Don’t use ordinals on dates.
No: The iPhone 3G comes out on July 11th.
Yes: The iPhone 3G comes out on July 11.
Please use commas after both the city name and the state name when namechecking a city/state in body copy.
No: Washington D.C. hosts a respectable amount …
Yes: Washington, D.C., hosts a respectable amount …
No: Daniel Boulud got his start in Wichita Kansas as a line cook at Burger King.
No: Daniel Boulud got his start in Wichita, Kansas as a line cook at Burger King.
Yes: Daniel Boulud got his start in Wichita, Kansas, as a line cook at Burger King.
Watch your caps, folks. I’m seeing weird-ass shit that shouldn’t be capped. And I’m seeing things lowercased that should absolutely be capped. It’s driving me crazy because this is elementary school English. I’m not going to go over the basic rules of capitalization, because you learned that in third grade. Er, maybe I will …
- Proper nouns (also called proper names): Nouns representing unique entities (such as London, Universe, or John), as distinguished from …
- Common nouns: Nouns which describe a class of entities (such as city, well, or person).
Proper nouns are capitalized. Common nouns are not.
No: The best Hot Dogs in Chicago can be found at Hot Doug’s.
Yes: The best hot dogs in Chicago can be found at Hot Doug’s.
No: Ed says he really likes the thai food at Won Dee Siam.
Yes: Ed says he really likes the Thai food at Won Dee Siam.