On the capitalisation question, I'd say it depends. If there is a defined region *called*, for example, West Virginia, then West is part of the name so it's capitalised. But if you're just referring to the generally western part of Florida, then you'd say western Florida.

Grammarly does want you to register for its free offering, because part of what it does is send you lots of emails plus try to convince you to upgrade to a paid version. When you use it, bear in mind that it's not infallible. It's a computer system like others, so it 'thinks' logically based on the rules it's been taught. English meanwhile is not always logical and has a lot of exceptions to its rules.

Deborah

-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of charles meyer
Sent: Sunday, 3 July 2022 8:14 am
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [CODE4LIB] Capitalizing a geographic area name

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I recall researching this issue years ago and concluding that when you refer to a geographic area e.g. southwest Florida or southern California you don’t capitalize the southwest or southern part of the name.



I’m looking at the 2017 Chicago Manual of Style and on page 480 it both capitalizes the Southwest and doesn’t.



Grammarly – do you have to register to use it for free?



Grammar Girl seems to have evolved into something called Dirty and Dirty Tricks and there doesn’t seem to be an obvious way to check for something like this.



Can one check on AP Styles online for free?



Googling has a bunch of answers but nothing like the AP Style book.



Thank you.



Charles.


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