Glossary (Part 1)

Question 1

AA

Answer 1

author’s alteration; used to indicate a change made by an author on a set of proofs

Question 2

abbreviation

Answer 2

Shortened form of a word or phrase (acronym, initialism, clipping, contraction. etc.)

Question 3

acronym

Answer 3

Abbreviation formed by the first letters of the words in a phrase and pronounced as a word (NASA). Often used interchangeably with ‘initialism’

Question 4

acute accent

Answer 4

diacritic mark

Question 5

A-head

Answer 5

First-level heading within a chapter (or comparable section of a document); also called ‘1-head’

Question 6

all cap

Answer 6

FULL CAPITALS

Question 7

alt text

Answer 7

[Alternative text.] Special markup of tables and illustrations in electronic format to work with text-to-speech (TTS) and other accessibility tools

Question 8

ampersand

Answer 8

Name of the & character

Question 9

angle brackets

Answer 9

Name of the < and > characters

Question 10

AP style

Answer 10

Editorial preferences specified in The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law

Question 11

APA style

Answer 11

Editorial preferences specified in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

Question 12

apos

Answer 12

Short for ‘apostrophe’

Question 13

art

Answer 13

Illustration; also used to refer to all illustrations in a work

Question 14

art log

Answer 14

Chart used to inventory and track all art in a manuscript; also called ‘art inventory’

Question 15

ASCII

Answer 15

[American Standard Code for Information Interchange; pronounced “ASS-key.”] Set of 128 alphanumeric and nonprinting characters used in converting word processing files from one format to another. When files are converted into ASCII, all typeface formatting, diacritics, and other non-ASCII characters are lost

Question 16

asterisk-dagger sequence

Answer 16

Sequence of symbols used for nonnumbered reference notes: asterisk, dagger, double-dagger, section mark, parallels, number sign

Question 17

at sign

Answer 17

Name of the @ character

Question 18

AU

Answer 18

Short for author; used in queries

Question 19

author-date system

Answer 19

System for providing references for works quotes, paraphrased or cited as evidence in a document, in which the surname of the author and the year of publication of the work are given in the text, along with a specific alphabetized reference list at the end of the document. Also called ‘name-year.’

Question 20

back matter

Answer 20

General term for material that comes at the end of a book or book-length document

Question 21

backnote

Answer 21

See ‘endnote.’

Question 22

bad break

Answer 22

Incorrect division of a word that falls across two lines of type (bad word break.) Unpleasing division of a paragraph that falls across two pages (bad page break.)

Question 23

balloons

Answer 23

Display option for showing comments and changes in a Microsoft Word document

Question 24

baseline

Answer 24

Imaginary line on which printed characters sit

Question 25

bastard title

Answer 25

See ‘half-title page.’

Question 26

b/b

Answer 26

Short for ‘from baseline to baseline.’ The notation ‘16 pts. b/b’ asks for 16 points of vertical space between the baselines of two successive lines of text

Question 27

B-head

Answer 27

Second-level heading within a chapter (or comparable section of a document); also called ‘2-head’

Question 28

blind proofing

Answer 28

Proofreading in which the proofreader is not supplied with an earlier version of the text against which to compare the current version. Also called ‘cold proofing’ or ‘noncomparison proofing’

Question 29

block quote

Answer 29

See ‘extract’

Question 30

boilerplate

Answer 30

Block of text that is reused, without change, in various documents

Question 31

bold

Answer 31

Short for ‘boldface.’

Question 32

braces

Answer 32

Name of the { and } characters; also called ‘curly brackets’

Question 33

brackets

Answer 33

Name of the [ and ] characters; also called ‘square brackets’

Question 34

broadside

Answer 34

Printed page whose top is at the left-hand side of a regular page; readers must turn the document 90 degrees clockwise to read the text. Used to accommodate wide tables and maps. In word processing programs, called ‘landscape orientation’

Question 35

bubble

Answer 35

Penciled-in circle or box in which an editor writes a comment or instruction on hard copy

Question 36

built-up fraction

Answer 36

A fraction typeset as a separate numbers with a ‘solidus’ (slash) between them: 1/2, 3/4, 7/8

Question 37

bullet

Answer 37

Heavy, vertically centered dot used as an ornament or as a marker in a vertical list. Bullet are solid, or open; square bullet are also solid or open

Question 38

bulleted list

Answer 38

A type of vertical list in which each item is introduced by a bullet or other graphic character