I read the following in an article about the Mexican fight with cartels:
Ten days later, army and National Guard troops killed three innocent bystanders as they were pursuing suspected gunmen.
Why is "National Guard" capitalized but not "army?"
"Army" here doesn't seem to be used as a general term for an army. I assume it means the Mexican army.
I assume it means the Mexican army.
Perhaps the lack of specificity of 'army' results in a similar situation to 'president' but 'President Biden'.
AJ
Perhaps the lack of specificity of 'army' results in a similar situation to 'president' but 'President Biden'
But it was talking about a specific army — the Mexican army.
But it was talking about a specific army — the Mexican army.
'If it's a proper noun, it should be capitalized' seems to be a much repeated rule in forum posts. So 'Mexican Army', I guess, or just 'army'.
AJ
'If it's a proper noun, it should be capitalized' seems to be a much repeated rule in forum posts. So 'Mexican Army', I guess, or just 'army'.
US Navy or Navy, when 'US' is implied. A navy, but the Navy, at least as I see it.
Why is "National Guard" capitalized but not "army?"
Because most people who write articles do not have a Masters or Doctor degree in English. Just too many rules and exceptions to learn unless you devote your life to that specific field of knowledge. Then we have the bloggers who represent themselves as experts in grammar.
I just googled the question asking what Chicago Manual of Style would do (the article probably followed the AP Style guide, but I follow CMoS). Google once again invoked its AI and said:
Yes, the Chicago Manual of Style says to capitalize the word "army" when it's used in works about the US military, even when it's standing alone. For example, "the Army".
However, the Chicago Manual of Style says that "army" and "navy" are considered generic when used alone. For example, "the two armies were in position". In contrast, "Army Corps of Engineers" and "Marine Corps" are capitalized because they are more specialized subbranches of the US military.
The military's own documentation routinely capitalizes all these terms.
I asked the same question replacing Chicago Manual of Style with AP Style Guide and got:
Yes, "Army" is capitalized in AP style when referring to the U.S. military branch
So "army" should have been capitalized in the article (not the US Army, but the Mexican Army).
I asked the same question replacing Chicago Manual of Style with AP Style Guide and got:
Yes, "Army" is capitalized in AP style when referring to the U.S. military branch
So "army" should have been capitalized in the article (not the US Army, but the Mexican Army).
Well, the AP style guide didn't say only capitalize army when it's the US military.
AJ
Saw this today in an article about the North Koreans fighting Ukraine:
Eleven thousand North Korean soldiers or soldiers of the North Korean army are currently present on…
If I had written that, I don't think I would have capitalized "army" either.
That's what journalists follow.
This will depend on the publication. In general, in the US, newspapers often use AP while periodicals, journals, and book publishers tend to use CMOS, but there are always exceptions.
Plus, some of the above will have their own in-house style guides. For example, the "New York Times Manual of Style and Usage" makes several important changes from AP, some more traditional like using the 's possessive even when the noun ends in s and some more modern, such as not requiring courtesy titles (Dr. & Mrs., etc) in casual parts of the paper such as the sports and pop culture sections.
The simple fact is that while there are tendencies and expectations, there is simply no industry or media where everyone uses the same style. Not even in academia.
For example, the "New York Times Manual of Style and Usage" makes several important changes from AP,
The NY Times one predates the AP.
"North Korean army" shouldn't be capitalized. "Korean People's Army" should be. One is a proper noun, the other isn't.
The UK military is undercapitalised. The govt intends to increase its annual budget to 2.5% of GDP but at some future time (ie when hell has frozen over). :-)
AZ
The general rule, as I learned it in Mrs. Higginbotham's sixth grade English class is, to capitalize proper nouns, defined as "the name of a particular person, place or thing." So, Army would be capitalized in "the U.S. Army" or even "The Army" if it is the name of a particular army.
