Advice sought on capitalisation of informal or pet names

[Clee Hill]

I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?
TIA

[Adrian Bailey]

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think they're
correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is the person's
petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In other words, if John
always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else, then the capital letter is
correct.

Adrian

[Fred Springer]

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think they're
correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is the person's
petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In other words, if John
always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else, then the capital letter is
correct.
Adrian

This is a question of style rather than linguistic correctness, and a
key point about style is that there is often no single correct answer.
One's aim in such matters is to be internally consistent, or consistent
with the style of the publishers, if they have one.

The Oxford Guide to Style advises the use of initial capitals for
nicknames, but I'm not sure that "babe", even if habitually used by John
of Jane, is a nickname. It's only if all her friends use that form that
one could call it a nickname.

I haven't found any specific reference pet names in any of my style
guides. The New Oxford Spelling Dictionary gives "sweetheart" without
initial caps (surprisingly, it doesn't list "babe"). More
significantly, it lists "mummy", "daddy", "mama" and "papa" without
initial caps, from which I think one can infer a general rule that pet
names don't need them.

[Pat Durkin]

Post by Fred Springer

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters
as 'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms
of affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think
they're correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is
the person's petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In
other words, if John always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else,
then the capital letter is correct.
Adrian

This is a question of style rather than linguistic correctness, and a
key point about style is that there is often no single correct answer.
One's aim in such matters is to be internally consistent, or
consistent with the style of the publishers, if they have one.
The Oxford Guide to Style advises the use of initial capitals for
nicknames, but I'm not sure that "babe", even if habitually used by
John of Jane, is a nickname. It's only if all her friends use that
form that one could call it a nickname.
I haven't found any specific reference pet names in any of my style
guides. The New Oxford Spelling Dictionary gives "sweetheart" without
initial caps (surprisingly, it doesn't list "babe"). More
significantly, it lists "mummy", "daddy", "mama" and "papa" without
initial caps, from which I think one can infer a general rule that pet
names don't need them.

Do your Oxford guides differentiate between third person and second
persn (direct address) in the use of pet names?

[Fred Springer]

Post by Pat Durkin

Post by Fred Springer

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters
as 'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms
of affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think
they're correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is
the person's petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In
other words, if John always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else,
then the capital letter is correct.
Adrian

This is a question of style rather than linguistic correctness, and a
key point about style is that there is often no single correct answer.
One's aim in such matters is to be internally consistent, or
consistent with the style of the publishers, if they have one.
The Oxford Guide to Style advises the use of initial capitals for
nicknames, but I'm not sure that "babe", even if habitually used by
John of Jane, is a nickname. It's only if all her friends use that
form that one could call it a nickname.
I haven't found any specific reference pet names in any of my style
guides. The New Oxford Spelling Dictionary gives "sweetheart" without
initial caps (surprisingly, it doesn't list "babe"). More
significantly, it lists "mummy", "daddy", "mama" and "papa" without
initial caps, from which I think one can infer a general rule that pet
names don't need them.

Do your Oxford guides differentiate between third person and second
persn (direct address) in the use of pet names?

It's the Oxford Spelling Dictionary I was quoting, not the Style Guide;
but the dictionary is very much aimed at copy editors, and does normally
distinguish between different uses of a word where that affects
capitalisation or italicisation.

[Irwell]

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think they're
correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is the person's
petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In other words, if John
always calles

calls

Jane "Babe", and nothing else, then the capital letter is

[Archie Valparaiso]

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think they're
correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is the person's
petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In other words, if John
always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else, then the capital letter is
correct.

Agreed. As used in the OP's examples, "babe" and "sweetheart" are no
different from "man", "dude", "love", "ducky", "gentlemen" and so on,
which I don't think anybody would capitalise.

[unknown]

Post by Archie Valparaiso

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think they're
correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is the person's
petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In other words, if John
always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else, then the capital letter is
correct.

Agreed. As used in the OP's examples, "babe" and "sweetheart" are no
different from "man", "dude", "love", "ducky", "gentlemen" and so on,
which I don't think anybody would capitalise.

The rule is if the word is used as a common noun, it's in lower case; if
it's used as a proper noun (in the vocative case), then it's capitlized.
For example, "My babe sure knows how to cook hamburgers." "Hey, Babe!
Why not cook up some hamburgers!" "My dad is lord of the house!" "Hey,
Dad, are you really lord of the house?" "My mom's a great cook!" "I
said, 'Mom, you're a great cook' and my mom just laughed." But each to
their own. Obviously your publisher gets the final say.

