Dear Random Capitalization Adherent:
The purpose of this inquiry is to attempt to understand your thought process in your use of capitalization for various words that are not formal names.
There seems to be no logic guiding your use of capitalization. We see this often in obituaries submitted to the newspaper.
We can forgive capitalization academic degrees, but by what standard are you presenting occupations – “Electrician,” “Metallurgical Engineer, Quality Control Supervisor” – as formal nouns when not used in front of the person’s name as part of their title?
Sometimes you even capitalize hobbies, i.e., “Archery,” “Needlepoint,” “Trap Shooting.”
It would be easier to understand if you were consistent, but we see examples in which one occupation is capitalized and another is presented in the lower case.
For example, within the same obit we read that the recently departed was a “Principal” at a local elementary school, but he was also a “teacher.”
Is the use of uppercase in the former intended to indicate the loftier status of that educator compared to the plain teacher class?
Our brethren in public relations, aka “Public Relations,” tend to be serial RCers (random capitalizers). We suspect many of these writers are compelled by upper management into exercising their left pinky finger with frequent presses of the shift key.
We in the newspaper trade aren’t perfect. We are sometimes inconsistent with whether or not we capitalize certain government agencies.
It’s tricky when referring to bureaus and other subsidiary bodies. Editors tend to err on the side of less capitalization, lest you string 10 capitalized words in a sentence, as in the following: “The Appellate Litigation Section of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Civil Law Division filed a motion… .”
Willy-nilly capitalization lessens the intended effect of capitalization, which is to signify the formal name of a person, place or entity, wouldn’t you agree?
We’ll await your Response.
Source: Berkshire mont