1 Topic by mikemorr (edited by mikemorr 2007-10-19 15:35:34)

  • Registered: 2006-12-27

Topic: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

Regarding the song by Dexys Midnight Runners, should it be "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?  Normally "on" should be lowercase, but in this case the phrase "come on" is a two-word phrase meaning "please".  "On" is part of that phrase, not a preposition indicating that anything is "on Eileen", so I would vote for capitalizing it: "Come On Eileen".

I refer to the rationale for the exception to (2c) on the Capitalization Standard for English, specifically the examples of "Logged In Eternally", "Plug In Baby", "Turn On Tune In" and "Dream On Dreamer" given there.

A similar argument could be made to capitalize the a-ha song as "Take On Me" instead of "Take on Me".

Any thoughts?

  • From: Singapore
  • Registered: 2007-02-13

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

I'd say the On should be capitalised as you suggest.

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  • Gecks
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  • From: Birmingham, UK
  • Registered: 2006-10-04

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

"Come on Eileen" would have quite a different meaning :)

4 Reply by mll (edited by mll 2007-10-25 20:36:31)

  • mll
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  • Registered: 2006-11-03

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

lol

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  • Registered: 2006-12-27

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

OK, I am going to capitalize "Come On Eileen".  Would you all agree that "Take On Me" should be the same way?

  • Registered: 2006-12-27

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

OK it looks like "Come On Eileen" appears over 100 times, on various compilation albums.  Should I just go ahead and edit the track title on each one, one by one, or is that not the best way to do it?

  • Gecks
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  • Registered: 2006-10-04

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

Yes and Yes, if you're up for it :)

  • Registered: 2007-10-16

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

Just a quick way to answer these types of questions:

Normally, and the way Guess Case assumes it is meant, "on" is treated as a preposition, and thus, is lowercase.  So, "Walk on the Mountain", "Jump on the Bike", etc.  If it's not acting as a preposition, like with "Come On Eileen", it would be uppercase, not lowercase. 

Just ask yourself "Is the word telling me where something is happening?"  If yes, lowercase.  If no, uppercase.

As someone mentioned, "Come on Eileen" would DEFINATELY have a, umm, different meaning!  :D

You stumble onto 50 berserkers!

9 Reply by mikemorr (edited by mikemorr 2007-11-08 19:36:59)

  • Registered: 2006-12-27

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

EDIT: I have moved my question about differing artists to a new topic: "Come On Eileen": Dexys Midnight Runners [& The Emerald Express]??

  • Registered: 2006-12-27

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

Now I'm thinking of a lot more song titles that might need a capitalized "On", for example "Keep On Truckin'", "Keep On Loving You", "Hang On Sloopy", "Hold On Loosely". Am I right, or am I taking this idea too far?

  • Registered: 2006-12-27

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

And how about "Hold On to the Nights"? I might be able to see that one going either way, as the argument could be made that the "nights" are what is being "held (on) to".

  • From: Cheltenham/Leeds, UK
  • Registered: 2007-06-18

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

I say all the examples you've given should be capitalised, I've thought that in the past it looks wrong for 'on' to be lowercase in some contexts and now I know why!

  • Registered: 2009-07-16

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

I have two questions:

1. Is it "Give in to me'' or "Give In to Me"?
2. And "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" or "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"?

  • From: Warsaw in Poland
  • Registered: 2009-07-14

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

"Give In to Me" and "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough", I would say.

What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it’s curved like a road through mountains.
by Tennessee Williams in A Streetcar Named Desire

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  • From: France
  • Registered: 2009-07-21

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

mikemorr wrote:

OK, I am going to capitalize "Come On Eileen".  Would you all agree that "Take On Me" should be the same way?

I also wonder if "Take On Me" is correct. I'd say however that "on" should stay lowercase since it doesn't seem to be an adverb here (I think it's still a preposition), because it has an object ("me") ; I think an adverb doesn't have an object.

  • From: here
  • Registered: 2006-12-19

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

[jesus2099]We should sentence case everything except proper nouns.[/jesus2099]

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  • From: UK
  • Registered: 2009-07-28

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

Plunk wrote:

I also wonder if "Take On Me" is correct. I'd say however that "on" should stay lowercase since it doesn't seem to be an adverb here (I think it's still a preposition), because it has an object ("me") ; I think an adverb doesn't have an object.

Linguists wouldn't call "on" a preposition here.  It is an inseparable part of the phrasal verb "to take on", which has a specific meaning.

18 Reply by Plunk (edited by Plunk 2009-07-31 09:08:49)

  • From: France
  • Registered: 2009-07-21

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

So "On" should be capitalized here?

Also, in the song title "Pickin' on Me", is it the same situation and should "on" be capitalized (to pick on is a phrasal verb too)?

[EDIT] Actually, I did some research and it seems like the particle of phrasal verbs can either be an adverb or a preposition. It's more often an adverb, but it's a preposition when the particle is directly linked to the subject.
I'm not sure why but I have the feeling that "on" in "Take on Me" is a preposition (maybe if it were "Take Me On", "on" would be an adverb), same thing for "Pickin' on Me". I have another trickier example with "Calling on All Stations", I'm really not sure if "on" is a preposition here.
If you think about it, "to look at" is a phrasal verb but the particle "at" is still a preposition.

A linguist could help here! :P

  • From: neh-VA-duh
  • Registered: 2009-08-30

Re: Capitalization: "Come on Eileen" or "Come On Eileen"?

Perhaps some of these can shed some light on the situation:

Music Cataloging at Yale

Describing Music Materials: A Manual for Descriptive Cataloging of Printed and Recorded Music

Capitalization Rules for Song Titles     


And last but not least:

MusicBrainz Capitalization Standard


Hope this helps and remember what Austin Powers once said:  "You might be a cunning linguist, but I'm a master debater."

Everyone have a great weekend!

Dang!