Tricky Tech Terms
Today’s fast-moving world of technology is creating new words as quickly as it is new innovations. Compound terms like “Web site” are morphing into one word. Unusually spelled brand names such as “iPad” are challenging established norms for capitalization. And old words like “mobile” are gaining broader meanings as technologies are used in expanded ways.
Since technology continues to figure prominently in PR pros’ work and continues to evolve at breakneck speed, it’s important to keep track of the latest rules for spelling these new words and using them consistently. At the same time, it’s useful to understand the basis for some of the rules so they can inform the way we handle new word uses in the future.
To help make sense of some of today’s most misused technology terms and names, here’s a rundown on how to write them that is based on the latest Associated Press Stylebook as well as other authoritative usage guides. After you peruse the list, I invite you to share your own most troublesome tech terms with me.
artificial intelligence - Spell out on first reference. “AI” is acceptable on second reference. big data - Lowercased.
BlackBerry - This name has an internal capital “B” and its plural form is “BlackBerrys” – not “BlackBerries.” “BlackBerrys” is so spelled because “BlackBerry” is a brand name whose spelling is preserved as much as possible and therefore doesn’t follow the normal plural formation for words ending in “y.”
blockchain - Lowercased. cellphone, smartphone, mobile phone - The Associated Press changed its spellings from the two-word “cell phone” and “smart phone” almost 10 years ago, but “mobile phone” remains two words.
cyber - Most words formed with this don’t get a hyphen – like “cyberattack,” “cybersecurity” and “cyberspace” – but “Cyber Monday” is two words.
iPad, iPhone, iPod - The first letter of these words (and similarly spelled names, such as “eBay”) is lowercased, but not at the beginning of sentences. The sentences-begin-with-capitals rule still supersedes brand name conventions. Therefore, “IPhones are on sale” is the correct way to write a sentence that starts with this kind of spelling.
email - Unfortunately, the normally astute AP Stylebook sanctioned this hyphenless spelling of “electronic mail” in its 2011 edition and gave further validity to a fundamentally flawed word formation. What’s the big deal with losing the hyphen? Don’t other hyphenated words merge into one? Yes, compound nouns do tend to go from separate to joined, often with a hyphenated stage (e.g., “per cent” to “percent, “to-day” to “today”). The problem with “e-mail,” though, is that it’s not a simple compound noun. It’s an initial-based abbreviation, and the hyphen is crucial in clarifying that “e” is an initial and not simply a syllable. What’s more, in the English language, initial-based abbreviations don’t merge into solid words. Some are split; the rest are hyphenated: C-section, Q rating, T-shirt, X-ray. In any event, the ship has sailed as far as “e-mail,” and “email” (ugh) has become the standard spelling.
Galaxy - Just as with “BlackBerry,” the plural of this Samsung mobile phone model should be formed with an “s” but not “es”: “The department members all use Galaxys.” This is because “Galaxy” is a brand name whose spelling is preserved as much as possible and therefore doesn’t follow the normal plural formation for words ending in “y.”
Googled - Still capitalized as a derivative of a proper noun, but the widespread use of the word to generally mean “using a search engine” is leading to a growing argument that the term is losing its trademark status, as the terms “aspirin” and “escalator” did.
homepage - One word.
internet, internet of things - Lowercased.
login, log in - The noun is one word and the verb is two words. Also, the phrase “log in to” should be written with the “in” and “to” as separate words and not “log into.”
mobile - Although not official yet, in the sense “of or relating to wireless communication or devices,” this longtime adjective is rapidly gaining ground as a noun meaning “mobile communication” or the “mobile industry.” In fact, “mobile” has officially been defined as a noun meaning “mobile phone” for many years, although it is mostly used in this sense in British English.
snap - Although the name that this word for a post is taken from -- "Snapchat" -- is capitalized as a trademark, this doesn't mean that the trademark extends to other parts of speech for this word. Thus, while a direct descendant of this word -- such as “Snapchatted” – would properly be capitalized, “snap” is a related word that is lowercased and not treated as a trademark.
tweet - Just as with Snapchat, although "Twitter" is capitalized as a trademark, but “tweet” is a different part of speech that is lowercased and not treated as a trademark.
website, webpage, webcam, webcast, webfeed, webmaster, web address, web browser, web, World Wide Web - The first six of these terms gradually morphed from two-word to one-word spellings as they became more familiar and widely used over the last two decades. However, a few terms, like “web address” and “web browser” remain two words. In parallel, in 2016, the Associated Press announced it would begin lowercasing both “Web” (an abbreviation for “World Wide Web,” which remains capitalized) and “Internet.” On a side note, remember the web is not the same as the internet, but is a subset. The internet includes other applications, such as email.
Wi-Fi - The name for this set of wireless networking standards is spelled with two capital letters and a hyphen.
Yahoo - The exclamation point is not written with this company name because it can be mistaken as actual sentence punctuation (e.g., “Earnings Rise at Yahoo!”) and because it is considered a decorative element that is part of the company’s logo but not its name.