Style Guidance
Our Style Guidance contains detailed definitions, related terms, and additional resources for hundreds of terms spanning seven main categories. Search for a term or browse the full list below.
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Guide Notes
This resource was informed by questions and discussions from our own newsrooms. It is a living document that will update and expand over time. It is not meant to be comprehensive or the definitive arbiter of language “rules” but instead aims to give context and inform thoughtful decision-making.
Have a suggestion for an update, change, or addition? Please get in touch.
A
- AAVE
- ableism / ableist language
- abortion
- accessibility
- addiction
- adverse childhood experiences
- affirmative action
- African American
- ally
- alternatives to detention (ATD)
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- anorexia
- anti-Black / anti-Blackness
- antiracism / antiracist
- anxiety
- applied behavior analysis (ABA)
- aromantic
- asexual
- Asian, Asian American, AAPI
- Asperger’s syndrome
- assimilation
- assistive technology
- asylum seeker
- at-risk youth
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- autism
B
C
- cancer
- cannabis / marijuana
- caste / casteism
- child sexual abuse material
- childless / child-free
- chronic illness
- chronic pain
- citizen
- civil union
- class / social class
- climate grief
- climate justice
- code-switching
- coded language
- collective trauma
- colonization
- colorism
- coming out
- complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
- congenital disorders
- consent
- content, advisory, and trigger warnings
- conversion
- crisis pregnancy center
- critical race theory
- cult
- cultural appropriation, religious appropriation
- cultural fluency
- cultural humility
- cultural relevance
- culture war
- cure (disabilities and illnesses)
- cure (mental health)
D
- "don't ask, don't tell"
- DACA recipient
- DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents)
- deadname
- deaf / Deaf / hard of hearing
- deaths of despair
- decolonize / decolonization
- deconstruction
- Defense of Marriage Act
- DEI strategy, DEI lens
- dementia
- dependence
- depression
- detention center
- developed / developing countries (First World / Third World countries, Global North, Global South)
- diaspora
- discrimination
- displaced / internally displaced person (IDP)
- diversity
- diversity immigrant visa / green card lottery
- domestic violence
- dominant culture
- Down syndrome
- DREAM Act / DREAMer
- dropout
- dwarfism / short stature
E
F
G
H
I
- illness anxiety disorder
- immigrant
- immigration courts
- implicit bias
- incarcerated person
- inclusion / inclusivity
- income / wealth
- Indigenous
- Indigenous religions
- inner city
- insanity defense
- intellectual and developmental disabilities
- interfaith
- intersectionality
- intimate partner violence
- invasion
- invisible disability
- irregular migration
K
Currently there is no content in this section.
M
- manufactured home / modular home / mobile home
- marriage equality
- masculinity
- Me Too / #MeToo
- medical child abuse
- medical gaslighting
- medical racism
- mental health disorder
- mental illness
- microaggression
- migrant
- migrant worker
- minority / minorities
- misogyny
- mpox
- multicultural marketing
- multiracial / mixed-race
- “model minority” myth
N
O
P
- Pacific Islander
- pagan, New Age
- palliative care
- pandering
- parolee
- passing
- patient
- people of color (POC) / BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color)
- perpetrator
- person-first language
- physical difference/disfigurement
- physician-assisted death
- police brutality / police excessive force
- poor / low-income
- poverty
- prejudice
- prescription medications
- privilege
- pronouns
- psychedelics
- psychiatric medications
- psychotherapy
- PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
- public housing
- “post-racial”
Q
R
- race / racial groups
- racial colorblindness
- racial profiling
- racism
- rape
- rape culture
- recovery
- recurrence
- refugee
- relapse
- religion vs. spirituality
- religious extremism
- religious fundamentalism
- religious right, Christian right, evangelical right
- religiously unaffiliated / religious "none"
- remission
- reparations
- reservation
- restorative justice
- rich / high-income
- rural
- “reverse racism”
S
- school-to-prison pipeline
- self-harm
- separation of church and state, religious freedom/religious liberty
- service work
- sex assigned at birth (SAAB)
- sex positive
- sex work / sex worker
- sexual abuse
- sexual assault
- sexual assault forensic exam
- sexual harassment
- sexual misconduct
- sexual orientation
- sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), gender identity change efforts (GICE)
- sexually transmitted infection
- skilled labor
- slur
- SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
- social determinants of health
- social-emotional learning (SEL)
- socioeconomic status
- stateless
- stereotype
- substance use
- substance use disorder (SUD)
- suburbs / suburban
- suicide
- support animals / service animals / guide dogs
- survivor (illnesses)
- survivor (mental health and trauma)
- systemic oppression / systemic racism
- “self-made”
T
U
W
Y
Z
Currently there is no content in this section.
