Well, as everyone knows, I'm a expert on capital letters. Obviously. Just look at... Oh, never mind.
Here's the thing. When I'm writing dialogue, I tend to capitalize certain words which most other people leave lower case. Several BRs have called me on it, but I always stick with my own method. I explain my reasoning, and they either agree with me or simply choose to let the matter drop. I'm not always sure which.
The sort of words I'm talking about are "honey," "son," and "dear."
Most people would write it this way:
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Perry looked at him. "Now, son, you can't just expect a man to hire you when you come in off the streets, even with credentials like this."
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"I'm sorry, honey. I did eat the last of the chocolate ice cream."
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"Yes, dear. I'll take care of it."
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"Aww, come here, kiddo."
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I, however, would have capitalized Son, Honey, Dear, and possibly Kiddo. The way I see it, these words stand in place of a single specific proper name. You'd capitalize a nickname. You'd capitalize "Mom" or "Dad." You'd capitalize a title such as "Your Highness." You'd capitalize an epithet ("The Great One," for example). So, shouldn't words with a similar function also be capitalized?
If anyone has a solid grammatical source (not that these things are infallible or irrefutable. Often, they contradict each other on some of the finer points), I'd be interested to know. Otherwise, I'm just generally interested in how FoLCs at large see things.
So, you know the routine. Vote in the poll, add any additional thoughts in a reply. Thanks for your time.
Paul
