I have an exclamation in one of my stories that I'm at a loss about proper capitalization. Which is correct?:
"Good Lord in Heaven!"
or
"Good Lord in heaven!"
Just one of those little details that tries to drive you crazy. Anyone else have anything like this with other phrases?
Posted by micmcd (Member # 7977) on :
I think either is fine - it depends largely on who is writing it. I know people who capitalize heaven & hell, and those who don't. Always figured it was a good tell as to how religious the person was.
Posted by wetwilly (Member # 1818) on :
micmcd is correct. Either is correct. It's just a matter of how much importance you place on the concept of heaven.
For that matter, Lord (or lord) and God (or god) are the same way. A religious person will capitalize, while an atheist will feel no need. An oversimplification, of course, but that's the basic concept.
Who knew capitalization was such a social issue?
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
It shouldn't be a social issue. It should be an issue of whether or not it is a proper noun. It doesn't matter how you feel about Colorado it is still a proper noun.
The question you need to ask yourself is: is Heaven a proper noun? I think it is, since that is usually the name of the place where the "Lord" lives, but I don't know how you are thinking of it. Is it the name of a place place or is it just the sky?
Posted by Cheyne (Member # 7710) on :
I agree with P.D. if you are using it as a place name Heaven should be capitalized. But if you are giving someone hell it should not be. It is in the usage, not the belief. If you are writing of the specific god of Judeo-Christian tradition (who shall remain nameless) in a nomative sense, then you must capitalize (to be correct).
Posted by rich (Member # 8140) on :
The first one is the correct one, Crystal. Piggybacking onto what Cheyne and Pyre said, if you're capitalizing Lord then you'll want to capitalize Heaven. Anything else and you're throwing off the reader.
Posted by Troy (Member # 2640) on :
I would suggest that you base it on your character's beliefs. Does your character believe that there is a god and a heaven? When she says these words, is she referring to a specific god and a specific place? If so, capitalize them. If not, don't.
Edit: Whoops, others beat me to it.
[This message has been edited by Troy (edited May 21, 2009).]
Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :
Thank you, everyone. You've given me a lot to think about. I was always taught that any reference to the Lord or God should be capitalized. Not to do so is blasphemous. As you can see, I'm a Christian. I wouldn't think of doing it any other way. But I have seen heaven(Heaven?) done either way. Of course when the word lord or god doesn't refer to the Christian God(which I know is the one true God), such as Greek or Roman gods, then it should be lower case. At least that's the way I was taught.
Posted by Collin (Member # 8522) on :
Hmmmm. I wonder if a writer were to write this "Good Lord in Heaven" because they were religious, would a non-religious editor change this?
Posted by Kitti (Member # 7277) on :
That's what "stet" is for! Posted by wetwilly (Member # 1818) on :
So can we sum it up by saying that there is in fact a grammatical rule to dictate this decision, but there is also a long history of social issues behind it that should probably be taken into account? My point was that grammar is in fact a social issue. We have the grammar rules we do, not because they are right or make more sense than another set of rules would, but because they are the rules that happened to govern the dialects of different groups who held all the power and prestige over the centuries.
To capitalize or not to capitalize God is an example of a grammar rule that gets wrapped up some pretty weighty social issues.
By the way, even in the King James Version of the Bible, lord and god are both sometimes capitalized, sometimes not. And it's not just when non-christian gods are referenced that the lower case is used. Sometimes the judeo-christian god is Lord, sometimes he's lord.
Posted by rich (Member # 8140) on :
Or just have the character exclaim: "GM Chrysler!"
Or anything that Will Ferrell says in Anchorman.
"Sweet Lincoln's mullet!"
"Great Odin's raven!"
"Knights of Columbus!"
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
No irreverence intended, but I can't resist:
"Holy guano, Batman!"
Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :
Okay, I think I've caught my breath from laughing so hard. Just let me get my glasses back on after I wipe all the tears from my eyes. You folks are great .
.