Borders and Populations
- climate grief
- adverse childhood experiences
- alternatives to detention (ATD)
- colonization
- citizen
- Indigenous
- Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
- human smuggling
- DREAM Act / DREAMer
- irregular migration
- DACA recipient
- migrant worker
- DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents)
- nationalism
- detention center
- naturalization
- developed / developing countries (First World / Third World countries, Global North, Global South)
- undocumented immigrant / unauthorized immigrant / non-status immigrant
- diaspora
- nonimmigrant visa
- displaced / internally displaced person (IDP)
- parolee
- diversity immigrant visa / green card lottery
- refugee
- expulsion / deportation
- stateless
- family separation
- unaccompanied migrant children (UMC)
- family-based immigration / family reunification
- xenophobia
- green card / lawful permanent residence (LPR)
- immigrant
- federally recognized Tribe
- social determinants of health
- immigration courts
- hate crime
- invasion
- assimilation
- migrant
- asylum seeker
- human trafficking
Class and Social Standing
- culture war
- physical difference/disfigurement
- caste / casteism
- social-emotional learning (SEL)
- climate grief
- fatphobia
- obesity
- "woke"
- dropout
- white working class
- at-risk youth
- sex work / sex worker
- incarcerated person
- ghetto
- social determinants of health
- inner city
- service work
- school-to-prison pipeline
- living wage / minimum wage
- skilled labor
- low-skilled labor
- SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
- blue-collar / pink-collar
- manufactured home / modular home / mobile home
- socioeconomic status
- class / social class
- neighborhood
- suburbs / suburban
- deaths of despair
- NIMBY
- TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
- nomad / van life / vandwelling
- transitional housing
- fat / plus-size
- old money / new money
- urban
- financial abuse
- older adults
- vocational
- food desert / food oasis
- opportunity gap
- welfare
- generations
- poor / low-income
- gig economy
- poverty
- white-collar
- haves / have-nots
- public housing
- working class
- homelessness / houselessness
- rich / high-income
- YIMBY
- housing security / insecurity
- rural
- income / wealth
- “self-made”
Disabilities, Neurodiversity, and Chronic Illness
- opioids, opioid epidemic
- physical difference/disfigurement
- medical gaslighting
- Down syndrome
- dwarfism / short stature
- medical racism
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Asperger’s syndrome
- prescription medications
- neurodiversity
- applied behavior analysis (ABA)
- sexually transmitted infection
- ableism / ableist language
- palliative care
- accessibility
- patient
- autism
- Alzheimer’s disease
- person-first language
- bipolar disorder
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- physician-assisted death
- neurodivergent
- assistive technology
- blind / low vision
- hate crime
- cancer
- social determinants of health
- slur
- chronic illness
- support animals / service animals / guide dogs
- chronic pain
- survivor (illnesses)
- congenital disorders
- temporary disabilities
- cure (disabilities and illnesses)
- traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- deaf / Deaf / hard of hearing
- universal design
- dementia
- victim / sufferer (disabilities and illnesses)
- HIV and AIDS
- women and medicine
- intellectual and developmental disabilities
- invisible disability
Gender and Sexuality
- culture war
- medical gaslighting
- childless / child-free
- asexual
- aromantic
- bisexual
- "woke"
- mpox
- sex assigned at birth (SAAB)
- fluid / fluidity
- heteronormativity
- gendered language
- passing
- misogyny
- rape culture
- abortion
- sex positive
- womanism
- sex work / sex worker
