Style Bites » C

capitalization

Adam — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:45:33 +0000

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.

chef (as title)

akuban — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:06:46 +0000

Do not use chef as a title.

No: She passed the bag of Cheetos to Chef Boulud.
Yes: She passed the bag of Cheetos to Boulud.
Yes: Daniel Boulud, the celebrated French chef, enjoys eating Cheetos at the end of the night.
Yes: Jane Doe works as a sous chef at Bar Boulud, where one of her duties is preparing chef-owner Daniel Boulud’s nightly Cheetos snack.

chef names

Adam — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:02:53 +0000

For a list of commonly misspelled food-personality and product names, visit: People and Products

city names (dateline cities)

Adam — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:58:22 +0000

Do not abbreviate city names.

New York City, not NYC (New York is OK, on second reference).
Los Angeles, not LA.
San Francisco, not SF.

Exception: Abbreviations are OK in entry tags — NYC, SF, LA

DATELINE CITIES
Certain cities are so well-known that they do not need to be accompanied by state names. They are:

Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington: Because Washington is a dateline city that stands alone without the “D.C.,” writers using AP style often must clarify in text when they’re referring to “Washington state.”

commas

Adam — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 04:49:24 +0000

Serious Eats uses the serial comma—that is, the comma before the “and” in a series of words.

Peas, corn, and carrots not peas, corn and carrots

commas, serial

Adam — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:53:08 +0000

I want those apples, oranges, and pears.
I want mushrooms, onions, and sausage on my pizza.

I want to see you all using the serial comma. Your English teacher may have beaten into you that you drop the comma before the and. S/he wasn’t necessarily wrong. You can drop it or use it. I think it adds clarity to a sentence, and we should employ it.

commas, with city and state names

Adam — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:48:08 +0000

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.

compliment, complement

akuban — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:45:36 +0000

Please watch this word. I’ve seen it cropping up misused across the site lately.

compliment: an expression of esteem or admiration

complement: something that fills up, completes, or makes perfect

Yes: The addition of mustard complements a hot dog.
Yes: I simply must compliment this street vendor on this delicious hot dog.
No: The thick slice of Berkshire pork compliments the bowl of ramen.

composition titles

Adam — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 05:02:31 +0000

Apply the guidelines listed here to book titles, magazine titles, movie titles, opera titles, play titles, album titles, television program titles, and the titles of works of art.

Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions of four or more letters.
Capitalize an article — the, a, an — or words of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in a title.
Italicize the names of all such works except the Bible and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material. In addition to catalogs, this category includes almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks, and similar publications.
Translate a foreign title into English unless a work is known to the American public by its foreign name.

crisp

Adam — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:46:17 +0000

Please use “crisp,” not “crispy.”