Today’s post answers seven technology-related spelling questions:
1. Is it e-mail or email?
2. Is Internet capitalized?
3. Is it Web site, web site, or website?
4. Is it Web page, web page, or webpage?
5. Is Web capitalized when abbreviating the World Wide Web?
6. Is it tweet or Tweet?
7. Is it e-book or ebook?
We’ll find the answers by examining four popular style guides and three of our most referenced dictionaries. Most of these questions don’t have a definitive solution but rather multiple correct options, some of which have more recommendations than others. For consistency throughout your writing, follow your chosen style guide or assigned dictionary even if it doesn’t agree with the majority of recommendations. Of course, you should consult your own style guide and dictionary if yours aren’t mentioned below.
1. Is it e-mail or email?
The unhyphenated email currently has the most recommendations.
Those in favor of e-mail:
The Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook1
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary2
Those in favor of email:
The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style)3
The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style)4
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style)5
Webster’s New World College Dictionary6
Those in favor of e-mail or email:
The American Heritage Dictionary7
2. Is Internet capitalized?
The lowercased internet has the most recommendations.
Those in favor of Internet:
The Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook 8
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary9
Those in favor of internet:
The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style)10
The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style)11
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style)12
Webster’s New World College Dictionary13
Those in favor of Internet or internet:
The American Heritage Dictionary14
3. Is it Web site, web site, or website?
The lowercased, one-word website has the most recommendations; although the capitalized, two-word Web site still enjoys widespread acceptability.
Those in favor of Web site:
The Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook15
Those in favor of website:
The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style)16
The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style)17
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style)18
Webster’s New World College Dictionary19
Those in favor of Web site or website:
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary20
The American Heritage Dictionary21
4. Is it Web page, web page, or webpage?
The capitalized, two-word Web page has a slight edge in recommendations.i
Those in favor of Web page:
The Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook22
Webster’s New World College Dictionary23
Those in favor of webpage:
The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style)24
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style)25
Those in favor of web page:
The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style)26
Those in favor of webpage or Web page:
The American Heritage Dictionary27
i Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary doesn’t include this term; however, Merriam-Webster’s website recommends the capitalized, two-word Web page.
5. Is Web capitalized when abbreviating the World Wide Web?
The capitalized Web and the lowercased web are tied with three recommendations each.ii
Those in favor of Web:
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary28
The American Heritage Dictionary29
The Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook30
Those in favor of web:
The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style)31
The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style)32
Webster’s New World College Dictionary33
ii The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) doesn’t include this term; however, APA recommends following Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary for specific words that it doesn’t cover or include in its text.
6. Is it tweet or Tweet?
Although the platform Twitter is always capitalized, none of the sources referenced in this blog post recommend capitalizing the verb or noun tweet.iii
Those in favor of tweet:
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary34
The American Heritage Dictionary35
The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style)36
The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style)37
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style)38
The Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook39
Those in favor of Tweet:
None of the style guides or dictionaries previously mentioned recommend Tweet.
iiiWebster’s New World College Dictionary doesn’t include this term.
7. Is it e-book or ebook?
Most of the resources mentioned in this blog post recommend the hyphenated e-book. So, the unhyphenated ebook appears quite unpopular. However, e-book mega-seller Amazon uses the unhyphenated, camel-cased eBook, so perhaps our style guides and dictionaries may eventually bend to the will of the marketplace. (Although, I think the camel casing is unnecessary and prefer to see ebook become the standard spelling.)
Those in favor of e-book:
The American Heritage Dictionary40
The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style)41
The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style)42
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary43
The Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook44
Webster’s New World College Dictionary45
Those in favor of ebook?
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style)46
Further Reading:How to Cite a Podcast in Reference Lists, Notes, and Bibliographies
References
1. MLA Handbook, 8th ed. (New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2016), 29.
2. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., s.v. “e-mail.”
3. The Associated Press Stylebook 2020–2022 (New York: The Associated Press, 2020), 99.
4. The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), 7.89.
5. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2020), 8.9.
6. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “email.”
7. The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “e-mail.”
8. MLA Handbook, 11.
9. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., s.v. “Internet.”
10. The Associated Press Stylebook 2020–2022, 155.
11. The Chicago Manual of Style, 7.80.
12. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 9.34.
13. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “internet.”
14. The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “Internet.”
15. MLA Handbook, 42.
16. The Associated Press Stylebook 2020–2022, 323.
17. The Chicago Manual of Style, 7.80.
18. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 9.33.
19. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “website.”
20. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., s.v. “Web site.”
21. The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “website.”
22. MLA Handbook, 44.
23. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “Web page.”
24. The Associated Press Stylebook 2020–2022, 323.
25. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 10.16
26. The Chicago Manual of Style, 7.82.
27. The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “webpage.”
28. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., s.v. “World Wide Web.”
29. The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “web.”
30. MLA Handbook, 44.
31. The Chicago Manual of Style, 7.80.
32. The Associated Press Stylebook 2020–2022, 323.
33. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “web.”
34. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., s.v. “tweet.”
35. The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “tweet.”
36. The Associated Press Stylebook 2020–2022, 302.
37. The Chicago Manual of Style, 14.209.
38. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 9.33.
39. MLA Handbook, 29.
40. The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “e-book.”
41. The Associated Press Stylebook 2020–2022, 97.
42. The Chicago Manual of Style, 7.89, sec. 3.
43. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., s.v. “e-book.”
44. MLA Handbook, 123.
45. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “e-book.”
46. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 10.2.