- queer
- crisis pregnancy center
- deadname
- feminism / feminist
- LGBTQ / LGBTQIA / LGBTQ+
- gender
- LGBTQ+ “panic” defense
- gender-based violence
- marriage equality
- masculinity
- sexual orientation
- sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), gender identity change efforts (GICE)
- pronouns
- hate crime
- slur
- boys / girls / child / children
- transition / transitioning
- social determinants of health
- civil union
- women and medicine
- coming out
- Me Too / #MeToo
- Defense of Marriage Act
- "don't ask, don't tell"
Marketing and Advertising
Mental Health, Trauma, and Substance Use
- opioids, opioid epidemic
- medical child abuse
- social-emotional learning (SEL)
- body dysmorphia / body dysmorphic disorder
- climate grief
- adverse childhood experiences
- psychedelics
- cannabis / marijuana
- rape culture
- child sexual abuse material
- neurodiversity
- applied behavior analysis (ABA)
- psychotherapy
- mental illness
- psychiatric medications
- content, advisory, and trigger warnings
- substance use disorder (SUD)
- cure (mental health)
- obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- suicide
- dependence
- perpetrator
- survivor (mental health and trauma)
- depression
- PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
- trigger
- Me Too / #MeToo
- domestic violence
- rape
- victim (mental health and trauma)
- addiction
- fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs)
- recovery
- withdrawal
- anorexia
- functioning
- recurrence
- anxiety
- gaslighting
- relapse
- harassment
- remission
- binge-eating disorder
- holistic medicine
- self-harm
- bipolar disorder
- illness anxiety disorder
- sexual abuse
- bullying
- insanity defense
- sexual assault
- intimate partner violence
- sexual assault forensic exam
- collective trauma
- mental health disorder
- sexual harassment
- complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
- neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)
- sexual misconduct
- consent
- neurodivergent
- substance use
Race and Ethnicity
- "great replacement" theory
- culture war
- AAVE
- caste / casteism
- multiracial / mixed-race
- medical gaslighting
- fatphobia
- "woke"
- mpox
- Black Lives Matter
- Asian, Asian American, AAPI
- Hispanic, Latino/a, Latine, Latinx
- medical racism
- Pacific Islander
- Indigenous
- African American
- critical race theory
- people of color (POC) / BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color)
- white / White
- cultural appropriation, religious appropriation
- police brutality / police excessive force
- white supremacy / white supremacy culture
- decolonize / decolonization
- “post-racial”
- discrimination
- prejudice
- diversity
- privilege
- social determinants of health
- enslaved / formerly enslaved people
- race / racial groups
- ethnicity
- racial profiling
- affirmative action
- federally recognized Tribe
- slur
- anti-Black / anti-Blackness
- hate crime
- racism
- antiracism / antiracist
- reparations
- Black / black
- implicit bias
- reservation
- inclusion / inclusivity
- restorative justice
- brown / Brown
- intersectionality
- “reverse racism”
- coded language
- microaggression
- school-to-prison pipeline
- racial colorblindness
- minority / minorities
- stereotype
- colorism
- “model minority” myth
- systemic oppression / systemic racism
Religion and Spirituality
- culture war
- evangelical Christian
- Judeo-Christian
- deconstruction
- Vodou
- religious right, Christian right, evangelical right
- religiously unaffiliated / religious "none"
- interfaith
- cult
- Indigenous religions
- conversion
- pagan, New Age
- religious extremism
- religious fundamentalism
- separation of church and state, religious freedom/religious liberty
- religion vs. spirituality
- cultural appropriation, religious appropriation