A Marine friend told me it was incorrect to write "Semper Fidelis" and suggested it was correct to write "Semper fidelis". I'd like to know what the correct way is by Latin rule.
2006-09-23 08:22:32 · 6 answers · asked by Killjoy 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
It's capitalized because it's a motto, which is treated the same as a title in English. It's the same reason Nike's ad campaign slogan "Just Do It!" is capitalized.
If you were using it in a sentence, you wouldn't have to capitalize the second word, or even the first, depending on its placement in the sentence. I'm no expert in Latin, so I'm not sure if it constitutes a complete sentence. I've always heard it translated as "Always faithful," which wouldn't make a complete sentence in English since it lacks a verb.
2006-09-23 08:40:22 · answer #1 · answered by jersey girl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you write: "Can you find the RULE that states Fidelis is NOT to be capitalized?"
How about you show me where the rule is that RULE and NOT are to be all captalized.
It is a slogan, a Motto. hense all words are capitalized with the exception of particles like a, an, of, or the.
Just like book and movie titles.
2006-09-23 11:27:07 · answer #2 · answered by CG-23 Sailor 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I just looked on their official web site and it shows BOTH are capitalized. Even when they make an informal reference they say "Semper Fi" so it looks like two caps is the answer.
2006-09-23 08:27:53 · answer #3 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Semper fidelis" is a sentence, so grammatically speaking, your Marine friend is correct.
Operor non scribo in cabut tabellae!
2006-09-23 08:31:44 · answer #4 · answered by blueprairie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both are capital because it is a title.
2006-09-23 08:25:08 · answer #5 · answered by LisaM 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh no! its the capitalization police!
2006-09-23 08:29:56 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