FW: [Editors] website on the web site

[Kelli Whitlock]

Thank you, Jim for your note! We've used website as one word in our publications because earlier editions of Chicago didn't include a section on Internet. In the absence of a rule, Chicago says to follow Webster's which lists website as one word. 

But your note sent me to this nifty Web site that offers a FAQ for the Chicago style guide. See the response below regarding the use of Web site. The URL for the site is http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/. When you search the site, it directs you to the appropriate rule in the hard-copy version of the 15th edition. It's wonderful!

Kelli


Q. Which is currently accepted: Web site, web site, website, or Website?

A. A lot of people are writing “website.” A lot of people have come to prefer “website.” But formal usage still calls for “Web site,” in recognition of the initiatives of the World Wide Web Consortium (write “Web-site” as an adjective). The most elaborately formal modern American publication I can think of, the New Yorker, still writes “Web site,” but then again, they also write “E-mail,” “coördinate,” and “reëxamine”—they are very particular. We at Chicago are very particular too, and we recommend “Web site.” But our press as a whole is not in the position of publishing a single, unified publication—such as a magazine. It is easier to apply a set of standard rules and never vary from them for one publication, but rules applying to all sorts of books, articles, and other writing must be a little more flexible. Moreover, when a word gets used a lot it tends to lose any awkward edges (and what could be more awkward than a compound formed of one capitalized word and one lowercased word?). Each new book that appears on the scene presents an opportunity for an author to express a usage preference or to demonstrate a familiarity with changing usage.

But generally, I would recommend “Web site” for formal writing, but “website” for informal writing or friendly writing. Unless, of course, you prefer “Web site” even when you’re being friendly.

Kelli Whitlock
Manager, Media Relations & Publications
Editor, Paradigm magazine
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
9 Cambridge Center | Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: (617) 258-9183 | Fax: (617) 258-8848
whitlock at wi.mit.edu | http://www.whitehead.mit.edu



-----Original Message-----
From: editors-bounces at mit.edu [mailto:editors-bounces at mit.edu] On Behalf Of James Wolken
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 4:02 PM
To: Gayle Sherman; editors at mit.edu
Subject: Re: [Editors] website on the web site


Gayle,

I'm a devotee of the Chicago Manual of Style for a myriad of reasons, not 
the least of which is that they simply are the best.  Technically, Web is 
the shortened version of World Wide Web Consortium, and hence is a proper 
noun of a product name.  The way Coke is short for Coca-Cola.  The CMS and 
I would opine that Web site should be two words & capitalized.  If only 
because you can have a Web site, a Web editor, a Web mess, etc.

Common currency has already given coin to website as one word, but 'tis 
technically a slang usage, and best saved for informal writing. Unless one 
is a hip-hop artist who employs creative spelling to make a (valid) 
socio-economic point, one should stick to the basic rules.  There once was 
a day when the Web couldn't appear without the words "New Economy" next to 
it; alas, that idea has faded, and so too the notion that the Web suddenly 
makes of grammar a whole new ballgame...er, ball game.

For a fascinating discussion of "Web site" and other "online" words, view 
the CMS question & answer page 
at:  http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/cmosfaq.html

Best,
Jim Wolken

At 02:24 PM 9/22/2003 -0400, Gayle Sherman wrote:
>Greetings, editors,
>I have a question about "web site":  it has been typed as two words in
>the
>NYTImes, WSJ, etc., but I see on today's MIT home page, in the News 
>section, that one word does it all.  Is this just MIT being trendy?  I'm 
>wondering if the pub I'm working on should include website or web site 
>information, and appreciate your insights.  Thanks.
>         -Gayle
>
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