State of Mind

Is it the "State of Ohio" or the "state of Ohio," the "City of Tuscaloosa" or the "city of Tuscaloosa"? In both cases, according to the AP Stylebook, the lowercase version is correct because “state” and “city” are neither a part of the official name nor proper nouns. (You may accept this rule and stop reading now.) However, another writer’s bible, The Chicago Manual of Style, has a different take. It suggests that when referring to the government of a place rather than the geography of a place, the uppercase would be correct. He works for the State of Connecticut. That’s a City of Atlanta ordinance. but. . . Lobsters beware! I’m in the city of Portland - the Portland, that is, located in the state of Maine - and I'm hungry! Even if AP style wasn't my company's default on these things, I'd still advise you to follow it in this case - after all, always using lowercase in this instance means you’ll never be wrong. Following Chicago style is perfectly acceptable, and perhaps more nuanced and sophisticated than AP's guidance, but it requires more thought on your part (and really, one less thing to think about is, well, one less thing to think about).

Note: As noted above, as you read this now I am in the Pine Tree state (notice the lowercase "s") and, consequently, will be unable to post any comments until my return next week, assuming I don't fall madly in love with a lobster roll and settle down in Kennebunkport until death do us part.   

Comments

[Tony Wilbert]

I agree that we should stick to AP style and use lower case for "city" and "state." That's how journalists do it in their stories, and it helps build credibility with them when we speak their language.

[JP]

You've touched upon an intriguing issue for PR professionals: Why do we even contine to be so beholden to the AP Stylebook when other more "nuanced and sophisticated" stylebooks exist? Yes, PR evolved from the field of journalism and PR professionals have reflexively followed AP style in their writing to serve what has always been the meat and potatoes of PR -- media relations. But as PR has expanded from a media relations discipline into one that encompasses such nonjournalistic areas as brand marketing, corporate communications, and lobbying, some AP style rules have become inadequate to address the unique needs of PR writing Among these: capitalization of titles, italicization of the titles of compositions and works and art, and even serial commas. I think this is a topic that PR professionals should give much more consideration to.

[Dan Santow]

Tony, your comment is almost a response to JP’s. And mostly I agree with you. My caveat is that it’s equally true that breaking the rules (so to speak) is also fine under the right circumstances – to make a point, for poetic license, etc. AP is a very workable (and workmanlike) default for style and usage issues. In that it’s useful. But writing is about more than rules and regulations. Ultimately, the rules you go by should be based on the context in which you’re writing and the audience for whom you’re writing. (That said, JP, I’ll go to my grave believing in the serial comma.)

[Pauli Cohen]

When writing city nicknames, what is the proper way to do that? For example, what is the correct way to reference the second city? As in: "Chicago is the second city."

[Dan Santow]

Pauli, if you're using "second city" as a nickname, like the Big Apple (for NYC), then yes, uppercase it.

[Kate Whitman]

What's your take on the overuse of exclamation points in email? Check out thoughts about it on Slate http://www.slate.com/id/2173076/nav/tap3/

[Dan Santow]

Kate, I read the slate.com piece too and plan to comment on it in next Wednesday's Word Wise Round Up (Sept. 5).