Per cent should be spelled out as two words. The percentage symbol should only be used in lists and creative. Hyphenate when descriptive.
Examples:
We ran 80 per cent of the way.
A 10-per-cent increase.
Use of contractions is acceptable.
Examples:
’62 (for 1962)
It’s (for it is)
Who’s (for who is)
PLURALS – Form plurals of abbreviations by adding an s. Do not use an apostrophe.
Examples: MBAs; HBAs
HONOUR VS. HONOR – Use honour in all cases with the exception of honorary degrees and BA Honors as well as the names of specific degree programs (e.g. honors specialization in Biochemistry).
Examples:
It is an honour to receive this award.
She received an honorary degree from Western University last night.
CO- WORDS – Keep the hyphen in words beginning with co (co-operate, co-ordinate, co-chair).
Common misspellings and Ivey terminology:
• Aboriginal Peoples (not aboriginals)
• adviser (not or)
• affect (to have an effect/influence on), but effect (the result of an action)
• aging (no e)
• a lot (not alot)
• all right (not alright)
• alumna: feminine singular
• alumnae: feminine plural
• alumnus: masculine singular
• alumni: masculine plural or mixed plural
• amphitheatre
• any more (as in “I don’t want any more candy”)
• anymore (as in any longer)
• any time (two words – but anyplace, anything – one word)
• anyway (not anyways)
• awhile (adverb), a while (noun)
• Bachelor of Arts, a bachelor’s degree
• barbecue (not que)
• behaviour (not behavior)
• BlackBerry for wireless device (not Blackberry)
• board (uppercase only when using the formal name of a board. Otherwise, lowercase)
Example:
Toronto District School Board, but Toronto school board.
• bylaw, byline, bypass, byproduct (no hyphen)
• calibre (CAN/British sp.)
• candour (not candor)
• Case-Method Learning; Case-Method of Learning
• cheque (not check)
• co-chair, co-worker (hyphenate)
• colour
• complementary (serving to complete)
• complimentary (free)
• composed of (made up of), comprise (contains all parts)
Examples:
The committee is composed of faculty.
The project comprises five parts.
• copyright (not copywrite)
• Councellor (double l)
• crisis (singular), crises (plural)
• Cross-Enterprise Leadership
• curriculum (singular), curricula (plural)
• Dragons’ Den for CBC show (not Dragon’s Den)
• defence, but defensive
• dos and don’ts (not do’s)
• email (not e-mail)
• emeritus (male), emerita (female), emeriti (plural), as in Professor Emeritus Paul Brown
• enrolment (1 l)
• enrol (1 l)
• enrolled (2 ls)
• ensure (make certain something happens), but insure (provide insurance)
• federal government (lowercase when not part of a formal name)
• FinTech (not fintech)
• First World War (not World War I), Second World War (not World War II)
• flavour (not flavor)
• followup (noun and adjective)
• forego (precede), forgo (go without)
• fulfil (not fulfill)
• full time, unless an adjective (full-time job)
• goodbye (no hyphen)
• grey (colour)
• hanged (killed by hanging), hung (suspended)
• heads-up (not head’s up)
• health care (two words)
• health-care (adjective)
• high-potential (hyphenated – if adjective is tied to a subject)
Examples:
High-potential student.
Converting high potential into high achievement.
• hurdle (leap over), hurtle (throw swiftly)
• in depth (I’ll speak with you about this in depth), in-depth as adjective (an in-depth report)
• inquiry (not enquiry)
• install, but instalment
• Internet (capitalize)
• Intouch (not InTouch or In Touch) magazine – @Intouch, not @InTouch (monthly e-newsletter)
• its (is a possessive and does not take an apostrophe), it’s (is a contraction of ‘it is’ and does take an apostrophe)
Examples:
It’s raining outside.
The cat chased its tail.
• Ivey:
The Ivey Business School
• The School when referring to Ivey
• Never Ivey School of Business
• Global Ivey Day (capitalized) – after first mention can be abbreviated to GID
• Ivey Homecoming or Homecoming (capitalized)
• Ivey Network or Ivey Alumni Network (capitalized) – can be referred to as Ivey Network, the Network, or abbreviated to IAN
• Ivey Pledge Ceremony (the full name should be used)
• The Pledge (when referring to “the Pledge” the word Pledge should be capitalized)
• jibe (not jive)
• judgment (no e)
• know-how (hyphen)
• labour, but laborious
• lay off (verb), layoff (noun)
• leader (capitalize only when used as a title preceding a name (Liberal Leader John Bates), but not when used generally (party leader) or when former (former Liberal leader Karen Thomas)
• led (past term of lead)
• liaise (not liase)
• licence (noun), license (verb)
• line up (verb), lineup (noun)
• loath (reluctant), loathe (to detest)
Example:
She loathes cheese, but is loath to admit it.
• log in (verb), login (noun and adjective)
• long term (in the long term), long-term (adjective – long-term contract)
• longtime (no hyphen)
• loonie (dollar coin), loony (slang for insane)
• manoeuvre
• media (plural), medium (singular)
• mould (not mold)
• nationwide (no hyphen)
• No. 1 or number 1 (not number one)
• offence (not offense), but offensive
• OK (not okay), OK’d, OK’ing
• online (not on-line)
• panellists (two ls)
• part time, unless an adjective (part-time job)
• pique (not peak or peek), meaning to engage or arouse
• playwright (not playwrite)
• policy-maker (not policymaker or policy maker)
• postgraduate (not post-graduate)
• post-secondary
• practice (noun or adjective), practise (verb)
• prerogative (not perogative)
• principal (main chief, head of a school), principle (a tenet or matter of belief)
Examples:
She was the principal investigator.
He is a man of high moral principles.
• provincewide
• provincial government (lowercase when not part of a formal name)
• rational (sensible), rationale (statement of reasons)
• rein (harness), reign (monarch’s rule)
• resumé (accent aigu on last e only)
• real-world or real world (hyphenated when describing something, as in real-world experience)
• rigour, but rigorous
• spin off (verb), spinoff (noun or adjective)
• startup (one word)
• stationery (paper and pens), stationary (not moving)
• storey (buildings – two-storey building)
• teammate (no hyphen)
• thank you (two words, no hyphen unless used as an adjective)
Examples:
Thank you for the cookies.
I sent a thank-you note.
• timeline (one word)
• try to (not try and)
• total, totalled
• U.K. (periods)
• URL (not url)
• Vice-President (caps with hyphen)
• waiver (a document), waver (to falter)
• Wal-Mart (in Canada), Walmart (brand name in U.S.)
• Warren Buffett (not Buffet)
• website (not web-site)
• Western University (Western on subsequent references); the University (not UWO or The University of Western Ontario)
• workforce (one word)
• World Wide Web (capitalize), but web, website (generic terms)
• Worldwide (one word)