I tend to be a serial over capitaliser, or concious of this, under capitalise. Is there a straight forward way of knowing when the name of something constitutes a proper noun and when not?

Darryl

I'm sure there is, but I don't use one. I usually only capitalise specifics. Not very helpful, I know.

Hi Darryl,

From the Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language, via AOL:

Capitalization
The consistent use of capitals in Western European languages, to begin the first word of a sentence and for the first letter of a proper name (for example, John, Mr Smith, New York), began in the late Middle Ages, and was not fully systematized in English until the end of the 16c. During the 17c and 18c, common nouns and other words were often capitalized, much like (though less consistently than) the capitalizing of common nouns in present-day German. This practice is now largely restricted to abstract nouns like Liberty, Equality, Fraternity; even then the use is often ironic, truth being usually less absolute and grand than Truth. The practice of capitalizing content words in the titles of books, book chapters, articles, etc., is well established, but is not followed in all systems of reference, so that although Gone with the Wind is the dominant usage, Gone with the wind is also found. Despite the expectation that there are or should be rules for capitalization, above all for proper nouns, conventions remain unstable: should/Should the first word in a clause that follows a colon be capitalized? In BrE, the practice is generally not to capitalize in such cases, whereas AmE tends to favour a capital. Is it the Earl of Essex or the earl of Essex? There is no absolute rule, but there is a consensus in printing styles for Earl when designating an actual title.


Additional uses
(1) To identify a word more closely with a particular ethnic or other source: the Arabic language (contrast arabic numbers); the Roman alphabet (contrast roman numerals, roman type). (2) To identify a word more closely with a particular institution or highlight a particular term, usage, etc.: the State as opposed to the state; the Church as opposed to the church; Last Will and Testament as opposed to last will and testament. (3) To give prominence to such special temporal usages as days of the week, months of the year, and epochs (Monday, September, the Middle Ages), and such institutional usages as certain religious terms (God, the Mass) and trade names (Coca-Cola, Kleenex). (4) In a series of block capitals or block letters, to ensure that a handwritten word or name is clear. Serial capitals used to represent stressed speech are a largely 19c development: ‘“MISS JEMIMA!” exclaimed Miss Pinkerton, in the largest capitals’ (W. M. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, 1847–8, ch. 1); Tweedledum, in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1871, ch. 4), crying in a great fury, ‘It's new … my nice NEW RATTLE!’, where small capitals grow to full capitals, because his voice ‘rose to a perfect scream’. (5) Initial capitals are widely used to highlight or dramatize certain words: ‘The first rule of politics is Never Believe Anything Until It's Been Officially Denied’ (Jonathan Lynn & Antony Jay, Yes Prime Minister, 1986). (6) ‘Internal’ capitals have become fashionable in recent years, especially in computing and commerce, to indicate that in a compound or blend the second element is as significant as the first, as in CorrecText, DeskMate, VisiCalc, WordPerfect. Related word- and letter-play may also occur, as in VisiOn, CoRTeXT. Such a convention allows an unlimited range of visual neologism. See ALPHABET, PUNCTUATION.


Adele.

IB & Adele,

Thanks for your input. Seems that the whole capitalisation question as a bit less black and white than I originally surmised.

I suppose a lot of it will depend upon which editor's desk our work lands on.

Except for the obvious blunders I make changing a full stop to a comma then forgetting about the following capital.

Darryl

Oops,

Just found this, which answers most of the primary questions I was asking.

Capitalizing Proper Nouns

A proper noun is a noun which names a specific person, place, or thing.

Proper nouns are capitalized. That includes the following categories of names:

Each part of a person's name:


James A. Garfield Chester Alan Arthur
Given or pet names of animals:


Lassie Trigger Secretariat
Geographical and celestial names:


Red Sea Alpha Centauri Lake Havasu City
Monuments, buildings, meeting rooms:


the Taj Mahal Grant's Tomb Room 222
Historical events, documents, laws, and periods:


the Civil War the Hatch Act the Reformation
Months, days of the week, holidays:


Monday Easter December
Groups and languages:


Myopia Hunt Club the Republicans Israeli French National Football League
Religions, deities, scriptures:


God Christ the Bible the Torah Islam
Awards, vehicles, vehicle models, brand names:


the Nobel Peace Prize Eagle Scout Ford Escort the Bismarck Kleenex

Some parts of last names may not be capitalized.

Sometimes the part of the last name following Mac (but never Mc or M' may not be capitalized. For example, Prime Minister J. R. MacDonald, but author George Macdonald. There is no rule, just learn the name.


Sometimes the part of the last name following the particles de, du, d', den, der, des, la, le, l', ten, ter, van, or von (and similar particles) may or may not be capitalized. The particles themselves may or may not be capitalized. Check to see how the person prefers it

Neat list. I think I'll call my next novel Lassie Trigger Secretariat: a compelling saga of a dog and a horse's valiant quest to save the European Commission from Myron Ebell's dastardly threats.

God, I really do need a break now...

Adele.

The best place for a break could be to visit the red Sea on Alpha Centauri. I am going to look that up in the 2005 Thomas Cook brochure.

David