March 3
We recently had a discussion around the virtual watercooler about punctuation. We were specifically discussing capitalization, and what words in a title should be capitalized and which should be left lowercase. The state of the world being what it is, the answer to the most obscure questions is just a few clicks away. This is not the case with punctuation. English is a funny language. There are many rules, from many different sources, and they all seem to change over time. Strunk and White disagree with Sir Kingsley Amis who disagrees with the MLA, while Lynne Truss just Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Over the years I’ve used MLA style as a lit major, AP style while working in public relations and Chicago style for some research on the side. Chicago style is the simplest in many ways, and we at Iridesco have decided to adopt this as our internal guide to good grammar. Henceforth, our capitals will follow these rules, as set forth in the Chicago Manual of Style. Always capitalize the first and the last word. Capitalize all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (“as”, “because”, “although”). Lowercase all articles, coordinate conjunctions (“and”, “or”, “nor”), and prepositions regardless of length, when they are other than the first or last word. Lowercase the “to” in an infinitive.” Now, go forth and punctuate correctly according to your preferred style.

We recently had a discussion around the virtual watercooler about punctuation. We were specifically discussing capitalization, and what words in a title should be capitalized and which should be left lowercase. The state of the world being what it is, the answer to the most obscure questions is just a few clicks away. This is not the case with punctuation.

English is a funny language. There are many rules, from many different sources, and they all seem to change over time. Strunk and White disagree with Sir Kingsley Amis who disagrees with the MLA, while Lynne Truss just Eats, Shoots and Leaves.

Over the years I’ve used MLA style as a lit major, AP style while working in public relations and Chicago style for some research on the side. Chicago style is the simplest in many ways, and we at Iridesco have decided to adopt this as our internal guide to good grammar. Henceforth, our capitals will follow these rules, as set forth in the Chicago Manual of Style.

  • Always capitalize the first and the last word.
  • Capitalize all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (“as”, “because”, “although”).
  • Lowercase all articles, coordinate conjunctions (“and”, “or”, “nor”), and prepositions regardless of length, when they are other than the first or last word.
  • Lowercase the “to” in an infinitive.”

Now, go forth and punctuate correctly according to your preferred style.
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