The Art of Curating Words
When you’re putting together a style sheet, it’s like being a curator in an art gallery.
A curator doesn’t just take whatever paintings come through the door first, and an editor can’t build a style sheet from whatever terms happen to get used first. You have to be proactive and make thoughtful decisions. Words that may seem to be interchangeable… often aren’t.
Want proof? “Booty” is a synonym for “butt,” or “bum” right? And “I’ll dial your number” means “I’ll call your number.” But you should not use “booty call” as a synonym for “butt dial.”
You’re unlikely to be specifying “butt not booty” and “call not dial” in your style sheet, of course. But there are many details, often more subtle than that, that you need to bear in mind and set down in advance, so you don’t risk making wrong calls in the middle of an edit.
What team are you on?
Perhaps the most basic question is, are you playing for America or for the UK, Canada, or Australia, or…?
Your choice of “color” or “colour,” “center” or “centre,” and so on, declares allegiance right away, or more to the point, it specifies an audience, and it can push away people who aren’t in it. This isn’t something you can always make simple switches on, either: if you’re changing all “center” to “centre,” you need to make sure you don’t change “centered” to “centreed.”
And don’t forget differences that are more than just spelling: does a car have a “trunk” or a “boot,” a “windshield” or a “windscreen”? It gets more local than that, too. If you’re talking to Americans about a soft drink, is it “pop” or “soda”? Get it wrong and you might sound like you’re “not from around here.”
Is this appropriate to the context?
It’s not just where you are, either. It’s also how formal you are expected to be: “start” versus “commence,” for example, or “chatty” versus “loquacious.”
It can signal level of erudition through something as simple as an accent on a letter: “naïve” versus “naive,” or “résumé” versus “resumé” versus “resume.” And it can depend on the sensibilities of a specific client. Some people view “get” as a loutishly informal word, but you can’t just change it to “acquire” everywhere, if you acquire what we mean.
Meanwhile, there are terms that may look out of place to an outsider (too informal, perhaps) but have a technical meaning to insiders. Some terms may seem informal to outsiders but have a technical meaning to insiders. For example, in medicine, “gut” is a specific technical term that cannot simply be replaced with “intestines”. Likewise, in contract law, consideration does not mean careful thought; it refers to something of value exchanged between the parties. Similarly, in science, a theory is not a guess or speculation but a well-supported explanatory framework.
What company does the word keep?
You may have heard that people are known by the company they keep; well, the same is true with words.
Even going beyond the question of formal versus informal, some words will tend to show up more with certain words in certain places. Consider “drug,” “medicine,” and “medication.” Each one can be used to refer to a painkiller or an antibiotic, but a “drug” is often associated with addiction, illicit use, and law enforcement; a “medicine” is something that is often unpleasant (“Take your medicine”) and brings to mind spoonfuls of unpleasant-tasting cough syrup and belongs in an infirmary; “medication” has fewer value-laden associations, and is mostly seen and heard just in the context of things you take to get better.
What attitude should the word convey?
It’s not just what kind of context you’re in, though; it’s also how you feel about the subject.
“Things” and “stuff” and “crap” can all be used to refer to the same accumulated personal effects, but, to paraphrase George Carlin (who used a different word than “crap”), other people’s stuff is “crap,” and your crap is “stuff.” You’re unlikely to specify “stuff, not crap” on your style sheet, but the underlying principle is the same: word choice conveys attitude. It's why some businesses prefer “guests” to “clients,” while others make the opposite choice.
It also extends to your attitude towards people and things beyond the immediate subject. We know well enough that derogatory labels convey disrespect, not just for the person they’re aimed at but for the group of people being referred to. They also show complete disregard for social norms. The words you choose can have more subtle implications for people other than the specific person you’re referring to.
