TMN House Style Guide

Updated April 29, 2008. Most notable change is to treatment of acronyms, explained under acronyms and in individual word entries.

For the most part, we rely on the Chicago Manual of Style and the American Heritage Dictionary. Occasionally we may depart from the preferred styles and spellings of these reference works, or we may wish to elaborate on ideas based on past discussions. These departures and elaborations are the meat of this guide. But caveat lector: As all style guides are, this is an eternal work in progress, which we tweak and add to as our needs and tastes grow. So take a look, bookmark it for later, and don’t forget that final comma. (Want to tell us what you think, or make suggestions? )


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abortion—Do not use “pro-life” to refer to someone who is otherwise “anti-abortion,” unless it appears in a direct quote or is a part of a group’s official name. “Pro-life” implies that pro-choice advocates are anti-life. Also avoid “pro-abortion.”

accents—Only use accents when aiding in pronunciation. Please note individual entries for foreign words adopted into English that do not use accents. When in doubt, consider using a different word.

acronyms—Do not refer to an acronym parenthetically on first reference to full name. If it’s not recognizable without such a reference, consider avoiding it altogether. Avoid alphabet soup. Generally, with proper-noun acronyms, use periods. For example: U.S., U.K., U.N., U.C.L.A. Pronounceable acronyms that are more words than abbreviations (such as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) should be written in upper and lower case (USA Patriot Act). Also, Unicef. With common-noun acronyms in common usage such as DJ or MC, generally use caps but no periods. If the noun is a file type (such as “mp3” or “pdf”) usually rendered as lowercase, duplicate the lowercase; see separate entries for specific terms.

adverbs—Do not hyphenate with adverbs (hotly contested).

affect/effect—Your threats have no effect on me, though I could be affected by your body odor. He affected a limp, to little effect. In general, try to avoid phrases like “effecting change”—they are awkward and imprecise.

ages—Follow the same rules as listed under numbers. Hyphenate when using them as adjectives: “the five-year-old boy,” “the 11-month-old baby,” “the 57-year-old woman;” and as nouns: “The six-year-old was admittedly a little kooky.” Also OK: “I was 18, and my son was two years old.” When speaking vaguely about an era in one’s life, “He was in his mid-40s.” One exception: fortysomething, and all the ones that come before and after.

a.k.a.

amendments—The word is capitalized when referring to a specific amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Follow the regular rules on numbers. The First Amendment. The Ninth Amendment. The 15th Amendment.

amount, number—Anything that can be counted individually in a 1, 2, 3 format should be referred to as a “number” and calls for words like “more” and “fewer.” Items that are measured, rather than counted are referred to as an “amount,” with the accompanying “more” and “less.” So, “fewer than 35 senators” but “He drank less than a pint of beer.” Lightweight.

Arab—Don’t use “Arab” as a catch-all for everything pertaining to the Middle East and North Africa. Be as specific as possible at all times. Also, please be aware that many factions and cultures within those countries, especially in Africa, do not identify as Arab (Kurds, Palestinians, Copts, Berbers). Look it up if there’s any question.

art—Art movements are generally left in lowercase, with a few exceptions, like Bauhaus.

Bible—Lowercase “the” except at the beginning of the sentence. No italics and “biblical” is always lowercase.

blond/blonde—Blond/e may be used as an adjective or noun. Brunette is a noun only: A brunette has brown hair, not brunette hair. Avoid “brunet” at all costs because, while correct, it looks so darn weird. Say “a brown-haired man” instead, if you can’t think of any other way to put it.

brand names—Brand names are capitalized when being used as a noun (Kleenex, Xerox) but kept lowercase when used as a verb (“I googled her before our blind date.”) But if not in common use as a verb, avoid.

bullets—See lists.

capitalization—Do not use ALL CAPS for emphasis except in unusual situations for style purposes. Generally, use italics instead. Also, generally do not replicate capitalization used in a trademarked proper name, except for style purposes in humor pieces.

cell phone—Two words and don’t you hyphenate that when it’s being used as a modifier!

college course titles—Titles, such as “History of English” should be in quotes and appropriately capitalized, while course identifications, such as History 101, should be written as such. When you’re speaking about general subjects, like “My history class is boring,” they should be lowercased except for language courses (“French”) and others based on proper names.

