To Capitalize or not to capitalize...

[SteveMax58]

that is the question for you English scholars. Or I guess anybody with an opinion for that matter will work. I'm wondering if I'm making English teachers weep, or if I'm saving them some tears, in my own small way.

I recently had a debate with a few people at work on a reporting form we are trying to standardize on. I did a draft version, which we intended to use as the guinea pig to critique and discuss the format, in order to see what we all thought should be changed, improved, or simply left alone.

The debate was centered around the capitalization of the word "project". I had capitalized the "P" as it has specific context in our group. A "Project" is a work effort which has a defined level of scope & effort. We have other classifications such as task & job. All three of these are referred to as "Activities".

Now I don't capitalize project, job, or task when referring generically to them. I am capitalizing only when referring to a specific effort as it is a proper name (I believe) in the context of our group's reporting. Such as this:

This Project requires the XXXX Project as a prerequisite milestone.

In the above sentence (paraphrased a bit), the first use of "Project" is referring to the Activity (capitalized for proper name context) which is the central point of the document. The second use of "Project" is specific to describing the classification of the XXXX title.


So...what say you FOFC? Am I making English teachers weep? Or am I fighting the good fight?

[Nugget699]

I helped my Uncle Jack, off a horse.

I helped my uncle jack off a horse.

[PilotMan]

Alright, I'm up and I'll take a stab at it.

In the example above the first instance is not technically the proper name. The phrase "This project" is a common noun. Now if you had said "The Project" then we would assume that the title of the project was "Project" thereby making it the proper title. IMO, you can't capitalize there.

In the second instance you have "the XXXX Project." IMO, not correct either. It should be "The XXXX Project" if that is indeed the title of the paper, but if the title is only XXXX then that is all that should be capitalized and "project" remains uncapitalized.

[Matthean]

Alright, I'm up and I'll take a stab at it.

In the example above the first instance is not technically the proper name. The phrase "This project" is a common noun. Now if you had said "The Project" then we would assume that the title of the project was "Project" thereby making it the proper title. IMO, you can't capitalize there.

In the second instance you have "the XXXX Project." IMO, not correct either. It should be "The XXXX Project" if that is indeed the title of the paper, but if the title is only XXXX then that is all that should be capitalized and "project" remains uncapitalized.

Case in point, The Manhattan Project.

[korme]

Love threads like these.

[DanGarion]

Capitalize it if you want to, who gives a Fuck. ;)

[QuikSand]

I would say you're in a gray area, depending on how accurate assessment is of the formality granted the word "project" in your setting, which I/we can't really answer for you.

If you are correct and speaking about a specific project by name genuinely deserves the degree of reverence that we more conventionally seek to grant an officeholder, nation, language, and so forth -- then you're probably correct to capitalize it. My personal belief is that in the sizable majority of these workplace circumstances, the implied reverence is just a bunch of shit and that "The Project" is, as a matter of fact, simply a project.

(Side note here for your to consider -- why capitalize Project but never task or job? The task might be banal or uninteresting, but it could still very much pass the test of being defined, unique, and separable. If my task is to cut the 200 sheets of green construction paper into strips, the business bigshot doesn't want to call that a Project, but it passes most of the same standards you use above to separate it from a mere task, i.e. "a defined level of scope and effort")

Bottom line is your line of thinking sounds accurate to me, and if you all agree that the specific reference to a given project as a unique entity merits that, then your summary above is right on target.

(to be perfectly honest, I couldn't follow your italicized example, so this is based on the parts of your explanation I did understand)

[Drake]

When we get this resolved, somebody please talk to the university where I work. The official style guide insists on using the term "Website"...with a capital W whenever referring to websites. Of course, it also insists on a capital E in e-mail.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Of course, it also insists on a capital E in e-mail.

That one still varies, with the hyphen recently dropped by AP as described here "changed in 2011 to the preferred AP style, though Email and e-mail are preferred by some publications. We prefer e-mail, but assume email will become standard. Some publications use EMail for headings and headlines. "

Despite the AP change, the NYT kept the hypen but no capital, while parts of AP's own website still ask you to sign up for "E-mail".

IMO A pretty good case was made by copy editor Bill Walsh has written,
"the problem with 'e-mail' is that it's not a simple compound noun. It's an initial-letter-based abbreviation, and no initial-letter-based abbreviation in the history of the English language has ever morphed into a solid word." Exempli gratia: A-frame, T-shirt, x-ray, etc. It hardly makes sense to pick only one of these (e-mail) from which to drop the hyphen.

[spleen1015]

Alright, I'm up and I'll take a stab at it.

