Q. We are debating in our office how to refer to our website when the URL appears at the beginning of the sentence. Would we capitalize the first letter (i.e., Www.abcd.com [address changed for this forum]) or not (i.e., www.abcd.com)? Are there any conventions around dropping the “www” (i.e., abcd.com)? If so, would we capitalize the first letter (i.e., Abcd.com)? What about all caps (i.e., ABCD.COM or WWW.ABCD.COM)?
A. We’d never write “Www”; instead, we’d rewrite. And if you’re referring to a website in running text, it’s sometimes okay to drop the “www” and capitalize the rest in a logical manner. For example, you can write about Apple.com or NYTimes.com. For more information and examples, see CMOS 8.191.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I could not find the term “dot-com” addressed, and I need to know how to capitalize
it and punctuate it. I have seen both dot.com, and dot-com. Which is correct? In capitalizing titles, is it Dot.com or Dot.Com
(in title headings, etc.)?
A. We write “dot-com”: dot-com fantasies. We do not write “dot.com”—that would read “dot
dot com.” In titles, capitalize the d and the c: “Mogul’s Dot-Com Dreams Leak Like RAM from a Cheap Chip.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I get so tired of reading about writers using their “spell-checkers” on their
computers. Surely they mean “spelling-checkers” don’t they?
I’ve always thought that only wizards use “spell-checkers”—what
do you think? I love CMOS—read it all the time—I start browsing and I can’t stop!
Thanks again for a great resource!
A. I would guess that the menus in word-processing programs and their need for brevity in order to ensure that an intelligible
portion of a phrase can be displayed are probably partly to blame for the ubiquitous phrases “spell
checker” and “spell check.” Microsoft Word’s
help menu (for version 9/2000), for example, lists the following:
Ways to check spelling
Customize spell checking
Troubleshoot spell checking
Check spelling
But to their credit, once you select either of the middle two, the actual documentation has an expanded title, as follows:
Customize spelling and grammar checking
Troubleshoot spelling and grammar checking
So it appears that someone at Microsoft at least partly agrees with you, expanding “spell”
to “spelling” when there’s ample room.
WordPerfect (version 9) lists “Spell Checker” in its Tools menu. But to their
credit, in their documentation they seem only to use the phrase when referring specifically to a menu item (and exact nomenclature
is important in such settings) or to the title of a small dialog box.
Older versions of WordPerfect, such as WordPerfect 5.1, used “spell” as a verb
meaning roughly “to check the spelling in a document.”
Beyond any of those theories of how people have been influenced to say something as ungrammatical as “spell
check,” I wouldn’t know where to begin. But if you ask me how to spell check,
I can tell you: c-h-e-c-k.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I edit documents used in the healthcare informatics domain, where e-health, eHealth, e-community, e-practice, and other ever-growing
variations on the “e-” are present. If the “e-”
or the “e” plus a word begins a sentence, I am capitalizing that darn “e.”
Otherwise, it looks very strange. Am I correct?
A. For hyphenated e-constructions, we agree:
So far, it has proved impossible to read an e-book without some form of electricity.
E-books are ubiquitous enough that in several years people may simply call them “books.”
For a proper name, however, we leave things alone: eBay is always eBay, even at the beginning of a sentence.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Which is currently accepted: Web site, web site, website, or Website?
Q. Is there a proper format for creating an email?
A. Not usually. But if you’re writing formal correspondence and want some guidance, try The Gregg Reference Manual, a good resource for business usage.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. What is the plural of email when it’s used as a noun?
A. Use email (not emails) or email messages for the plural form of the noun (“she gets a lot of email”); except informally, emails is better reserved for use as a verb (“he emails reminders to himself”). And whereas Merriam-Webster lists both e-mail (hyphen) and email (no hyphen), Chicago now prefers the latter.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]