college degrees—Use bachelor’s, bachelors of arts, master’s, doctorate. A master’s in business administration can be “an M.B.A.” on first reference, and a doctorate for a medical doctor can be “an M.D.” on first reference, a master’s of fine arts may be “an M.F.A.” All other secondary degrees can be referred to as “a master’s in philosophy,” “a doctorate in economics,” etc., if they must be specified.

college departments—These are lowercased unless they stem from proper names, like “the Spanish department.” The word “department” is always lowercased.

commas—Use one before the “and” or “or” in a series.

compare to vs. compare with—Generally, “compared to” is the one you want. Use “compared with” only in fanciful purposes.

composition titles—Italicize the names of movies, books, other magazines, newspapers, albums, and television shows. While we are The Morning News, do not capitalize or italicize an introductory “the” with other magazines or newspapers. Short stories, songs, works of art and headlines of newspaper and magazine articles get quotation marks. If making a title plural, such as in the case of the three installments of The Godfather, add an “s” but do not italicize it: Godfathers.

Congress—is capitalized. But “congressional” is lowercase, always.

constitution—Capitalize this when referring to the U.S. Constitution (even without the “U.S.” part). Otherwise, including the constitutions of other countries, lowercased.

contractions—fine but not required. Writer’s choice.

courtesy titles—We generally don’t use these, except for special effect. On those occasions, abbreviate. See also titles, job.

cover-up—a noun

crisscross—and crisscrossing and crisscrossed

dashes—em width, with no spaces on either side unless it is being used to show a trailed-off quote. (If using within quotation marks, no space before the closing quote mark.) Use to set off parenthetical information or, in interview, freeform, and quote formats, to show a trailed off or redirected thought. See hyphen.

dates—Write as “June 20, 1939,” and please note the comma after the year. But “June 1939” with no commas. When using a date, months from August through February should be abbreviated. If you’re talking about an event, use time, date, and place, in that order. “The Shins will be performing at 10 p.m. Friday at the Knitting Factory.” If one of those pieces has already been mentioned or is already known, just use the remaining two, still in the same order. “Easter Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.”

DJ—for disc jockey. Not deejay. Verbs are DJ’ed, DJ’ing, DJ’s. Plural noun: DJs.

earth—When referring specifically to the planet on which we live, it is capitalized, either “Earth” or “the Earth.” When referring to the ground or a planet hypothetically, should be lowercased.

ellipses—Use three periods, with spaces on either side. These should be used only to mark missing copy from quoted material. Ellipses shouldn’t be used to indicate trailing off at the end of a sentence. See dashes.

email—Use an uppercase E at the start of a sentence. Email is God’s gift to editors.

English, Queen’s—Our contributors from Great Britain and other nations that use the Queen’s English (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, etc.) should be advised that we will change all spellings to American ones (realise/realize, honour/honor, theatre/theater, etc.). One exception: If the spellings are meant to be part of the humor of a piece, we will consider leaving them in. We will, however, leave diction and colloquialisms intact (take a decision vs. make a decision, for example) as long as the meaning is intelligible to an American reader.

Eskimo—an outdated name for the Inuit people. As with Arab, this is not a catch-all term for people living in a particular part of the world. Please use the correct, specific name of the ethnic group (Inuit, Yupik, etc.).

et cetera—Write out in quotes or when the circumstances and style of the article call for it. Otherwise, abbreviate, and punctuate it as you would the end of a series. Follow with a comma if not at the end of a sentence: “Rosecrans, Andrew, etc., did X and Y.”

E.U.—like this. First reference doesn’t necessarily have to be spelled out. Check for context, writer’s preference, et cetera.

euro—monetary unit, always lowercase except when at the start of a sentence. When using it as a prefix referencing something European, like Eurotrash, capitalize. The plural is euros.

famous people—Consider the average intelligent reader’s recognition of the name, or lack thereof, when deciding whether to include a first name. Also consider the possibility that other well-known people share that last name. If not including a name, consider referring to a book or movie that person has been involved in, as a way of description. Include a middle initial if it is commonly used. Same with nicknames, which should be inserted using quotes. Confirm names in the Columbia Encyclopedia, available online at www.bartleby.com.

fete—no accent

file sizes—Spell out kilobytes, megabytes, etc. in copy, but for informational purposes following titles, write thusly: 5MB, 800KB

foreign phrases—are appropriate if they’re relevant to the article. If they’re just throw-offs in an essay otherwise fully American, and particularly if they are confusing, consider changing them.

