Category Archives: capitalization

Ask PTB – Drug Names–Caps or Not?

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A Proof That Blog reader asked this question:

“Hi Kathy! I need your help! Should I capitalize drug names in sentences: Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, Marijuana? The officers write in lowercase but to me, it is a proper noun, so it should be capitalized. Thank you!”

The actual tradenames of drugs would be capitalized, i.e., ADVIL, which is the trademark owned by PF Consumer Healthcare 1 LLC for their ibuprofen tablets, is capitalized, but “ibuprofen” is not. Since “fentanyl” is the type of drug (a potent synthetic opioid) and not the tradename, it is not capitalized. The tradenames for fentanyl include Actiq, Fentora, and Duragesic, which would be capitalized.

The same is true of methamphetamine. The tradename for that is Desoxyn, so that tradename is capitalized, but the actual drug name “methamphetamine” is not. Marijuana is not a tradename, but is a type of “drug,” so it is not capitalized.

Basically, if it is not the registered tradename of the specific drug but is the type of drug (as it looks like your work would primarily be), it would not be capitalized.

I hope that helps!

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Grammar Giggle – Social Ssecurity Nnumber

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My daughter-in-law forwarded this to me. It looks to me like someone was trying to make sure each word was capitalized but forgot to delete the extra letter resulting in duplication of letters. This is a good reminder to make sure that once you go through and make edits, check it again to make sure it is actually correct.

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Grammar Giggle – NFL News

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A local newspaper was apparently so intent on getting news out about rumors of a possible NFL trade that they forgot to read the news story. Here is just one paragraph of that story that I found three errors in–and I’m not even a real football fan!

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Ask PTB – Capitalizing id.

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A reader recently asked if the abbreviation “id.” should be italicized and should the “I” be capitalized or not?

Photo by Marcin Skalij on Unsplash

According to The Bluebook, id. is always italicized (including the period). Whether it is capitalized or not will depend on where it falls. If it is part of a sentence or a citation and doesn’t start the sentence or citation, it is a small “i” as in “See id.” Where it starts a sentence or citation, it is a capital “i” as in “Id. at 635.” There is more helpful information about id. in a blog post entitled Latin, Italics, And Punctuation.

Thank you for your question!

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Grammar Giggle – During And Robbery

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I have a new source of Grammar Giggles: a local news station “breaking news” updates. I don’t read them all, but it seems that every time I actually read one, I find something wrong. This example would pass spell check, but should not pass eye and brain check. And the full name of both Baseline and Power are “Roads,” so that should be capitalized.

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ENCORE – The State of Capitalizing State

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StateSince this topic is the most popular on this blog and since it took me three tries to get it right, I wanted to redo the information in one post to make it easier for people to find and to give others a refresh on this topic. So when do you capitalize “state”?

According to the Gregg Reference Manual  ¶ 335:

  • Capitalize state only when it follows the name of a state or is part of an imaginative name:
    • The state of Arizona is known as the Grand Canyon State.
    • One of my favorite places to visit is Washington State.
  • Do not capitalize state when it is used in place of the actual state name
    • She is an employee of the state. Note, however, that people who are actually working for state government will probably write it as “State.”

According to The Bluebook, capitalize the word “state”:

  • When it is part of the full name of the state
    • The State of Arizona is the 48th state admitted to the Union.
  • When the word it modifies in capitalized
    • In Michigan, the State Corrections Director is in charge of the correctional system.
  • When referring to the state as a party to litigation or a governmental actor
    • The State filed a Motion to Dismiss.

Obviously, The Bluebook is not a grammar guide—it is a style guide for legal citation.

Most other sources I’ve found disagree with Bluebook’s first example and say that “state” should not be capitalized when used as a proper noun but is capitalized when used in place of a particular state or referring to a specific governmental body:

  • The residents of the state of California have a reputation for being healthier than most.
  • The corporation, registered to do business in the state of California, is actually an Arizona corporation.

According to another favorite resource of attorneys, the Chicago Manual of Style, “where the government rather than the place is meant, the words state, city, and the like are usually capitalized.”

  • The State of Florida’s statutes regarding corporations are codified at Title XXXVI.

Another resource simplifies it as when you are using “state” as a common noun, you would not capitalize it:

  • She loved visiting the Northwestern states because she loved the rain.
  • The state of California has a beautiful coastline.

But do capitalize “state” if it is part of a proper name

  • I love visiting Washington State (as opposed to Washington, D.C.—although I love visiting there too).
  • I have visited New York City, but not the rest of New York State (capitalized to differentiate between New York City and New York State).

All resources agree that “state” should be capitalized when it is a party to litigation.

  • The response to the Motion to Dismiss was filed by the State yesterday.

The only comfort in all this confusion is that obviously everyone is confused. In fact, in many recent U.S. Supreme Court cases, “state” is capitalized in different instances, which may be a holdover from style from the 18th Century when many common nouns are capitalized.

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Ask PTB – Initial Caps

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Ask PTBA reader asked PTB “In the phrase ‘found guilty of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child’ should ‘Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child’ use all initial caps?”

