# Can you really uncapitalize your name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729 "2002-07-19T01:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JasonG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@JasonG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JasonG)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/1 "2002-07-19T01:14:13Z")
There is a trend to un-capitalize names, and I’d like to ask publishers, writers and grammarians if this is cool. Cause it ain’t cool with _me_ . A new show is debuting this fall on Fox called “girls club”. Fox has decided to write its name that way. But names of shows – all shows – are capitalized, yes? They’re proper nouns. Besides, how do you “honor” the un-cap? Do you write: \*\* “girls club” is debuting on Fox.\*\* Or do you write: \*\* “Girls club” is debuting on Fox.\*\* Or do you write: \*\* “Girls Club” is debuting on Fox.\*\* This applies doubly to k.d. lang and matchbox 20. But the only way to fight it is to have newspapers and magazines and websites write their names properly. What Ms. Lang writes in her own correspondence is her business. Is anyone with me on this? Or am I going crazy? JasonG ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/2 "2002-07-19T01:19:21Z")
What about SDMB user names? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/3 "2002-07-19T01:45:12Z")
If you ask me, anyone with an uncapitalized username should be shot. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/4 "2002-07-19T02:42:20Z")
Hey guys! What’re you – :bang: OW _:crumples and dies:_ ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/5 "2002-07-19T04:14:01Z")
beeeoooowww… thunk! unghh damn AP’s Aiiiee… plop ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/6 "2002-07-19T04:17:28Z")
Silly tards. Usernames should _always_ be in all caps 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/7 "2002-07-19T04:56:09Z")
And what about those idiots who stick capital letters in the middle of their usernames? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/8 "2002-07-19T05:42:34Z")
And what about… Oh. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![SoulSearching](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@SoulSearching](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulSearching)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/9 "2002-07-19T06:08:46Z")
Well if uncapitalized letters piss you off, don’t ever watch MTV, you might have a heart attack… ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/10 "2002-07-19T06:31:08Z")
Or almost any computer-related stuff. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/11 "2002-07-19T06:43:36Z")
I like to think I’m merely undercapitalized. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/12 "2002-07-19T06:49:29Z")
in a more serious vein, the nonuse of capitals (is often a matter of) poetic license, forexamplethepoetryofeecummings often didn’t use them. for effect ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/13 "2002-07-19T07:25:49Z")
And now, what about these bastards with _gasp_ SPACES in between their names? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/14 "2002-07-19T07:49:47Z")
In _The New York Times_, our favorite cowgirl singer is referred to as K. D. Lang and Ms. Lang. Likewise, the poet is E. E. Cummings. In the _Times_ of London, Patsy Cline’s biggest fan is either k. d. lang or k d lang (this is a country, after all, that spells Mr. and Ms. without the period). ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/15 "2002-07-19T08:03:16Z")
I would rewrite the sentence so that it didn’t start with “girls club”. If that were impractical or too awkward, I would capitalize the “g”. It is a little inconvenient, but it really doesn’t make much difference to me. I don’t know if a grammar rule exists for this situation. It seems like grammar rules result from tradition and thus, when new situations crop up it some time before a convention could become universal enough to be called a law. It sucks if you feel pressure to be ‘correct’, but, on the other hand, you could probably do whatever you feel is right and get away with it. Or what your editor feels is right, as the case may be. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/16 "2002-07-19T10:24:24Z")
The _Chicago Manual of Style_ recommends capitalizing the first letter of the first word of every sentence without exception. The idea is that the initial capital has to do primarily with the sentence, and not the word. Thus, the manual gives: “My favorite source is eBay.” “EBay is my favorite source.” In that spirit, you should use your second example. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/17 "2002-07-19T10:36:12Z")
And I assume something like this would be correct too: _PH is a measure of acidity._ Even though that looks so wrong. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/18 "2002-07-19T10:46:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*In the _Times_ of London, Patsy Cline’s biggest fan is either k. d. lang or k d lang (this is a country, after all, that spells Mr. and Ms. without the period). \*\* [Hijack]Why should Ms take a period?[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/19 "2002-07-19T10:48:48Z")
> [@](#): > > And I assume something like this would be correct too: > > PH is a measure of acidity. > > Even though that looks so wrong. But does this look more right? Let’s discuss pH for a moment. pH is a measure of acidity. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729/20 "2002-07-19T10:54:47Z")
It does to me, anyway. I didn’t mean to sound like I was complaining about the rule, but just noting that in order to do this right, you may occasionally have to write something that looks funny. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-uncapitalize-your-name/119729.md?page=2)