medals.

Pulitzer Prize winners
 the Nobel Prize
 Oscars and Emmys
 the Tonys
 the Medal of Honor
 the Purple Heart
 a National Merit Scholarship
 the Distinguished Service Medal