Answer: Capitalization of Military and Other Titles

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

aurora_novarum wanted to know:

When are titles (colonel, queen, sir, etc.) capitalized? (with examples from Stargate SG-1 and Star Wars)

Capitalization of these kinds of titles depend on how they're being used.

When used to refer to a specific person (Colonel O'Neill, Princess Leia), titles are always capitalized. This is also the case when the title is turned into a nickname. However, when a non-specific form of address is used, it should be lowercase. So:

"My name is Daniel Jackson, and this is Colonel O'Neill."

and

"Whatever you say, Princess."

since Princess is being used instead of Leia's name, but

"Yes, sir."

since "sir", like "mister" and "miss", is not capitalized unless it refers to someone in particular (Sir Galahad). This might have to do with the fact that it's a less formal form of address, but it's not clear.

Also:

"The Colonel should be here in a moment."

since it refers to someone in particular, but

Leia is a princess.

Other rules:

"It's not easy being a senator, Ani," she said wearily, dropping the Senator's controlled mannerisms. Even under the make-up, it was clear Padme was tired. <- the first senator refers to the job, the second to the person

"Alright, kids, let's move out," the Colonel said. <- again, the person

"I'm a colonel now," Sam said softly. <- the job, not the person

"Yes, Your Highness." <- an honorific, not a title, but the rules with royalty are weird since the person and the job are the same thing in a lot of ways

"The Emperor will see you now," the aide said, bowing low, and some treacherous part of Vader thought it was strange to think of Palpatine as an emperor of anything. <- again, the person and then the position

The important thing is to figure out what the title is referring to: the job or the person in it. Once you know that, it gets a little bit easier.

Comments

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. *bookmarks*

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It drives me bonkers when I see the ubiquitous "Yes, Sir" popping up. I normally inform my monitor, "He's not a baronet!" Unsurprisingly, my monitor doesn't listen.

The last half, I was shaky on myself. So I'm really glad to make notes of it. :oD

[velocitygrass.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm pretty sure I've done the "Yes, sir" wrong. Thanks for clearing this up!

[level-head.livejournal.com]

"The Colonel should be here in a moment."

since it refers to someone in particular, but

Are you certain about this usage?

It is my understanding that "colonel" would be lower case in this context, as it is not being used in place of a name.

===|==============/ Level Head

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

This is what our research yielded at the time of writing this article, but personally I think it's worthwhile for us to put some research into it to reconfirm that response.

[paulette noble (from livejournal.com)]

This *is* incorrect. According to the Rules of Capitalization, it would be lower case. Please see http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp for a clear list of American English Capitalization rules.