each other, one another. Two people look at each other. Three or more people look at one another. Either phrase may be used when the number is indefinite: We help each other. We help one another. Add 's to make these plural terms possessive: each other's guitars, one another's hands.

Eastern Washington.

Eastside. Capitalize when referring to the area that includes Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond and other King County communities east of Lake Washington. See capitalization, directions and regions.

e-business, e-commerce. See e- and email.

ecology, Ecology. The study of the relationship between organisms and their surroundings. Not synonymous with environment, which refers to our surroundings. Also, the abbreviation after first reference for state Department of Ecology is Ecology. Don't use DOE.

ecosystem . Lowercase, one word. It means the system in which a biological community exists.

ecstasy . Commonly misspelled.

editor . Capitalize before a name only when it is an official corporate or organizational name. Do not capitalize as a job description, when standing alone or after a name between commas. See titles.

effect. See affect, effect.

effect many changes . Consider replacing with less wordy change. See affect, effect.

effectuate . Overstated and formal. Simplify. Try carry out or try.

e.g., i.e. Often confused. The first is the abbreviation for exempli gratia, a Latin phrase meaning "for example." The second is the abbreviation for id est, a Latin phrase meaning "that is." It introduces a clarification of the words that precede it. Unless the material is scientific or academic, use the simpler English words. Commas or semicolons usually precede both, and commas usually follow both. Phrases containing these abbreviations may be contained in parentheses.

either, neither. Either means one or the other, not both: Either color will do. When used as the subject of a sentence, both words take singular verbs: Neither of the candidates was found guilty. When used as adjectives, the nouns they modify always take a singular verb: Either answer is correct. See each.

either ... or, neither ... nor. The nouns that follow these words do not make a compound subject. They are alternative subjects and require a verb that agrees with the nearer subject: Neither they nor he is going. Neither he nor they are going. See both ... and.

elderly . Use this word carefully and sparingly. It is appropriate in generic phrases that do not refer to specific people: concern for elderly people, service for the elderly. Try phrases like people in their 70s and older instead. Apply the same principles to terms such as senior citizen.

Election Day . Capitalize for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

elections director. See capitalization: independently elected officials.

eliminate . Consider replacing with simpler cut, drop or end.

ellipsi . ( ... ). Avoid. An ellipsis is usually used to show the deletion of one or more words in condensing quotations, texts and documents. It also shows hesitation or trailing off in a quotation: "I wonder what I will say after we ..."

Treat an ellipsis as a three-letter word, with three periods and a space on each end. Some software can create an ellipsis that can replace three separate periods.

email . A shortened version of electronic mail, previously hyphenated as e-mail. OK to use email (lowercase) in all references, including first. Capitalize as Email only to begin sentences, headings and headlines. However, for words like e-business and e-commerce, continue to use the hyphen. See initial-based terms.

Acceptable to use as a verb: He emailed her about the project. And used alone as a noun, email refers to email in bulk. It takes singular verbs and singular pronouns: He got so much email it overloaded his inbox. All her email was about the construction project.

When writing about email messages, it's now OK to refer to an email or to several emails: She wrote an email telling friends about her new email address. He read six emails about the project.

Write out email addresses in all lowercase, following Web convention: theodore.roosevelt@whitehouse.gov. Email addresses are not case-sensitive. Avoid using the @ sign in other ways. See Internet, intranet, offline, online, World Wide Web.

Also see King County Guidelines for Using King County Email (internal link).

embarrass . Commonly misspelled.

embayment . Jargon. Simplify. Use bay instead.

employ . Overstated and formal if you mean "use." Simplify. Try use instead.

employee . Not employe.

enable. See allow, enable, permit.

enact. See adopt, approve, enact, pass.

endeavor (v.). Overstated. Simplify. Replace with try or carry out.

endnotes. See bibliographies and notes; composition titles; footnotes, endnotes.

