I asked here the other day as to what would be the correct way to type out the name of the magazine known as MAD if one wanted to refer to it as "MAD magazine." What do you capitalize? What do you italicize? I offered four possibilities…
- MAD magazine
- MAD Magazine
- MAD magazine
- MAD Magazine
I've received over 75 replies, at least two-thirds from folks who claim professional experience as editors, proofreaders, teachers of the language, etc. I'm not doing a precise tally because the overwhelming message from that response is that no one's really sure and that all answers are possible depending on the style guide of the specific publication. Of those who expressed a real answer, it was about 35% for #1, 40% for #2, 10% for #3 and the rest for #4 — but very few folks thought that there was only one right answer. So I'm just going to do whatever looks right to me when I type it. I don't have a firm style guide for this blog. Thanks to all who wrote in.
In the meantime, the A.A.R.P. magazine takes note of how many contributors to that long-running publication are senior citizens. Odd how Alfred never seems to age a day. Maybe he really doesn't have anything to worry about.