• From: Trois-Rivières, Canada
  • Registered: 2010-09-18

Topic: Capitalization/normalization [Til / Till / til / ’til or until] ?

english is not my native language so I'm wondering...

when we encounter the word "Til" like in the sentence "Run Til It's Dark". Should "Til" be capitalized or not ?
I thought it was a slang word for "until" but some online dictionaries have an entry for "Til" or even "Till"

Would normalizing to " ’til " be acceptable (with an apostrophe because it's a contraction, lowercase because it's a 3 letter preposition) ?

Some will say go with the cover but in the example below it's a web release only (for now).

http://musicbrainz.org/release/3497d26b … 1e3928cb5e

thanks for your input. I went with " ’til " for now...

Lotheric's Website

  • From: Bush country
  • Registered: 2011-12-10

Re: Capitalization/normalization [Til / Till / til / ’til or until] ?

Normally I'd just go with the artist's spelling. In ordinary conversation I'd use 'til but there's the ever-present issue of artist intent here.

  • Registered: 2012-07-17

Re: Capitalization/normalization [Til / Till / til / ’til or until] ?

As HibiscusKazeneko mentioned use artist intent here.

The Etymology is long and I rather think that most people don't research their words prior to use. In any case how it is used is right, be it in original form or not.

All forms you listed are acceptable in this modern era.

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

Re: Capitalization/normalization [Til / Till / til / ’til or until] ?

I tend to use 'til, 'round etc. (None of this typographically correct punctuation crap for me ;-) )

Some people disagree: http://tickets.musicbrainz.org/browse/MBS-3193

Basically, the english guideline doesn't cover it - and I don't think this is even agreed across various English-language capitalization systems. If you're really enthusiastic, you could try and get some agreement on a change to the guideline :-)

voiceinsideyou's Website

  • Registered: 2012-07-17

Re: Capitalization/normalization [Til / Till / til / ’til or until] ?

The version of Til they used I also assume comes from Until, being that spelling if more used for a type of sesame. Till as a spelling can mean multiple things, like till the soil, a cash register till, or Till a time frame. Supposedly Till came previous to until and then 'til came after until as a throw back to Till.

If it is a til that you can tell comes from until, then I would add the apostrophe so it isn't confused with the sesame til.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/till

Personal preference would be to standardise Til to Till.

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

Re: Capitalization/normalization [Til / Till / til / ’til or until] ?

I don’t see any advantage in changing the printed work (rec/track/release/etc.) name words here.

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jesus2099's Website

7 Reply by caller#6 (edited by caller#6 2012-08-20 20:17:03)

  • From: Oakland
  • Registered: 2009-04-07

Re: Capitalization/normalization [Til / Till / til / ’til or until] ?

If the first part of an English word is replaced with an apostrophe, I'd lowercase it even if it's not a 3-letter preposition (e.g. Hang 'em High). For my own tags, I even prefer to lowercase the first word in the title (e.g. 'round Midnight), although on this the guidelines disagree with me.

Style/Language/English wrote:

(1) Always capitalize the first and last word of a title. This rule should be followed even if the words would normally be lowercase according to the other rules.

The argument I like is, "the first letter is capitlaized. You just can't see it because it's been replaced by an apostrophe." :-)

I would be unlikely to invoke artist-intent for cases like this (unless it's some obviously funky stylized title). IMO, it's more likely that the artist-hasn't-given-it-much-thought.