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From: Ben Yalow <ybmcu@panix.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom
Subject: Re: AKICIF: Capitalization Question
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2024 23:51:04 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC
Message-ID: <vfmjl8$iit$1@reader1.panix.com>
References: <vflqat$gk79$1@dont-email.me>
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In <vflqat$gk79$1@dont-email.me> "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> writes:

>I know there are lots of (punctuation and grammar) style geeks here, so 
>maybe someone can tell me:

>Has the use of Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, and others changed the rules 
>of capitalization for (e.g.) titles of shorter works?  It used to be 
>that one would capitalize all the words except non-leading articles and 
>longer prepositions.  (At least that's how I learned it.)  So it would 
>be "Devil in a Blue Dress", but "The Man Without a Country".

>Now when you're using a word-processing app, and ask for capitalization, 
>it capitalizes every word, e.g., "Devil In A Blue Dress", and "The Man 
>Without A Country".

>Has any style manual endorsed this, or do I need to keep tweaking all my 
>transformations?

I haven't seen any style manual that does this.  But different style 
manuals have different capitalization rules for titlees (so Chicago and 
Words Into Type, for example, are close, but not identical -- although 
your "Devil" and "The" examples are correct in both of those.

If it's for your publication, pick a style manual.  If it's for someone 
else's, follow theirs.

Ben
-- 
Ben Yalow                      ybmcu@panix.com
Not speaking for anybody