[General] capital letters in headlines

[wineforparis]

In most headlines every (or most) words start with capital letters.

Is there any rule I can learn to know which words don't start with a capital letter in headlines? Articles maybe or really short words?

I've come across the following headlines:

"Offers Without Engagement"
"Offers with Limited Validity"

Why is "Without" written with a capital letter here and "with" is not? To me they seem to be of the same type of words so I don't understand.

Thanks in advance!

 

[5jj]

The 'little words' (prepositions, determiners, conjunctions( often begin with lower-case letters, but there are no 'rules' for headlines.

 

[TheParser]

In most headlines every (or most) words start with capital letters.

Is there any rule I can learn to know which words don't start with a capital letter in headlines? Articles maybe or really short words?

I've come across the following headlines:

"Offers Without Engagement"
"Offers with Limited Validity"

Why is "Without" written with a capital letter here and "with" is not? To me they seem to be of the same type of words so I don't understand.

Thanks in advance!

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


WineforParis,


(1) As the teacher told us, (sadly) there is no one rule.

(2) I have a 1994 U.S. News Stylebook. U.S. News magazine

is now only online (no more print). Its reporters are expected to

follow the stylebook's rules. This is what it tells reporters (in 1994):

In headlines ... [do not capitalize] the articles a, an, and the; the

conjunctions and, but, or, and if, and prepositions OF THREE

LETTERS OR FEWER [my emphasis]. (CAREFUL: if a preposition is


being used as an adverb -- or particle -- you DO capitalize it. The book

gives these examples: [Country X] Holds On to Islands; Jumping Up

and Down.)

Since "with" has four letters, then it should be capitalized -- according

to this guide.

*****


I also have a copy of the 1993 The Chicago Manual of Style, which is

followed by many people, especially professional writers and university

students. Let's see what it says (in 1993):

[In] headline style ... Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions

(and, but, or, for, nor) AND PREPOSITIONS, REGARDLESS OF

LENGTH, ARE LOWERCASED [my emphasis].

So -- unless the 2010 edition of this famous book has changed its

mind -- "with" should not be capitalized -- according to this guide.

The bottom line: If you are writing for a newspaper or for a

university class, you will be told which guide to follow. The most

important thing: regardless of which "rule" you follow, be CONSISTENT.

 

[Barb_D]

These are style guidelines, as The Parser has pointed out.

It has never made sense to me that prepositions are capitalized or not, according to how many letters they have. Chicago makes more sense to me.

However, The Parser's final bit of advice is so important that I want to repeat it:

The most important thing: regardless of which "rule" you follow, be CONSISTENT.

 

[Khosro]

What if a sentence starts with a quotation? Should I capitalize the first letter which is also the first letter of the quotation?

"could be a honest man" is not part of that sentence.
"Could be a honest man" is not part of that sentence.

Which one is correct? I think I should not capitalize it because we are not allowed to change words in quotations. What's your opinion?

 

[Barb_D]

When you need to qutoe something but just can't stand an error, or more usefully, need to provide some clarifcation about an unclear reference, square brackets are your friend.

"[C]ould be an honest man" is ...

A more meaningful example is a partial quote.

The mayor said "Tim Smith is a great public servant and will serve us well. He has my complete confidence."

You write The mayor said "[Smith] has my complete confidence."

The brackets show that you've made a replacement.

To me, a more perplexing example would be a trademarked name with a lower-case first letter, like iPhone. I can't imagine writing iPhones are sweeping the market. It goes against the grain. I'd have to rewrite.

 

[Khosro]

Sounds like beginning a sentence with a capital letter is such a strict rule that we should change all other things to match it!

 

[Barb_D]

Well, give me a few years and I'll probably be okay writing things like
iPhones are great inventions.

Things change. Just a bit more slowy for some of us.

 

[5jj]

To me, a more perflexing example would be a trademarked name with a lower-case first letter, like iPhone. I can't imagine writing iPhones are sweeping the market. It goes against the grain. I'd have to rewrite.

It's not just trademarked names. How does one begin a sentence with my username? If I begin a sentence with my own UE name, I am happy with the lower case f. I feel uneasy about what to do for for others, even though they have chosen this form for themselves.

 

[Khosro]

It's not just trademarked names. How does one begin a sentence with my username? If I begin a sentence with my own UE name, I am happy with the lower case f. I feel uneasy about what to do for for others, even though they have chosen this form for themselves.

I never change member's usernames in such cases. I always say "fivejedjon" whereever it stands.

 

[Coolfootluke]

It's not just trademarked names. How does one begin a sentence with my username? If I begin a sentence with my own UE name, I am happy with the lower case f. I feel uneasy about what to do for for others, even though they have chosen this form for themselves.

I am not a teacher.

The latest Chicago explicitly states that a sentence begins with a capital letter no matter what, mentioning trade names and the like. I normally reference statements like that, but I'm going to ask you to take my word for it for the time being. Ipods are just going to have to bite the bullet.

 

[Khosro]

I am not a teacher.

The latest Chicago explicitly states that a sentence begins with a capital letter no matter what, mentioning trade names and the like. I normally reference statements like that, but I'm going to ask you to take my word for it for the time being. Ipods are just going to have to bite the bullet.

What is Chicago?

 

[Coolfootluke]

What is Chicago?

Sorry. The Chicago Manual of Style---the style bible for the USA.

 

[5jj]

I Ipods are just going to have to bite the bullet.

Not for me; they are iPods. I think that, like Barb, I'd rewrite:

[STRIKE]iPods/Ipods have become cheap[/STRIKE]. The price of iPods has fallen.

fIVEJEDJON

 

[Coolfootluke]

Not for me; they are iPods. I think that, like Barb, I'd rewrite:

[STRIKE]iPods/Ipods have become cheap[/STRIKE]. The price of iPods has fallen.

fIVEJEDJON

I am not a teacher.

Chicago recommends a rewrite, too, but I recommend that the corporations read a book and not be so high and mighty.

 

[Tdol]

Ipod or IPod?

 

[Coolfootluke]

Ipod or IPod?

I am not a teacher.

Chicago says to retain CamelCase for names. i screwed that up. "IPod", i should have written. (I hate CamelCase, in case anybody cares.)

 

[5jj]

If, like me, you didn't know what Camel Case was, try here: CamelCase - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia