Author Archives: Team Stylebot

Syracuse Stylebot case study
published
Read latest post
Use "No. 1," "No. 2," etc., for official rankings: "Her album reached No. 1 on the charts." Otherwise, write out "number" and apply the general rule for numerals (spell out one through nine and use numerals for 10 and above): "His number one rule at meetings was no interruptions."

3, 2, 1…Olympics!
published
Capitalize "Team USA" when referring to the United States' Olympic team: "He will not be representing Team USA at the Olympics." Use singular verbs: "Team USA is favored to win the event."

Team USA is the exception
published
Capitalize "Olympics," "Olympic Games," "Summer Olympics," "Winter Olympics" and "Games" when it's a shortened version of the proper name: "The postponement of the 2020 Games was a disappointment for some athletes." Also capitalize "Olympian": "He is a three-time Olympian."

Let the Games begin
published
"Reign" is the term you use to describe a monarch or a predominant force: "Elizabeth I reigned over England and Ireland for more than 40 years." "Even though she tried to stick to the agenda, chaos reigned in the meeting." A "rein" is what you use to control horses: "She grabbed the reins." The expression is "free rein": "The students were given free rein to choose any topic they wanted for their final presentation."

Free rein 🏇
published
Don't capitalize "solstice," which refers to the longest day and the shortest day of the year: "Her wedding was a few days after the summer solstice, so it didn't get dark until nearly 9 p.m." In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice is in June and the winter solstice is in December.

When the ☀️ is at a standstill
published
Hyphenate "half-staff" when writing about flags on land that are flown only halfway up the flagpole: "White House flags flew at half-staff as a symbol of mourning." Although the terms are often used interchangeably, reserve "half-mast" for flags on ships or at naval installations.

Ships ahoy!
published
"Discrete" and "discreet" are not interchangeable. "Discrete" means separate: "We decided to combine the entries, so there are not discrete responses for each term." "Discreet" means prudent/showing good judgment or unnoticeable: "He was able to be discreet when leaving."

🤫 Please be discreet
published
LGBTQ+ Pride Month is celebrated in June each year. Capitalize "Pride Month," and capitalize "Pride" when you're writing about events and festivities associated with the celebration: "They visited during Pride so they could attend the parade." Otherwise, do not capitalize "pride": "He described himself as a champion of LGBTQ+ pride." Don't capitalize "pride flag": "They displayed a pride flag in the window."

Take Pride
published
Use "iced tea" and "iced coffee" instead of "ice tea" and "ice coffee," though those terms will likely to go the way of "iced cream" eventually :icecream:: "He liked to drink iced coffee, even in the winter."

Flip-flop szn
published