class String def titlecase small_words = %w(a an and as at but by en for if in of on or the to v v. via vs vs.) x = split(" ").map do |word| # note: word could contain non-word characters! # downcase all small_words, capitalize the rest small_words.include?(word.gsub(/\W/, "").downcase) ? word.downcase! : word.smart_capitalize! word end # capitalize first and last words x.first.to_s.smart_capitalize! x.last.to_s.smart_capitalize! # small words are capitalized after colon, period, exclamation mark, question mark x.join(" ").gsub(/(:|\.|!|\?)\s?(\W*#{small_words.join("|")}\W*)\s/) { "#{$1} #{$2.smart_capitalize} " } end def titlecase! replace(titlecase) end def smart_capitalize target = dup # ignore any leading crazy characters and capitalize the first real character if target =~ /^['"\(\[']*([a-z])/ i = index($1) x = target[i,target.length] # word with capitals and periods mid-word are left alone target[i,1] = target[i,1].upcase unless x =~ /[A-Z]/ or x =~ /\.\w+/ end target end def smart_capitalize! replace(smart_capitalize) end end