Grammar police

Brie2010

Which capitalization is correct?  I am engaged in a battle over this at work.

laurenclaire1386

I would capitalize all the words because I think of it as a title. And that's probably not even correct, but capitalizing all the words looks better to me for some reason.

parker624

I'd think unless "Incoming Students" is a defined term (i.e. a proper noun) it would not be capitalized.

tenofcups4me

Number 2 is definitely correct, though I'm not sure I can explain it in a way that makes sense. The most simple reason is that anything that follows Dear is always capped. Beyond that, I'll have to think about the actual reason.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

I don't see incoming students as a proper noun, so I picked lower-case. I'm surprised by the results so far.

Now, if you did a mail merge and used all their names, of course they would be capitalized.

ohwhynot

I'd capitalize it all, because what follows "Dear" is generally capitalized, and "Incoming" modifies "Students." 

Brie2010

My opinion is that no, it shouldn't be, it's not a proper noun.  My boss insists it IS a proper noun, which I know is wrong.  I'm willing to buy the "there's an exception and everything after a salutation is capitalized" argument, though. 

MarriedInAFever

Definitely lowercase. "Incoming students" is not an official title.

jasmineh7777

Number 1, because you only capitalize proper nouns. I also wouldn't use "Dear" when addressing multiple students, but that's just me.

Moneypenny424

I voted to capitalize it, thinking that "Incoming Students" is a title.

SarahPLiz

I see it as parrallel to "Dear Sirs". Sirs describes the group of people you are addressing. Incoming Students is the name of the group. Plus, to me, it looks funny with lowercase letters.

Moneypenny424

I was thinking of it like this, which may better explain what I was thinking.  If it isn't a title, I'm wrong:

Rule 6.	Capitalize any title when used as a direct address.
	Example:	Will you take my temperature, Doctor?

ohwhynot

The "Dear Sir or Madam" is a good example.  "Incoming Students" is their stand-in title, so it gets capitalized as would their name, imo. 

Moneypenny424

I will say though, in a different context, I wouldn't capitalize, ie "this event is for incoming students."  Only with the "Dear," since you're addressing someone.

Grammar procrastination today

ggmae

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_grammar-police?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:96a0a015-4628-4593-9a18-3c176bd36350Post:c24ba17c-0f75-4c0e-a67a-547ebf3c7daa">Re: Grammar police</a>:
[QUOTE]I voted to capitalize it, thinking that "Incoming Students" is a title.
Posted by Moneypenny424[/QUOTE]

Ditto. While it's not a proper title, it is a title of sorts. And it looks funny not capitalized.

Kati0105

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_grammar-police?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:96a0a015-4628-4593-9a18-3c176bd36350Post:e137c000-55fc-4f59-a2bf-8f1088762eb9">Re: Grammar police</a>:
[QUOTE]I will say though, in a different context, I wouldn't capitalize, ie "this event is for incoming students."  Only with the "Dear," since you're addressing someone. Grammar procrastination today :)
Posted by Moneypenny424[/QUOTE]

I'm going to ditto this.  Penny is wise.

Brie2010

See, gg, to me it looks funny capitalized!

I guess the result of this poll is that either way, half the people will think I'm wrong, so it doesn't really matter.  Duly noted.

crfische

The first word, all nouns, and all titles are capitalized in the salutation. That's according to The Gregg Reference Manual. Gregg says nothing about the last word. As pronouns, all and everyone would not be capitalized unless they were the first word or part of someone's title, according to Gregg.

SarahSmile23

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_grammar-police?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:96a0a015-4628-4593-9a18-3c176bd36350Post:e62a88c4-4307-42ff-8660-d6ab63419faf">Re: Grammar police</a>:
[QUOTE]The "Dear Sir or Madam" is a good example.  "Incoming Students" is their stand-in title, so it gets capitalized as would their name, imo. 
Posted by ohwhynot[/QUOTE]
 I agree wth this.

[Deleted User]

I say capitalize it. I write websites and our general rule is that if we're writing a sentence or phrase without a period (such as a slogan/tagline, headline, lists, etc), that it should be I-capped. In this case, 'incoming students' is standing in for a name, so it should be capitalized.

tldh

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_grammar-police?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:96a0a015-4628-4593-9a18-3c176bd36350Post:d3313f09-f8de-48ff-9be9-d20369ebd4e7">Re: Grammar police</a>:
[QUOTE]Number 2 is definitely correct, though I'm not sure I can explain it in a way that makes sense. The most simple reason is that anything that follows Dear is always capped. Beyond that, I'll have to think about the actual reason.
Posted by tenofcups4me[/QUOTE]

Legal secretaries here agree

mica178

Capitalize it.  It's sort of like "To Whom It May Concern:" or "Dear Valued Guest."