Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
ITALICS
American printed matter uses italics (the type fonts whose letters slant to the right) for the titles of literary and other artistic works (War and Peace, Verdi’s Requiem); for the names of journals and newspapers (The New York Times, Newsweek); for words, letters, and numbers cited as words, letters, and numbers (as here with the word italics); for foreign words and phrases (ars longa, vita brevis est), although when these loan words and phrases have been fully assimilated into English, we usually cease to italicize them, as with à la mode; for the names of ships (Queen Elizabeth II, or Q.E. II); and for a number of other technical purposes such as are usually specified in a publisher’s stylebook. In handwriting or typescript, underline what you wish to italicize. Italics are also used for emphasis and to indicate a heavier-than-normal stress on a word, particularly in Semiformal and Informal writing, although most editors discourage the practice. To achieve the effect of italics in the midst of a full sentence already in italics, put the word to be stressed in roman: We thought she’d never leave!
