Word Choice

To improve readability and comprehension, choose your words wisely and use them consistently. If you mean the same thing, use the same word.

This section provides tips for choosing the right words for the job:

Write using the same, everyday words you use in conversation.

• Use common contractions, such as it’s, you’re, that's, and don’t, to create a friendly, informal tone.

• Don't mix contractions and their spelled-out equivalents. For example, don’t use can’t and cannot in the same paragraph.

• Never form a contraction from a noun and a verb, such as GOJO’s developing a new hand sanitizer.

• Avoid ambiguous or awkward contractions, such as there’d, it’ll, and they’d.

Make every word count. Concise, clear sentences save space, are easy to understand, and facilitate scanning. Use simple words with precise meanings and remove words that don’t add substance. Use your judgment to avoid sounding abrupt or unfriendly.

Choose simple verbs without modifiers. Whenever you can, avoid weak or vague verbs, such as be, have, make, and do.

Don’t use two or three words when one will do.

Whenever possible, choose words that have one clear meaning.

Omit unnecessary adverbs – words that describe how, when, or where. Unless they're important to the meaning of a statement, leave them out.

Examples

quite

very

quickly

easily

effectively

Use one term consistently to represent one concept.

Use words that can be both nouns and verbs carefully – file, post, mark, screen, record, and report, for example. Use the sentence structure and context to eliminate ambiguity.

Most people know the common definition of words. Use words in the most familiar sense or define them if you can’t.

Don’t create a new word from an existing word.

Example

Don’t use bucketize to mean group.

Don't apply a new meaning to an ordinary word.

Example

Don’t use graveyard to mean archive.

Be careful with common words that have industry-specific uses. Assume distributor partners and end-users know the common definition of the word, not the industry-specific definition. If you must use the industry-specific definition, define the word in context.

Writing tip Sometimes industry-specific usage, such as hacker, becomes part of everyday speech. Know your customer and the language they use. When in doubt, use a simple word with a well-understood meaning.

Technical terms come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Sometimes they're everyday words that are given new meanings, like cloud, batch, or dashboard. Other times, common words are combined to create technical terms, like telemedicine or email. Over time, some technical terms become widely understood, but before that happens, they can be confusing to people who aren't familiar with them. Use technical terms when they're the clearest way to communicate your message but use them with care.

• Use common words whenever possible

• Don't use a technical term when an everyday term will do. For example, don't use rip to refer to copying files from a CD if you can use copy instead.

• Don’t assume everyone will understand technical terms

• When you must use technical terms for precise communication, define them in context.

• Use technical terms consistently

• When you've decided to use a technical term, use that term consistently across products and services, tools, websites, and marketing communications. Aim for one term, one concept.

• Use industry-specific terms for professional audiences

• Don’t create a new term if one already exists

• Don't create a new term if an existing one serves your purpose. If you must create a new term, verify that it isn’t already being used to mean something else.

Technology changes at light speed, and customers expect us to use the latest technical terms. But it's crucial to use them correctly and consistently across our products, services, documents, packaging, and marketing. Before you adopt a new term in your content, find out whether other groups are using it, and how.

Research the term on edited industry websites, such as Forrester Research, Gartner, CDC, and WHO.

In the right context, for a particular audience, jargon serves as shorthand for well-understood concepts. But for less technical audiences, jargon can impede understanding.

Don’t use jargon if:

• You can use a more familiar term, instead of denotation.

• The term is familiar to only a small segment of your readers.

• Avoid business, marketing, and journalistic jargon, such as using leverage to mean take advantage of or albeit it to mean even though.

Differentiating jargon from technical terminology is tricky. If you think a term is jargon, it probably is.

• If it’s an acronym or abbreviation, it may be jargon. Spell it out for clarity.

• If a reviewer questions your use of a term, it may be jargon.

• If the term is used in The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times, or in general-interest magazines, such as Time or Newsweek, it might be appropriate for some audiences.

• If the term is used by industry journals, it's probably OK to use for technical audiences.

When the spelling of English words varies by locale, use the U.S. spelling. For example, use hand sanitizer, not hand sanitiser.

Avoid non-English words or phrases, such as de facto or ad hoc.

Avoid Latin abbreviations for common English phrases.

Exception It’s OK to use etc., in situations where space is limited.

Write using the same everyday words you use in conversation.

• Use common contractions, such as it’s, you’re, that's, and don’t, to create a friendly, informal tone.

• Never form a contraction from a noun and a verb.

• Avoid ambiguous contractions, such as there’d, it’ll, and they’ll.