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bug#58150: 29.0.50; parse_tool_bar_item should not usually upcase "and"


From: Gregory Heytings
Subject: bug#58150: 29.0.50; parse_tool_bar_item should not usually upcase "and"
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2022 23:00:56 +0000


Otherwise somebody could, of course, just write a function that capitalises titles correctly according to one or other of the English title capitalisation standards -- which isn't difficult, and would be generally useful.

I'm not sure it's so simple, actually, and I think your first suggestion is preferable. For example, "Go To Node" in the Info toolbar is probably correct, because it's a whole phrasal verb, but in other contexts, "to" in titles isn't capitalised.


Indeed, it's not easy, and can probably not be mechanized, because whether a word should be capitalized or not may depend on its semantics. The CMOS gives the following rules (I removed some parts that are not important in the context of Emacs):

1. Capitalize the first and last words in titles and subtitles, and capitalize all other major words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and some conjunctions---but see rule 4) .

2. Lowercase the articles _the_, _a_, and _an_.

3. Lowercase prepositions, regardless of length, except when they are used adverbially or adjectivally (_up_ in _Look Up_, _down_ in _Turn Down_, _on_ in _The On Button_, _to_ in _Come To_, etc.).

4. Lowercase the common coordinating conjunctions _and_, _but_, _for_, _or_, and _nor_.

5. Lowercase _to_ not only as a preposition (rule 3) but also as part of an infinitive (_to Run_, _to Hide_, etc.), and lowercase _as_ in any grammatical function.





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