英语语法：57 How to Use Italics

Today we’re going to talk about italics, that slanted¹ type that you sometimes see amidst regular roman type.
Following the Rules
Open up any style guide and it'll give you a list of items that need to be italicized. The important thing to remember is that if your school or business follows a certain style guide, you should follow it too. The four main style guides that you may be asked to follow are the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual, used by journalists; the Chicago Manual of Style, used by many publishers; and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers used by many students. All four contain detailed² rules on when to use italics. The AP Stylebook is easy: the AP doesn't use italics. The rest are a little more nuanced, but you’ll be relieved to know that we won’t be listing all the rules here in the podcast.
Instead, we’re going to give you a medium-sized list of things you probably should italicize. Just be sure to double-check the style guide you’re supposed to use, as rules vary. Here goes: foreign words not yet assimilated into English—more on that later; legal citations³; letters of the alphabet when you’re referring to them as letters; scientific names; titles of works, including books, plays, short stories, very long poems, newspapers, and magazines; titles of movies and radio and television series; names of operas and long musical compositions; and names of paintings and sculptures (1). You might also be asked to italicize the names of famous speeches, the titles of pamphlets, the names of vehicles (such as Challenger), and words used as words (2).
Did you memorize all those rules yet? Just kidding. You’re probably not going to be able to remember all the times you’re supposed to use italics, so keep your style guide handy
Although grammatical texts haven’t caught up with modern technologies like blogs and podcasts and don’t specifically mention these as far as italics, it would probably be safe to use italics to refer to them. That's what we do on the Grammar Girl website. Alternatively, though, you could probably also use quotation⁴ marks to refer to a blog or podcast name.
No Italics Necessary
Strangely enough, the names of long sacred works such as the Bible or the Koran do not take italics (1). You just use regular roman type for those. And for chapters of larger works or episodes of a TV show, for example, you surround the chapter or episode name with quotation marks (3). So if you were talking about the second chapter of the well-known writing book On Writing Well by William Zinsser, for example, you would put the book title in italics and the chapter name, “Simplicity,” in quotation marks.
In addition, you’re not supposed to put the word “the” in italics when it is part of a newspaper name (1). So if you were referring to the New York Times, the word “the” would be in regular type but the other three words would be in italics.
You might be wondering what to do with punctuation⁵ marks around something in italics. In the past, you put them in italics, too, but according to the American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style “A simpler, alternative system is to put these punctuation marks in the same typeface as the main or surrounding text” (3). So if you said, “My favorite book is Oliver Twist [period],” the title of the book would be in italics but the period at the end of the sentence would be in regular roman type.
Optional Italics
We’ve seen lots of rules where you must italicize something. Now let’s talk about a couple of places where it’s up to the writer. I mentioned earlier that you’re supposed to put foreign words in italics. You italicize these foreign words if they are somewhat unfamiliar⁶ to readers (4). If, on the other hand, a foreign word has been used so much that it has become part of English, you use regular type. Sometimes, though, it’s not so clear if the general public will know the foreign term. So, according to the Guide to Grammar and Writing (2), it is often “a matter of private judgment⁷ and context.” Most likely you would not italicize a common foreign phrase such as “vice versa,” but you probably would put sotto voce in italics. You as the writer get to decide based on the context and your audience.
Lastly, we use italics to emphasize something. Garner⁸, a well-trusted grammar source, says about an older-generation grammarian, “H.W. Fowler cautioned that many people, though competent in their own special subject, don’t have enough writing experience to realize that they shouldn’t try to achieve emphasis by italicizing something in every tenth sentence. With experience comes the competence⁹ to frame sentences so that emphatic¹⁰ words fall in emphatic places” (4). Garner therefore advises us to use italics for emphasis sparingly. If you overuse italics, then nothing will stand out.
Web Style
Another modern point that often isn't addressed yet by style guides is that italics can be hard to read on a computer screen, so often, when you are given the option, it's better to use quotation marks to highlight text rather than italics when you're writing for the Web. That's why we usually enclose words and letters in quotation marks in the Grammar Girl transcripts¹¹ instead of using italics.
Summary
With italics, it’s important to follow the style guide used at your business or school. If you don’t follow a particular style guide, though, just pick a format¹² and be consistent.

1 slanted   

有偏见的； 倾斜的

参考例句：

• The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。
• She had slanted brown eyes. 她有一双棕色的丹凤眼。

2 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

3 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句

4 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。

5 punctuation   

n.标点符号，标点法

参考例句：

• My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
• A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。

6 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

7 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

8 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

9 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

10 emphatic   

adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的

参考例句：

• Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决，不容有任何人怀疑。
• He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。

11 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

12 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。