Capitalisation Query

[Dan Jones]

Just a quick one: the title of my book is The Boy With Jewels In His Eyes.

The title refers to the nickname given to a character upon his birth, owing to the colour of his eyes.

When the characters refer to The Boy With Jewels In His Eyes in dialogue, should I capitalise the words? In a non-title context the words aren't proper nouns any more, but I think they are when they're used as the nickname of the character.

In short, which of these is correct? I'm pretty sure it's #2, but in my head it looks odd, although that might be because I've looked at it for so long.

1. "He's the one they called the boy with jewels in his eyes," said Languis.

2. "He's the one they called The Boy With Jewels In His Eyes," said Languis.

Cheers chaps and chapettes.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Since grammar would not be my strong suit I'm probably wrong, but for what it's worth I would probably write it as:

"He's the one they called the Boy with Jewels in his Eyes," said Languis.

 

[The Judge]

I'd use lower case.

I agree that if it were a real nickname such as Frog Face you'd probably use capitals, but for me it's too long and unwieldly to act as such here, and here, particularly with "the boy", it's less a nickname than a statement, if that makes sense eg similar to "He's the one they call the stupid fool".

 

[Alexander2]

If you wanted it to be capitalized I would shorten the nickname to Jewel Eyes. Otherwise I would lowercase it like The Judge said.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

What the judge said. Of course.

 

[jastius]

If you are following aboriginal multi naming customs, there has to be a capitalization. As its a name.
Names are capitalized.
Because people tend to dislike reading a string of capitals you have some options.
The first mention of the name you can either capitalize everything, or treat it as you would a book title. Just capitalize the important words.
The next time you use the name, you can simply capitalize the beginning letter, as you would any other name. After a bit you could use a shortened form.

http://m.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-indian-names/fox-names.htm

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I would capitalize it as The Boy with Jewels in his Eyes, and use that one very sparingly, otherwise resorting to The Boy or the Boy most of the time. In your title, it would typically be capitalized that way, as well (without the connecting words being capitalized).

 

[J. L. Holtz]

No capitalization, if this is the first reference to this phrase in the piece.

It is dialogue and not considered proper nouns, as it is just reference at this point, and not a nickname at this point.

It does not matter that the book is titled this.

 

[Dan Jones]

Thanks all for the varied responses, guys. I think I might be overcomplicating this, as some characters use this as a formal title, while others are discovering the "title" for the first time, which in my head means some people would be referring to it formally (and it would be capitalised in their dialogue), and others informally (no capitals), but that just seems weird and overthought.

I will pick a format, and stick with it.