E

e-

Shortened abbreviation for electronic.

In general, hyphenate words beginning with e- such as e-learning, e-book, and e-commerce, unless e- is followed by a proper noun or it is absolutely necessary to avoid confusion.

For more information, see Hyphens.

For word usage of specific terms, see The American Heritage Dictionary.

easy, easily

Avoid using. What might be easy for one person, may not be easy for others.

earlier

Use later to refer to older versions of a product or software. Don’t use lower, older, higher,, and newer in context of versions.

Examples

See also later.

e-book

Hyphenate.

Not ebook, eBook or e book.

e-commerce

Hyphenate.

Not ecommerce, eCommerce or e commerce.

e.g.

Don’t use. Instead, use for example, such as, or like.

See also like, such as.

either, either/or

Use either only for a choice between two things; avoid using it for a choice between multiple things.

When writing using either, use parallel syntax. It’s OK to write Do either A or B or Either do A or B, but don’t write Either do A or B.

Don’t use either/or. Use the complete phrase instead.

element

In general, use element for HTML and XML items. HTML 4 elements are known as tags, but the equivalent elements in modern HTML and XML are known as elements.

email

One word. Not e mail or e-mail.

embed

Use instead of imbed.

emoji

It’s OK to use emoji to refer to small symbols such as 😃 that represent emoticons, gestures, concepts, objects, and other symbols in documentation with an informal tone.

Use lowercase. Use emoji for both singular and plural forms.

Don’t use emoji in documentation or the UI when there’s a serious problem, failure, or error.

Use regular punctuation with emoji that appear in running text.

Example

Ensure that the meaning of your documentation could be conveyed without emoji. Using emoji may prove to be difficult for accessibility, localization, or for translation. People with cognitive impairments, as well as people using assistive technologies such as screen-reading software and might have difficulty interpreting emoji.

For more information, see Writing documentation for an international audience.

See also emoticon.

emoticon

It’s OK to use emoticons to represent an emotion or a facial expression in documentation with an informal tone. Generally, emoticons are created with typographic characters or symbols such as :), :P, or XD.

Don’t use emoticons in documentation or the UI when there’s a serious problem, failure, or error.

Use regular punctuation with emoji that appear in running text.

Example

Ensure that the meaning of your documentation could be conveyed without emoticons. Using emoticons may prove to be difficult for accessibility, localization, or for translation. People with cognitive impairments, as well as people using assistive technologies such as screen-reading software and might have difficulty interpreting emoticons.

For more information, see Writing documentation for an international audience.

See also emoji.

enable, enabled

Use enable to refer to turning on an option or feature or making an action possible.

Example

Don’t use enables for things that allow you, or let you, or give you the ability to do something. Instead, rewrite the sentence to emphasize on the task that the user can accomplish. If you have to express ability to do something, use lets you.

Examples

Don’t use enabled to mean selected such as while referring to radio buttons or checkboxes.

Examples

For more information, see Switch, turn on, turn off, enable.

See also disable, disabled, turn on, turn off.

end

Use as a verb to describe stopping an ongoing process. Use close for applications and programs.

See also close, exit, interrupt, stop.

endpoint

One word. Not end point or end-point.

end user, end-user

Two words as a noun. Hyphenate as an adjective.

See also user.

enter

Use when referring to the action of the user entering text, or inserting a value.

For more information, see Enter, type.

See also type.

entry field

It’s OK to use entry field in a database context, in developer documentation, and for a technical audience.

In general, emphasize on the task to be accomplished, rather than how the user should interact with the UI element.

Don’t refer to a text box or text field as an entry field. Refer to a text box by its label. If you have to use a descriptor, use text box.

For more information, see Text box.

erase

Don’t use as a synonym for delete.

See also delete.

et al.

Don’t use. Instead, use and others.

It’s OK to use et al. in a citation that includes three or more authors.

etc.

Don’t use. Instead, use such as or like followed by some examples.

Don’t use and so on.

See also like, such as.

exe file

Don’t use a filename extension to refer to a type of file. For example, use executable file rather than .exe file.

For more information, see Referring to file types.

execute

OK to use in developer documentation and for a technical audience.

Avoid using in user documentation and for a general audience. Instead, use run.

exit

Don’t use to describe closing a program or an application.

For more information see Close.

See also close, end, interrupt, stop.

expand

Use to describe an action which displays more items or relevant elements in the UI.

exploit

Don’t use to mean use. Only use exploit in the negative sense.

extract

Use instead of unarchive or uncompress.

For more information, see File interactions.