Do you capitalize a name like "sports day?"
February 11, 2016 1:22 PM Subscribe
The school where I work is having "sports day," where everyone is supposed to wear sports jerseys. The question came up - should "sports day" be capitalized?
To me the answer is clearly no, as this is not any kind of official designation, so it should not count as a proper noun. Two questions: first, am I correct? Second, where can I find a source that makes this clear? I have tons of grammar books and plenty of websites that I refer to for grammar questions, but can't find anything that definitively answers the question.
If you think you have a source that answers the question, please be specific in where it is (i.e. not just saying it's on https://owl.english.purdue.edu/)
To me the answer is clearly no, as this is not any kind of official designation, so it should not count as a proper noun. Two questions: first, am I correct? Second, where can I find a source that makes this clear? I have tons of grammar books and plenty of websites that I refer to for grammar questions, but can't find anything that definitively answers the question.
If you think you have a source that answers the question, please be specific in where it is (i.e. not just saying it's on https://owl.english.purdue.edu/)
I was about to link to the same source as Andrhia, using the same logic.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:26 PM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 1:26 PM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
I also vote that it's a proper noun. It's not a type of day; it's a specific day. There is no official designating body that creates proper nouns. It's proper because it is the name of a specific instance of something, in this case a day.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:27 PM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:27 PM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
(Further support for the consensus so far: you capitalize named days, weeks and months even if they aren't holidays — for instance, National Novel Writing Month, Black History Month or National Coming Out Day.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:30 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:30 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
All of the homecoming week (excuse me, Homecoming Week) events at the school I grew up in were capitalized. Spirit Day, College Day, Pajama Day, whatever whatever etc etc.
Capitalizing that stuff is the done thing.
posted by phunniemee at 1:33 PM on February 11, 2016
Capitalizing that stuff is the done thing.
posted by phunniemee at 1:33 PM on February 11, 2016
as this is not any kind of official designation
It's an official designation by your school, yeah?
posted by phunniemee at 1:34 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's an official designation by your school, yeah?
posted by phunniemee at 1:34 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have tons of grammar books and plenty of websites that I refer to for grammar questions, but can't find anything that definitively answers the question.
Probably because it's more of a "house style" thing than a grammar thing. It sounds perfectly appropriate to me to capitalize the words. It is not incorrect, and no one will call the grammar police.
posted by rtha at 1:35 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Probably because it's more of a "house style" thing than a grammar thing. It sounds perfectly appropriate to me to capitalize the words. It is not incorrect, and no one will call the grammar police.
posted by rtha at 1:35 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm a copy editor, and I would definitely cap it, for clarity's sake at the very least. "Come join in on all the Sports Day events!" just looks better than "Come join in on all the sports day events!" to my eye. There are definitely arguments to be made on both sides, so chalk this one up to a style choice.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:55 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:55 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Caps. It's the title/name of the event.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:56 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 1:56 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
You sort of answered it yourself by writing that your school is having "sports day." You could have written "My school is having a sports day." which makes the case for a mass noun:
"Hey, so Mondays and Fridays are sports days, where everyone wears jerseys."
"Today is Friday, so it must be a sports day!"
But clearly, it is not a general type of day, it is a specific day and event: Sports Day!
posted by vacapinta at 2:06 PM on February 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
"Hey, so Mondays and Fridays are sports days, where everyone wears jerseys."
"Today is Friday, so it must be a sports day!"
But clearly, it is not a general type of day, it is a specific day and event: Sports Day!
posted by vacapinta at 2:06 PM on February 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
If you're planning on calling it "a sports day" or "the sports day", or another way of saying it that involves an article (our annual sports day), I wouldn't capitalize it. If you're saying it without an article, such as "Today is [company] Sports Day!" or "Don't forget to wear jerseys tomorrow for Sports Day," then I would.
posted by Mchelly at 2:07 PM on February 11, 2016
posted by Mchelly at 2:07 PM on February 11, 2016
Proper noun: Grammar. a noun that is used to denote a particular person, place, or thing, as Lincoln, Sarah, Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Hall.
Sports Day denotes a particular thing, in this case a day.
posted by Green With You at 2:51 PM on February 11, 2016
Sports Day denotes a particular thing, in this case a day.
posted by Green With You at 2:51 PM on February 11, 2016
Professional copyeditor here, and I agree with everyone else: cap it.
posted by languagehat at 3:04 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by languagehat at 3:04 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
cap it and use this rule:
"a" name for a thing
"the" Name For A Thing
it usually helps me parse when to capitalize.
posted by chasles at 3:07 PM on February 11, 2016
"a" name for a thing
"the" Name For A Thing
it usually helps me parse when to capitalize.
posted by chasles at 3:07 PM on February 11, 2016
I'd capitalize it, and I'm generally a downstyle person.
posted by donajo at 3:13 PM on February 11, 2016
posted by donajo at 3:13 PM on February 11, 2016
Forget the prescriptivists and write it however you want. SPORTS DAY would be perfectly OK, if that's what you want.
posted by beagle at 5:24 PM on February 11, 2016
posted by beagle at 5:24 PM on February 11, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Andrhia at 1:25 PM on February 11, 2016 [19 favorites]