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My general rule for capitalization is, "If you can get away with not
capitalizing it, don't capitalize it." My previous method was slavish
adherence to a subset of the Chicago Manual of Style rules, but it was
so hard to be consistent, and I was wasting so much time on capitalization,
that I decided that a more simple-minded rule was in order. Once I
instituted the simple-minded rule, things got much more consistent, and
there was one less thing to worry about.
Thus, I don't capitalize much of anything unless a gun is put to my
head. To me, an "assembly area," is a generic, and is lower-cased.
So is a "floating-point unit," and even "Weitek advanced technology,"
unless the other guys in Marketing* make a federal case out of it.
-- Robert
* I can't very well not capitalize a department when used as a proper
noun, but I lowercase it when opportunity allows, such as "the marketing
department," which is a generic description, not a proper noun.
--
Robert Plamondon * Writer * robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (408) 321-8771
4271 North First Street, #106 * San Jose * California * 95134-1215
"Writing is like plumbing -- even people who know how to do it will
pay top dollar to keep their hands clean."
