If you have been holding back on using the word email, without a hyphen, in your business writing, waiting for a style manual to firmly support your choice, The Associated Press (AP) has finally acted.
On March 18, AP announced the change in style from e-mail to email. The change will appear in the next edition of The AP Stylebook, but AP is using email already in its news stories. For example, see the story "Email to Wis. gov. initially favored union rights," in which email appears as a noun (email and emails) and as a verb.
I have been using the unhyphenated version for years, and I am delighted that a style manual has finally come out unequivocally in its favor.
If you like to compare the views of experts, here is the latest word from respected resources:
Gregg Reference Manual, 11th Edition (2011), does not offer a firm opinion. It states, "The original form. . . E-mail–is now primarily spelled as e-mail but is increasingly appearing as email."
Garner's Modern American Usage, 3rd Edition (2009), surveys current usage but appears to prefer e-mail: "The unhyphenated email is unsightly, but it might prevail in the end. In print sources, e-mail is five times as common as email. Ultimately, the hyphen may well disappear."
The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition (2010), unfortunately lists only e-mail, as does Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2009).
The American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th Edition (2010), offers three variants, all equally acceptable in its editors' eyes: e-mail, email, and E-mail.
If you have been waiting to change your business writing style to email, this is your moment! Just go through all your documents and globally replace e-mail with email. Then set your software to automatically correct any future uses of the hyphenated version. When your editor or supervisor questions the change, just cite the Associated Press.
Are you emailing yet?
Lynn
Syntax Training
