Word list — A
A/B testing
Section titled “A/B testing”Verdict: style
Instead of a/b, use A/B.
abnormal
Section titled “abnormal”Verdict: restricted
Use only to refer to objects and never people.
Verdict: restricted
If possible, use an alternative, such as stop, exit, cancel, or end.
- Replacements: stop, exit, cancel, end
access
Section titled “access”Verdict: restricted
Use access for the general ability to reach, view, or use a resource, as in read access or give a user access to the database. When you mean the specific operations that are allowed rather than the general ability, use permissions instead. Do not use access as a verb; use see, edit, open, or use.
account name
Section titled “account name”Verdict: avoid
Ambiguous about which identifier is meant. Use username for the specific credential the reader needs.
- Replacements: username
actionable
Section titled “actionable”Verdict: restricted
State the concrete action or drop it.
agnostic
Section titled “agnostic”Verdict: avoid
Agnostic is from an unrelated field and translates poorly. Use platform-independent instead.
- Replacements: platform-independent
Verdict: acceptable
A widely understood abbreviation; use it without expanding artificial intelligence.
Verdict: avoid
Spell out also known as, or use the term or.
- Replacements: also known as, or
allowlist
Section titled “allowlist”Verdict: prefer
Use allowlist as a noun in place of whitelist. Don’t use it as a verb. Instead, rewrite it as allowed or added to the allowlist.
- Alternatives: allowlisted, allowlisting
allows you to
Section titled “allows you to”Verdict: avoid
Wordier than it needs to be; lets you is shorter and more direct.
- Replacements: lets you
Verdict: style
Use lowercase alpha for the release stage.
Verdict: acceptable
Standard time abbreviations; use them rather than spelling them out.
- Alternatives: PM
America
Section titled “America”Verdict: restricted
Use the United States, the US, or the United States of America for the country. Use American for the adjective.
Verdict: acceptable
The ordinary word for position within a group; prefer it to amongst.
and so on
Section titled “and so on”Verdict: restricted
Rewrite to use such as, or for example.
and/or
Section titled “and/or”Verdict: avoid
And/or forces the reader to guess whether one, the other, or both apply. Pick and, or, or or both, or rewrite the sentence.
anti-pattern
Section titled “anti-pattern”Verdict: restricted
Describe the specific problem instead.
Verdict: acceptable
A universally understood abbreviation in developer writing; use it without expansion.
API key
Section titled “API key”Verdict: style
Use API key, instead of developer key, unless you need to match a UI label.
Verdict: prefer
Use app, but you can use application for enterprise software, and compound phrases that require it.
application
Section titled “application”Verdict: restricted
You can use application for enterprise software, and compound phrases that require it. Otherwise, use app.
- Replacements: app
Verdict: restricted
Don’t replace because with as.
- Replacements: because
authentication
Section titled “authentication”Verdict: restricted
Use authentication for verifying the identity of a user or process. Don’t use it to mean authorization.
Verdict: avoid
Contractions that many readers won’t understand; spell out authentication and authorization.
- Alternatives: authZ
- Replacements: authentication, authorization
authorization
Section titled “authorization”Verdict: restricted
Use authorization for what an account or process is allowed to do. Don’t use it to mean authentication.
autopopulate
Section titled “autopopulate”Verdict: style
Use autopopulate as one word.
autoupdate
Section titled “autoupdate”Verdict: avoid
Use automatically update instead.
- Replacements: automatically update