when to capitalize?
when to capitalize?
(OP)
In the following sentence "manufacturer's" should or should not be capitalized?
"Observation and evaluations employ visual observation techniques and physical tests, listed below, of the work to verify general compliance with the requirements of project plans and specifications, and the manufacturer's published application instructions."
"Observation and evaluations employ visual observation techniques and physical tests, listed below, of the work to verify general compliance with the requirements of project plans and specifications, and the manufacturer's published application instructions."





RE: when to capitalize?
That's the formal position. Sometimes, people will capitalise common nouns to indicate that they are using them in a specialised way, rather than with the commonly accepted meaning - and, while that's not what we were all taught to do at school, it can work rather well.
A.
RE: when to capitalize?
If you want to stress the requirement to follow the manufacturer's published instructions, the use of italics is recommended. Some folks go farther and use italics, boldface, and underline as well. That overkill is not really OK according to any style manual I have seen. To me, though, it usually indicates that an engineer has been burned on a previous job by not emphasizing something enough. Any of those is better than capitalization in my humble opinion.
Good on ya,
Goober Dave
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RE: when to capitalize?
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
UG/NX Museum: http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: when to capitalize?
RE: when to capitalize?
RE: when to capitalize?
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"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill
RE: when to capitalize?
Perhaps since I can't really buy the conversion of a common noun to a proper noun, I might be able swallow the conversion of the common noun "manufacturer" to the symbol "Manufacturer," but it is still a bitter pill for me. Common use does not make a poor usage correct.
Personally, I would neither capitalize the word in the definition, nor in the text. There is no reason to do so in either location, unless the word begins a sentence (as it most often does in the definition) or is part of a title-case line.
Good on ya,
Goober Dave
Haven't see the forum policies? Do so now: Forum Policies
RE: when to capitalize?
RE: when to capitalize?
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
http://mmcengineering.tripod.com