Welcome!

Welcome to the class Style Guide for SCC's Writing for the Web class of Spring of 2017!

Each student in our class will post two entries. Each entry will state a position, supported by an acknowledged online style guide or dictionary, on a topic of grammar, word use, or style.

The purpose of our Style Guide is to agree on a set of rules for issues encountered by web writers. Not all style guides agree, and successful writers observe these rules consistently in their writing. Students in our class may comment to each post with agreement or disagreement as long as they support their positions with appropriate authorities.

Include a link to your authority. Be sure to notice the headline in this example:

E-mail or Email?

I propose that we spell this word without the hyphen in this class. I've listed two dictionaries with opposing positions on this topic below. Both include links to websites for these dictionaries.

• Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, a recognized conservative dictionary, tells us to spell this word with a hyphen. It explains the history of the term as it has evolved since 1982. This history illustrates the way that words change over time with usage by English speakers.
• Oxford's New American dictionary is a more modern, progressive dictionary that supports removing the hyphen in the spelling of this word. 

Since web writing is a more modern way of communicating, and since many site visitors use more modern ways of communicating, a more modern way of spelling this way seems appropriate. In addition, the word is much easier to key without the hyphen. Many web writers have been dropping this hyphen for quite some time.