Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[prabe]

Side rant: I absolutely cannot stand this "no capitalization" style. This is ostensibly supposed to be a site about summarizing science for journalists. But all I see when I browse that site is "5th graders texting". I can't tell if the implication of the style is supposed to be that the erudite scientists are dumbing themselves down for the rest of the plebians, or that the dewy-eyed journalists are amazed by "ZOMG science lol!". But either way, riding the fence between complete condescension and absolute stupidity is not attractive from either POV.

Upon reflection, this feels like a Friday rant, but it's only Thursday.

I dunno, there are two kinds of title capitalization: headline (Expert Reaction to Study Looking at Physical Fitness of Transgender and Cisgender Women) and sentence (Expert reaction to study looking at physical fitness of transgender and cisgender women) and the latter is--or was, last I read a style guide--more likely to be preferred in academic and such writing. It's certainly a clearer ruleset (though being this is a TRPG site, that might not be to its advantage here) and I've tended to use it for long titles I've given things for my own use.

 

[FrogReaver]

I dunno, there are two kinds of title capitalization: headline (Expert Reaction to Study Looking at Physical Fitness of Transgender and Cisgender women) and sentence (Expert reaction to study looking at physical fitness of transgender and cisgender women) and the latter is--or was, last I read a style guide--more likely to be preferred in academic and such writing. It's certainly a clearer ruleset (though being this is a TRPG site, that might not be to its advantage here) and I've tended to use it for long titles I've given things for my own use.

Are you from the universe where it was always “Objects in mirror May be closer than they appear”?

Because reading that headline as if it had any capitalization makes me think we must be from alternate universes.

 

[Umbran]

Mod Note:

Arguments over policies for transgender folks in sports are very apt to run afoul of our no-politics and inclusivity rules. If you don't want to see red text coming at you, maybe this isn't a good place for such discussion.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Upon reflection, this feels like a Friday rant, but it's only Thursday.

Well, now how are we going to fill that time‽‽‽ Dammit, we have a forum calendar for a reason!

 

[el-remmen]

In life, as in games, even the most well-intentioned policy can have unintended consequences.

 

[prabe]

Are you from the universe where it was always “Objects in mirror May be closer than they appear”?

Because reading that headline as if it had any capitalization makes me think we must be from alternate universes.

No, I grew up learning the rules for headline titles. There are enough edge-cases (or different interpretations) that I'm sincerely happier just capping the first letter of the first word.

And I've always seen that as "OBJECTS IN MIRROR MAY BE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR." (I've never seen it as a headline, I've never seen it used as one, YMMV.)

 

[FrogReaver]

No, I grew up learning the rules for headline titles. There are enough edge-cases (or different interpretations) that I'm sincerely happier just capping the first letter of the first word.

And I've always seen that as "OBJECTS IN MIRROR MAY BE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR." (I've never seen it as a headline, I've never seen it used as one, YMMV.)

Fun story - It’s actually ‘objects in mirror are closer than they appear’. Welcome to the rabbit hole.

 

[Deset Gled]

No, I grew up learning the rules for headline titles. There are enough edge-cases (or different interpretations) that I'm sincerely happier just capping the first letter of the first word.

I think the confusion here is that you're talking about:

How to Properly Title a Headline

vs:

How to properly title a headline

When site uses:

how to properly title a headline

I wouldn't have made a comment about either of the options you chose.

 

[prabe]

Fun story - It’s actually ‘objects in mirror are closer than they appear’. Welcome to the rabbit hole.

Still not a headline, though.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Side rant: I absolutely cannot stand this "no capitalization" style. This is ostensibly supposed to be a site about summarizing science for journalists. But all I see when I browse that site is "5th graders texting". I can't tell if the implication of the style is supposed to be that the erudite scientists are dumbing themselves down for the rest of the plebians, or that the dewy-eyed journalists are amazed by "ZOMG science lol!". But either way, riding the fence between complete condescension and absolute stupidity is not attractive from either POV.

It's better for comprehension than the New York Times style headline Where Every Word is Capitalized, which linguists and educators have known for years is a terrible way to convey information. But because the NYT uses that style, we see too many publishers decide to ape it.

The best headline is standard English capitalization: Capitalize the first letter of the first word and the first letter of proper nouns, like your first grade teacher taught you.