Grammar and Style Guide for Publications of the University of Oregon Grammar and Style Guide for Publications of the University of Oregon Using the Dictionary Use the most recent American Heritage Electronic Dictionary for spelling, denotation, connotation, and word division. If a word isn't listed there, go to Webster's Third New International Dictionary . If it isn't there either, don't use it.
Spelling Use the first spelling listed except in official titles or proper names.
If a compound noun isn't listed as one word, use two. Accents or hyphens are sometimes essential for spelling or pronouncing a word correctly. See also Diacritical Marks under Punctuation . Although spell-checking programs can help you locate errors in electronic manuscripts, you can't rely on them totally as a substitute for your eyes and brain. Many spell checkers can't, for example, choose preferred spellings, verify the spelling of proper nouns, recognize technical terms, pick out contextual errors such as dreadlocks for deadlocks , or distinguish among homonyms such as their, there , and they're .