As our newest designer t-shirt states, the consequence for abusing uppercase letters is Capital Punishment. Don't let us find you guilty! Take heed of the following and let's "eliminate" mistakes before they end up in print.

Capitalize these common terms:

• the Gulf
• the Upper West Side
• the Promised Land
• the Sun Belt
• Lake Michigan; Lakes Michigan and Erie; the Great Lakes
• Washington State; the state of Washington
• the Great Plains
• the Wild West
• the Old World
• Back Bay
• the Badger State
• Skid Row

Other terms are not so straightforward. There are variations based on context and usage.

• Central America; central Asia; central Illinois
• southern Colorado; Southern California; South Florida; Central Florida
• the Southeast, the Southwest, southeastern, southwestern
• the West, western, westerner (of a country); the West Coast; the West, Western (referring to the culture of the Occident, or Europe and the Western Hemisphere)
• the South, southern, a southerner (of a country); but the South, Southern, a Southerner (in American War Between the States contexts)
• the equator; equatorial climate; the Equatorial Current; Equatorial Guinea (formerly Spanish Guinea)
• the tropics, tropical; the Tropic of Cancer; the Neotropics, Neotropical; the subtropics
• the poles; the North Pole; the North Polar ice cap; polar regions
• Antarctica; the Arctic; Arctic waters; a mass of Arctic air

Entities that appear on maps are always capitalized, as are adjectives and nouns derived from them. An initial the as part of a name is lowercased in running text, except in the rare case of an initial the in the name of a city.

• Asia; Asian
• South China Sea
• Ireland; Irish
• the North Pole
• BUT The Hague

Governmental entities are sometimes treated differently.

• Bozo works for the Village of Forest Park.
• That is a City of Chicago ordinance.
• BUT Residents of the village of Forest Park enjoy easy access to the city of Chicago.

Source: The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition.

On this day in 1897, Thomas Edison patented the kinetoscope, the first movie projector. This makes perfect sense for the person who invented the lightbulb, don't you think? Take today's vocabulary quiz and see if you go down in history as a movie genius. Lights! Camera! Action!

1. key grip: (a) the person responsible for all vehicles (both personal and for stunt use) on a film set; (b) the person assigned with holding the microphone boom on a movie or television production set; (c) the technician in charge of moving and setting up camera tracks and scenery in a motion-picture or television production; (d) a carpenter who creates all wooden pieces for a film set.

2. cinema verité: (a) the art or technique of filming a motion picture so as to convey candid realism; (b) the name of the world's first movie theatre in Cannes, France; (c) the title of Ingmar Bergman's famous 1964 feature film; (d) a style of film popularized by German filmmakers in the 1950s.

3. teleplay: (a) the back-and-forth dialogue written especially for two comedic actors; (b) a story prepared for television production; (c) an improvisational technique frequently employed by television actors; (d) a movie script containing reference to television production. 

4. cattle call: (a) a mass audition, as of actors; (b) a collection of laws that protect the physical safety of animals used in the making of a film; (c) a meeting held daily for the entire film crew before shooting begins; (d) the catering area usually reserved for a film's second unit crew.

5. protagonist: (a) the principal nemesis in a horror film; (b) a character who exists purely to create constant tension over a plot arc; (c) the leading character, actor or participant in a literary work or a real event; (d) a secondary character who supports the lead character unequivocally.

6. gaffer: (a) a unit producer responsible for keeping actors faithful to the written script; (b) personal assistant to the director of a film; (c) a crew member who usually works with pyrotechnics and explosives; (d) a lighting electrician on a motion-picture or television set.

7. cinematheque: (a) a small movie house specializing in avant-garde films; (b) a growing genre of film specializing in a realistic, post-CGI aesthetic; (c) a building in which initial screenings of films are held for industry members only; (d) the name given to the first major multiplex cinema houses in Europe.

8. best boy: (a) the personal chef for lead actors on a set; (b) the chief assistant to the gaffer in motion-picture or television production; (c) the lead male actor; (d) the chief assistant to the choreographer in motion picture or television production.

9. dénouement: (a) the scene in a movie in which the lead character has a transformative "moment of clarity"; (b) the opening sequence to the second act of a motion picture; (c) the elimination of the lead male actor, usually by death; (d) the final outcome of the main dramatic complication in a literary work.

10. fleapit: (a) slang for the area on a Western movie set where the wranglers congregate; (b) British: a dilapidated building usually housing a movie theater; (c) industry parlance for the director's chair; (d) a third-rate movie production.

Here is the link to the answers.