So, I've got a capitalization question. If I have a character named eDawg, what do I do at the beginning of the sentence?
My inclination is to keep it as eDawg, even though it should technically be EDawg. Let me use it in context, to give you a concrete example: 1. Saskia slid out of the motion-capture rig. eDawg must appear to be having a seizure.
2. Saskia slid out of the motion-capture rig. EDawg must appear to be having a seizure.
Posted by Carlene (Member # 2745) on :
I would go with the first usage, assuming the readers will be familiar with name and might start to read EDawg as ED.
Posted by pixydust (Member # 2311) on :
I would think choice #2 is best. I'm definitely not an expert, but it looks better to me. I think the eyes want to see a capitol there. At least mine do.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
I think #1.
eDawg is no doubt a trademark and probably eDawg, Inc would sue you if you didn't use their mark correctly.
To support my hypothesis, I went to www.ebay.com and read some of their documents to see how they capitalized eBay at the beginning of sentences. I found numerous sentences like:
eBay members can leave feedback about their buyers or sellers by commenting on a transaction.
eBay wants to ensure that everyone who participates in the eBay community has a safe and enjoyable experience.
of course eBay is not the boss of me - but that sentences like these appeared in formal policy documents makes me feel comfortable that the lower-case e to begin sentences is standard usage.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
Ah-ha! Thank you, Beth. I'm willing to bet that eBay is why I felt like option #1 was the way to go.
That's what I'll do.
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
e. e. cummings is never capitalized, even at the beginning of a sentence. It was part of his persona. I'm with Beth. Make your character stronger and leave it as eDawg. (As an aside, what is it about the letter 'e' that has this tendency? .)
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
What Beth said. And The Economist, like its reporting or not, is a stickler for correctness; see what they say when they cover tech stuff. I am sure it would be: "eBay closed..." or "neXt was..."
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
I was leaning towards #1 but I'm glad Beth went and did that research. Interesting special case. Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
Well, that resolves my own agony at how to capitalize some of your UserNames.
Maybe.
Posted by TheoPhileo (Member # 1914) on :
sUrvivor, you aren't hinting at something, are yOu?
Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
I pulled out my "Canadian Press Caps and Spelling" book, and in it, eBay is listed as EBay (I have the 15th edition from 2000, so eBay may have convinced them to change their style in the last five years). However, k.d. lang (simillar to the e.e. cummings example) is always lowercase. AP (American Press) might have a different style, so how it appears in The Economist might be different.
Really, I don't think it matters, as long as you keep it consistent.
[This message has been edited by Robyn_Hood (edited July 29, 2005).]
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
Hey, I've never made a secret over my uncertainty about how to handle a username that contained no capitals when it led a sentance. I've tried lots of things. Initials and oblique references are just one strategy.
But now I'll just leave it as is. If I can get myself used to the idea.
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
Speaking as a guilty party, I don't care. You can call me autumn, or Autumn, or Rachel, or even Ann.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
Continuing the train of thought about eDawg. One of the characters uses the nickname Edie for the dog.
How would you pronounce, eDy?
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
If there were more than 2 occasions in which I stumbled over something like that as I was reading, I would probably pronounce it "e-####-u" (leading and ending vowels hard) as I threw the magazine aside.
eDawg in the context of your story is understandable as a terminally cute advertising name. And knowing that, changing the name to eDy is also understandable, but past that it just becomes boring, I think.
Now, please feel free to hold an eGun to my eAr and make me aPologize.
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
I would either bronounce eDy as:
E-dee or e-Die
I would also be confused and wish there were more clues to rponunciation.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
Yeah . . . eDy is kind of awkward.
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
I should think that a nickname would come with a new set of rules. If a character is refering to it (him? her?) by the nickname, I'd just go with a traditional spelling like Eddie. It's a nickname - it won't follow the same conventions as the formal name, and I think the reader would be more comfortable with Eddie than they would with eDy. And I would tend to pronounce eDy as e-die, too. From that point forward I'd be confused as to why that would be a nickname for eDawg.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
Hm. So, how about "Edee?"
In the real world, Edie or Edy is short for Edith. It's pronounced as if someone were saying E.D. So, I thought it would be a natural nickname for eDawg. I don't want to go with E.D, because I want the nickname to have a soft, feminine and distinctly personal impression.
I'm open to other nicknames--aside from Dawgie--as long as they are derived from the eDawg name. My main goal is for the nickname to imply that the character using the nickname thinks of eDawg as a person.
Thanks. I'm blind on this one, because I hear them all the way I'm expecting them to sound.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
I'm only familiar with Edie as short-for-Edith, not Edy, which I keep wanting to pronounce E-Dye.
[This message has been edited by Beth (edited July 30, 2005).]
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
what is wrong with Edie?
Posted by Ahavah (Member # 2599) on :
I use Edie ("E.D.") for short for my daughter Eden. And even though I know Edy is pronounced the same (and it's an ice cream), I always want to pronounce it like "Eddie".
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
As I read the story, I stumbled over that, whether it was e-dee or e-dye. It is certainly unclear and will pull an average reader out of the story, I'd say. If it's e-dee, I would either use e-dee, or maybe eedee.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
I'll try Edie and see what happens.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
I'd vote for e-D, or eDee.
Posted by djvdakota (Member # 2002) on :
EeDee?
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
It's more important to me that it looks like a name than that it's pronounced correctly. Which is a good reason to have not considered eDy in the first place... Posted by NewsBys (Member # 1950) on :
FYI - I read it as Eddie.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
.)