Word List

Standardized spellings

These words can be slippery. Here’s how we write them. (If it’s not on this list, defer to the AP Style Guide.)

• add-on (noun, adjective), add on (verb)
• back end (noun), back-end (adjective)
• best seller (noun), best-selling (adjective)
• beta
• brick-and-mortar
• checkbox
• coworker
• click-through rate (CTR)
• cost per click
• double-click
• drop-down (noun, adjective), drop down (verb)
• e-commerce (the industry)
• ePub
• email (never hyphenate, never capitalize unless it begins a sentence)
• emoji (singular and plural)
• front end (noun), front-end (adjective)
• geolocation
• hashtag
• homepage
• integrate
• internet (never capitalize unless it begins a sentence)
• login (noun, adjective), log in (verb)
• Like (the social media activity)
• multichannel
• nonprofit
• OK
• omnichannel (use sparingly)
• online (never capitalize unless it begins a sentence)
• opt-in (noun, adjective), opt in (verb)
• pay-per-click (PPC)
• pop-up (noun, adjective), pop up (verb)
• pre-sale
• product-market fit
• signup (noun, adjective), sign up (verb)
• sync
• third party (noun), third-party (adjective)
• tweet, retweet
• username
• URL
• website
• WiFi

Words to avoid

• Funnel, incentivize, leverage, disruption, thought leader, learnings, or other fluffy corporate terms
• Internets, interwebs, or any other variation of the word “internet”
• Ninja, rockstar, wizard, unicorn (unless referring to a literal ninja, rockstar, wizard, or unicorn)
• Young, old, elderly, or any other word describing a person’s age
• Crushing it, killing it
• Crazy, insane, or similar words to describe people
• Best-in-breed
• Silicon Valley cliches like rise and grind, or disruptor/disruption.
• Activation (when referring to our presence at an event)
• Blacklist, whitelist, grandfathered, slave, master, deaf, blind and any other racist or abelist terms