Chicago Manual of Style, How I Love You!

[gnomi]

This entry is, likely, only of interest to byrne, janedavitt, and tygerseye (and maybe not even to them), but the rest of you will just have to put up with the style geeking. :-)

From Chicago Manual of Style 14th edition*, section 7.27, p. 244:

Honorific Titles

Honorific titles and forms of address should be capitalized in any context:

Her (His) Majesty | Your Grace | Excellency
Her (His) Royal Highness | His Eminence | Your Honor

but

my lord | sir | madam

*I have the 14th here at work; my 15th is at home, but I can't imagine it says anything different.

Comments

[tygerseye.livejournal.com]

How relevant.

I might suggest an S&R for Book III. ;-)

I much prefer the CMoS, but what does Strunk & White say? (I wouldn't know, I don't own it. heh)

This is relevant to something I am writing now, in fact, where "sir" is used in the military sense. Is it ever capital "S" in that usage? (other than the beginning of sentences blahblahblah...)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I don't have S&W at work, but I don't think it says one way or another.

I think it would be just as lower-cased in military usage as in nobility usage (which is what I was actually seeking, but then when I saw the bit about "sir" I figured it was relevant.)

I can't find it in Garner, but I have to figure he's got it covered somewhere.

I'd go with lower-case, myself.

[tygerseye.livejournal.com]

That was my plan. Bird will be editing, she can do the CAPS nazi thing if she prefers. ;-)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Heh. Works for me. :-) Throwing style issues over the fence for novels that aren't mine.

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

::nods:: That's how I always understood it, yes.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

It was your comment on AGA that made me go look (I saw the file really, really, really quickly this morning, went "Hmm...I should look it up" and ran off to work). So thanks for the catch.

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! It comes from many years reading Heyer and the like; it sinks in ::g::

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Heh. The original ms. had both cap and lower; I just asked for consistency. So I'm glad that you had the right of it. And this is why good, smart proofers are so vital.

[tygerseye.livejournal.com]

And why we love you both. :D

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

This one was not even your novel, though it confirmed what I'd done for book II. :-)

[batwrangler.livejournal.com]

Chicago 15 (section 8.35, p. 323) agrees with Chicago 14.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for checking for me!

[epj.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's good or bad that you're wrong, but I always enjoy style geekery like that. That Advanced Grammar course in college ruined me for life. :)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Heh. I do a lot of grammar/style geekery around here. I'm just thrilled that others will play along.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

That's about what I would have expected...