I’ve explained elsewhere that it’s inane to use an initial capital A in a contract’s references to that contract (as in this Agreement). Go here for my 2018 blog post on; for the definitive take, see MSCD.
But I’ve been aware for a while that the urge to inflict an unnecessary initial capital on stuff that’s … IMPORTANT occurs outside of contracts. Namely, law-review articles routinely refer to this Article.
But the other day I saw in a law-review article a reference to this Part. (See the image above.) What’s next? This Paragraph? This Sentence? This expanded use of what I’m calling, at least provisionally, “the blowhard’s initial capital” made me wonder whether some constituency other than lawyers is responsible for it. Perhaps it’s a feature of academic writing!
If you read academic-journal articles, I’d be pleased to hear what you think.
