I haven't noticed an abundance of Italics in anything I've read lately.

Nope, not that I've seen.

Rampant Capitalization Of Everything Under The Sun?

That's A Different Story Entirely.

I do not see much use of italics to put emphasis on a word, to stress the word in a sentence, or otherwise give it a stronger meaning. I can't say never, but not often.

The books that I have read use italics for a foreign word, usually every foreign word in the book. For example, right now I am reading "The Book Theif" by Markus Zusak. It is set in Nazi Germany. All the German words are in italics, every time the words are used whether it's a sentence of text or dialogue.

That is the most common use of italics in what I read. For emphasis, I more often see a word in bold or all capitols. As a reader, I think it's better if the word choice and sentence structure is used to get an important point across. IMO.

Ask Talley-Sue. ;o)

I have noticed it (but can't cite for you) and I don't like it. You are correct - they become ineffective. Besides, I feel compelled to emphasize the italicized word or passage in my mind's ear and find that more distracting than helpful. It seems as if the author is yelling at me. Experienced readers know what to emphasize and what the point is without being "yelled" at.

It seems to me that magazine articles are the biggest offenders, but books are using them, too. Be judicious, kind of like with commas...when in doubt, leave them out!

Sherry

Not in the books I have been reading.

No, I don't notice italics much at all. I do catch a number of typos, tho, which tends to drive me a little nuts.

I haven't really noticed it in the books I've been reading.

Nope. I remember when Cosmopolitan magazine used them to excess under Helen Gurley Brown's editorship, but that was a long time ago.

Thank you all so much for your insightful comments. I didn't think the rules for good writing had changed, but I honestly had no clue what other authors were doing.

Like you said, Sherry, "experienced readers know what to emphasize and what the point is..."

Over use of italics may well be an indication of a weak vocabulary if the italics are meant for emphasis. This practice in professional writing belongs with sentences ending in several exclamation points and the use of " 's" to make nouns plural.

I was going to say the same thing as Stephanie. I read a lot of fiction about foreign cultures and those books do indeed use italics for foreign words. After a while I don't even notice them.

I do appreciate an author who uses a foreign word and gives a hint at least of what the word means the first time it's used.

As far as using italics for emphasis, haven't seen much of that going on. :-)

Jodi-

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think even when you use italics for foreign words, you're supposed to drop the italics after the first time you use the word.

OKwriter--go with your instincts. Anything that's overused tends to lose its impact, whether it's italics or saying "I love you" a hundred times a day. :)

I can look in my style guides if you want a definite answer. Do you have Chicago Manual of Style?

Ux,

I use CMOS almost exlusively for this type of work (fiction). In the last manuscript I edited, I changed all of the italics but was asked not to this time. That's fine, but I at least wanted the KTs input about whether I was in line by pointing out that they are used to excess.

Heck, I'm so far behind the tech times (iPods, M3 something players, etc.), that I thought maybe books had changed, too! LOL!

I haven't noticed a lot of italics and I have been reading a lot of books lately.

LMBO@casey! It's almost that bad...