pls check if this is correct sentence

[konungursvia]

joey is visiting friends and family in the west coast this weekend

> Upper case J for "Joey"
- It is a proper noun
- It is the first word of the sentence

> Upper case letters for "West Coast" in this case

> ON the West Coast, not IN
- But: "He is visiting friends IN Mendocino."

> Period at the end of the sentence

Joey is visiting friends and family on the West Coast this weekend.

I'm not 100% sure we need to capitalize West Coast here.

[Soup]

I'm not 100% sure we need to capitalize West Coast here.

It depends on where Joey is going. Is he visiting the region (the West Coast) or the shoreline (the west coast)?

[konungursvia]

Even so, if there is no municipal government district, state or province called West Coast, you can leave it west coast. I used to live in West Germany, but that town (Heidelberg) is now in west Germany.

[Soup]

Even so, if there is no municipal government district, state or province called West Coast, you can leave it west coast.

Ah, but the Americans may beg to differ. Click

[konungursvia]

With each other...http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/op...n.html?_r=1&em

[Ann1977]

I'm not 100% sure we need to capitalize West Coast here.

I'm not 100% sure about that either, actually. I hesitated long over that, and I printed it both ways so I could see it on the screen.

What factors would you balance to make a call in a case like this?

[konungursvia]

I don't know. But I think it has to be a proper name that changes character over the lower case version. West Coast and west coast seem pretty darn similar, it's a coast, and it's in the west, so I'm not totally convinced. Florida Panhandle I get. But for something that might be just two ordinary words, I'd need a jurisdiction with that as its name to feel confident about the Upper Case.

[Ann1977]

I don't know. But I think it has to be a proper name that changes character over the lower case version. West Coast and west coast seem pretty darn similar, it's a coast, and it's in the west, so I'm not totally convinced. Florida Panhandle I get. But for something that might be just two ordinary words, I'd need a jurisdiction with that as its name to feel confident about the Upper Case.

Well, usage and custom are going to have a big pull here.

When I typed both versions so I could have a gecko, I made the decision on the basis of the greater familiarity of the upper case version.

I do think that "west coast" causes people to look twice, to stop and think, or at least to note briefly that it's spelled wrong. But there's never a nanosecond of hesitation about the meaning of "West Coast."

That's got to count for something!

On the other hand, I tend to agree with your point about making this area into a proper name.

[bhaisahab]

When I typed both versions so I could have a gecko, I made the decision on the basis of the greater familiarity of the upper case version.

Was the reptile helpful?

[Ann1977]

Was the reptile helpful?

I hesitated over the spelling of that.

My first version was "gekko" (and I've heard "gekky" as well).

But a Google search turned up "gecko" as the spelling for the slang word, along with the assertion that it's Australian slang related to the little lizard.
gecko 104 up, 28 down
Australian slang: to look at or inspect.

Based on the way geckos look at objects.
Lets have a gecko at what's on tellie.
Urban Dictionary: gecko


I hadn't known either of these things. I assumed it was slang from England.

And for all I know, the Google hits were dead wrong -- as though there could be any bad information on the internet! Ha!