This glossary/style guide provides commonly used words and phrases along with a set of basic standards for the writing of It’s a Money Thing content packs. The goal of this style guide is to provide consistency across all content packs. For Canadian materials, see the Canadian Oxford Dictionary for words not listed below; for US materials, see the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. In general, the style that we follow is the Chicago Manual of Style.
a.m., p.m.
For consistency, always use lower case letters with periods; use space after number (e.g., “9 a.m.”)
advice, advise
Use “advice” as noun (e.g., “I’ll give you some advice”) and “advise” as a verb (e.g., “she’ll advise him of his options”)
advisor
Use in U.S. and Canadian packs
all right
Always use as two words, not “alright”
anti-virus
Always hyphenated
big-box store
Hyphenated as shown
brand-new
Always hyphenated
bullet points
Use a colon (:) after the statement that introduces a bulleted list; use upper case letter to start all bullet points; use no punctuation at the end of all bullet points (unless there is more than one sentence in the bullet point—in that case, split into two bullet points or add a period)
Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC)
Not “Canadian Deposit…”
Canadian Parliament
Capitalize as shown in body copy
cellphone
Use in U.S. and Canadian packs
checkups
Not “check ups” or “check-ups”
click-through
Always hyphenated
co-op; co-operation; co-operative(s)
Always hyphenated
co-signer
Always hyphenated
commas – use of
To test whether a comma is needed in a string of adjectives, see if “and” can be substituted for the comma. If so, then a comma is OK; if not, the comma should usually be deleted. For example, “it was a cold, snowy, blustery day” would work as “it was a cold and snowy and blustery day”, so commas are OK; however, “it was a cold, winter day” wouldn’t work as “it was a cold and winter day”, so a comma is not needed after “cold”.
Also, do not use serial commas (the comma before “and” in a series of items) unless needed for clarification or enhanced readability. For example, “to prepare your taxes, you’ll need a pen, a calculator and software” does not need a comma after “calculator”. However, a serial comma can aids the readability of “to prepare your taxes, you’ll need a pen, a calculator, and a computer and the right software”.
consumer price index (CPI)
Capitalize as shown in body copy
cost-effective
Always hyphenated
dashes – type & usage
Em dash (—): If separating a related complex phrase from the rest of a sentence, use an em dash with no spaces on either side (e.g., “by tracking spending, you’re also tracking your efforts—possibly on a daily or weekly basis, but at least monthly—and creating new habits”)
En dash (–): In a range of numbers, use an en dash with no spaces on either side (e.g., “the workers spent 3–4 hours commuting each week”)
Hyphen (-): A hyphen should only be used in hyphenated words or in phone numbers
dates
Preference is for no ordinals (“st”, “nd”, etc.)
1950s – no apostrophe
decades
No apostrophe in decades (e.g., “1950s”)
e-book
Always hyphenated
e-learning
Always hyphenated
e-newsletter
Always hyphenated
E-Updates
Capitalize as shown in headings and in body copy; not “E‑updates”
email
Use lower case “e” in body copy; not “e-mail”; capitalize (as “Email”) only at the beginning of a sentence or in headings
every day; everyday
The phrase “every day” is an adverb and the word “everyday” is an adjective. Example of correct usage: “One tries to accomplish something every day, but an everyday feat would hardly be worth accomplishing.”
