I've seen the names of games such as poker, blackjack, tag, telephone, etc. uncapitalized. My question is why? I'm trying to find a reason to capitalize or uncapitalize these games--shouldn't all game names be capitalized since they're proper nouns?--but evidence points to them being lowercase. I've tried to find the reasoning on the Internet and in my reference books, but nothing covers these. Why are certain game names uncapitalized while things such as Monopoly, Resident Evil, and Old Maid are?
Because Old Maid, Resident Evil and Monopoly are trademarks, while poker and blackjack are generic and uncopyrighted. It's like how the word "Dumpster" is capitalized. Usually people lowercase it, but in the AP Stylebook it's listed as uppercase because it's a trademarked term. Hope I helped.
That makes a lot of sense actually (though I don't think Old Maid is trademarked). I guess solitaire isn't capitalized either then. Thanks.
It isn't, and the Oxford Style Manual gives it as lowercased in all senses, including the card game. Correct, unless you are referring to the Neil Sedaka song or some such.
