Spring Break?

[mbrooky]

So, does Spring Break -- as in the week schools close -- gets caps?

Or is it spring break week?

I support the caps. What say you?

[bthrock]

I don't think it's a proper noun. It's not universally recognized: some schools probably have Easter break instead; it varies from college to college; and grade schools don't necessarily observe the same break as colleges. Spring break seems to be closer to "summer vacation" than to "Independence Day" or "Christmas Eve."

Squelching overcapitalization seems to be a growing duty for editors. I see creeping caps in phrases such as Alzheimer's Disease, Down Syndrome, Alternative Minimum Tax (see related thread) and even Cooper's Hawk.

[Doug Shaver]

When I was on the desk, my rule (never challenged by any supervisor) was to lowercase anything absent a clear and explicit rule mandating caps.

If that didn't settle the issue in this case, I would reason thus. You write "Christmas holiday" without capping "holiday." Therefore, with "spring break" you would capitalize only "spring" if that. But there is a rule saying that the names of the seasons are down. Therefore, "spring break" is down.

[Dan Puckett]

So, does Spring Break -- as in the week schools close -- gets caps?

Our style is to capitalize Spring Break and Spring Breaker. Then again, that may be because it's a pretty big economic deal down here.