Using the Yahoo! Style Guide: Word List

Have you ever written an article and wanted to use a word or abbreviation that you speak often, but aren't sure how to write it? Yahoo! has taken care of this issue in the "Word List" part of their online Style Guide.

On the Yahoo! Style Guide homepage, there are tabs that run along the top of the page. Click on the tab that says "Word List," and you will be directed to a particularly useful tool for anyone who does their publications online.

The Word List is an alphabetized list of words and abbreviations that are often written incorrectly. One such entry is 'alright'. You may wonder what is wrong with it. The entry for this word begins with a large exclamation point and clearly states, "Don't use. See 'all right'." Who would've thought that it was 2 words? Honestly, I had no idea.

The list includes tips on using hyphens, capitalization, and punctuation for words commonly used in articles published online. This list is especially valuable because it goes beyond only showing the correct spelling.

There is an incredibly useful option to create your own word list. This will make searching for words and abbreviations you typically use more efficient to locate because once the file is downloaded, it can then be edited.

Click on the highlighted link on the right-hand side of the page that says 'Build Your Own Word List'. You can download the Yahoo! Style Guide "Word List" in four different formats to include: XML, Microsoft Word document, Microsoft Word Open XML document, and Rich text format. After downloading the list by clicking on one of the highlighted options, you are free to modify it to suit your needs.

When you're not quite sure whether an abbreviation or word needs to be capitalized or punctuated, you can most likely find your answer on The Yahoo! Style Guide's "Word List." This list includes some of the most commonly used words in online writings. Furthermore, it can be downloaded and edited to become a highly efficient and useful tool for those writing online.

Sources:

http://styleguide.yahoo.com/word-list/a

http://styleguide.yahoo.com/word-list/build-your-own