Scott: From the Wikipedia entry<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_%28punctuation%29>on colons: Some modern American style guides, including those published by the Associated Press and the Modern Language Association, prescribe capitalization where the colon is followed by an independent clause (i.e. a complete sentence). However, *The Chicago Manual of Style* requires capitalization only when the colon introduces two or more complete sentences. Here's another link <http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm>to a discussion of punctuation following colons. Dick On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 7:43 AM, Scott <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Have the rules changed on me? The following is a sentence from a > > native speaker of American English who is on a graduate fellowship > > or visiting professorship—I forget which—with a Flemish university. > > (I had considered myself an expert in punctuation until now). > > > > “But one does capitalize the initial letter of the first word in a > > *sentence* following a colon, as then the colon is functioning as a > > terminal mark of punctuation, and hence the capitalization is a useful > > signal to the reader that it is being used as such and what follows is > > a complete sentence and not a list of clauses.” > > > > > > Scott Catledge > > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web > interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select > "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/