I’ve noticed that I capitalize the first letter after a colon, but not after a semicolon. Is that proper, or more damage from catholic school?
Peace,
mangeorge
Capitalization after a colon should follow normal capitalization rules, not beginning of sentence rules.
Right This is my problem: I hate my shoes.
Right This is her problem: she hates her shoes.
Wrong This is her problem: She hates her shoes.
It’s proper. Lynn Truss, in her wonderful book Eats, Shoots and Leaves, compares punctuation marks to musical beats. Comma gets one beat, semicolon two, colon three and full stop (period) gets four. It makes sense that the cutoff for capitalization comes between semicolon and colon.
The OP is implying that there’s some kind of relationship between a colon and a semicolon. This isn’t true; they are entirely different types of punctuation.
I believe the Chicago Manual of style indicates that you should capitalize the first word after a colon. I write for a living. However, I need to look it up again now…I’m questioning the way This question made me wonder if I’ve been doing it wrong for the last 20 years or more.
No, no. I wasn’t implying that at all! My question was just as stated, and asked about capitalization, not punctuation.
The “Wrong” above is not true. It’s more a matter of style. In fact, it may be an American/British difference. I was always taught to capitalize after a colon, but one of the two English-language dailies in Thailand – and it generally follows British style – does not capitalize after a colon.
I picked up the habit (cap after colon) from nuns, so guess who’s authority they call upon. 
It is a matter of style but certainly acceptable to begin with a cap after a colon if it’s a sentence. You would not capitalize if what follows the colon is a list.
You don’t capitalize the initial letter in a bulleted list?
Cool things:
[ul]
[li]Coffee[/li][li]Puppies[/li][li]Chocolate[/li][li]Etc[/li][/ul]
Or did I misunderstand?
What he’s saying is that you don’t capitalize when a colon is used to introduce a list in a sentence. Roosevelt mentioned four freedoms: freedom of speech; freedom of religion; freedom from fear; freedom from want.
Whether you use caps in a bulleted list is a matter of style.
Required nitpick: And none of this has anything to do with grammar.
I would normally never use a capital after a colon. However, when the colon introduces a sentence in the manner I used it above I would make an exception.
All this may be differences between American and British usage. Truss knows nothing at all about American usage or styles so her book was nearly useless here despite its popularity.
Good example. My problem is that I see all that follows the colon as a new sentence.
And you’re right. The nuns lumped all writing under “grammar”. I blame everything on the nuns, even though they never beat me.
No, they are not entirely different. Originally, both were punctuation marks that separated independent clauses. The colon was a less abrupt pause than the semicolon, which in turn was a less abrupt pause than a period. The colon is seldom used that way anymore, but there certainly is a relationship.
Here’s what my 14th Edition has to say (yes, i know it’s old!):
The “may” in the final sentence suggests that, even in cases not specifically covered in the rule above, a capital letter would also be acceptable.
How can anything in the English language be “right” or “wrong”? It’s pretty much a language driven by consensus of style and spelling; if enough people start to say something, it becomes acceptable. “Proper” just means “archaic and elitist”. so lik just do whatever, dood1
Overruled!
Whose.
Yes, that’s what I meant.
But, as a matter of style, I would not use a semi-colon as a list separator unless at least one member of the list contained a comma. 
If they didn’t at least whack your knuckles with a ruler they weren’t proper nuns! IMO.
Is your misrepresentation of descriptivism deliberate?