Usage

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Usage

a.m. and p.m.

Use a.m. and p.m. and do not include o'clock. Designate noon or midnight, rather than 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.

Athletics department, athletics director

athletics department or Department of Athletics, not athletic department; not Ole Miss Athletics

athletics director, not athletic director

Between/among

between when referring to two things, among when referring to more than two

Comprises/composed of

comprises or composed of, not comprised of

Continual/continuous

continual means a steady repetition, over and over again; continuous means uninterrupted, steady, unbroken

Currently

Do not pair this word with present tense verbs (e.g., is, conducts, produces). When using present tense verbs, it is understood that the meaning is current.

Disabled

disabled, not handicapped

Doctorate/doctoral

Doctorate is a noun, and doctoral is an adjective.

Dorm

Use residence hall instead of dorm when referring to living quarters at the University of Mississippi.

Ensure/insure

Use ensure in the more general sense to mean guarantee or make certain. Use insure only in the commercial sense, as in auto, health and life insurance.

Farther/further

Farther refers to physical difference, e.g., He walked farther down the road. Further refers to an extension of time or degree, e.g., He delved further into cancer research.

Fax

Fax is not a proper noun nor an acronym and should be used upper and lowercase as appropriate.

Fiscal year

The university's fiscal year runs July 1 through June 30, and it carries the numerical designation of the latter year, e.g., July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 constitutes FY25.

Freshman

freshman (adj.): the freshman enrollment (never the freshmen enrollment)

Game day

two words as a noun; add hyphen when an adjective (game-day)

Grow

Avoid using to grow as a transitive verb meaning "to expand" or "to increase the size of." As a transitive verb, it means "to raise or cultivate," as in vegetables; grow fruit, not grow the economy

Historic/historical

A historic event is an important occurrence, one that stands out in history. Any occurrence in the past is a historical event. (Note: It's a historic/historical event, not an historic/historical event.)

Impact

Avoid using "impact" as a transitive verb; words such as "affect" or "influence" are almost always better choices. Teeth can be impacted, but the provost's decisions may influence, not impact, enrollment in a particular program. However, the provost can have an impact on enrollment, just as a meteor can create a crater on impact. "Impact" can be used as a noun, but it's a bad verb.

In regard to

in regard to (never in regards to), but, he sends his regards

Include

Include refers to a partial listing. For example, do not say "participants included" and then list all the participants.

Initials

No space between initials in personal names.

• B.J. Thomas

International students

international students, not foreign students

Lay

lay (transitive): I lay the book on the bed; past tense: I laid the book on the bed.

Lie

lie (intransitive): I lie in bed; past tense: I lay in bed.

Less/fewer

less when describing an amount that cannot be counted, fewer when describing a number:

• He was less agreeable to the plan than she was.
• Fewer than 12 students attended the seminar.

Names

On first reference, use the person's full first name and last name and title. Do not use a courtesy title (such as Mr. or Mrs.) except for medical doctors, and then use Dr. only on first reference. On second reference, use only the last name, without title and without courtesy title, e.g.,

• Wendell Weakley, UM Foundation president, announced a major fundraising campaign. Weakley announced it on Friday.
• Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UM vice chancellor for health affairs, has launched a collaboration with the Harvard Medical School. Woodward signed the contracts Monday.

Ombudsman

Derived from a Swedish word, this term is gender-neutral, meaning an official intermediary or representative. Do not use made-up constructions such as ombudsperson. On second reference, shortening it to ombuds is acceptable.

Postdoc

Spell it out as postdoctoral.

Said/says

Use either said or says consistently throughout a story when quoting sources, e.g., "Enrollment figures are up," Provost Noel Wilkin said. Said is preferred for news releases.

Telephone numbers

Complete telephone numbers should be provided in any written copy. Copy should always include the area code and seven-digit number separated by hyphens:

• 662-915-0000

Avoid

Passive voice

• Worse: John Jones was appointed.
• Better: The dean appointed John Jones.

The longer of two similar words

e.g., use (not utilize)

The split infinitive

• Worse: He was told to quickly process the papers.
• Better: He was told to process the papers quickly.

The dangling participle

• Worse: Straddling the Arizona–New Mexico border, the archaeologist found a string of ancient pueblo ruins. (Was the archaeologist straddling the border?)
• Better: The archaeologist found a string of ancient pueblo ruins straddling the Arizona–New Mexico border.

Singular/plural disagreements with pronouns

For example, do not refer to a department or organization as "they."

Product and company names

The use of product names or companies may be construed as a tacit endorsement by the university, thus raising conflict-of-interest questions and other problems. Use generic titles or descriptions whenever possible, e.g., Use copy, not xerox.

There is/There are constructions

Generally, sentences that begin with "There is" or "There are" constructions mean that the writer has not carefully considered what the sentence is about. It's a wordy construction that is weak and best avoided.

• Worse: There are many opportunities to make writing clearer and more readable.
• Better: Many opportunities exist to make writing clearer and more readable.