[Pat Durkin]

Post by unknown

On Sat, 2 Aug 2008 13:23:19 +0100, "Adrian Bailey"

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think
they're correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is the
person's petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In other
words, if John always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else, then the
capital letter is correct.

Agreed. As used in the OP's examples, "babe" and "sweetheart" are no
different from "man", "dude", "love", "ducky", "gentlemen" and so on,
which I don't think anybody would capitalise.

The rule is if the word is used as a common noun, it's in lower case;
if it's used as a proper noun (in the vocative case), then it's
capitlized. For example, "My babe sure knows how to cook hamburgers."
"Hey, Babe! Why not cook up some hamburgers!" "My dad is lord of the
house!" "Hey, Dad, are you really lord of the house?" "My mom's a
great cook!" "I said, 'Mom, you're a great cook' and my mom just
laughed." But each to their own. Obviously your publisher gets the
final say.

I'm wit' you, Kid. And, while a publisher gets his say, the "editer"
above should get the axe.

[Cece]

Post by unknown

On Sat, 2 Aug 2008 13:23:19 +0100, "Adrian Bailey"

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think
they're correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is the
person's petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In other
words, if John always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else, then the
capital letter is correct.

Agreed. As used in the OP's examples, "babe" and "sweetheart" are no
different from "man", "dude", "love", "ducky", "gentlemen" and so on,
which I don't think anybody would capitalise.

The rule is if the word is used as a common noun, it's in lower case;
if it's used as a proper noun (in the vocative case), then it's
capitlized. For example, "My babe sure knows how to cook hamburgers."
"Hey, Babe! Why not cook up some hamburgers!" "My dad is lord of the
house!" "Hey, Dad, are you really lord of the house?" "My mom's a
great cook!" "I said, 'Mom, you're a great cook' and my mom just
laughed." But each to their own. Obviously your publisher gets the
final say.

I'm wit' you, Kid.  And, while a publisher gets his say, the "editer"
above should get the axe.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Now, I know of one author (of a technical book) who disliked the
spelling "align." He convinced the editor-in-chief of the publisher
that it was just fine to spell it "aline" and the book was published
with that spelling all through it. Sorry, I can't remember the title
or the author; the publisher was Gulf Publishing Company, and the date
was 1980, give or take.

[Archie Valparaiso]

Post by unknown

Post by Archie Valparaiso

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think they're
correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is the person's
petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In other words, if John
always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else, then the capital letter is
correct.

Agreed. As used in the OP's examples, "babe" and "sweetheart" are no
different from "man", "dude", "love", "ducky", "gentlemen" and so on,
which I don't think anybody would capitalise.

The rule is if the word is used as a common noun, it's in lower case; if
it's used as a proper noun (in the vocative case), then it's capitlized.
For example, "My babe sure knows how to cook hamburgers." "Hey, Babe!
Why not cook up some hamburgers!" "My dad is lord of the house!" "Hey,
Dad, are you really lord of the house?" "My mom's a great cook!" "I
said, 'Mom, you're a great cook' and my mom just laughed." But each to
their own.

But "babe" and "sweetheart", as used by the OP, clearly aren't like
"mom"/"Mom":

What time is it, Mom?
I asked Mom what the time was.

but

Nice shirt, dude!
*I really liked Dude's shirt

You get that, would you, sweetheart?
*I asked Sweetheart to answer the phone

[unknown]

Post by Archie Valparaiso

Post by unknown

Post by Archie Valparaiso

Post by Adrian Bailey

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer

editor

Post by Clee Hill
has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

Post by Clee Hill
the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Nearly all the examples I can find use lower-case, and I think they're
correct. Using a capital letter suggests that the word is the person's
petname, rather than just a term of endearment. In other words, if John
always calles Jane "Babe", and nothing else, then the capital letter is
correct.

Agreed. As used in the OP's examples, "babe" and "sweetheart" are no
different from "man", "dude", "love", "ducky", "gentlemen" and so on,
which I don't think anybody would capitalise.

The rule is if the word is used as a common noun, it's in lower case; if
it's used as a proper noun (in the vocative case), then it's capitlized.
For example, "My babe sure knows how to cook hamburgers." "Hey, Babe!
Why not cook up some hamburgers!" "My dad is lord of the house!" "Hey,
Dad, are you really lord of the house?" "My mom's a great cook!" "I
said, 'Mom, you're a great cook' and my mom just laughed." But each to
their own.