foreign spellings and transliterations from non-Roman alphabets—In general, use the Americanized versions if they exist. So, “Kiev” instead of “Kyiv,” and “organization” instead of “organisation.” Confirm spellings in the American Heritage Dictionary, available online at www.bartleby.com. One exception: If the usage of a foreign set of spellings will be throughout a story and overt, making a point relative to the article. If that is the case, go to town. Just check to make sure you’re being consistent throughout.

foreign words—Any foreign words not listed in the American Heritage Dictionary should be italicized and defined on first reference. Double-check the spelling and any diacriticals. The definition, if not directly in the text, should be in parentheses but not in quotation marks. On second reference, let the words stand in roman type. So, for example, words like prosciutto and amigo would be always in roman type with no definition, but unfamiliar words should be set like this: “An entire chapter describes how to make the relatively simple two-week testa (cured pork belly).” Similarly, if using a foreign word or part of one as a definition to illustrate a point, do it as follows: “I decided to make guanciale. The Italian name for a pig’s jowl (guancia) that has been cured and dried, guanciale resembles bacon.”

french fries

from…to—If you use one in establishing a range, use the other. Otherwise, use a hyphen, especially with numerals. Avoid ranges that do not actually span anything (“From doctors to plumbers, everyone loves to eat at Wendy’s!”).

games—Capitalize the names, whether they’re copyrighted or not. “We played Hide and Go Seek and then Scrabble.” For copyrighted names, please check spellings against boxes or maker’s web site. Do not italicize, and avoid any extraneous exclamation marks or other punctuation.

gender issues—Naturally, we would like to be as inclusive as possible. That means avoiding gendered speech no matter how ingrained it is in our language. “Fireman” or “policeman” should simply be “fire fighter” or “police officer.” Avoid faddish constructions, like “humankind” in place of “mankind.” Use “his or her” or “he or she” when needed and avoid using “they” as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. Never use phrases like “male nurse” or “lady doctor” except humorously or sarcastically. Ultimately, gender neutrality is something to work toward and we encourage writers to use their best discretion.

gentile—one who is not a Jew. It is lowercased.

God—gets uppercase, and is never referred to as “it.” Uppercase the pronouns referring to Him. Or Her. Buddha is not a god and doesn’t get a capped pronoun, but Allah is God and He does. “God damn it” and other such uses also use uppercase, but any use of the word “God” in a single-word construction for cursing, for example, “goddammit” should be lowercased. It’s the writer’s preference how “goddammit” is spelled, as long as it is consistent. If you’re talking about a polytheistic society, names are capped but pronouns aren’t (“Athena leapt fully formed from her father’s skull”).

Google—Lowercase it as a verb, but uppercase it when you’re speaking of the company or the web site.

gray—not grey

greek—lowercase when referring to social organizations or honor societies. Uppercase when referring to the culture, lanuguage or people of Greece. The phrase “Greek-letter organizations” has a capital G because the word “greek” refers to the letters, which have their origin in Greece.

headline section—Only use numerals at the start of a headline when it is absolutely unavoidable. Also refrain from using the passive voice in headlines (“Earthquake kills 49 in California” vs. “49 killed in California earthquake”). When inserting two links into a single headlines item, do not link any connecting punctuation or conjunctions. So, for example, “Explosion kills 549 in Tehran, and tornados kill 47 in Missouri.” Periods and other punctuation at the end of the headlines should be linked if the word directly before the mark is linked. Also make sure that any complete sentences following a colon are capitalized, a common occurrence in the headline column.

health care—two words as a noun, hyphenated as an adjective.

heaven—and hell

he-said, she-said—”It’s a case of he-said, she-said.”

hip-hop—hyphenated. Also, keep in mind that “hip-hop” refers to the four foundational elements of an entire movement: graffiti, break-dancing, MC’ing, and DJ’ing. All rap is hip-hop but not all hip-hop is rap.

holdup—Gimme all your money; also, a delay.

hyphen—Use hyphens (-, not—, or—) in most compound words and names and in word division, such as to break at the end of a line (though this is not our practice). Also use to separate characters, such as digits in a phone number (212-555-1212) and characters in a word being spelled out for emphasis (i-n-d-u-b-i-t-a-b-l-y). Compound nouns used as modifiers don’t need hyphens unless confusion would follow (real estate agent, hard hat zone, fair-use policy, third-base player.) Also use hyphens when subject is modified by several words that aren’t compound (whites-only bathroom.) When in doubt, go with hyphens to provide clarity. In any situation where you might use what is called an en-dash, use a hyphen. See also dash.

I, me—When deciding whether to use I or me in coordination with another person’s name, remove the other person from the equation and see which of the two words fits better. For example: “Paul Ford and I/me like running in Prospect Park.” Whip Paul out (sorry, dude) and you’re left with “I/me like running in Prospect Park.” Makes it easy to see that “I” is the right choice. Similarly, “Did you get the email from Andrew and I/me?” Dump Andrew and you’ll be left with “Did you get the email from I/me?” And any passing fourth-grader can help you if you need to make a choice after that.

ID—is a noun and verb. I carry ID so that I can be ID’ed.

instant messaging—spell out; never use “IM” except in direct quotes. Hyphenate as a verb.

internet—lowercased

iPod—As with other Apple products, the lowercased i remains little unless at the beginning of a sentence, in which case you have “IPods are cool.” Avoid using it at the beginning of the sentence.

al Jazeera—Capitalize the A at the start of a sentence.

Jew—is a noun for both men and women. Jewish is the adjective. Judaism is the religion. Jewish congregations have a rabbi and a cantor. Please consult the dictionary for the spelling of Jewish celebrations and holy days.

jihad

just deserts—not desserts.

Key lime pie

koala—not koala bear. A koala is a marsupial, not a bear.

Ku Klux Klan—or K.K.K.

bin Laden, Osama—yep, goes under L (more on this in the names section). Please note that Osama bin Laden has been stripped of his Saudi citizenship, so if necessary, refer to him as “Saudi-born.” At the beginning of a sentence, capitalize the B.

laissez-faire—no italics

links—Outside of the headlines column, when inserting a link within an article to another page on the site or outside the site, only hyperlink the words that offer the most immediate description of the linked item. So, for example, “In R.W. Apple’s column about the war in Iraq, he said the mixed intents and results showed no one knew what the country was getting into,” we could make the phrase “R.W. Apple’s column” into a hyperlink.

lists—When the items being listed are not in sentence form, do not use periods. Do use capital letters. Bullets are optional. When listing parts of a sentence as bullets:

• Use a colon at the end of the introductory line
• Capitalize the start of each line
• Make the references parallel, as in this case (all full, declarative sentences)
• Do not put a comma at the end of each line
• Do not use a conjunction at the end of the second-to-last item
• Use no period at the end

But in general, avoid bulleted lists except in the most formal settings in which one might theoretically want to check things off one at a time and the order isn’t important. For example:

• Groceries
• Course requirements
• People’s names
• A list of things to put in bulleted lists

If you’re tempted to put commas, a conjunction, and a period in your list, that should be an indication that you should try to write it as a normal sentence.

lend/loan—”Loan” is the noun used to indicate money and the verb used for all instances of one borrowing money from someone else. “Lend” is the verb used to indicate borrowing something that is not money. For example, “She loaned me the money for the downpayment,” and, “He lent me the book.”

letters as letters—uppercase. To make plurals, use an apostrophe. “I got all A’s.”

magazine—If the word “magazine” is included in the name of a magazine, then uppercase it and include it in the italics. If it isn’t, don’t. See also composition titles.

Mass—uppercase. Catholic Mass can be said or celebrated but not “read.”

matinee—no accent

McDonald’s—as in the fast food megalith, has an apostrophe.

MC—for master of ceremonies. Not “emcee.” Verbs are MC’ed, MC’ing, MC’s. Plural noun: MCs.

Mecca—holy city in Saudi Arabia. Uppercase when referring to the city, lowercase when using in general: “The Apple Store is a mecca for laptop aesthetes.”

miles an hour—Use this, with either numbers or numerals following the numbers rule. Please avoid the overly technical “m.p.h.” abbreviation.

money—Once you’ve crossed the barrier into millions and billions, write out those two words (and trillions, quadrillions and all the way up to gazillions), using numerals and the currency marking for just the first part of the amount, so “$15 million” and “$103,000.” Follow rules for numbers to determine when to write out the initial number and when to use numerals. References, particularly in quotes, to things like a million-dollar trust fund and a theoretical five-dollar hotdog, should be treated with the inexactitude with which they often are intended and written as above. But if “he stuck me with the bill for $157.63,” then say so. It’s also fine to use forms such as “a nickel” or “a dollar,” inside or outside quotes, but these aren’t necessarily preferred over “five cents” or “25 cents.” Do not include a hyphen and a dollar sign in the same adjectival phrase. It is “an $11.7 billion stadium” but “a million-dollar outlay.”

morning-after pill

Mount Saint Helens

mp3—Like this. Avoid using at the start of a sentence, but if you do use it there, please capitalize the M.

Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms.—These are rarely used except for effect. We do not use courtesy titles.

Muhammad—the prophet

music—Album titles are in italics. Songs are in quotes. So are lyrics, unless there are several lines, in which case use a block of text. When speaking of a band, choose verbs based on the words you’re using, not the idea you’re trying to get across. So “The Rolling Stones [stones, a plural word] are [plural verb] my favorite band, and Whitehouse [singular word] is [singular verb] my least favorite.” Subsequent references also will go along with whatever the noun is: “The band is large, and its members are diverse.” (This also goes for sports teams and other named groups of people: “The Mets are my favorite team, and the Heat is my least favorite.”)

mujahedeen—also, mullah, madrassas.

naive—no umlaut

names—Different languages produce different modifiers for names: al, el, bin, ben, bar, de, de la, il, von, van der, etc. Be conscious of what each of these mean and what language they come from, be it Hebrew for “son of” or German for simply “of.” Most are not capped and when listed alphabetically, list by the name and not the modifier. Mac and O’ are generally capped, as is the second half of the name (MacDonald, O’Fallon). In all cases, verify spelling where possible. Also be aware of people without surnames. In Nigeria, for example, the name can sometimes be “[blank], the son of [blank], from the town of [blankety-blank].”

N.A.S.A.

Native American—refers to the vast array of indigenous tribes and groups living in the U.S. Never use “Indian” or “American Indian.” Both words are capped, with “native American” meaning someone who was born in the U.S.

Nazi—capped, but nazism is not.

The Netherlands—a gorgeous country of legalized vices. Do not use Holland, as that represents only part of the country. “Dutch” is the appropriate adjective.

New Year’s Day—also, New Year’s Eve. But if you’re just speaking hypothetically, “In the new year, I will exercise every single day.” And “Happy new year!” but “Happy New Year’s!” Since the second is referring to the holiday.

New York City—or New York on second reference. If you mean the state, please specify: “New York state.” Our nation’s capital is Washington, D.C., on first mention unless it is manifestly obvious that we’re not talking about Washington state. “Washington state” is preferred on first mention if it’s not manifestly obvious we’re not talking about the capital.

911—when referring to the emergency phone number. See also Sept. 11.

numbers—write out whole numbers one through nine, use numerals for all partial numbers and for whole numbers 10 and above. Similarly, use first through ninth and 10th and above (avoid superscripts in the ordinals). For millions or billions, use these same guidelines: “nine million, 11 billion, 6.7 trillion.” These rules apply to all instances, including quotes. When speaking imprecisely, write out, “thousands of hats,” “millions of people,” etc. Do not use numerals at the start of sentences. Spell out or rewrite. In constructions such as “the no. 1 album,” do it as shown and always use numerals. Don’t forget to use commas to mark orders of magnitude. See also time, years, money.

OK—O.K. and okay are not OK.

Pandora’s box

parentheses—Usually, punctuation goes outside (like this). Punctuation goes inside if the parenthetical remark is a complete, standalone sentence. (This is a good example.) If the parenthetical remark falls within a sentence but takes different punctuation than the main sentence, punctuate appropriately inside (You mean like this?). Cap internally only if the parenthetical remark is a complete sentence.

pdf—like this. Avoid using at the start of a sentence, but if you do use it there, please capitalize the P.

percent—Write it out. Use the numbers rules to decide whether to write out the number.

Ph.D.—as such and only if you must (ie., if it’s a direct quote). Otherwise, please use “doctorate in medieval literature (or whatever).”

possessives—Use an apostrophe followed by an S for singular nouns (common and proper) in all occurrences, including those that end with S, X, Y, and Z. So: “the waitress’s” and “Dickens’s.”

prefixes—Always use hyphens to make new words using pre-, post-, anti-, multi-, and pro-. Generally do not hyphenate shorter prefixes, such as co-, un-, and bi-, as well as micro-, but check these in the dictionary. If not listed there, hyphenate. When adding a prefix to a proper noun, use the hyphen and retain the noun’s capitalization.

prima donna—no italics

protege—no accents

protester—not protestor

publisher information—Use only in the most technical of situations, when referring to a list of books or discussing publishers themselves. If it can’t be worked into the sentence, the publisher and year of publication should be used in parentheses. Like this (Random House, 1999). Number of pages and city of publication are not necessary.

punctuation—Follow normal rules, paying close attention to punctuation around quotation marks. Periods, commas always go inside. Semicolons and colons always outside. Question marks and exclamation points change depending on usage. Do not combine two end marks next to a quotation mark. The correct format is, “I would love to move back to New York City!” Leslie cried.

al Qaeda

quotation marks—”Use double quotes,” Kate says. “Andrew always drones, ‘To mark quotes inside quotes, use single.’ And when that smart aleck Rosecrans asks, as he always does, ‘What about quotes inside quotes inside quotes?’ Andrew always rages, ‘Why do you keep asking, “What about quotes inside quotes inside quotes?” Use double!’” Just make sure to wrap them all up in the right order at the end. Don’t worry about using thin spaces between them when they start to stack up. Also use quotation marks around the titles of songs, poems, and essays and around lyrics from a song (if putting them inside a quote, use the same nesting principles above).

quotes—If using a direct quotation, please be absolutely certain that you are quoting it correctly. Use citations and ellipses as needed to maintain the integrity of what you’re quoting.

racial terminology—This has come up in several specific instances throughout this guide. Ultimately, racial language should only be used if it is particularly relevant. Please use caution whenever using words like “immigrant,” “tribe,” “ethnic,” and the like. Many internal factions in the Balkans, Africa, etc., prefer to be called ethnic groups or ethnic communities rather than “tribes,” which has a primitive connotation. Also be wary of using words like “black” or “Asian” as nouns. “Black people” is preferable to “blacks” and “an Asian man” is preferable to “an Asian.”

regional descriptions—Capitalize U.S. regions (South, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, etc.). Residents of those regions are southern, midwestern, southerners, midwesterners, etc. Outside the U.S., capitalize West and Western, East and Eastern when referring to them in the context of the so-called Western world. Otherwise, compass points are generally lowercase.

résumé—a brief summary of one’s professional history. Use accents since it will totally get confused with resume, as in “to begin after interruption.”

run-up—a noun

Russian roulette

saint—Capitalize and abbreviate when referring to a particular saint or Catholic or Episcopalian church or parish by name: “St. John’s.” Lowercase and spell out in general references: “She is a real saint.” For geographic locations, check Columbia Encyclopedia.

scotch—as in whisky. Or tape.

Sept. 11—Refer to as such, or as “the Sept. 11 attacks.” Year not necessary. Avoid wording it like “9/11” except in quotes, when it should be constructed as just written.

set-up—a noun

7-Eleven—the convenience store

7-Up—the soft drink

sexuality—The words gay, homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, and so forth are all adjectives. Incorrect: “Stan is a homosexual.” Correct: “Stan is homosexual.” Lesbian is different, though, as it was originally a noun that was later adopted as an adjective. Use it as a noun. Gay should generally not be used as a noun except for effect or, when plural, as part of an official name (PFLAG: Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Wherever possible, say “gay men” instead of “gays.”

ships—Italicize the names of ships. Also, use constructions such as “U.S.S.” and “H.M.S.” when necessary.

Smithsonian Institution—not Institute.

soiree—no accents

spaghetti western/spaghetti nightmare—the greatest film genre(s) of all time do not need capitalization.

state names—abbreviate when used after a city name. Consider whether the city’s size or notoriety makes the state name unnecessary (as in Chicago, Las Vegas), and, inversely, whether it should be identified with its state (Springfield, Athens). When listing a city with its state, abbreviate all states except for the eight noted below. “When I lived in Springfield, Ill., I was lonely.” “Liz was born in Columbia, S.C.”

Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Kan. , Ky., La., Mass., Md., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., N.C., N.D., N.H., N.J., N.M., N.Y., Neb., Nev. , Okla., Ore., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.D., Tenn., Va., Vt., W.Va., Wash., Wis., Wyo.

These eight states are never abbreviated: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Utah.

storytelling

sudoku

Swiss cheese

symphonies—and concertos, are referred to by name or number. With the name, such as Pastoral, italicize. With the number, just capitalize: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Taliban—is plural: The Taliban ruled Afghanistan.

tchotchke—plural is tchotchkes

temperatures—Just say “45 degrees” (no degree symbol, thanks) and specify Fahrenheit or Celsius if it’s otherwise unclear.

