Please, only tight-laced editorial types respond (as if):

What is the hard and fast--if often broken and ignored--rule about titles in the address of a business letter, specifically the title of 'principal'?

Let me show an address in a business letter:

Mr. John Doe, principal
Wavering Heights High School
Rack-Driven Slip, VA 23838

Dear Mr. Doe:

...and so on.

OK. What is the most tightly-laced rule you know about the title of principal there? Is the hard/fast rule that principal should or should NOT be capitalized. I think most people nowadays always capitalize such titles, but I have this little itch of an instinct that tells me I wasn't taught to capitalize a title in such a case, oh, way back in about 1967. I sure would like to know the rule.

Many thanks,
WW

Don't know about any tightly laced rules, WW, but here's my two cents:

I was taught to capitalise Principal and also told to write all titles beneath the name
As in,
Mr. John Doe
Principal

Mr. John Doe, principal

I was taught that if the above were written as Principal John Doe then the opposite woudl also appply and it should be written as:

Mr. John Doe, Principal

It is a title, after all.

Thanks, both of you. I suppose "Principal" it will be.

WW

now that you've made up your mind, here's one style guide:

academic titles - Confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual’s name. Lowercase in all other uses.
According to Vice President for Finance and Administration Bobby Jones
According to Bobby Jones, vice president for finance and administration
On first reference to an individual with an academic title, use the academic title after the name. Do not refer to him/her as Dr. in subsequent references. Use his/her name only.
Jane E. Doe, Ph.D., is giving the commencement speech this year. Doe was selected from among the tenured faculty.
Names and titles in a listing, not in a paragraph, are capitalized.
Dr. Charles D. Dunn, President
Mr. Paul Hankins, Vice President for Student Services
Dr. Bob Houston, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Gary Linn, Dean of School of Business

tsuwm! Gladdens my ol' heart to see you carry the torch while I was bussy elsewhere.
For a copy of the Associated Press Stylebook write to them 50 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York, NY 10020
In 2000 the price for the stylebook was $16 for general public. Takes 2-4 weeks for delivery. EVERYTHING you want to know about style in writing. Handy for PR people and publicists for groups as it guides you into writing in a style that is acceptable by Editors. The less they have to edit the copy, the better your chance of getting your piece into the paper or on the radio.

Just an FYI - No need to order by mail - the AP Stylebook is readily available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.

>the Associated Press Stylebook


Pish-tosh! Preachy prescriptivist proganda.

Is that a cross between an orangutan and a panda?

Pish-tosh...

Never heard that phrase around here. I have heard, however, pish-posh.

>Is that a cross between an orangutan and a panda?

Nope, just admitting that I discriminate against female poultry.