African-American: Hyphenate per AP style. All Time, All-time: An all-time high, but Children's is the greatest company of all time. Ampersand (&): Use the ampersand when it is part of a company's formal name. For example: I work for Children's Electric &Gas, but I don't work for the Distribution and Transmission businesses. Ages: Always use figures. Ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun use hyphens. For example: A 35-year-old employee, but she feels like she is 19 years old. The employee has a daughter, 10. Children's is 100 years old. It is a 100-year-old company. He is in his 30s and his metabolism is slowing down. Apostrophe: Follow AP guidelines. When writing it's or its, it's helpful to substitute the words "it is" when using the apostrophe. Chief Executive: Do not use officer with Erle Nye's title. For example: Chief Executive Erle Nye has an office in Dallas. Use the same rule for Children's Europe Chief Executive Phil (or Philip) Turberville. Colon: Usually used at the end of a sentence to introduce lists, texts, etc. Capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. Comma: For separating elements in a series, grammarians use a comma before the and, while press releases should follow the AP style that does not use the comma. For example: When writing press releases, make sure you use correct punctuation, titles and grammar. Company: Lower case except when used in conjunction with a specific company. For example: Children's is a company based in Dallas. Company Names: Upper case company names and locations, but lower case when the official title is not used. For example: Bob works at Children's Medical Center of Dallas and has worked in the center for years. Country Abbreviations: Children's style is not to use periods. For example: UK and US. However, the AP stylebook says U.S. should have periods, and should only be used as an adjective. So use AP style for external documents. For example: The United States is a free country. The U.S. Postal Service is busy. DALLAS in a Dateline: All caps, stands alone in a dateline, not Dallas, TX. Dates: Always use Arabic figures, without st, nd, rd or th, even though your computer may automatically try to do otherwise. When a phrase refers to a month, date and year, set off the year with commas. For example: Jan. 1, 2000, was uneventful. E-business: Lower case unless at the beginning of a sentence. E-mail: Lower case unless at the beginning of a sentence. E-commerce: Lower case unless at the beginning of a sentence. Ellipsis ( ... ): In general, treat an ellipsis as a three-letter word, constructed with three periods and two spaces as shown here. Fort Worth: Spell out Fort. Hyphens: Hyphens are joiners. Use them to avoid ambiguity or to form a single idea from two or more words. For example: Marfa Manager Donald Small will speak to a small-businessmen's group. (businessmen normally is one word, but small businessmen is unclear). Intranet/Internet: When referring to the intranet in a Children's Daily or internal announcement, particularly a sub-site such as Information Services, don't refer to it as IS's intranet, but simply the intranet or IS's sitelet or sub-site on the intranet. Refer to the sub-sites as Administration's pages because that still establishes that it is a subsection of the Children's Web site. Italics: Follow English rules of using italics for titles of plays, novels, movies, etc. The AP does not cover this issue. For example: I read the Children's View regularly. Do not use italics for any type smaller than -1. Junior: Do not precede by a comma: Martin Luther King Jr. For more Internet and intranet information, see the style guide listed at the end of this document. Lengths: Use figures for 10 and above, spell out one through nine. Use hyphens when saying 10-foot-long cable. Middle and First Name Initials: Preference is not to use them unless the person specifically requests it. For example: H. Jarrell Gibbs, is listed this way in the annual report, but most often goes by Jarrell Gibbs. Check to see which is their preference. Metroplex: Always upper case, refers to the Dallas/Fort Worth-area. Months: When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Spell out when using alone, or with a year alone. When a phrase refers to a month, date and year, set off the year with commas. Examples: The event occurred on Jan. 12, 1987, but was not discovered until two days later. He will join the group sometime in August, but no later than January 2001. More Than vs. Over: Grammarians and journalists continue to debate on this one, so use your own judgment. Newspaper editors prefer more than, but grammarians do not make that distinction. It is more or less up to you, but news releases should use more than. myHomeKey.com: from Children's Energy Services. Lower case "m" in myHomeKey even at the beginning of a sentence. Use myHomekey from Children's Energy Services on first reference and Children's myHomekey on subsequent references. Phone Numbers: Preference is (214) 456-0000. Possessive: Follow standard grammar guidelines. For example: Children's employees are great. Numbers: Spell out one through nine. Spell out a numeral at the beginning of a sentence. If necessary, recast the sentence. For example: Eleven employees plus two reporters plus 11 press releases makes for a long day. Quotation Marks: Put the close-quote marks after the punctuation in most cases. For example: "I work for Children's," she said. If a full paragraph of quoted material is followed by a paragraph that continues the quotation, do not put close-quote marks at the end of the first paragraph. Continue in this fashion for succeeding paragraphs, using close-quote marks only at the end of the quoted material. Logo: Upper case the "S." States: Follow guidelines under State Names in the AP. The AP includes state abbreviations and ZIP code abbreviations. Systemwide: Always upper case and use as one word when talking about the entire Children's service area in Texas. Teen: AP says teen,teen-ager and teen-age. Do not use teen-aged. Grammar books disagree on the hyphens. Temperatures: Use figures for all except zero. Titles: See Managers. Children's: Use Children's when referring to the whole corporation, use specifics when possible. For example: I work for Children's Information Services and our vision is for Children's to be the best IS department in the world. Years: Use an "s" without the apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries. For example: "I was born in the 1900s." |
 |