In the example above the first instance is not technically the proper name. The phrase "This project" is a common noun. Now if you had said "The Project" then we would assume that the title of the project was "Project" thereby making it the proper title. IMO, you can't capitalize there.

In the second instance you have "the XXXX Project." IMO, not correct either. It should be "The XXXX Project" if that is indeed the title of the paper, but if the title is only XXXX then that is all that should be capitalized and "project" remains uncapitalized.

I agree with this.

[Rizon]

I agree with this.

+2

[Drake]

I'm just gripey because we've got an idiot copy editor (who's actually a service rep, but is boinking the administrator responsible for some of our websites...er, Websites) who runs around correcting all of the mistakes she finds based on the style guide, even though the style guide hasn't been updated in a decade.

So it doesn't matter if I make appeals to other style guides, or even point out that official, gateway sites for the university ignore the style guide, I automatically lose because I'm not fucking the boss.

I have implemented more stupid spelling, grammar, design, layout and formatting "solutions" in the last year because she decided things should look a certain way than I care to count. Apparently having substantial college credit toward an associate's degree in fashion merchandising and fucking the boss trumps things like, er, job titles and descriptions. No, no, go ahead and ignore the advice of your highly trained professional staff because you're a 45 y.o. guy whose 22 y.o. girlfriend has a different opinion.

For what it's worth, if I was a 45 y.o. single guy with a hot 22 y.o. girlfriend, I'd probably do whatever she said, too. So I try not to take it personally.

[SteveMax58]

(Side note here for your to consider -- why capitalize Project but never task or job? The task might be banal or uninteresting, but it could still very much pass the test of being defined, unique, and separable. If my task is to cut the 200 sheets of green construction paper into strips, the business bigshot doesn't want to call that a Project, but it passes most of the same standards you use above to separate it from a mere task, i.e. "a defined level of scope and effort")

Oh, I absolutely would capitalize task or job, if I were formally referring to one as it fits our internal definition of it. So, if we did have a "Cut 200 sheets of green paper" initiative, we would classify that as a Task and I would capitalize when referring to it in reference.

The italicized portion was just a paraphrased snippet from the status summary, which is a report on the Project. :)

[SteveMax58]

Dola,

Thanks everybody for your thoughts on this one. At the end of the day, I don't really care if we do capitalize these terms, but I felt like I had to find out if I was (somewhat) justified in my Approach to it. :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

The logic you describe in the o.p. makes sense to me.
The formatting you paraphrased makes it a little tougher call

This Project requires the XXXX Project as a prerequisite milestone.

The arrangement of the words does lend some credence to the anti-cap arguments up the thread, whereas your initial logic works better (IMO) if phrased as
"Project YYYY requires Project XXXX as a prerequiste"

[SteveMax58]

The arrangement of the words does lend some credence to the anti-cap arguments up the thread, whereas your initial logic works better (IMO) if phrased as
"Project YYYY requires Project XXXX as a prerequiste"

I agree, that's the better way to phrase it.

I didn't write it that way initially as "Project YYYY" is what the entire document is about, so I felt it was obvious to the reader when referring to "this Project" (something that isn't so obvious when pulled out of the document for others to read). Plus its a lengthy title and I opted to not type it out for convenience. :)

[Desnudo]

Dude, I can promise you that all your co-workers think you have a pole up your ass regardless of the outcome of the argument. I would recommmend a team dinner with a lot of drinking.

[SteveMax58]

Dude, I can promise you that all your co-workers think you have a pole up your ass regardless of the outcome of the argument. I would recommmend a team dinner with a lot of drinking.

LOL...that's funny that I came off that way but I can guarantee you that isn't their perception of me.

Actually, this whole system of classification & being technically accurate in how we report on Activities :) wasn't my idea. I simply put those out there as I read, review, and contribute to standards development in my industry and believed that to be the more accurate way to do it (i.e. since everybody wants to be soooo rigid & accurate with all of this...here you go folks).

My boss decided we're calling everything projects now. :)

[JediKooter]

I'd be more concerned with cost over runs for this project. If they're debating capitalization...whew....good luck with the important stuff. ;)

[SteveMax58]

I'd be more concerned with cost over runs for this project. If they're debating capitalization...whew....good luck with the important stuff. ;)

Luckily for us, formulating the rules of how to track & report on projects is not considered a project. Our time is completely free!! :)

[JediKooter]

Luckily for us, formulating the rules of how to track & report on projects is not considered a project. Our time is completely free!! :)

Well shoot. I'd caps lock the whole thing then. :D