Capitalising Titles

Orion101

Hello, looking for a bit of help here.

Should a person's title (specifically military titles) be capitalised in direct address?

I can't see anything, Lieutenant.

or

I can't see anything, lieutenant.

pickarooney

I'm almost sure it should.

Donkey Oaty

From a Columbo fan website, here's a transcript snippit:

"Do you enjoy games, Lieutenant?"

"I've never had time for them, sir..."

That settles it for me.

Dont be at yourself

If directly addressing them by their title in place of their name, yes.

"I can't see anything, Lieutenant." vs "I told the lieutenant I couldn't see anything".

"...Because Daddy does the washing up" vs "I became a daddy today".

Orion101

Thanks for the replies.

Now what about the likes of sir, or dear (which I guess are serving as pronouns)?

Yes, sir.

or

Yes, Sir.


Yes, dear.

or

Yes, Dear.

pickarooney

If the person's title is Sir Jimmy then they would potentially have a capital S for Sir, but you can't really use a titular Sir without at least the first name after it. So in practical terms you wouldn't have "Yes, Sir."

"Dear" is not a title and would not have a capital D.

Orion101

I seem to have fallen victim of lazy examples : )

So if "sir" was being used by a private to refer to a lieutenant, it shouldn't be capitalised?

There seems to be some debate over terms of endearment "dear", "honey" etc. Can anyone shed some light or suggest a web reference?

Dont be at yourself

There's no right or wrong, it's a style issue. Check out the Oxford Style Guide or Chicago Manual of Style and go with them!

metrovelvet

pickarooney wrote: »

If the person's title is Sir Jimmy then they would potentially have a capital S for Sir, but you can't really use a titular Sir without at least the first name after it. So in practical terms you wouldn't have "Yes, Sir."

"Dear" is not a title and would not have a capital D.

Except in a letter, where you would have "Dear Sir or Madam."

pickarooney

All words at the beginning of a sentence have a capital letter.

metrovelvet

pickarooney wrote: »

All words at the beginning of a sentence have a capital letter.

Except for Sir or Madam in addressing someone in a letter.

pickarooney

metrovelvet wrote: »

Except for Sir or Madam in addressing someone in a letter.

Sorry, I thought you were referring to the second line of my post.