Ten Commandments

text insertions—In quotes, use brackets. For lengthy or explanatory insertions, consider an “—ed.” signature. When noting something taking place, such as laughter, the insertion should be lowercased and without punctuation, as a part of the sentence that follows, not the sentence that is ending. Ex.: “Where was this country going? The ineffable question that Russians have been asking themselves for centuries. [laughs] That’s what got me into this in the first place.” Also: “AG: [sniffs] There are war junkies; I mean, I know them.”

third world—”Developing countries” is preferable.

tidal wave/tsunami—A tsunami is a giant wave specifically created by an underwater earthquake. A tidal wave is, uh, a tidal wave.

till—not ‘til. ‘Til wasn’t actually invented until after till, which is actually an older word than until. Say that three times fast.

time—2 a.m., 11 p.m., 10:30 p.m., 1:30 a.m., noon, midnight. Do not use constructions like “10 a.m. in the morning.” Consider writing out in quotes (“three-thirty,” “four o’clock”) and other inspecific references. (“We were out past three.”)

time frame

titles, article—Follow Chicago’s rules on headline-style capitalization. In a nutshell, the first and last words are always capped, as are all other major words (nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives), regardless of length. A, an, the, and, but, or, to, as, and nor are lowercased unless they’re the first or last words, and prepositions shorter than four letters are lowercased unless they’re performing as part of a verb, like “Rosecrans Drops Off the Planet.” One other bit of advice from Chicago: “If you are not sure what grammatical function a word is performing (or even if you are), try reading the title aloud: If you would stress the word, capitalize it; if not, lowercase it.” Within articles, if referring to another article, the same capitalization rules should apply.

titles, composition—See composition titles.

titles, jobs, and nobility—A job title such as chief executive or judge should be capitalized when it is given before a name. After a name, separate from a name or when set off with commas (as in “The magazine’s photographer, Geoff…”), use lowercase. Titles of nobility are only used with the person’s name, not in reference to that person’s duties: Queen Elizabeth is the queen of England, and Pope Benedict is the first pope of the new millennium. Rarely, titles are capped even when used generally: the Dalai Lama, the Imperial Wizard of the K.K.K. This doesn’t happen often; look it up if you have a question.

Ukraine—not “the Ukraine”

umlaut—Any proper names spelled with an umlaut should be left as such, or clarified with the individual. Other words containing umlauts can generally be broken down into ae, oe, or ue.

U.N.—like this. “United Nations” is also OK.

U.S.—like this. “United States” is also OK, as is “America.” Please keep others, such as “U.S.A.” for special occurrences.

vis-a-vis—no accent

vulgarity—The no. 1 guideline for using vulgarity in our content is to remember who is reading. As in, your grandmother might be googling you right now. Overall, crass language and swearing should be used sparingly and should be used well. Vulgarity is often used as sensational filler for otherwise bland writing and we would like to avoid that. If vulgarities are used, it is writer’s preference on spelling but, as always, should remain consistent within a piece. Compound expletives should not be hyphenated (asshat, fuckwit, cocksucker, etc.). Direct quotes should be left untouched; if you’re hesitant about using a quote because of a big fat “motherfucker” in the middle, consider using a different quote. Also, DO NOT use asterisks if you’re going to wimp out on a swear word. Come on. Finally, if you can make up your own words, go for it (note Gary Trudeau’s priceless “Turdblossom”).

Wal-Mart

wars—In reverse order, America has participated in the: Iraq War, war in Afghanistan, Gulf War, Vietnam War, Korean War, World War II, World War I (first World War and the Great War, in period pieces for 1918-1941), Spanish-American War, Civil War, War of 1812, Revolutionary War.

web site

while—not whilst

wine—Wines named for the region from which they came are left lowercased. You drink burgundy from Burgundy. Otherwise, names based on the grape varieties are capped, like Chardonnay and Syrah.

World Trade Center—all caps, but “twin towers” is not

years—1975, 1980s, mid-1970s, mid-’70s, late ‘90s, ‘60s, 1999-2003, 1975-85, 1875-6. Gay Nineties, Roaring Twenties. Also, the 20th century, the 19th century (no superscripts), a 17th-century house, the fifth century. And 527 A.D., 1300 B.C. (only use when it’s necessary to differentiate between the two).

zip code—not ZIP, even though it’s an acronym