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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.

  • handheld (n.), hand-held (adj.)
    The noun refers to a personal digital assistant, or PDA.
  • handphone
    One word. Term used for cell phone or mobile phone in parts of Asia.
  • hang on to
    Not hang onto. The phrasal verb is hang on, and to is the preposition. Example: He tried to hang on to his sense of pride while unemployed.
  • hard core (n.), hard-core (adj.)
    Hyphenated when used as an adjective.
  • hashtag (n.)
    One word. Refers to the tags used on Twitter messages to call out a topic that readers may be searching for, such as #pumpkin on a tweet about Halloween.
    Added on October 22, 2010
  • HD DVD
    Two words, no hyphen. Abbreviation for high-definition digital video disc or high-
    definition versatile disc    . Abbreviation is always OK. Plural: HD DVDs.
  • HDTV
    One word. Abbreviation for high-definition television. Abbreviation is always OK. Plural: HDTVs.
  • help desk (n., adj.)
    Added on October 17, 2011
  • help pages
  • high speed (n.), high-speed (adj.)
    Two words when used as a noun, hyphenated when used as an adjective. Examples: Sign up now and soar through the Internet at a truly high speed. Get high-speed Internet access.
  • hip-hop (n., adj.)
  • Hispanic
    See “Latino, Latina.”
  • hit
    attn. Avoid as a substitute for press or click. When referring to a key on the keyboard, use press. Use click (for a button, link, or other interface element) or click on (for a file, photograph, icon, etc.) for the mouse action. See “Mouse Actions” for details.
  • hold on to
    Not hold onto. The phrasal verb is hold on, and to is the preposition. Example: She held on to her smile during the interrogation.
  • homepage
  • Hon.
    Abbreviation for Honorable. When used before a person’s name, precede with the.
  • Honorable
    An honorary title. The abbreviation Hon. is always OK. When used before a person’s name, Honorable and Hon. are preceded by the. Example: The record shows that the Honorable Donald Brown presided over the case.
  • horsepower
    May be abbreviated as hp (no period).
  • host name
  • hot swap (n.), hot swapping (n.); hot-swappable (adj.), hot-swap (v.)
    Two words when used as a noun, hyphenated as an adjective or a verb. The noun means adding or removing computer peripherals or components without having to reboot the computer. Example: A USB flash drive is hot-swappable: Just plug it in and start using it—no need to restart the computer.
  • hotspot (n.), hot spot (n.)
    One word when referring to a Wi-Fi access point: Connect to the nearest hotspot to access the Internet. Otherwise, use two words: Paparazzi lurked outside Hollywood’s latest hot spot.
  • hour
    An acceptable abbreviation for hour(s) is hr. Note the period.
  • House of Representatives
    Always capitalize the singular form: U.S. House of Representatives, California House of Representatives. May also be shortened: the House, the U.S. House, the California House. Lowercase the plural form: the Virginia and North Carolina houses.
  • hover
    attn. Don’t use to describe the action of holding the mouse pointer over an area of the page. Use a simpler, clearer phrase such as pass (or roll or move or hold) your mouse cursor over, or an equivalent phrase.
  • how-to (n., adj.)
    Note hyphen when used as a noun or an adjective. Plural noun: how-tos. Examples: Your How-to Guide to Home Buying (headline set in title case), Home-Buying How-To (another headline in title case), How-tos include insider tips as well as basics you’ll need to understand the process (sentence).
  • hp
    Acceptable abbreviation for horsepower. No period.
  • hr.
    Acceptable abbreviation for hour(s). Note the period. Include a space between the number and hr. For information about when it’s OK to use the abbreviation, see “Units of Measure.”
  • HTML
    Abbreviation for Hypertext Markup Language. Abbreviation is always OK.
  • hyperlink (n., adj., v.)
    attn. One word, but the term is dated. Use link instead.
  • hyperlocal (n., adj.)
    One word. Refers to something—news, for example, or an entire website—that is geared toward a defined local community and (usually) is created by a resident of that community. Typically, hyperlocal is even more limited in scope than local. For instance, hyperlocal news may be limited to a single town or even to a particular neighborhood.
    Added on July 22, 2011

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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.
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