- a cappella
Not italics.
- academy
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
- actor, actress
Use actor for both male and female performers.
- ad hoc (adjective and adverb)
No italics.
This is an ad hoc committee.
We will handle this ad hoc.
- administration
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
the University administration, Division of Administration and Finance
- admissions
Admissions is always plural when referring to the Admissions Office or the Office of Admissions. Capitalize as part of the full, official name; lowercase otherwise.
Note that each academic unit of the University (the College, the Eastman School of Music, the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Simon School and the Warner School) has its own admissions office. Be clear as to which office you are are referring. There is no "University" admissions office.
- advisor
Not adviser.
- affect, effect
Affect is a verb meaning to influence.
How will these changes affect the situation?
Effect is almost always used as a noun meaning result.
What will be the effect of these changes?
- African-American (adjective), African American (noun)
See black.
- alumni, alumnus
Alumni and alumnus are the preferred plural and singular terms of alumni of any gender. The feminine terms alumnae and alumna may be used given the context of the publication or the preference of the subject.
Do not shorten to "alum."
Capitalize alumni as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
Alumni Association, the College alumni
- association
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
University Athletic Association
We are forming a new association for alumni.
- bestseller (noun and adjective)
bestselling (adjective)
- biannual
Twice a year. May also use semiannual. For every two years, use biennial.
- bimonthly
Once every two months. For twice a month, use semimonthly.
- biweekly
Once every two weeks. For twice a week, use semiweekly.
- black
Acceptable as reference to an African American. Take the personal preference of the individual being described into account. Only use ethnic or racial distinctions when they are germane to the publication.
- bookstore
One word, lowercase. There are University bookstores located on the River Campus, at the Medical Center, and at the Eastman School of Music.
- cannot (one word)
- chair
For internal offices, use chair and not chairman.
Jack Frost, chair of the English department, will speak to the group.
EXCEPTION: Recent chairs of the Board of Trustees have usually preferred to be called chairmen (even the women). Check this for each use.
- chairman, chairwoman, chairperson
For external offices, use chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson given the preference of the office holder.
The chairman of Xerox will speak.
Capitalize before a name as a title; lowercase otherwise.
We asked Chairman Robert Dempsey of CIP to address the class.
- coauthor
- cochair
- coed
May be used as an adjective as an abbreviation of coeducational, meaning the education of both sexes at the same institution. Do NOT use as a noun to refer to a female student.
- colloquium
Colloquium is singular; colloquia are plural. Capitalize when part of a full, formal name; lowercase otherwise.
- Commencement
Capitalize when referring to a University graduation exercise. Each unit of the University has its own commencement exercises. There is no "University Commencement."
Parents and friends are invited to attend Commencement this weekend.
- committee
Capitalize when part of a full, formal name; lowercase otherwise.
The committee meeting is cancelled until next week.
The Outside Speakers Committee will meet on Monday.
- conference
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
- consortium
Consortium is singular; consortia are plural. Capitalize when part of a full, formal name; lowercase otherwise.
- continually, continuously
Continually means repeatedly.
He continually checked his voice mail during the meeting.
Continuously means without interruption.
He spoke continuously for more than two hours.
- coordinator
- co-owner
- council, counsel
Council is an assembly or other governing body. Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
the Psychology Undergraduate Council; the council meeting
Counsel means advice or a lawyer.
We valued his wise counsel.
He served as the court-appointed counsel on the case.
- coursework (one word)
- cox-2
Lowercase. Use on first reference and provide context later in publication. The full name of the enzyme is cyclooxygenase-2.
cox-2 inhibitors; cox-2 enzyme
- cross-country
Hyphenate when referring to the sport.
He joined the cross-country team.
- curriculum vitae
A summary of professional and educational experiences, usually used by academics. More complete than a resumé. No italics. Can be abbreviated as C.V. when the context is clear.
- cut back (verb), cutback (noun and adjective)
- data
Treat "data" as a plural noun and combine it with a plural verb when
writing about the research meaning of the word.
The data from the pilot study are inconclusive.
Treat "data" as a collective noun and combine it with a singular verb
when writing about data in the electronic, computer networking sense of
the word.
When working with large files, the data is often compressed.
Data travels over wires, lines, networks, etc., not through them.
- dean
Use lowercase unless the title precedes the name.
Ron Dow, dean of River Campus libraries
Dean Ron Dow
- decision making (noun), decision-making (adj.)
- disc, disk
Disc — an optical-storage medium designed to be written to and read
by a laser
compact disc; laserdisc; digital versatile disc
Disk — a portable piece of plastic embedded with magnetic material, or a less portable metal-encased storage disk.
a floppy disk; a hard disk
- division
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
The Division of Genetics provides counseling services.
- download (verb and noun)
- DVD
Has stood for both digital video disk and digital versatile disc. Acronym
is acceptable in first reference to movie format. Do not use DVDs to refer
to DVD-ROMs. DVD-ROMs store music, movies, or software and are played in the
DVD-ROM drive of a computer.
- earth
Lowercase when referring to dirt or the ground; capitalize when personified or when referring to the planet.
He needs to come down to earth.
The rich, dark earth is ideal for farming
He majors in earth science.
The asteroid narrowly missed hitting the Earth.
- effect, affect
See affect, effect
- electric, electrical, electronic
Do not use these terms interchangeably. The IEEE Standard Dictionary
of Electrical and Electronics Terms defines electric as "containing,
producing, arising from, actuated by or carrying electricity."
electric blanket; electric light
By contrast, electrical means "relating to, pertaining to, or associated with electricity but not having its properties."
electrical engineer
Electronics as a plural noun suggests devices and equipment. As an adjective, electronic suggests that something is implemented on or by means of a computer.
electronic filing; electronic banking
- e-mail
Hyphenate the word in all uses. Do not hyphenate compound nouns formed with this word.
e-mail account
E-mail can mean one single message.
He sent me an e-mail about that problem.
Or it can mean many messages. In this case, treat as a collective noun with a singular verb.
Unsolicited e-mail is a problem for most businesses.
Or it can refer to an entire e-mail system.
Our e-mail will be down for 20 minutes this afternoon.
E-mail can also be used as a verb or an adjective.
Please e-mail me with any questions.
Use the e-mail form on our Web site.
- emeritus, emeriti, emerita
Emeritus is an honorary rank bestowed on some retired University faculty. NOT EVERY retired faculty member has emeritus status, so do not use the terms interchangeably.
Always use the contruction "professor emeritus" NOT "emeritus professor." The title should be in lowercase; avoid constructions with the title before the name.
John Williams was named professor emeritus of mathamatics in 1980.
Emeritus and emeriti are the preferred singular and plural terms of professors of any gender. The feminine term emerita may be used given the context of the publication or the preference of the subject.
The Department of History held a banquet to honor its professors emeriti.
- fact book
Two words. Capitalize as part of a title; lowercase otherwise.
The department will produce its own fact book.
The online edition of Fact Book 2001–02 is now available.
- farther, further
Farther refers to physical distance. Further refers to an extent of time or degree.
His new apartment is 10 miles farther from his workplace than his old apartment.
We won't take this discussion any further today.
- faze, phase, Phase
Faze is a verb meaning to disturb or disconcert.
Nothing ever seemed to faze her.
Phase is a noun meaning a step or part of process, or as a verb meaning to carry out in stages.
We are ready to begin the next phase of the project.
We plan to phase in these changes over the next year.
"Phase" is a nickname given to the Hill Court residence halls. Avoid use in formal writing.
- federal
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the federal government
- fellow
Lowercase.
a university fellow
a research fellow
a Nieman fellow
BUT a Nieman Fellowship
- fellowship
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
He received a Boren Fellowship.
He received a research fellowship.
- fewer, less
Use fewer for things you can count
fewer calories
and less for things you measure.
less time
Less can also be used as a adverb.
less successful ideas — meaning "ideas that are less successful than others."
Fewer can only be used as an adjective.
fewer successful ideas — meaning "fewer ideas that are successful."
- firewall
Wired Style defines as a "wall of software that keeps unauthorized meanderers or malicious intruders outside a network." Write as one word in all cases.
- floppy disk
Generally refers to the 3.5 inch disks used to store computer data. Use floppy disk, not floppy disc. Floppy is also acceptable.
I saved it to my floppy.
Plural is floppies.
- foundation
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
the Head Start Foundation
foundation grants
- full time, full-time
They work for us full time. They have full-time jobs.
- fundraise, fundraiser, fundraising
Always closed. Fundraise can be used as a verb.
They are holding a fundraiser tonight.
He is their best fundraiser.
He attended a fundraising dinner.
She came to campus to fundraise.
Fundraising is prohibited in the dorms.
- gay
Adjective. May be applied to both men and women as a description of sexual orientation. Only use when the distinction is germane to the publication.
- government
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
We receive government funding.
We receive funding from the U.S. government.
We receive funding from the Digital Government Institute.
- grade
first-grade student
10th-grade student
grade six
grades 10 to 12
low-grade radiation
grade A beef
- grader
first grader
10th grader
- graduate (noun and adjective)
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
He is a University graduate.
He is taking graduate courses.
He is a member of the Graduate Organizing Group.
- graduate (verb)
She graduated from the University.
She graduated from college.
She graduated at the top of her class.
NOT: She graduated the University. She graduated college. She was graduated from the University.
- handbook
One word. Capitalize as part of a title; lowercase otherwise.
The department will produce its own handbook.
The online edition of the Employee Handbook is now available.
- Hanukkah
- hard disk
Not "hard disc."
- health care (noun and adjective)
Our goal is to provide better health care.
She is a health care professional.
- high school (noun and adjective)
- high tech (noun and adjective)
- Hispanic
Hispanic is acceptable as a noun and as an adjective referring to people tracing their descent to Latin America, Spain, or Portugal. Only use when the distinction of ethnicity is germane to the publication.
He is a Hispanic.
He is Hispanic.
He is the first Hispanic judicial nominee from the state.
Hispanics may be of any race, so do not write "Hispanics and whites." Use "Hispanics and non-Hispanics."
- historic, historical
Historic means history making.
Columbus's voyage was a historic moment. (NOTE: not "an historic")
Historical means pertaining to the study of history.
The report is a historical analysis of the Cold War. (NOTE: not "an historical")
Names of individual, easily recognized historic events should be capitalized. If in doubt, lowercase.
World War II; Boston Tea Party
- HIV
Stands for human immunodeficiency virus. "HIV virus" is redundant.
- homepage
Always lowercase and write solid.
Visit the Office of Technology Transfer homepage.
Avoid referring to your homepage on your homepage. It can confuse your visitors, who may think there is some "bigger" page that they are missing.
Always include a link back to your homepage from the internal pages of your
Web site. Make sure the link is labeled consistently and in the same location
on each of your internal pages.
- home schooling
home schooling (noun)
He is opposed to home schooling.
home-schooling (adjective)
We have devised a new home-schooling curriculum.
home-school (verb)
They home-school their three children.
home-schooled (verb or adjective)
She was home-schooled until high school.
He is a home-schooled student.
- homosexual
See gay.
- institute
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
- Internet
Always capitalize.
- intranet
A private network within an organization; lowercase unless part of a larger proper name.
We plan to establish an intranet for sharing internal documents.
We've signed a contract with Dashboard Intranets for the design.
- its, it's
"Its" is the possessive form of the pronoun it. "It's" is the contraction for it is.
To fix the computer malfunction, we had to replace its motherboard.
"It's just not possible at this time," she explained.
- Jr.
Do not set off with commas.
Sammy Davis Jr.
- Koran
Preferred spelling for the Muslim holy book.
- Latin American
Acceptable as a noun or adjective for people of Spanish-speaking (excluding
people from Spain). When deciding whether to apply Hispanic, Latin
American, or Latino, take personal preference into account. Only use ethnic or racial distinctions when they are germane to the publication.
- Latino, Latina
Latino is the preferred singular term or adjective for someone of any gender. The feminine terms Latina may be used given the context of the publication or the preference of the subject.
When deciding whether to apply Hispanic, Latin
American, or Latino, take personal preference into account. Only use ethnic or racial distinctions when they are germane to the publication.
- less, fewer
See fewer, less
- log on, log in, logon, login
Log on and log in are verbs. You log on to access a computer or network. When you are finished, you log off. Logon and login are nouns. You use your login to log on to your computer.
- long-standing
Always hyphenate.
Our organizations have had a long-standing partnership.
- long-term
Always hyphenate, as both a noun and adjective.
We plan to change our policy in the long-term.
Our long-term policy will change.
- longtime
Not hyphenated.
His longtime friend nominated him for the award.
- media, medium
The media are plural. Medium is the singular form of the noun, used to indicate one type of media.
The media are partly responsible for increases in teen violence.
Radio is a useful medium for advertisers.
- Meliora
University motto; commonly translated from the Latin as "always better." Always capitalized; do not set in italics.
- nation, national
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
National Society of Black Engineers
the national government
- New York
In running text, spell out the name of the state when it appears alone; abbreviate as N.Y. when it appears in conjunction with a city.
He just moved to New York.
He just moved to Geneseo, N.Y.
In complete postal addresses, abbreviate as NY.
When there is a confusion as to whether the state or the city is meant, write New York State or New York City. Do not overuse this construction; the context of the sentence should make it clear which is meant.
- Nobel Prize
Noble Prize
Nobel Prize–winning author
Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Prize in literature
Nobel Prizes
- none
When referring to a abstract quantity that is taken as a whole, use a singular verb.
None of the music selected was appropriate for the occasion.
When referring to items that can be counted, use a plural verb.
None of the cars were damaged in the accident.
- office
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
Office of Technology Transfer
A new office for incoming students will be established in the fall.
- OK, okay
Either spelling can be used in informal copy; do not use in news releases or hard news stories.
- online
Write solid when referring to computer connections.
She went online to check her e-mail.
He created an online version of his chemistry project.
- only
Generally, "only" should be placed as close as possible to the word it modifies. Changing its placement in a sentence can change the meaning of the sentence:
Only I pushed the new car yesterday.
I only pushed the new car yesterday.
I pushed only the new car yesterday.
I pushed the only new car yesterday.
I pushed the new car only yesterday.
I pushed the new car yesterday only.
- PC
Acceptable for both personal computer and political correctness when the
context is clear.
- percent
Percent should be spelled out in text. The number preceding the word "percent"
should always be a figure.
They gave 3 percent of their earnings to charity.
The % sign can be used in charts and tables. Avoid using the % sign in running text.
- phase, faze, Phase
See faze, phase, Phase.
- premier, premiere
Premier, as a noun, means the chief official, as in government.
The French premier campaigned vigorously in favor of
the referendum.
As an adjective, premier means first in distinction or foremost.
She was the premier soprano of her day.
Premiere is a noun meaning the first performance.
The movie premiere was attended by all the Hollywood elite.
- president
Capitalize as part of a full official name, or when used as a title before a name; lowercase otherwise.
Office of the President; President Thomas H. Jackson
Thomas H. Jackson is the University's ninth president.
- provost
Capitalize as part of a full official name, or when used as a title before a name; lowercase otherwise.
Office of the Provost
Thomas LeBlanc, vice provost
Charles Phelps is the University's ninth provost.
- Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize–winning author
Pulitzer Prize in history
Pulitzer Prizes
- resume, resumé
"Resume" is a verb meaning to return to or to begin again. "Resumé" is a noun meaning a summary of one's work and education experiences.
- Rochester
May be used to refer to the University of Rochester, if the context is clear.
He graduated from Rochester in 1989.
The event is open to all Rochester students.
- scholar
Lowercase.
Rhodes scholar
- scholarship
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
Fulbright Scholarship
He received a full scholarship.
- school
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
School of Nursing
medical school
- screensaver
- semiannual
Twice a year. May also use biannual.
- semimonthly
Twice a month. For once every two months, use bimonthly.
- semiweekly
Twice a week. For once every two weeks, use biweekly.
- society
Capitalize as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
- spelling
Use this style guide as your first reference for treatment and spelling of individual words. As a second resource, Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is preferred. Whichever dictionary you use as a spelling resource, be sure to use it consistently throughout your publication.
- start-up (noun and adjective)
His start-up went bust when the Internet economy collapsed.
- symposium
Symposium is singular; symposia is plural. Capitalize when part of a full, formal name; lowercase otherwise.
- teenager (noun); teenaged (adjective)
- that, which
Descriptive (nonrestrictive) clauses are set off by commas and take a "which."
The musical, which was performed by the student drama club, was sold
out on its opening night
Defining (restrictive) clauses are not set off by commas and usually take
a "that."
The musical that debuted last night will run for at least two weeks.
- theater
Use this spelling for general references to theaters or the theater.
He planned to rent a theater for the drama workshop.
She is hoping to make a career in the theater.
Use the "theatre" spelling if that is the name of a particular theater.
Eastman Theatre; International Theater of the Arts
- their, there, they're
"Their" is a plural possessive pronoun.
I really admired their work on the project.
"There" is an adverb meaning at or in that place.
Put it over there on the table.
"They're" is the contraction of "they are."
We are going to the movies, but they're going bowling instead.
- then
When used to mean "former," do not hyphenate.
The then CEO was charged in the scandal, along with the current board of directors.
- toward
Not "towards."
She drove toward Buffalo.
- upstate (noun and adj.)
The campus is located in upstate New York.
He had always lived upstate before moving to Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Web
Always capitalized when referring to the World Wide Web.
We need to put this information up on the Web.
- Web cam
Two words. Also, Web camera.
The University's new Web cam has been popular with students and alumni.
- Web site
Two words. Also, Web page.
The new Web site is now live at www.rochester.edu/giving.
- webcast
One word, lowercase. Can be used as both a noun and a verb.
The Commencement webcast will begin at 9 a.m.
We will be webcasting the College Commencement ceremony.
- webmaster
One word, lowercase. Refers to someone who is responsible for creating and maintaining a Web site.
office webmaster Jane Smith
Send an e-mail to the webmaster about that broken link.
- which, that
See that, which.
- wireless
- X-ray
- yearlong
The yearlong effort paid off in the end.