RE: capitalization of proper names

Subject: RE: capitalization of proper names
From: "Stuart Rogers" <srogers -at- phoenix-geophysics -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 8 Nov 2002 10:15:59 -0500


e.e. cummings would probably recommend "soft.WARE."

AFAIK, the general rule is that proper nouns are capitalized, which is
simply to point out that your marketing department *already* broke the
general rule when they came up with the dopey product name. It's similar
to the now common company names with capital letters stuck in the middle
-- PriceWaterhouseCooper, for example -- which are treated more like
trademarks or logos than as grammatical entities.

soft.WARE at the beginning of sentences will probably confuse and at
least irritate your customers, but hey, that's what Marketing's best at,
isn't it?

Stuart Rogers
Technical Communicator
Phoenix Geophysics Limited
Toronto, ON, Canada
+1 (416) 491-7340 x 325

mailto:srogers -at- phoenix-geophysics -dot- com

Developers explain How the Product Works.
Technical Writers explain How to Work the Product.


-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-88731 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-88731 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com] On Behalf Of Ternes,
Andreas
Sent: November 8, 2002 7:59 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: capitalization of proper names


Is it soft.WARE or Soft.WARE?

I know that rewriting a sentence is the best option, but I want to know
the general rule. And I found nothing about capitalization of proper
names at the beginning of a sentence in the CMOS.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out SnagIt - The Screen Capture Standard!
Download a free 30-day trial from http://www.techsmith.com/rdr/txt/twr
Find out what all the other tech writers, including Dan, already know!

Order RoboHelp X3 in November and receive $100 mail in rebate, FREE WebHelp
Merge Module and the new RoboPDF - add powerful PDF output functionality
to RoboHelp X3. Order online today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.



References:
capitalization of proper names: From: Ternes, Andreas

Previous by Author: RE: PDF question
Next by Author: RE: PDF distillation problem
Previous by Thread: capitalization of proper names
Next by Thread: RE: capitalization of proper names


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads