Writing Copy/Tone/Style

7

GENERAL COPY RULES

GENERAL COPY RULES

Comma in a Series

“And” and “&”

In a simple series of three or more items, please use a serial comma, sometimes called an Oxford or Harvard comma, to separate the conjunction (both “and” and “or”) if there is any possibility of confusion. Example: Trimec® kills clover, dandelion, thistle, chickweed, and other broadleaf weeds in turf.

Spell out “ and” unless referring to an ampersand (&) in the proper name of a product.

Phone Numbers

Gordon’s® uses the period format rather than parentheses or hyphens. Example: 800.821.7925

PBI-Gordon Corporation Although the PBI-Gordon logo uses a forward slash, the name is hyphenated when it appears in text.

State Abbreviations • Spell out state names when listing three or fewer states • Use two-letter postal abbreviations (KS, MO, CA, FL, etc.) when listing more than three states • If lists of states appear more than once in a document, consistently spell out or abbreviate the states throughout the document

Time and Date (Use AP style)

Web URLs

Time format

• Use a colon to separate the hour from the minutes, and periods in “a.m.” and “p.m.” (8:10 a.m.), and it isn’t necessary to include “:00” for the top of the hour (9 a.m.)

Date format

• Abbreviate the month when including the date and year, and separate the date from the year with a comma: The event occurs on Dec. 25, 2015. • Spell out the month when including only the month and year, and do not separate the month and year with a comma: The building will be completed in December 2015. • Months with five letters or fewer aren’t abbreviated (March, April, May, June, July)

It’s no longer necessary to include www. in internet addresses. Example: GordonsUSA.com