I have no business writing this right now. I’m on an absurd deadline for the writing gig that pays me—a deadline, mind you, that came and went hours ago and yet here I am, playing hooky from reality. But when I read the word “center” (see below) … I just had to throw my two cents into the “pot” of the great big blogging world.
Just last week, while in the middle of editing a magazine due to drop mid-March, I ran into this: central Indiana … and Central Ohio … referenced this way and that way, in the SAME ARTICLE! EGADS!! The gist of the article I was editing is irrelevant, but the writer capitalized the word “Central” in some cases but not in others. And worse, the copywriter changed all references to Central Ohio—capitalized! Again, EGADS!!!!
Once and for all, peeps, it works like this … you only capitalize geographical areas that are LARGELY recognized as specific geographic regions or districts (and sometimes political polling areas, but that’s a tad off topic). In other words, while the people who live in central Ohio might be proud of the region, it doesn’t deserve a capital. It isn’t documented on a map or “easily defined” so therefore, it remains lowercase. For example, East L.A. is capitalized, but west L.A. is not. The Midwest is capitalized, but the western United States is not. The South is capitalized but the south side of Memphis is not. Just as central Illinois is not, but South Chicago is. The list goes on.
Ohhh … don’t get me started on brussels sprouts vs. Brussels sprouts.
That’ll be all for today 🙂
And no, I don’t make this stuff up … there are rules to follow when you write for a publication that follows AP style. Today’s post sponsored by the grammar gods.
Cover image created with Google AI.
DISCLAIMER: I’m a writer and an editor. And I try my best to make sure every post is articulate and free from errors. However, being that I edit my own work—and it’s next to impossible to properly edit your own work—I admit, occasionally there may be an error or two I miss. But doing so doesn’t make me an idiot so don’t be mean. Just smile, pat yourself on the back for finding an error and be glad you’re not the only one who makes mistakes sometimes … xoxox
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