The Associated Press provides consistency in the world of business communications by establishing a universal set of rules for writers. And in writing newsletters and other business communications, it seems there are always a few words and rules that are frequently problematic. The following are the AP rules for some of the most commonly used business words and phrases:
- website is one word and lower case.
- webmaster is one word and lower case.
- Internet always has a capital I.
- Months — capitalize in all instances and spell out when using alone or with a year only. When using a specific date abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. When providing a year and month only, do not separate with a comma — April 2008 was exceptionally warm. Month day and year, use commas — March 17, 1984, was the date of the event.
- Online is one word with no hyphen.
- Co-workers is hyphenated.
- Percent should be spelled out.
- Time — 9 a.m. until noon and not 12 noon. 12 a.m. is midnight and not 12 midnight.
- Age — use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun — the 35-year-old woman was appointed to the committee.
- Spell out numbers one through nine.
- Health care is two words.
- Caregiver is one word.
- Boardroom is one word.
- Titles — capitalize only when utilizing a formal title such as former President George W. Bush.
- Nonprofit is not hyphenated.
- Businessmen is one word.
- Decision-maker is hyphenated.
- Countrywide is one word with no hyphen.
- Multicultural is one word with no hyphen.
- Regions — capitalize when referring to regions such as the East. When referring to compass directions use lowercase, as in heading west on the highway.
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