The Style Book of The Detroit News Part 4

6. Get interested in the dictionary, where you can trace the life history of words.

THE PICTORIAL POWER OF WORDS

"Words have a considerable share in exciting ideas of beauty--they affect the mind by raising in it ideas of those things for which custom has appointed them to stand. Words, by their original and pictorial power have great influence over the pa.s.sions; if we combine them properly, we may give new life and beauty to the simplest object. In painting, we may represent any fine figure we please, but we never can give it those enlivening touches which it may receive from words. For example, we can represent an angel in a picture by drawing a young man winged: but what painting can furnish out anything so grand as the addition of one word--'the angel of the Lord'? Is there any painting more grand and beautiful?"--Edmund Burke.

CAPITALIZATION

Capitalize t.i.tles preceding names, as, Chief of Detectives Fox, Gen.

Bell. Lower-case t.i.tles following names, as John Downey, superintendent of police, except these which are capitalized always:

President } Vice-President } Cabinet } of the United States.

Government } Administration } Supreme Court } Governor (of Michigan).

Lieutenant-Governor (of Michigan).

Mayor (of Detroit).

Supreme Court (of Michigan).

Judges and Justices of all courts of record.

The names of all courts of record.

King, Emperor, Czar, Kaiser, Sultan, Viceroy, etc.

The Crown Prince.

The Duke of Blank.

The Prince of Dash.

Do not capitalize _former_ preceding a t.i.tle, as _former Senator Wilson_. _Former_ is preferred to _ex-_.

Capitalize the full names of a.s.sociations, clubs, societies, companies, etc., as Michigan Equal Suffrage a.s.sociation, Detroit Club, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Star Publis.h.i.+ng Company. _The_ preceding such a name is not to be capitalized. Do not capitalize _a.s.sociation_, _club_, etc., when not attached to a specific name.

Capitalize _university_, _college_, _academy_, etc., when part of a t.i.tle, as University of Detroit, Olivet College. But do not capitalize when the plural is used, as the state universities of Michigan, Kansas and Ohio.

Capitalize the first word after a colon in giving a list, as, _The following were elected: President, William Jones; vice-president, Sam Smith_, etc. _Try this menu: Rice, milk and fruit._ When the colon is used merely to indicate a longer pause than a semicolon, it is not followed by a capital, as, _A tire blew out: the car skidded: we were in the ditch_.

Capitalize _building_, _hall_, _house_, _hotel_, _theater_, _hospital_, etc., when used with a distinguis.h.i.+ng name, as Book Building, Hull House, Cadillac Hotel, Garrick Theater, Harper Hospital.

Capitalize the names of federal and state departments and bureaus, as Department of Agriculture, State Insurance Department, Bureau of Vital Statistics. But lower-case munic.i.p.al departments, as fire department, water and light department, street department.

Capitalize the names of national legislative bodies, as Congress, House of Representatives or House, Senate, Parliament, Reichstag, Duma, Chamber (France).

Capitalize _state legislature_ and synonymous terms (_legislature_, _a.s.sembly_, _general a.s.sembly_) only when the Michigan Legislature is meant.

Capitalize the names of all political parties, in this and other countries, as Democratic, Republican, Progressive, Socialist, Liberal, Tory, Union. But do not capitalize these or similar words, or their derivatives, when used in a general sense, as republican form of government, democratic tendencies, socialistic views.

Capitalize _pole_, _island_, _isthmus_, _cape_, _ocean_, _bay_, _river_, and in general all such geographical terms when used in specific names, as North Pole, South Sea Islands, Cape Hatteras, Hudson Bay, Pacific Ocean, Mississippi River, Isthmus of Panama.

Capitalize _county_ when used in a specific name, as Wayne County.

Capitalize the _East_, the _West_, the _Middle West_, the _Orient_ and other terms used for definite regions; but do not capitalize _east_, _west_, etc., when used merely to designate direction or point of compa.s.s, as "west of here." Do not capitalize _westerner_, _southerner_, _western states_ and other such derivatives.

Capitalize sections of a state, as Upper Peninsula, Western Michigan, etc., but not the _northern part of Michigan_, etc.

Capitalize, when used with a distinguis.h.i.+ng name, _ward_, _precinct_, _square_, _garden_, _park_, etc., as First Ward, Eighth Precinct, Cadillac Square, Madison Square Garden, Palmer Park.

Capitalize _Jr._ and _Sr._ after a name.

Capitalize _room_, etc., when followed by a number or letter, as Room 18, Dime Bank Building; Parlor C, Normandie Hotel.

Capitalize distinctive names of localities in cities, as North End, n.o.b Hill, Back Bay, Happy Hollow.

Capitalize the names of holidays and days observed as holidays by churches, as Fourth of July, Dominion Day, Good Friday, Yom Kippur, Columbus Day, Was.h.i.+ngton's Birthday.

Capitalize the names of notable events and things, as the Declaration of Independence, the War of 1812, the Revolution, the Reformation, the Civil War, the Battle of the Marne.

Capitalize _church_ when used as a specific name, as North Woodward Methodist Church, First Christian Church. But write: a Methodist church, a Christian church.

Capitalize the names of all religious denominations, as Baptist, Quaker, Mormon, Methodist.

Capitalize names for the Bible, as the Holy Scriptures, the Book of Books. But do not capitalize adjectives derived from such names, as biblical, scriptural.

Capitalize all names and p.r.o.nouns used for the Deity.

Capitalize the Last Supper, Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, Book of Ruth, etc.

Capitalize the names of races and nationalities, as Italian, American, Indian, Gypsy, Caucasian and Negro.

Capitalize t.i.tles of specific treaties, laws, bills, etc., as Treaty of Ghent, Eleventh Amendment, Workmen's Compensation Act, Good Roads Bill.

But when the reference is general use lower-case, as the good roads legislation of the last congress.

Capitalize such terms as Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, Union Jack, Stars and Bars, etc.

Capitalize U. S. Army and Navy.

Capitalize names of military organizations, as First Regiment, B Company (do not quote letter), National Guard, Grand Army of the Republic, Michigan State Militia, University Cadet Corps (but University cadets).

Capitalize such names as Triple Alliance, Triple Entente, Quadruple Entente, Allies (in the European war).

Capitalize the fanciful t.i.tles of cities and states, as the City of the Straits, the Buckeye State.

Capitalize the nicknames of base ball, foot ball and other athletic teams, as Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves, Tigers.

Capitalize epithets affixed to or standing for proper names, as Alexander the Great, the Pretender.

Capitalize the names of stocks in money markets, as Federal Steel, City Railway.

Capitalize college degrees, whether written in full or abbreviated, as Bachelor of Arts, Doctor of Laws, Bachelor of Science in Education: A.B., LL.D., B.S. in Ed.

Capitalize _high school_ when used thus: Central High School (but the high school at Port Huron).