Posts in category: BHG Stylebook

Don’t end a line on a hyphen in rag-right or centered text, unless the word that’s breaking is a hyphenated compound that breaks at the grammatical hyphen.

Don’t let two lines in a row end in hyphens.

Don’t break words within a hyphenated compound.

Don’t let a word break at the end of a column.

When a word breaks, make sure at least three letters appear on the second line. When possible, keep a prefix or suffix from breaking from the rest of the word.

Don’t hyphenate proper nouns.

Hyphens
Combining forms
Line-break rules
Prefixes
Suffixes

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Use the letter-by-letter system of alpabetizing. In this system, alphabetizing continues up to the first parenthesis or comma; it then starts again after the punctuation point. Word spaces and all other punctuation marks are ignored. Both open and hyphenated compounds, such New York or self-pity, are treated as single words.

The order of precedence is one word, word followed by a parenthesis, and word followed by comma, number, or letters.

For example:

Honey, measuring
Honey-and-Apple Ribs
Honey-Berry compote
Honey Butter
Honeydew, selecting
Honey-Mustard Dressing
Honey-Mustard Turkey Breast
Honey-Nut Tarts

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Abbreviations are the standard means of avoiding lengthy or awkward repetition, but they should be used sparingly in narrative copy. Abbreviations are appropriate in lists, charts, tables, and buying guides to achieve economical use of space and a pleasing appearance.

If an abbreviation is acceptable in copy according to SIM style, it should be applied to all copy, even quoted material.
incorrect: “Granite was our number one choice,” he says.
correct: “Granite was our No. 1 choice,” he says.

For abbreviations not included in this section, see the following reference sources:

General abbreviations: Webster’s 11th
Metric abbreviations: Webster’s 11th, listed with “metric”
States: Follow Associated Press style in copy and U.S. Postal Service style in addresses.

Abbreviations
Capitalization
Company Names
Dates and Times
Degrees and Certifications
Periods
Plurals
Spaces

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Be particularly alert to accent marks. Use Webster’s 11th or an appropriate foreign language dictionary to check usage. Here’s a quick reminder about how to create the most common accent marks.

Foreign words
Accent marks
Translation help

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