Politics0 min ago
Capitalisation of region and place names
Some of us were discussing place names today and there is a disagreement on the use of capital letters.
Which of these two is correct, please?
1. Newcastle is in north east England
or
2. Newcastle is in North East England
And what about these two?
3. I'm going up to the north east
or
4. I'm going up to the North East
T.I.A.
Which of these two is correct, please?
1. Newcastle is in north east England
or
2. Newcastle is in North East England
And what about these two?
3. I'm going up to the north east
or
4. I'm going up to the North East
T.I.A.
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by SurreyGuy. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Posts like this nearly always result in differing opinions being put forward. I'll simply state that I'm happy to go along with the conventions adopted by The Times. See under 'compass points':
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tools_and_ser vices/specials/style_guide/article986720.ece
Chris
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tools_and_ser vices/specials/style_guide/article986720.ece
Chris
2 & 4 are (by The Times rules) definitely correct because 'North East England' and 'the North East' are being used as composite place names.
3 is incorrect because 'the north east' is also being used as a place name (and therefore requires capitals).
However 1 might also be acceptable because 'north east' (which The Times would write as a single word) is effectively being used as an adjective (rather than as part of a composite place name).
Well, that's how I read it anyway! ;-)
Chris
3 is incorrect because 'the north east' is also being used as a place name (and therefore requires capitals).
However 1 might also be acceptable because 'north east' (which The Times would write as a single word) is effectively being used as an adjective (rather than as part of a composite place name).
Well, that's how I read it anyway! ;-)
Chris
This is a minefield! The difficulty here is because of the political entities (the English Regions (note cap R) created in the 1990s).
If referring to the Region, then caps should be used as in: "The South East Regional Offices are situated in Guildford." , or "Vehicle ownership is highest in the South East" (i.e. there are more vehicles per person in that Region, compared to others) BUT, if referring to a geographical or physical direction, then�
"Guildford is a town in south eastern England", or "The highest average annual rainfall in England is generally to be found in the north west of the country".
This has either helped, or made things much worse....
If referring to the Region, then caps should be used as in: "The South East Regional Offices are situated in Guildford." , or "Vehicle ownership is highest in the South East" (i.e. there are more vehicles per person in that Region, compared to others) BUT, if referring to a geographical or physical direction, then�
"Guildford is a town in south eastern England", or "The highest average annual rainfall in England is generally to be found in the north west of the country".
This has either helped, or made things much worse....
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