Capital letters

Mmm... I think that lower case is correct. Capital letters are used for proper names so it should be 'Mr. Smith's Geography Lesson' if it referred to the one specific lesson that Mr Smith gave in that subject but if the term 'geography lesson' is generic then it should be lower case so one in a series of geography lessons given by Mr Smith would be 'Mr Smith's geography lesson'. Let's see what others think.

Ah, that's different - now you are using Geography as a proper term. What we were looking at was the use of capitals in the words 'geography lesson'. I think that is a general term and therefore isn't capitalised - but I stand to be corrected!

I think I’d be inclined to put: In science, someone made a stench. How are you with English and French? Where the heck is geography? Anyway, back to history…

If you were referring to a class, such as Geography 101 (even if the 101 is omitted), then cap it. In the general sense, I wouldn't.

Capital letters for proper nouns. That is, a name for a particular person, place, institution, organisation, book or film title, etc. Also, the UK convention is to use capitals for months and days of the week but not seasons. Languages and nationalities take a capital too. A problem though is it's sometimes difficult to decide when a noun is being used as a proper noun. In the example you give, it would certainly be 'a geography lesson' or even 'Mr Brown's geography lesson'. However, if it was the title of a book or a film it would be 'The Geography Lesson'. Job titles and things like that are also difficult. For instance, 'The President is the head of the US Government'. But, 'There have been 44 presidents of the USA'. Basically, a generic occupation doesn't need a capital but it does have one when it's a title. A good example might be, 'The doctor that saw us was Doctor Harris'. However, there are also times when a proper noun has, over time, lost its connection with a place or person and hence loses its catitalisation. For instance, the 'Champagne is a region of France' but 'I was drinking champagne'. Likewise french windows, yorkshire pudding, wellington boots, etc. A problem arises when a phrase has not yet lost its association although it might be in the process of doing so. We'd probably still say English breakfast and Oxford marmalade although if you dropped the capital probably only a total pedant would object. It's a bit of a minefield I'm afraid, not helped by the recent trend for companies, organisations, etc to use lower case in their logo or name. Also, organisations often have 'house styles' that govern whether a capital is used or not in documentation. I do some editing for an educational organisation (lower case here 'cos I'm not being specific) and their 'House Style Guide' (capitals here 'cos it's a title) runs to 94 pages! But absolutely the most important thing - be consistent! Helvigo Jenkins

I'm glad it was useful to you. I forgot to say that a good dictionary is also a great help as they tend to show in the entry when a word is capitalised. I have several but the one I use most is 'The Compact Oxford English Dictionary'. It's not too bulky and another good thing about it is that it has brief but clear notes on usage scattered amongst the definitions. Anyway, good luck on your writing. Helvigo Jenkins

new RobertGardner hello! I got your email,thankyou sorry it didn't make sense. I have to share hia computer and hit wrong key's. Just got cherry! with help of Editor Abctales t.Cook Tony. on P-P-P "Pick-Up-A-Penuin". and cherry inspiration and advice from him kindly,re-did reads purr-fect now,so Cherry!should go to him As underneath poem,I put try out, and I stand corrected.all comments 2 Then email lovely,stretched my brain. But I can't do punctuation.I put in and comment how it all should be,to much for me. girl girl's=boys boy's,school school's to complicated.I only entered comp:from writing group and homeless from words pictures sentences they print put 3 mine on hear "The Big Issue" all do.etc;. So gradually from £1 file put on 30 on here. With Abctales help look how far I can do. I couldn't work computer get back to you. It was re your good story,"The Peach". and one email from "Luly Whisper" to just said to me "this is a good idea". and ,mentioned "The Peach" Everything I do,try and have done and achieved is under all adversities. I cannot get punctuation,word's do not know. Only been on since May 2009.no poet. Do contact if you,wish again.I can't get apostrophe's.But readings,now 2600 nearly, and 3 cherries! not bad.I like reading all.I done 88 think. as Tony says "interact wih all.The key's press go wrong,or lights up Capitals don't want.Good luck on your writing.The email states from Abctales email and the name.Do you see what I mean. julie x cavalcader (:-

Good question. Assuming it's not just rhetorical, Henry the Eighth. This is because it is a title (given to differentiate one Henry from another). Likewise, Edward the Confessor, Edward the Black Prince, etc. In most cases however, it would be written 'Henry VIII' which neatly avoids the problem. Helvigo Jenkins

The internet is not terribly helpful on this issue as it's in the arena of computing especially that capitalisation of proper nouns has come under recent assault. Email addressing and other computing protocols will continue to erode it, I guess. It could even be that capitalisation will disappear at some point in the future given that companies and other organisations are dropping it from their names as well. It's a relevant issue on this site too, I think. Increasingly, poems are posted without punctuation and the ancient convention of using a capital at the beginning of a line is disappearing, especially in modern poetry. I assume that ee cummings was trying to make some kind of point but I never 'got it' myself. The rules of grammar developed to aid clear understanding and I find the modern tendency to disdain such conventions merely confusing. Oh well! Perhaps I'm just a dinosaur. Helvigo Jenkins

Interesting point. I think that 'Man' as a concept has attracted the capital, partly because, as you say, we're egocentric, but also because it differentiates the concept from the simple noun, 'man'. However, if we were to use the definition of the concept (humankind or mankind, say), then 'the descent of mankind' would be the probable usage. Perhaps another reason for the usage 'the descent of Man' is because it is, in intent, a kind of metaphor. Similarly, we might write 'the law of the Jungle' or the 'kingdom of the Sea'. Helvigo Jenkins