Should either or both words in "out of" be capitalized (e.g., Bat Out of Hell)?
I wanted to clarify because the "o" is commonly capitalized in any Google search hits.
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2Using the 'rule' 'Capitalize the first, last and any important words in a title, which [convention / style] is known as Title Case', which I've just found from one source, it doesn't matter if 'out of' is unitary, two words; compound preposition, adverb + preposition; particle + preposition, or dingbat + pragmatic marker of spookiness. Do you consider out and/or of important enough to capitalise? – Edwin Ashworth Oct 05 '14 at 15:06
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@EdwinAshworth You're quite right - but that isn't what Meatloaf decided to do! Bat Out of Hell – Araucaria - Him Oct 05 '14 at 15:52
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@EdwinAshworth: That's one rule, but another is to capitalize all but short prepositions. Anyway, noted – Wolf Oct 05 '14 at 16:12
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Hence the use of scare quotes. They're usually required for 'rules' in English, and probably need to be tripled when it comes to '"rules"' about style. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 05 '14 at 16:26
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There are no capitalization rules for titles or fixed phrases, unless they're proper names, in which case their owners decide. In fact, there are no dependable consistent rules for capitalization in English at all. In the fixed phrase bat out of hell, "out of" is what's sometimes called a "compound preposition", which has more than one word. – John Lawler Oct 05 '14 at 16:31
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This user answered your question about capitalizing song titles – Mari-Lou A Oct 05 '14 at 17:09