Editor's Corner

As we continue on with the topic of capitalization, the next lesson from Grammar Girl (www.quickanddirtytips.com) is about deciding when to capitalize job titles and job descriptions. Here is her advice, though I’ve changed the examples to make them simpler and more pertinent to us.

Note: One caveat before I start: if clients want to be addressed with uppercase titles or job descriptions, we generally don’t argue with them. 🙂 We’ll talk more about this and “pride capitals” later.

Rule – Part I:
If the title is an actual title—not just a job description—and it comes before the person’s name, it should generally be uppercase.

Examples:
Chief Executive Officer, Jack Prim
President of the United States, Barrack Obama

Rule – Part II:
If the title comes after the name, make it lowercase. In this case, it’s an appositive phrase serving as an identifier.

Examples:
Kara Church, editor at JHA, spends $100 on red gel pens in a writing frenzy…
Caesar Milan, dog trainer, is recommended by many movie stars with bad dogs.

Rule – Part III:
For a general job description, use lowercase, regardless of whether it comes before or after a name.

Examples:
The San Diego Zoo’s lead gardener, Fonzie Fatoosh, reports that the fruit fly population is under control.

The Fish Cave’s company spokesman, Lincoln “The Shark” McMahon, delivered the news about the “Lobster Extravaganza” bonuses.

Thursday’s Topic: Capitalization and Department Names

And from englishfails.com, kickin’ it old school:

Kara Church

Senior Technical Editor