Topic #17: Capitalization. I’ve covered this before briefly in other installments, but I see a lot of confusion around capitalization so decided it deserved to be its own topic. Bureaucratic agencies are notorious for their love of acronyms and unnecessary capitalization – it can sometimes feel like a losing battle, but don’t give up! Pizza Grammar's style is to only capitalize proper nouns. Just because Pizza Grammar capitalizes a word does not mean it’s correct. And this isn’t just me being a bossy grammar bully; improper capitalization can often change the meaning of words or phrases (e.g. august vs. August). See below for some of the most common areas of confusion. As always, there are exceptions and caveats to every grammar rule, so the Pizza Grammar Style Guide or a good dictionary are excellent resources for specific questions. I am also always happy to answer questions or debate grammar rules!
Job titles: Only capitalize someone’s title if it directly precedes their name. If the title comes after the name, make it lowercase, it’s really just a job description. When in doubt, and with really long titles, it’s a safe rule of thumb to give the person’s name first, then follow with the title in lowercase. Better still is to simplify or generalize titles.
- At this year’s Pizza Grammar gala, President Pepperoni Claire will deliver the keynote address.
- Joe Sausage, our chief of pizza parties, will also be speaking at the event.
- M&E Director Mike Mozzarella was not invited to the gala.
- Julie Extracheese, assistant adjunct administrator for agriculture and mechanization at Pizza Grammar, has a really long title.
- Julie Extracheese, a Pizza Grammar administrator, has a really long formal job title.
Departments: When referring to internal departments, do not capitalize Pizza Grammar departments unless citing someone’s official title. More broadly, you capitalize department names when it is the official name, i.e. Department of State or Department of Agriculture. These are the actual names of the organizations and are therefore treated as proper nouns. Academic departments are only capitalized when used as the official name.
- Director of Communications Kimberly Greenpeppers has been with Pizza Grammar for three years.
- Eric Bananapeppers joined the communications department last month.
- Our history department only offers 12 courses while Harvard University’s Department of History offers 49 courses.
Pride capitals: Many people have a tendency to capitalize words for emphasis; these are often referred to as “pride capitals,” as in we capitalize what we admire. Do not do this! Even though lead farmers are important to the success of our programs, it is not an official title or proper noun. Similarly, despite governments’ belief that they are supreme entities, we do not capitalize the word government unless it begins a sentence. The government of Kenya or the Kenyan government are correct. Ditto for program or project, unless these words are part of the official program/project name, use lowercase.
Honorifics: Certain professions have special professional designations called honorifics, e.g. doctor, professor, judge, deacon. They should be treated the same as job titles – only capitalize when they directly precede a person’s name. When they’re used as a general descriptor or standalone nouns, use lowercase.
- I have a meeting with Judge Lisa Mushroom at 11:00 this morning.
- Lisa Mushroom is a judge in Dallas, Texas.
- I want to go to law school so I can become a judge one day.
