Italics serve three primary functions: they emphasize key words or phrases, identify uncommon foreign words, and indicate certain titles and names. While italics work well to place greater weight on certain words, too many writers italicize too much, likely thinking that anything of importance needs to be clearly indicated. But they do not realize that readers treat all italicized text as equal and will be left without a sense of what is important and what isn’t. Trust the reader to see importance in good writing and emphasize key points through emphatic and rhythmic placement rather than physical modifications.
Italicize uncommon foreign words. Consult your favorite dictionary when uncertain which words deserves italics and which don’t. In general, modern dictionaries increasingly prefer to remove italics—most Latin, German, and French loanwords remain unaltered in the most recent editions of major dictionaries.
Refer to your style guide for italicizing titles and proper names, but the following list should serve as a general guide on what to italicize:
•Books, plays, epic poems
•Newspapers, magazines, journals, websites
•Court cases
•Films, television shows, video games
•Musicals, operas, song cycles, symphonies, albums, radio shows
•Paintings and sculpture
•Scientific names
•Ships, trains, aircraft, and spacecraft
Do not italicize traditional games like chess or Texas Hold ‘em, software, legal and constitutional documents, and consumer products. For rules on quotations, see quotes.