Testy Copy Editors

Our new website is up and running at testycopyeditors.org. This board will be maintained as an archive. Please visit the new site and register. Direct questions to the proprietor, blanp@testycopyeditors.org
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:24 pm

All times are UTC - 5 hours




Forum locked This topic is locked, you cannot edit posts or make further replies.  [ 11 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 12:09 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 744
Location: HuskerLand
Sample paragraph:<p>"Participants in the Alaska State Games are mostly older citizens," director Rhett Butler said. Those who've played in the games before disagree.<p>Ignore all the other problems with the two sentences. Would you cap games in the second sentence or not? Thanks.


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 12:13 pm 
Offline

Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 887
Location: U.S.A.
No.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 12:16 pm 
Offline

Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 273
No. There are a few exceptions to this rule -- for example, I'd capitalize "Legion" on second reference for "American Legion" because it only refers to the organization; it's not the normal meaning of the word "legion." And AP style makes exceptions for "Series" and "Derby" on second reference for "World Series" and "Kentucky Derby," though I disagree with that.<p>But in the example you gave, I cannot justify a capital.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 12:21 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2002 1:01 am
Posts: 8342
Location: Bethesda, Md.
No. If you use AP style, you can extrapolate from the Olympics entry:<p>Olympics Capitalize all references to the international athletic contests: the Olympics, the Olympic Games, an Olympic-size pool, but lowercase the games when used alone.<p>The Washington Post style is:<p>Olympics, the Games, the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics, the Summer Games, the Winter Games. <p>... although I can't imagine why.


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 1:11 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 744
Location: HuskerLand
Thank you all. I still think it looks odd lower-cased but I bow to superior knowledge and expertise.


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 1:32 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2003 12:01 am
Posts: 1112
Location: An undisclosed alpine meadow
AP's de-capping of the games is a fairly recent style change. In the 2000 stylebook, it was still the Games. But that wouldn't have applied to the Alaska State Games -- only the Olympic Games.<p>[ April 07, 2004: Message edited by: SeaRaven ]</p>


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 4:42 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 744
Location: HuskerLand
Here's my understanding, so maybe I have it all wrong.<p>We initial cap Games if it's referring to the Olympic Games, because it's referring to one particular set of games. (And the Olympic Games people said so, I guess.)<p>In my comment, I am also referring to a specific set of games, the Alaska State Games. It seems like the same type of reference -- a particular set of games. So why have two different standards, one for the Olympic Games and one for everything else?<p>Perhaps it's not necessary to understand. Perhaps it's only necessary to follow the AP guide.


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 6:05 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 598
Location: The Herald in Everett, WA
<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by blanp:
No. If you use AP style, you can extrapolate from the Olympics entry:<p>[b]Olympics Capitalize all references to the international athletic contests: the Olympics, the Olympic Games, an Olympic-size pool, but lowercase the games when used alone.
.[/b]<hr></blockquote><p>I didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up (and you, too, Searaven); I'll point that out to our style gurus.. Our stylebook has the Games (in ref. to Olympics), but I don't know if that was by decision or just repitition of AP style.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 11:16 pm 
Offline

Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 887
Location: U.S.A.
<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by majorbabs:
In my comment, I am also referring to a specific set of games, the Alaska State Games. It seems like the same type of reference -- a particular set of games. So why have two different standards, one for the Olympic Games and one for everything else?<hr></blockquote><p>In some instances, the event is "special" enough to warrant the capitalization; i.e. "the Series." The Alaska State Games isn't in the same league. (No pun intended.)


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 11:24 pm 
Offline

Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 12:01 am
Posts: 25
Location: North Carolina
to echo the word of so many others: NO


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: To Cap or Not To Cap
PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:44 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2004 1:01 am
Posts: 37
Location: sunny SoCal
We use "Games" on second reference for the California State Games.<p> http://www.calstategames.org/<p>[ April 08, 2004: Message edited by: ***me*** ]</p>


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Forum locked This topic is locked, you cannot edit posts or make further replies.  [ 11 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group

What They're Saying




Useful Links