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Capital letter, or not?

Tiny NellTiny Nell
edited June 2016 in Writing
When a character drops a letter in dialogue for the first word of a sentence, would you use a capital letter for the remaining part of the word?

E.g.:

Farmer Hinkley sidled up and gave the boys a bag of food each. ‘You can stroke Roger. ’e loves it, 'e does.’
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Comments

  • heatherheather
    No capital.
  • doradora
    No capital.
  • LizLiz
    No, no capital, 'e, by gum.
  • boredrobotsboredrobots
    The ' IS the capital :)
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    You will see both – preference/style – make your choice and stick with it.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    I knew that. Really, I did.

    Do you do that, question and doubt yourselves?
  • heatherheather
    All the time.
  • LizLiz
    Yes. Although appearance is to the contrary.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Why are people stroking Roger?
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    edited June 2016
    Me too - although in my case, I suspect my appearance often confirms what's going on in my head.

    (edited to say 'me too' referred to doubting and not stroking)
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    Why are people stroking Roger?
    Because 'e loves it!

  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Oh.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    edited June 2016
    Roger, Mrs Bear (and those of you with sullied minds), is a big, grunting pig, and, yes, 'e loves to be stroked.
  • heatherheather
    I've met a few of those.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    We are all gruntled to know that.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    'E=mc²
  • LizLiz
    Goodness, Heather.

    *squeals with delight*

  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Roger is thrilled to know he has ignited such (pleasurable) memories.
  • heatherheather
    What did I say?
    :-\"
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    You've said enough, heather.

    We are of a delicate disposition here on TB.
  • heatherheather
    =)) =)) >:)
  • datco2014datco2014
    Farmer Hinkley had better watch it or social work'll be stopping by!!!
  • ana sana s
    Varmer 'inkley sounds decidedly seedy
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    edited June 2016
    Look, what goes on between Farmer 'inkley and Roger is a purely private arrangement, and I, for one, am not going to judge them for it.

    This is a children's book so you'll be pleased to know I removed the bit where a nurse said she was late for a rectal examination. Hubby said it was hugely inappropriate, so she went off to deal with chilblains instead.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    :O

    It's barely past 9, TN. Far too early for any such stuff.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books

    Hubby said it was hugely inappropriate
    Hang on. What did the inner mother/teacher in you think?

    :-O
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Well, I don't know about those bits of my multiple personality, but the comedian in me said, 'Go for it! That's flippin' hilarious!'

    Then I was rudely squashed.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    I blame Liz. She once told me I should write a funny book.
  • LizLiz
    Well... that is true. And children do laugh a lot at anything rude. I'm not sure children will know what chilblains are. In children's poetry there is 'tone' to consider. Tone is everything. It can be rude, but only certain kinds of rude. And if you kill someone, it has to be in a way that is OTT and clearly not actually possible. So sending them out to space on a catapult for being rude would be fine. Beating them to death with a hammer would not.

    So perhaps you could find something which is hilariously unlikely? i'm not sure chilblains are funny to a child who might have had them... more to rescue a man whose toe has been swallowed by a parrot?

    Philip Ardagh treads a fine line between what is and is not acceptable, with suitably hilarious results.

    i am willing to accept all blame in this matter. As long as I get royalties.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    The chilblains are a passing comment. Nothing further is mentioned. I shall consider the toe/parrot scenario, but the setting is perhaps too real...

    So, I should take out the scene of beating to death with a hammer? Damn it.
  • LizLiz
    I thought as much.

    *Tuts*
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Is it possible to be 'too' helpful?
  • LizLiz
    Is it possible to be 'too' helpful?
    it's the way my brain works. But I shall shut up and go away.

  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Not at all, Liz. It's good to talk - as the advert says.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    And the future is orange. We should never forget that.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Never.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    The oxen are slow but the earth is patient. Just thought I'd mention it.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    I'm glad you did.
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    Me too. It's not a thought I'd want anyone to try to repress.
  • Lou TreleavenLou Treleaven
    Sorry to drag the conversation back to the mundane but I would have gone with a capital myself. Lower case looks a bit odd and confusing after a full stop.

    Right - back to the weirdness!
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    The lead letter - the capital - is missing because it's written phonetically, which means that the second letter of He, which would be lower case with the H, should still be lower case. The apostrophe is the stand-in H.
    You could argue that there ought to be a capital after the fullstop, but E is not a word, and nor is 'E; it's an abbreviated form of He, in this instance. It's that apostrophe that makes all the difference.
    It's up to the individual, but I'd go lower case.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Yes, that makes sense to me, Mrs Bear.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Hart’s states that all sentences (that begin with a word) should begin with a capital letter – even if it means changing how a name is usually shown.

    Charles de Gaulle would be:

    De Gaulle had a moustache.

    There’s no obvious mention of TN's query in Hart’s (or even ’art’s and ’Art’s). However, Henry Cooper was known as Our ’Enry. You obviously can’t rely on newspapers to get that right, but the Guardian’s pretty good and I know many authors who have adopted its style guide.

    So, on that basis... you should use a capital letter, irrespective of what the apostrophe is replacing. If Hart's and the Guardian say use one, who dares to argue? Authors! They will argue.

    I’m finding an increasing number are sending me their own style guides because their writing doesn’t conform – or the author doesn’t want it to conform.

    So, as I said above:
    You will see both – preference/style – make your choice and stick with it.
    I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Oh!

    *loses sleep over it*
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Have another gin. It's all fine... all of it.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    One of those endless debates:
    http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/48048/should-initial-es-after-h-dropping-be-capitalized
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    edited June 2016
    It is, but I'm not sure I'd want to base my choice on that site.

    At least if an author makes an informed decision based on an established style it's supportable. Even if they then disregard it, because it's against the style they're creating, it's based on knowledge and not a whim.

    This is why you will see both. Who is right? Who is wrong?

    The fact that TN cares enough to query it makes her choice right, irrespective of which one she uses.

  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    edited June 2016
    Exactly. There is a third choice, of course: if in doubt, work round it.
    'You can stroke Roger - ’e loves it, 'e does.’
    Solved!

    I wouldn't use the site as a basis for deciding an argument either - it's there to demonstrate that there is an argument.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Yes, I could get around that one.

    Somewhere else I've got:

    ''s not our fault.'

    Also tried it as:

    's'not our fault.'

    And with a capital letter...
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    As the bit that's missing is before the s, not after, it should be 's not.
    [i]It's not[/i] has no apostrophe between it's and not, so don't have one in the abbreviated version.
    Capital as before - I'm not going there!

    The fudge this time could be "Well, 's not our fault."
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