While my first instinct was that since it is the name of a criminal act under the law, it would be capitalized, when I checked on the criminal statutes of various states, they are not capitalized. I would treat it exactly as it is treated in the statute and not capitalize any of those words.

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Ask PTB – Capitalization

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Question: Is it his case number 30-100 or his Case Number 30-100?

Answer: First, thanks for asking the question. According to Gregg, a noun followed by a number or letter that indicates sequence is capitalized. I think since you are describing a specific case with the sequenced number, it is capitalized. If it just said “his case,” then it wouldn’t be capitalized, but it is like saying “his Mercedes Benz” rather than “his car.”

I hope that helps! And if any readers have questions, check out the Ask PTB page on the website proofthatblog.com.

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Are Job Titles Capitalized?

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Bailiff or bailiff-A reader recently emailed asking about the word “bailiff” and whether it was capitalized when transcribing a legal court hearing.  She asked “I understand that when it is used as a title, for example: Bailiff Jones will now take the jury to the jury room. But, during the course of conversation by the Judge – for example: If you (jury) has a question, please write out the question and hand it to our bailiff.  Is the word bailiff capitalized then – or is it capitalized throughout the document just as you would for Mr. or Mrs.?”

Based on my review of the Gregg Reference Manual, it would be capitalized when used with the last name as  in Bailiff Jones, but I do not think in the Judge’s conversation it would be capitalized. However, in reading Paragraph 313(c), it could be capitalized just because it is a court transcription and the bailiff might be considered an “official of high rank” in that courtroom by the persons reading the transcript.

  • Paragraph 313(c) – Titles of local governmental officials and those of lesser federal and state officials are not usually capitalized when they follow or replace a personal name. However, these titles are sometimes capitalized in writing intended for a limited readership when the intended reader would consider the official to be of high rank (emphasis added).

Paragraph 312(e) says not to capitalize occupational titles preceding names. The way to distinguish occupational titles from official titles is that only official titles can be used with last names alone. for instance, you wouldn’t address a person as “Author Collins,” “Lawyer Jones,” or “Director of Public Marketing Smith,” so they are occupational titles and shouldn’t be capitalized. As a general rule, the Gregg Reference Manual says not to put a title before a person’s name unless it is short and you would actually use the title when you are addressing them aloud.

Other sources say if the title precedes the name, it should be capitalized and if it does not, it should not be. But what about “bailiff”? As above, you would address them as “Bailiff Jones” but in this case the title is not preceding the name–you are just using “bailiff.” According to Gregg Reference Manual:

  • Paragraph 313(e) – In general, do not capitalize job titles when they stand alone. However, in procedures manuals and in organization memos and announcements, job titles are sometimes capitalized for special emphasis.

My gut says not to capitalize it because it is a job title in that courtroom and you are not capitalizing other job titles like court reporter, judicial assistant, etc. when they are used in place of a name.

Do you agree or disagree? Comment below.

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The Updated State of Capitalizing “State

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State (4)Check out the updated article at ENCORE – The State of Capitalizing State

Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. I have lots of issues that tend to attract Murphy’s Law into my life. Thankfully a very attentive NALS member brought to my attention that the last Grammar Nuggets article on capitalizing the word “state” had a glaring error. The Murphy’s Law part of that is that that article was correcting a 2014 blog post, so we are correcting it again and I’m hoping the third time is the charm. I apologize for getting the information wrong. The reference in the The State of Capitalizing “State” post to The Gregg Reference Manual should actually have been a reference to The Bluebook. This clerical error made a confusing topic even MORE confusing. Here is the correct information:

According to the Gregg Reference Manual ¶ 335:

  • Capitalize state only when it follows the name of a state or is part of an imaginative name:
    • The state of Arizona is known as the Grand Canyon State.
    • One of my favorite places to visit is Washington State.
  • Do not capitalize state when it is used in place of the actual state name
    • She is an employee of the state. Note, however, that people who are actually working for state government will probably write it as “State.”

According to The Bluebook, capitalize the word “state”:

  • When it is part of the full name of the state
    • The State of Arizona is the 48th state admitted to the Union.
  • When the word it modifies in capitalized
    • In Michigan, the State Corrections Director is in charge of the correctional system.
  • When referring to the state as a party to litigation or a governmental actor
    • The State filed a Motion to Dismiss.

Obviously, The Bluebook is not a grammar guide—it is a style guide for legal citation. The only grammar guide that seems to disagree with part of the Gregg Reference Manual is the Chicago Manual of Style, which says “where the government rather than the place is meant, the words state, city, and the like are usually capitalized.”

  • The State of Florida’s statutes regarding corporations are codified at Title XXXVI.

I have made and will continue to make mistakes and I will continue to learn right along with you. While I hate making errors and hate even more when others catch them, I am always happy that they are brave enough to bring it to my attention and give me the opportunity to fix it. So as I said in the original article, capitalization of the word “state” is very confusing. But hopefully we’ve made it a little clearer—and more accurate—this time.

 

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