_Upstate_ In _Upstate_New_York_ Capitalized?

Question

Dear FriendsShould upstate in the phrase upstate New York be capitalized? An example of how this is going to be used is "John used to work in upstate New York."Thank you very much!Sincerely,Jaddie

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Dear Friends Should upstate in the phrase upstate New York be capitalized? An example of how this is going to be used is "John used to work in upstate New York."[/nq]
I don't know, but I can give you some hints.
Is it a proper name? If so, then it's "Upstate New York". If not, then "upstate New York". I'm not aware of "upstate" being a general term, so I think it is the name of a region and would capitalize it.

This region of my state is called "Central Kentucky". It's called that because Central Kentucky is in central Kentucky (more or less), so I can write it capitalized or not.
If in doubt, you can usually restructure the sentence to avoid the problem: "Upstate New York is where John used to work."

Writing about programs that run under Linux or other Unix-like operating systems has a similar problem. Under Unix, commands and their operands are case-sensitive. Thus, "GREP", "Grep", and "grep" are three different commands. Most writers will write sentences like "grep searches in files for a given text string." They say that you can't capitalize the command, so they can't begin the sentence with a capital letter. I refuse to do that. I rewrite the sentence to avoid the situation: "The grep command searches in files for a given text string."
Bill
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Usenet · Answer

Dear Bill
Thank you very much for your reply.
Sincerely,
Jaddie

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Should upstate in the phrase upstate New ... used is "John used to work in upstate New York."[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't know, but I can give you some hints. Is it a proper name? If so, then it's "Upstate ... of "upstate" being a general term, so I think it is the name of a region and would capitalize it.[/nq]
I don't think it's quite a proper name, because it has neither official standing nor well-defined boundaries. To my understanding "upstate" is formed by analogy with "upriver" (and "uphill" &c.) and describes a general direction rather than a specific location. A New Yorker might say "We're going upstate for the weekend," but not "We're going to Upstate." But I suppose if you habitually capitalize other adjectives that refer to directions in regional terms, as in "Central Asia", "Western Canada", "Southern England", &c. (none of which I would capitalize), then it would only be consistent to treat it the same way.

Odysseus

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I don't know, but I can give you some hints. ... is the name of a region and would capitalize it.[/nq]
Don't forget D/downstate Illiois. Which iiuc is anything south of Chicago. I think there is a university even, Downstate Illinois University, but I'm not sure.
[nq:1]I don't think it's quite a proper name, because it has neither official standing nor well-defined boundaries. To my understanding ... England", &c. (none of which I would capitalize), then it would only be consistent to treat it the same way.[/nq]
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
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Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years

Usenet · Answer

>> > Should upstate in the phrase upstate New York be capitalized? An
>> > example of how this is going to be used is "John used to work in
>> > upstate New York."
>> I don't know, but I can give you some hints.
>> Is it a proper name? If so, then it's "Upstate New York". If not,
>> then "upstate New York". I'm not aware of "upstate" being a general
>> term, so I think it is the name of a region and would capitalize it.
Don't forget D/downstate Illiois. Which iiuc is anything south of Chicago. I think there is a university even, Downstate Illinois University, but I'm not sure.
A joke? That's ok, it's funny that Chicagoans have a tendency to write their street address as "1313 Mockingbird Ln." or whatever...and forget to put what city they live in (my theory is that to them, Chicago is the entire world). Anyway, I wouldn't capitalize upstate or downstate.
>I don't think it's quite a proper name, because it has neither >official standing nor well-defined boundaries. To my understanding >"upstate" is formed by analogy with "upriver" (and "uphill" &c.) and
>describes a general direction rather than a specific location. A New
>Yorker might say "We're going upstate for the weekend," but not >"We're going to Upstate." But I suppose if you habitually capitalize
>other adjectives that refer to directions in regional terms, as in >"Central Asia", "Western Canada", "Southern England", &c. (none of >which I would capitalize), then it would only be consistent to treat
>it the same way.
Yes, I'd have to agree.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]A joke? That's ok, it's funny that Chicagoans have a tendency to write their street address as "1313 Mockingbird Ln." or whatever...and forget to put what city they live in (my theory is that to them, Chicago is the entire world).[/nq]
I have received flyers on events to be held in the near future with just a street address, but no hint of the city. The ones I have tracked down have been from New York City rather than Chicago, so I thought this was a failing of New Yorkers.
Bill
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_Upstate_ In _Upstate_New_York_ Capitalized?

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