Category Archives: Writing tips

Ante up
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: Use a numeral for times of day, and use "a.m." and "p.m.": "His class starts at 4 p.m." You can use "noon" or "midnight" rather than 12 p.m. or 12 a.m. Spell out numbers less than 10 when writing about a period of time (rather than a time of day): "She was used to working nine-hour days." Write out phrases such as "a year and a half" rather than writing "1.5 years." Use "and" or "to" instead of a hyphen when writing a time range: "The museum's exhibit was free from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m."
A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: "Extra" is an adjective, adverb, noun and prefix. As a prefix, it means outside or beyond. When you're using it that way, you generally do not need a hyphen, unless the following word begins with another vowel: "They accused the government of carrying out extrajudicial punishments." When you're using it to mean additional or excessive, you don't need a hyphen unless you're using it as a compound modifier: "She thought she deserved extra credit for her extra-large drawing."

That’s so extra
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: Avoid the terms "drug abuse" and "substance abuse." Instead of "abuse," use "use" or "misuse": "Her drug misuse began when she started taking medication that wasn't prescribed to her." Default to person-first language instead of using terms such as "addict" or "alcoholic" unless a person prefers that term.

A better understanding
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: The phrase is "pore over," not "pour over": "He was still poring over his textbook as the teacher was handing out exams." While it seems intuitive to adapt the word "pour" to this phrase, one of the meanings of "pore" is to study intently.

Pour over is only good for coffee
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: "Utmost" and "upmost" are not interchangeable, though they do have similar meanings. "Utmost" means to a great degree or at a distant point: "She said she had the utmost respect for Michelle Obama." Meanwhile, "upmost" is a synonym of "uppermost," meaning the highest position: "The cake's upmost layer resembled snow."

On the up and ut
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A screenshot from Stylebot on Slack that reads: Use "barbecue" instead of "BBQ," "bar-b-cue" or "barbeque." It's both a noun and a verb: "They're going to barbecue chicken for dinner." "He had never tried Texas barbecue."

Cue the BBQ
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: "Entitled" and "titled" are often used interchangeably in a sentence such as, "The book is entitled 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'" However, you don't need that extra "en"; "titled" works just fine.

Are you entitled to an extra “en”?
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: "I.e." means "that is" ("id est" in Latin) and is followed by a comma. It is used for clarification: "I might have time for that in late December, i.e., over winter break." Pro-tip: "I.e." and "e.g." are not interchangeable. "E.g." means "for example" ("exempli gratia" in Latin) and is used for illustration, not clarification.

For example…
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A screenshot of Stylebot on Google Chrome that reads: Do not make assumptions about the appropriate pronouns used to refer to a person. Find out through research or by asking your sources. Do not use the term "preferred pronoun," and do not default to explaining a person's pronouns. For example, use of "they/them" to refer to one person is widespread enough that it doesn't require explanation: "Tommy said they are excited for the movie to come out." "Themself" is the reflexive pronoun: "They decided they need to think for themself."

It’s not “preferred”
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Chrome extension that reads: 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."

Iced cream, anyone?
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