The University of Texas at Austin- What Starts Here Changes the World
Services Navigation


Writer's Style Guide

Introduction
Abbreviations
Capitalization
Dates, Numbers, Places
Plurals & Possessives
Punctuation Primer
Sensitivities
Titles
Tech Talk
Tricky Words
Pet Peeves
Proofreaders' Marks

Tech Talk

New terms and variations emerge rapidly. In making some of these judgments, we have referred to “Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age,” from the editors of Wired as our guide.

We also have referred to the Style Guide created by the Information Technology Services Communications Group at The University of Texas at Austin.

Frequently Used E-terms

dial up (verb) dial-up (adjective) account
e-mail (with hyphen)  
Internet (cap “I”)  
log in (verb) login (noun)
log out (verb) logout (noun)
multimedia (one word, no hyphen)  
Net (cap “N,” no apostrophe)  
offline (one word, no hyphen) online (one word, no hyphen)
Web site (two words, cap “W”)  

Web Words

Although references to the Web itself use a cap W, these Web-based words use a lower case w.

webcast A live broadcast on the Web
webmaster The creator of a site
webzine Media of the Web and for the Web

Common Acronyms

CC carbon copy (BCC - blind carbon copy)
CD compact disc (plural CDs)
dpi dots per inch (lower case, never spelled out)
EPS encapsulated postscript
FAQ frequently asked question
FPS frames per second
FTP file transfer protocol
GIF graphic interchange format
GUI graphical user interface (plural GUIs)
HTML hypertext markup language
IP Internet protocol
ISP Internet service provider
JPEG joint photographic experts group
LAN local area network
OOP object-oriented programming
RAM random access memory
ROM read-only memory
RSI repetitive strain injury
TCP/IP transmission control protocol/Internet protocol
TIFF tagged image file format
WAN wide area network

top | next page


  Updated 2007 June 6
  Office of the Vice President for Public Affairs • P.O. Box Z • Austin, Texas 78713 • 512-471-3151