WRWA Newsletter.pub - Wisconsin Writers Association

Preferred Spelling of Internet and Other Computer Terms Compiled by Boyd Sutton
Many terms pertaining to the Internet, computing, and electronic
devices have entered our vocabulary and our writing in
recent years. I thought it might be helpful to have a handy
reference to how these should be spelled. I used The Associated
Press Stylebook as the guide, because it is the “bible” of
journalism editors. Use these spellings (and capitalizations)
and you can’t go wrong. Note carefully which words are capitalized,
which are hyphenated, which are combined as one
word, and which are considered two words. I have also noted
where Webster’s Dictionary is different. When there is a difference,
I suggest you stick with the AP Style Book. But, in the
final analysis, the editor to whom you submit will select his or
her preference.
cell phone (two words, not as in Webster’s)
chat room (two words)
cyberspace
dot-com (adjective describing companies that do business
mainly on the Internet)
double-click (not doubleclick or double click)
download (not down load)
dpi (not DPI--dots per inch)
e-mail (not email)
end user (noun)
end-user (adjective)
firewall (not fire wall)
freeware (free software—not free ware)
home page (not homepage)
Internet (not internet)
JavaScript (not Java Script—it’s a scripting language
developed by Netscape)
kilobyte or KB
The Old Maple Tree
by Kathy Conger
Resplendent in flaming fall foliage,
she stands poised
on our front lawn,
impeccably attired,
A callous wind plucks at her brittle sleeves,
rustels, her crimson petticoats,
sets are too shivering until she.
drops her fading frock
round her ankles in a heap.
And there the old gal stands,
like a naked mannequin
waiting for the first snowfall,
next season’s gown.
{The editor thanks Susan Twiggs and other members of the
Marshfield Poetry Society for judging.]
Winning Poems, Spring 2006 Contest
Page 27
listserv (a software program for maintaining discussion
groups through e-mail, such as the WRWA online forum)
login, logon, logoff (noun)
log in, log on, log off (verb)
megabyte or MB
megahertz or MHz
Net (not net)
offline, online (one word, no hyphen, exception to Webster’s)
plug-in (a smaller, add-on computer program)
shareware (software that may be tried without cost but
requires a registration fee if kept)
source code (a set of instructions or tags in a programming
language)
URL (Uniform Resource Locator, Internet address for a
Web site)
Usenet (a worldwide system of discussion areas called
newsgroups)
Wikipedia (a free collaborative online encyclopedia built
collaboratively using Wiki software)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
World Wide Web (a subset of the Internet, the WWW is
a global system of linking documents, images, sounds,
and other files across the Internet; developed in 1991,
but not fully available until the mid-1990s)
Web
Web site (not web site, not website)
Web page (not web page, not webpage), but...
webcam, webmaster are correct
Inebriate
by Mary Downs
I am high
on the color of autumn—
the rich rosé of maple leaves,
the amber chablis of birch,
burgundy sumac burning a ridge
below the hill.
I am exhilarated with the sweet
purple wine of wide asters
marking the wayside,
the orange liqueur of pompous
pumpkins mocking the sun,
the chartreuse of gaudy gourds.
I drink to the riot—
refill my cup, revel
in the bacchanal as long
as time shall last. #