Quick Capitalization Quesition

Timothy Strawbridge

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Apr 1, 2014, 8:17:20 AM4/1/14

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Should "the" be capitalized before "Smiths" in the following example:

"He didn't know that The Smiths were gone."
or

"He didn't know that the Smiths were gone."

Thanks very much for the help.

CDB

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Apr 1, 2014, 8:49:32 AM4/1/14

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On 01/04/2014 8:17 AM, Timothy Strawbridge wrote:

> Should "the" be capitalized before "Smiths" in the following
> example:

> "He didn't know that The Smiths were gone." or

> "He didn't know that the Smiths were gone."

Only the name gets a capital, unless "The Smiths" are a group with a
formal title. They get a capitalised "The" if they're a vaudeville act,
for example.

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Apr 1, 2014, 8:57:14 AM4/1/14

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In general, I agree, at least for the first half. For the second you'll
see some variations. So, for example, if you lived next door to Mr and
Mrs Beatle, you would certainly say that the Beatles have moved out. If
you were referring to the group you might or might not give them a The.

--
athel

the Omrud

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Apr 1, 2014, 8:59:03 AM4/1/14

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And if you are known as "the Omrud", you may or may not have done this
deliberately to court controversy.

--
David

Mike Barnes

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Apr 1, 2014, 10:38:33 AM4/1/14

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... depending on how the group style themselves.

The Beatles

but [not The] Pink Floyd

The Rolling Stones

but [not The] Kings of Leon

And course there are some groups ([The] Grateful Dead springs to mind)
that swing both ways.

--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England

Guy Barry

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Apr 1, 2014, 11:44:01 AM4/1/14

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"CDB" wrote in message news:lhecl0$vj9$1...@speranza.aioe.org...

>
>On 01/04/2014 8:17 AM, Timothy Strawbridge wrote:
>
>> Should "the" be capitalized before "Smiths" in the following
>> example:
>
>> "He didn't know that The Smiths were gone." or
>
>> "He didn't know that the Smiths were gone."
>
>Only the name gets a capital, unless "The Smiths" are a group with a
>formal title.

They are, or certainly were:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smiths

I'm not sure whether the original poster was referring to this group though.

--
Guy Barry

HVS

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Apr 1, 2014, 12:30:07 PM4/1/14

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On 01 Apr 2014, Mike Barnes wrote

And don't forget "The The".

--
Cheers, Harvey
CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed

Garrett Wollman

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Apr 1, 2014, 12:47:52 PM4/1/14

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In article <n4blj9djnove17e9d...@4ax.com>,

Timothy Strawbridge <tst...@comcast.net> wrote:
>Should "the" be capitalized before "Smiths" in the following example:
>
>"He didn't know that The Smiths were gone."

Yes if you're referring to the band The Smiths, no otherwise.

-GAWollman

--
Garrett A. Wollman | What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft
wol...@bimajority.org| repeated, than the story of a large research program
Opinions not shared by| that impaled itself upon a false central assumption
my employers. | accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993

R H Draney

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Apr 1, 2014, 5:54:35 PM4/1/14

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Athel Cornish-Bowden filted:

And that's why John, Paul, George and Ringo show up in two different places in
my iTunes "Artists" list....r

--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

Mike Barnes

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Apr 1, 2014, 6:25:04 PM4/1/14

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How inconvenient. AAMOI do "The Beatles" appear under "B" or "T"?

Peter Moylan

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Apr 1, 2014, 11:16:22 PM4/1/14

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The Who?

--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.

Message has been deleted

R H Draney

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Apr 2, 2014, 3:05:24 AM4/2/14

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Peter Moylan filted:

>
>On 02/04/14 03:30, HVS wrote:
>> On 01 Apr 2014, Mike Barnes wrote
>>>

>>> The Beatles
>>>
>>> but [not The] Pink Floyd
>>>
>>> The Rolling Stones
>>>
>>> but [not The] Kings of Leon
>>>
>>> And course there are some groups ([The] Grateful Dead springs to mind)
>>> that swing both ways.
>>
>> And don't forget "The The".
>>
>The Who?

Q: Who recorded "I've Seen All Good People"?
A: Yes.
Q: Who recorded "I Can See For Miles"?
A: Yes.

Timothy Strawbridge

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Apr 2, 2014, 4:20:29 AM4/2/14

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Thanks very much for the clarifications.

Tim

Stan Brown

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Apr 2, 2014, 7:02:38 AM4/2/14

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On Tue, 01 Apr 2014 08:17:20 -0400, Timothy Strawbridge wrote:
>
> Should "the" be capitalized before "Smiths" in the following example:
>
> "He didn't know that The Smiths were gone."
> or
>
> "He didn't know that the Smiths were gone."

If the Smiths are a family, definitely no capital T. If "The
Smiths" is a two-word proper noun -- some rock group, for instance,
then maybe a capital T, though house style might mandate lower case.

--
"The difference between the /almost right/ word and the /right/ word
is ... the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning."
--Mark Twain
Stan Brown, Tompkins County, NY, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com

Garrett Wollman

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Apr 2, 2014, 12:53:25 PM4/2/14

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In article <lhgcr...@drn.newsguy.com>,

Guess Who recorded "These Eyes".