fastest-growing
Hyphenate when used as a modifier
federal
Lower case in body copy
first-hand
Always used with hyphen
free
Compounds formed with “free” as the second element are always hyphenated (e.g., “toll-free”, “tax-free”)
handout
Not hyphenated
head start
Two words
heads-up
Always hyphenated
homegrown
Don’t hyphenate or use as two words
hometown
Don’t hyphenate or use as two words
household
Don’t hyphenate or use as two words
Internet
Always capitalize in body copy
It’s a Money Thing
Capitalize as shown in body copy, with a lower case “a”; include superscript ® with logo; do not shorten to Money Thing or IAMT
judgment
Not “judgement”
know-how
Always hyphenated
log in
Not “login”
long-term; long term
Hyphenate only when used as a modifier (e.g., “he has a long-term plan”); otherwise, use without a hyphen (e.g., “in the long term, his plan will succeed”)
lunch-and-learn events
Always hyphenated
member focused/member-focused
Hyphenate only when used as a modifier (e.g., “member-focused services”); otherwise, use without a hyphen (e.g., “our services are member focused”)
member owned/member-owned
Hyphenate only when used as a modifier (e.g., “a member-owned financial institution”); otherwise, use without a hyphen (e.g., “our credit union is member owned”)
member ownership
Not hyphenated
member-owner
Always hyphenated
millennial
Do not capitalize in body copy
numbers
In general, use digits for all numbers; use comma in numbers greater than “999”
off guard
old school
Two words
ongoing
Never hyphenated
online
Never hyphenated
opt out; opt-out
Use “opt out” as a verb (e.g., “you can opt out at any time”); use “opt-out” when used as a modifier (e.g., “press the opt-out button”)
overspend
Never hyphenated
pay off; payoff
Use “pay off” as verb (e.g., “you can pay off your loan early”); use “payoff” is a noun, (e.g., “the payoff is a better rate”)
pay stub
Two words
percent – use % symbol
Use “%” symbol, not “per cent” or “percent”
phishing
Referring to email scams
PowerPoint
Capitalize as shown in body copy
pre-approved
Always hyphenated
profit-sharing
Always hyphenated, even when not used as a modifier
provincial
Lower case in body copy
resumé
Always with accent as shown, in U.S. and Canadian packs
roommates
Not “roomates”
runners-up
Always hyphenated
screen shot
Two words
set up; setup
Use “set up” as a verb (e.g., “we’ll help you set up your account”) and “setup” as a noun (e.g., “the account setup process is easy)
shareable
For consistency, use “shareable”, not “sharable”
short-term/short term
Hyphenate only when used as a modifier (e.g., “he is on a
short-term contract”); otherwise, use without a hyphen
(e.g., “his contract was only short term”)
sign up/sign up
Hyphenate only when used as a modifier (e.g., “he’s getting a sign-up bonus”); otherwise, use without a hyphen (e.g., “you can sign up today”)
SlideShare
Capitalize as shown in body copy
slip-up
Always hyphenated
smartphone
Use in U.S. and Canadian packs
snapshot
One word
Social Insurance
Always capitalized in body copy (use only in Canadian packs)
Social Security
Always capitalized in body copy (use only in U.S. packs)
stand-alone
Always hyphenated
state
Lower case in body copy
straightforward
Not “straight-forward”
take-home
Hyphen in “take-home” when being used as a modifier (e.g., “take-home pay”)
tax-free
Always hyphenated
test-run; test run
Hyphenate only when used as a verb (e.g., “you can test‑run this yourself”); no hyphens when used as a noun (e.g., “let’s do a test run”)
that (also see “which”)
In general, if you see the word “which” without a comma, it likely needs to be replaced with “that”; however, there are occasions when “which” is the right word – if so, a comma needs to be added before its use
time-consuming
Always hyphenated
toll-free
Always hyphenated
trade-off
Always hyphenated
Tweet
Lower case “t” in body copy
Twitter
Always capitalized
U.S.
Always use periods
under-prepared
Always hyphenated
under-reported
Always hyphenated
up to date; up-to-date
Use hyphens only when used as a modifier (e.g., “an up-to-date plan”); otherwise, use without (e.g., “we’ll keep you up to date on the progress)
versus; vs.
Both OK; if using “vs.”, be sure to use a period
website
Use lower case “w” in body copy; not “web site”
which (also see “that”)
In general, if you see the word “which” without a comma, it likely needs to be replaced with “that”; however, there are occasions when “which” is the right word – if so, a comma needs to be added before its use
withholding
Not "witholding"
worldwide
Don’t hyphenate or use as two words
write-up
Always hyphenated
year to date; year-to-date
Hyphenate only when used as a modifier (e.g., “we have great year-to-date results”); otherwise, use without a hyphen (e.g., “our progress year to date is excellent”)
YouTube
Capitalize as shown in body copy
Words and phrases spelled differently in U.S. and Canadian content packs
US // Canadian
401(k) // TFSA
behavior // behaviour
center // centre
centered // centred
check // cheque
checking // chequing
color // colour
counsellor // counselor
Currency Help Center // Currency Help Centre
defense (n.) // defence (n.)
enrol, enrolled, enrolment // enroll, enrolled, enrollment
favorite // favourite
fueled; fueling // fuelled; fuelling
fueling; fueled // fuelling; fuelled
installment // instalment
labor // labour
labor-intensive // labour-intensive
license (n.) // licence (n.)
neighborhood // neighbourhood
paycheck // paycheques
practice (noun): e.g., “it’s good practice to answer interview questions // practise (noun): e.g., “it’s good practice to answer interview questions”
practice (verb): e.g., “practice answering common interview questions // practise (verb): e.g., “practise answering common interview questions”
Roth IRAs; Traditional IRAs // RRSPs
Social Security // Social Insurance
traveled; traveling // travelled; travelling
traveler; traveling // traveller; travelling
volunteer board of directors // local board of directors
W-4 form // TD1 form