But "babe" and "sweetheart", as used by the OP, clearly aren't like
What time is it, Mom?
I asked Mom what the time was.
but
Nice shirt, dude!
*I really liked Dude's shirt
You get that, would you, sweetheart?
*I asked Sweetheart to answer the phone

"Babe" is often capitalized if used as a proper noun. "Dude" is capped
as Dean Martin's name in RIO BRAVO. Then there's Babe Ruth. I admit,
some of these issues can be equivocal: does one cap "jerk," in the
sentence, "Come here, jerk!"? Context and style determines
capitalization. That's why I advise to follow the publisher.

There are no metaphysical laws involved here. You go with what the
community feels comfortable with. This applies to myriad other issues
too, such as curse words (the Brits censored "bloody" at a time when
Americans thought nothing of it); we know that words cosdiered vulgar
"four-letter words" today were in frequent use in England hundreds of
years ago. If you read literature from the period of Thomas Hobbes, you
see common nouns capitalized in the manner of the German style. Frankly,
I don't know why OP is even contesting this issue. It's the publisher's
decision and accountability.

[Mark Brader]

Post by unknown
The rule is if the word is used as a common noun, it's in lower case; if
it's used as a proper noun (in the vocative case), then it's capitlized.

Just using a noun vocatively* doesn't make it a proper noun. A better
test is whether it's serving as a nickname, an alternative to the person's
actual name, which you can best tell by how it's used in other situations.

Suppose Mike is in the habit of calling women "babes" and addressing
them as "babe", while Jane uses the word only as a nickname for her wife.
Then Mike says "Hey, babe" or "Let's see if one of that babe over there
will join us", with "babe" uncapitalized, but Jane says "Hey, Babe" or
"Let's see if Babe will join us."

It's much like the difference between "the Queen" (meaning the current
queen or some other specific one we're talking about, as an alternative
to using her name) and "the queen" (as a generic term for anyone holding
the position).

Others may capitalize differently... but they shouldn't.

*English doesn't have a "vocative case".

[Purl Gurl]

Mark Brader wrote:

(snipped a lot)

Post by Mark Brader

Post by unknown
The rule is if the word is used as a common noun, it's in lower case; if
it's used as a proper noun (in the vocative case), then it's capitlized.

*English doesn't have a "vocative case".

Huh?

Are you sure, Mark, about this?

[Maria C.]

Post by Mark Brader
Suppose Mike is in the habit of calling women "babes" and addressing
them as "babe", while Jane uses the word only as a nickname for her
wife. Then Mike says "Hey, babe" or "Let's see if one of that babe
over there will join us", with "babe" uncapitalized, but Jane says
"Hey, Babe" or "Let's see if Babe will join us."

So, are you making a subtle point? Or subtly making a point?* (Re Jane
and her wife.)

*Which way would you express that? Would you use "subtle point" or
"subtly making"?

Not particularly against same-sex unions,
Maria C.

[Mark Brader]

Post by Maria C.
So, are you making a subtle point? Or subtly making a point?*
(Re Jane and her wife.)

Just trying to be up-to-date.

Post by Maria C.
*Which way would you express that? Would you use "subtle point" or
"subtly making"?

I'm not sure.

[John Doe]

I maintain that no initial capital is necessary; my editer
maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

That "muddly" is British.
jk

[Skitt]

Post by John Doe

I maintain that no initial capital is necessary; my editer
maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

That "muddly" is British.

Only as an adjective, not a verb.

Ref.: COED

[John Varela]

Post by Skitt

Post by John Doe

I maintain that no initial capital is necessary; my editer
maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

That "muddly" is British.

Only as an adjective, not a verb.
Ref.: COED

Aren't the Brits famous for "muddling through" difficulties?

[Chuck Riggs]

Post by John Varela

Post by Skitt

Post by John Doe

I maintain that no initial capital is necessary; my editer
maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

That "muddly" is British.

Only as an adjective, not a verb.
Ref.: COED

Aren't the Brits famous for "muddling through" difficulties?

I know what you're referring to, John, but I'm not sure "muddling" is
the word the British typically use for this mindset they are known
for.

[Maria C.]

Post by John Varela

Post by Skitt

Post by John Doe

I maintain that no initial capital is necessary; my editer
maintains otherwise. Just to muddly

muddy

That "muddly" is British.

Only as an adjective, not a verb.
Ref.: COED

Aren't the Brits famous for "muddling through" difficulties?

I wouldn't have thought that "muddling through" is particularly British.
I muddle through a lot of stuff, and when I do, I'm "muddling through."
Of course, the British may be more famous for muddling through than I
am.

Anyway, the OP used "muddly the waters," which should be (AFAIK) "muddy
the waters," as Adrian said.

Subsequent snipping muddied the waters a bit.

