GC Quest, "Imperial Devices (Gridania)" -- Text -- Bloisirant's Incorrect Cappings

[Anonymoose]

I was about to fight this one, but Merm's right. The only time a title is ever capitalized is when its used with a name barring a singular exception.* I guess this one's easily accepted when it comes to military ranks, but starts flame wars when it comes to nobility. It all comes down to "proper noun" or "common noun."

* Back to the exception I mentioned

While not grammatically perfect, you can use the title + name = capitalization rule and not say the name at all, leaving it up to implication. It's vulgar, but you can kind of get away with it if you fight it. For instance, "What do you want, King?" The proper noun is simply implied. (Though, it wouldn't be in the sentence, "What do you want, my king?" etc.)

In this case, we do know that Fulke is being referred to, so it seems like it's a shoe-in for caps because we assume that if we're referring to a specific person holding that title that it's a proper noun. It's not.

This is a military rank; not only can more than one first serpent lieutenant exist over time, more than one first serpent lieutenant can exist AT A TIME. It's a common noun, and the fate is sealed by the word "the."

So:

First Serpent Lieutenant Fulke will be eager ...
First Serpent Lieutenant [Fulke implied] will be eager ...
The first serpent lieutenant will be eager ...

Interesting find. I'd have breezed right over it.