Using “craftsman” implies that it is a role for a man; specifying “artisan not craftsman” in your style sheet won’t necessarily convey to readers that you are egalitarian, but it certainly won’t convey that you’re not. Likewise, using “crazy” or “psycho” to describe erratic or difficult behavior can reinforce negative attitudes toward people with mental health conditions. Using alternatives such as “wild” or “ridiculous” conveys the same meaning without referring to a particular group of people.
You can also convey awareness, sensitivity, and respect, for example by adhering scrupulously to name preferences; using “Inuit” rather than “Eskimo,” for instance, and “Mumbai” rather than “Bombay,” or including the macron in “Māori” and using the proper ‘okina (which looks like an opening single quote) rather than an apostrophe in “Hawai‘i.”
What other things might it bring to mind?
As we already saw with “butt” versus “booty,” words can also bring other things to mind beyond tone, attitude, and level of use.
Some of it has to do with collocations (sets of words regularly used together) not just “butt dial” versus “booty call” but also “big boys don’t cry” but not “large boys don’t cry,” and how “a charming little place” is not exactly the same as “a charming small place.”
But some of it also has to do with different words that the word you’re using just sounds like. It’s why “asinine” can make some people think of, uh, booty, and why “outrage,” though it comes from “outré”, a word referring to something outside of regular norms, always seems to focus on the “rage” even though it’s accidental. And it’s why many people will avoid using words that sound too much like derogatory labels, even if they’re unrelated; why bring that to mind, even incidentally?
Some of it also has to do with what people expect of words of a general size and shape. This is one reason “medication” seems more technical than “medicine”: it’s longer, and it has that -ation suffix. In English, most of our old frank plain words are fairly short, whereas our higher-class, more intellectually oriented words tend to come from the great modular kit of Latin and Greek.
As soon as someone uses “utilize” instead of “use” you see it in action.
What do the lawyers say?
Just as a curator can’t exhibit artwork without the necessary rights and permissions, your texts have to keep an eye on the law too.
Sometimes that means making sure you don’t use words other people own the rights to as if they’re yours. You can’t, for example, use “Olympic” in branding without permission, or quote a few lines from a song in your ad without paying (probably quite a bit) for the right to do so.
But it can also mean protecting your own intellectual property and that of your clients. If a brand name is a registered trademark, and your company or client owns the trademark, there is a legal obligation to defend it by putting the symbol ® on it. And brand names have to be used as adjectives: “Zamboni® ice resurfacer” and “Jacuzzi® hot tub.” If they start getting used as nouns, they risk passing into common use.
Putting on the show
Does this seem like a lot to think of and keep track of? It is.
You’ll never remember it all, and you won’t always be able to think of all this on the spot. That’s why it’s best to make these decisions thoughtfully, at the earliest point possible, and to create and maintain a detailed, well organized, well explained style sheet.
But creating a style sheet is only part of the job. Once a gallery curator has acquired the artwork, it still needs to be displayed: hung in the right place at the right height, lit effectively, and presented so visitors can fully appreciate it. In the same way, once you’ve curated your style sheet, you still have to make sure it is applied, with due care and attention, not just with change-alls. And the work doesn't stop there. Every project brings new text, new situations, and new judgment calls. A style sheet is a living resource. It needs to be updated, refined, and expanded as new decisions arise. Keeping it useful is an ongoing editorial skill.
Curate once. Use again and again.
A great curator doesn't start from scratch every time a new exhibition arrives. They build on the knowledge, expertise, and decisions they've accumulated over time.
The same is true of style sheets. Every editorial decision you make can become part of a resource you return to, refine, and rely on. Over time, that resource becomes one of your most valuable editorial assets.
Styleworks gives you a dedicated place to build, organize, and maintain your style sheets, so your editorial knowledge doesn't live in scattered documents, forgotten folders, or hastily scribbled notes. Whether you're creating a house style, managing multiple client preferences, or developing your own editorial approach, Styleworks helps you keep your decisions clear, consistent, and easy to apply.
Download Styleworks today and start building style sheets you’ll use for years to come.