[Pat Durkin]

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

Others will correct other errors in your post, in addition to providing
a study source.

I learned in my elementary school years, and still use, a pattern that
requires a capital letter when a term as a label (other than "you") in
direct address"

Hey, Mom (Mother), don't tell me that. My mom (mother) didn't tell me
what I didn't want to know.

Yes, Sweetheart, I do love you. My sweetheart knows that I love her.

Let me go, Lover.

I can't imagine using "babe" other than as a pet name, but there are
songs that use it or baby, that way:

Babe. I got you Babe. (Of course sports figures Babe (Didriksen)
Zaharias and Babe Ruth had the term as an identifying nickname.)
(Of an infant: My babe (My baby) is thriving on soy milk.--not a song
lyric)

Oh, Baby, Baby, it's a wild world.

My baby's going away.

[R H Draney]

Post by Pat Durkin
I can't imagine using "babe" other than as a pet name, but there are
Babe. I got you Babe. (Of course sports figures Babe (Didriksen)
Zaharias and Babe Ruth had the term as an identifying nickname.)
(Of an infant: My babe (My baby) is thriving on soy milk.--not a song
lyric)
Oh, Baby, Baby, it's a wild world.
My baby's going away.

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner!"?

Some informal nicknames come from actual names, and my inclination would be to
de-capitalize those even when used in direct address:

"Watch what you're doing, einstein!"
"No shit, sherlock."

....r

[Don Phillipson]

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?

This is not a matter of personal intuition (yours or the editor's)
but of company policy and general convention in publishing.
If your publisher is large, the company probably has its own
Style Sheet (which may or may not rule on this particular point.)
If the publisher is American and has no company documentation
it probably relies on the Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago
Press.)

[Chuck Riggs]

On Sat, 2 Aug 2008 04:19:51 -0700 (PDT), Clee Hill

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?
TIA

If you address them as "Babe" or "Sweetheart", you should probably
capitalize the words. If you are referring to your "babe" or to your
"sweetheart", you normally would not.

[Cece]

Post by Chuck Riggs
On Sat, 2 Aug 2008 04:19:51 -0700 (PDT), Clee Hill

Post by Clee Hill
I'm working on a prose story at the moment and my editer has picked me
up for having certain characters refer to certain other characters as
'babe' or 'sweetheart'. I maintain that no initial capital is
necessary; my editer maintains otherwise. Just to muddly the waters, I
am writing in (British) English and my editer works in American
(English).
My question, therefore, is does anyone know of a (British) English
reference to whether or not I should capitalise such informal terms of
affection?
TIA

If you address them as "Babe" or "Sweetheart", you should probably
capitalize the words. If you are referring to your "babe" or to your
"sweetheart", you normally would not.
--
Regards,
Chuck Riggs
Near Dublin, Ireland

I'm an American, and I would not capitalize those unless they are
actual nicknames. Style manuals currently have different rules on
this issue, and some authors and publishers have their own ways. One
(American) author insists on capitalizing "sir" where I would not:
The colonel said, "Jump!" and the lieutenant replied, "How high,
Sir?" Many years ago, I had the Little Golden Book of _Lady and the
Tramp_ (small-size children's picture book telling the story of the
Disney animated movie) and the two main human characters were "Jim
Dear" and "Darling," those being what they called each other, with no
one else ever addressing them by name. In movie terms, those were the
characters' names, but using capital letters for them in that book
bothered me even then (I wasn't more than eight years old). It should
have been "Jim dear" and "darling."

[R H Draney]

Post by Cece
I'm an American, and I would not capitalize those unless they are
actual nicknames. Style manuals currently have different rules on
this issue, and some authors and publishers have their own ways. One
The colonel said, "Jump!" and the lieutenant replied, "How high,
Sir?" Many years ago, I had the Little Golden Book of _Lady and the
Tramp_ (small-size children's picture book telling the story of the
Disney animated movie) and the two main human characters were "Jim
Dear" and "Darling," those being what they called each other, with no
one else ever addressing them by name. In movie terms, those were the
characters' names, but using capital letters for them in that book
bothered me even then (I wasn't more than eight years old). It should
have been "Jim dear" and "darling."

Ah, but the book and the movie are told from the point of view of the dogs, who
assume (because that's how they *always* hear those two humans addressed) that
those are their names....

Asimov did this in "The Bicentennial Man", where the human inhabitants of the
household are always called "Sir", "Young Sir", "Little Miss", etc by the robot
Andrew because that's how he's expected to address them...as far as Andrew is
concerned, those are their names, even though he knows full well that their
official names are something else....r