Word List

The Yahoo! Word List

The Yahoo! word list covers terms related to communications, technology, branding, and other topics that our U.S. editors have encountered frequently. Following is a healthy sampling of the full Yahoo! word list. (We update the online list quarterly—see what’s new.)

These are the decisions that Yahoo! has come to after years of writing and editing for the Web. You may naturally make different choices and have different entries, but our word list can be useful as a springboard or as an additional reference.

  • Fahrenheit
    An acceptable abbreviation for degree(s) Fahrenheit is °F.
  • fall (n., adj.)
    Lowercase the season name.
  • fan page
    Added on October 22, 2010
  • fanbase
    Added on October 22, 2010
  • fansite (n.)
  • FAQ
    Stands for frequently asked question but generally refers to a list of such questions. Can be pronounced two ways: (1) “fak” (in this case the singular form takes the article a: a FAQ) or (2) “eff-ay-cue” (in this case the singular form takes the article an: an FAQ). Either treatment may be used as long as it is used consistently. Plural FAQs (pronounced “faks” or “eff-ay-cues”). Example: Many sites include a FAQ to avoid answering the same customer questions repeatedly.
  • Fast Ethernet
    Note capitalization.
  • fax
  • feed reader
    Two words. Another name for newsreader.
  • feet, foot
    An acceptable abbreviation for feet and foot is ft. (note the period).
  • female airman
    Not airwoman.
  • fiancé, fiancée
    Use the former to refer to a man (Kate’s fiancé), the latter to refer to a woman (Will’s fiancée). OK to use accented character in webpage copy and HTML emails, but use fiance or fiancee (with no accent) in plain-text emails, in copy that may appear in an RSS feed, and in other places where special characters are not always supported (in comment systems and certain content management systems, for example)—such characters may become garbled. (Alternative style: Use the unaccented version in all cases to simplify decision making for editors; this term without accents is unlikely to be misread in English.)
    Added on May 12, 2011
  • fifty-fifty
    attn. Using numerals (“50-50”) is preferable.
  • file name
    Two words. Not filename.
  • firefighter
    Use this term instead of fireman. See “Write Gender-Neutral Copy.”
  • fl. oz.
    Acceptable abbreviation for fluid ounce(s). Note periods. Include a space between the number and this abbreviation. For information about when it’s OK to use the abbreviation, see “Units of Measure.”
  • flak
    Not flack, when referring to heavy criticism: Palin took flak for her $150,000 shopping spree.
  • Flash
    Capitalize when referring to Adobe Flash multimedia technologies. Use this Adobe Systems trademark as an adjective.
  • flash (adj.)
    Lowercase when referring to flash memory or a flash drive.
  • flight attendant
    Use this term instead of steward or stewardess. See “Write Gender-Neutral Copy.”
  • flow chart (n.), flow-chart (adj., v.)
    Two words when used as a noun, hyphenated when used as an adjective or a verb.
  • fluid ounces
    An acceptable abbreviation for fluid ounce(s) is fl. oz. (note periods).
  • foreign (adj.)
    attn. In some contexts, using the term foreign is appropriate: Rice plans to write a book about American foreign policy. In other contexts, using foreign can seem exclusionary: It assumes that the reader has the same home country as you, which may not be true—in fact, your reader may be a part of whatever you describe as “foreign.”
  • former Pres.
    Acceptable abbreviation for former President: The guest speaker was former Pres. George W. Bush.
  • former president
    Do not use president or ex-president when referring to past presidents. Capitalize as former President only when used before a name: former President George W. Bush (it may also be abbreviated as former Pres. George W. Bush). Lowercase when used without a name: The former president offered his congratulations.
  • forward (adv.)
    Use forward to refer to direction in American English; forwards is more prevalent in British English.
  • friend (n., v.)
    OK to use as a verb when referring to inviting someone to be your friend on a social-networking site. Example: Would you friend your boss? You’ll never believe who just friended me.
  • front end (n.), front-end (adj.)
    Added on October 22, 2010
  • front-runner
    Not frontrunner.
  • ft.
    Acceptable abbreviation for feet and foot. Note the period. Include a space between the number and ft. For information about when it’s OK to use the abbreviation, see “Units of Measure.”
  • FTP
    Abbreviation for File Transfer Protocol. Abbreviation is always OK. Verb usage is also OK: Please FTP that file if it’s larger than 3MB.
  • function keys
    Lowercase. Refers to the F1 through F12 keys on a keyboard.

Build your own word list

A word list is an important part of a site’s style guide. It tracks your decisions, helps you enforce them to maintain your site’s voice and editorial standards, and keeps editors from having to make the same kinds of decisions over and over again—possibly coming to contradictory conclusions each time.
Build your own word list