The humble capital letter is used and abused so much it should probably seek therapy.
Some people drink Champagne. Others prefer champagne. Some go for prosecco.
Some people try to win an audience by capping every word in their blog title - Please Read My Brilliant Article, while others take a softer approach - Sorry to trouble you, but I’d like you to read my blog post.
Capital offence
and then there’s a new generation of writer that refuses to capitalise any word in the english language because they literally don’t have time 2 consider such pointless rules. lol
A couple of client questions in the past few weeks have led me back to this most subjective of subjects.
The first was about why I use sentence case in the blog post titles I write for my client.
Brand befuddlement
The second was about how to tackle brand names that start with a lower case letter when you’re writing content.
Both good questions that led me to revisit the rules on capitalising words.
After a fairly rapid review of numerous style guides, here are my thoughts on this complex capital landscape.
1. See you at the White House on Tuesday, president
Let’s start with the obvious. If you’re referring to a specific person, place, organisation or whatever else - also known as proper nouns - you need to cap the first letter.
It keeps your writing consistent and helps to clarify your meaning. When you write the White House, it’s clear you’re referring to the US president’s home, rather than a random bungalow down the street that’s had a fresh splash of render.
It all sounds so simple, until…
2. A swiss roll for your alsatian
You might think that both of the above examples should be capped as they refer to a specific type of cake and breed of dog.
But more often than not, writers will opt out of capping nouns that have ‘lost connection with their origins’, as the Guardian’s style guide puts it.
So you can go low with all sort of nouns, such as wellington boots, cheddar cheese, yorkshire pudding.
These are kind of easy to understand. It just feels the right thing for most writers to do. But what about Worcester sauce or Parma ham? I’d say they still need a cap, because they retain strong local links.
Drink anyone? Champagne is one for debate. Even though it’s legally recognised to come from one specific place, it’s become the norm to write it as ‘champagne’. The cap has been harvested and it feels okay.
Capitalisation can also depend on the writer’s location. English media would always crown the Queen with a capital letter.
But when I worked for a national newspaper in the Republic of Ireland, which understandably lacked deference to Her Majesty, it was style to call her the queen of England.
The thing to ask yourself is whether going low will interrupt the flow of your writing or make it less clear. If the answer’s no, then slash caps where you like.
3. Job titles
Plenty of news organisations write job titles in lower case. You might lead the country, but you’re still the prime minister. As society becomes less formal, so too does the writing.
If you’re communicating to staff in a business, it’s also a good way of showing you’re a business without barriers, where everyone is valued equally regardless of their position in the organisation.
4. Blog post titles - Why is Everyone Shouting?
While there’s a general tendency to use fewer capitals, there is one clear contradiction - and that’s the use of caps in headlines and titles across the web.
In the title of a book, film, TV show or whatever, most words, apart from the tiny articles (a, an, etc), prepositions (at, for, to, etc) or conjunctions (and, but, etc), are capped. It’s called title case, so fair enough.
But I don’t see a blog title as a title as such. It’s no more than a headline.
When a writer chooses title case, they’re understandably trying to add emphasis to their post and grab the limited attention of readers as they scroll through busy Facebook or Twitter feeds.
But for me, it feels unnatural and shouty. I know the title font on my website is all caps, but that's more a style decision. When I link to my blog from Twitter or elsewhere, I always use sentence case. It's softer, friendlier and more credible. It’s your choice, but as Frank Sinatra almost said, I'd do it my way.
5. Brands that start with a lower-case letter
Businesses that want to project a casual and friendly image often use a lower-case logo and brand identity.
But how should you approach that when you’re referring to that business in any piece of written content?
Brand names, however they appear on a logo, remain a proper noun and should be capped up in content. So facebook or citibank, should be written as Facebook/Citibank for consistency and clarity.
The only acceptable exception is when you have a brand with a lower-case prefix, such as eBay or iPad.
In those cases, I’d argue you keep better flow by retaining the style. Writing EBay or IPad looks ugly and would jar with your reader. Brands that take all caps, such as IKEA, should be written as Ikea.
I’ve seen the small matter of capitalisation kick off many an angry newsroom and agency dispute. But after 15 years in the business, the above rules work for me.
Do you agree? Let me know in the comments below or my Twitter feed.
Some useful free resources: Guardian style guide http://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-a, BBC news style guide http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/news-style-guide