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Unread 04-27-2015, 08:42 AM
Michael Juster Michael Juster is offline
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Default Dr. Grammarfuss, befuddled again

Would you italicize "a capella" or is that common enough now that we need not bother?

Thanks. Carry on.
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Unread 04-27-2015, 09:09 AM
Roger Slater Roger Slater is offline
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This site says you don't have to capitalize it. My own feeling is that it couldn't hurt, so you might as well. To me it would be avoid a slight hiccup that might result if I momentarily were to read "a" as an indefinite article, something the italics would help avoid.

PS-- Edited in to say that I meant "italicize," not "capitalize."

Last edited by Roger Slater; 04-27-2015 at 10:21 AM.
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Unread 04-27-2015, 09:51 AM
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Maryann Corbett Maryann Corbett is offline
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To anybody who deals with music, it's absolutely common, and the capital A would just look wrong. You might consider italics, even though the phrase is common enough not to require them. They'd help prevent the misreading Roger mentions.
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Unread 04-27-2015, 09:59 AM
Michael Cantor Michael Cantor is offline
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When writing poetry I believe in starting with what makes the most sense for that line in that poem, and - without knowing the specific context - Maryann's suggestion about italicizing the lower case a capella sounds like the best starting point to me. (If the poem is part of a collection or a book you have to worry about consistency as well, and that might raise other problems that I'm not aware of - and of which I'm not aware.)

Last edited by Michael Cantor; 04-27-2015 at 10:06 AM.
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Unread 04-27-2015, 11:38 AM
Michael Juster Michael Juster is offline
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If it makes a difference, the phrase would be in an essay.
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Unread 04-27-2015, 11:39 AM
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Janice D. Soderling Janice D. Soderling is offline
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Although every good style manual has several pages dealing with italics--the rules and their exceptions--the general rule is that when a word is sufficiently assimilated into the English language that it is listed in large reputable English dictionaries such as Oxford or the American Heritage of the English Language (as is the case here) it is written in roman lower case. An exception would be if you want to emphasize it for some reason. For instance:

The musical direction a cappella, (which literally means "in chapel style") is not usually italicized in running text or titles.
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Unread 04-27-2015, 12:11 PM
Roger Slater Roger Slater is offline
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Not the last word, I'm sure, but the style guide for Plymouth State University says to italicize it. However, Princeton University's style guide disagrees, and that's a fancier school. And yet the American Choral Directors Association, which is in the music biz, says to italicize.

Last edited by Roger Slater; 04-27-2015 at 12:15 PM.
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Unread 04-27-2015, 12:26 PM
Richard Epstein Richard Epstein is offline
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Yale, which is not only plenty fancy, but famous for a cappella singing and George W. Bush, doesn't.

http://yalesgc.com/

RHE
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  #9  
Unread 04-27-2015, 12:49 PM
Brian Allgar Brian Allgar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Slater View Post
Not the last word, I'm sure, but the style guide for Plymouth State University says to italicize it. However, Princeton University's style guide disagrees, and that's a fancier school. And yet the American Choral Directors Association, which is in the music biz, says to italicize.
I would italicize it, but perhaps that's because I prefer music professionals to fancy schools.
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Unread 04-27-2015, 12:52 PM
Brian Allgar Brian Allgar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Epstein View Post
Yale, which is not only plenty fancy, but famous for a cappella singing and George W. Bush, doesn't.
Ah ... well, if they admitted the latter, we must have doubts about their credibility on the former.
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