English as a second language. Abbreviate as ESL (after spelling it out first). See limited English proficiency.

en route . Always two words.

enquiry, inquiry. See inquiry, enquiry.

ensure, insur . Commonly confused, though ensure is usually the correct choice. Use ensure to mean guarantee or make certain of something, or try using simpler be sure or make sure. Use insure for references to insurance. See assure.

entitled . Means "a right to do or have something." Do not use it to mean titled: "The famous Thornton Wilder play is titled Our Town." Note the lack of a comma between titled and the title.

enumerate . Consider replacing with simpler list, count or name.

environment. See ecology.

environmental impact statement . Spell out on first reference. Capitalize only when used as part of a proper title: The Brown Street Tunnel Project Environmental Impact Statement. EIS (all caps, no periods) is acceptable on second reference. Avoid overuse of the abbreviation by substituting impact statement. As with other abbreviations, don't identify the abbreviation when first spelling out the term if the abbreviation won't be repeated in your document.

Always spell out draft, final or supplemental when used with the document name or abbreviation: The project team printed the draft EIS last month. The supplemental impact statement is ready for printing. Not: The project team printed the DEIS. The SEIS is ready.

Environmental Protection Agency . Spell out on first reference: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA (all caps, no periods) is acceptable on second reference.

environmental reports . Some exceptions to editorial style rules in this manual might be appropriate for some established standards and practices of environmental reports. See exceptions.

E-purse. Capitalize only the E and hyphenate. Short for electronic purse. Short version always acceptable in references to how money is stored on an ORCA card.

equal employment opportunities . King County provides equal employment opportunities. Avoid abbreviating except in second references to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission: EEOC.

-er, -est. See more, most.

Eskimo, Eskimos. See American Indian, Eskimo.

espresso . Most Seattle/King County residents probably know that a double-tall nonfat latté contains espresso, not expresso (even when served to commuters at a park-and-ride lot).

estimated. See about.

et al. Abbreviation for et alibi or et alii, meaning "and elsewhere" or "and others." Avoid using this abbreviation. Be specific, if possible. It may be used in technical reports as a reference citation: Light rail uses 34 BTUs of energy (Healy, et al., 1984).

etc. Abbreviation for et cetera, a Latin phrase meaning "and others," "and so on," "and the rest." It's usually used for things, not people; the Latin et al. is the correct abbreviation for referring to people. But avoid using the abbreviations; use the simpler English words instead.

Also, don't use etc. if introducing a list with for example or such as. If using etc., set it off with commas at both ends.

ethnic. See race.

euphemisms . Avoid unnecessary euphemisms. People die, not pass away. Call things by their most common names.

everyday (adj.), every day (adv.). Use every day (two words) to mean "all days": She goes to work every day. Use everyday (one word) to mean "commonplace, ordinary": He wears everyday clothes.

everyone, every one, everybody. Everyone and everybody are interchangeable, though everyone is used more often. Use every one to refer to each individual item: Every one of the clues was worthless. Use everyone (or everybody) as a pronoun meaning all people: Everyone supported the proposal. Everyone takes singular verbs and pronouns.

evident . Consider replacing evident with simpler clear. See clearly evident.

ex- . Don't hyphenate words that use ex- to mean out of: excommunicate. Hyphenate when using ex- to mean former: ex-director. See prefixes.

exaggerate .

Exchange Building .

except. See accept, except.

except for . Wordy. Consider dropping for, depending on the context.

exceptions . This style manual notes exceptions or variations for some editorial style rules that may arise in correspondence and a few other uses. Style exceptions might be appropriate for limited space in charts, tables, maps and signs, and for established standards and practices in marketing and advertising copy, technical publications, environmental documents and legal documents.

Style exceptions should be applied consistently in all related documents, and style within a document must be consistent. Of course, clarity to readers and correct grammar are always high priority in all King County documents.

See motion, ordinance for guidance on editorial style for legislation of the King County Council. For all other King County documents, follow the editorial style of county motions and ordinances only when quoting them directly. Likewise, follow the editorial style used in other government acts, amendments, bills, charters, codes, constitutions, laws, resolutions and statutes only when quoting them directly.

except when . Wordy. Simplify. Try unless.

exclamation point (!). Use sparingly and only to express a high degree of surprise, incredulity or other strong emotion. The exclamation point goes within the quotation marks when it applies to the quoted matter only. Use only one space after an exclamation point at the end of a sentence.

executive. See King County Executive.

excessive number of . Wordy. Simplify. Replace with too many.

exit numbers . Capitalize them when referring to freeway exits: Exit 6, Exit 52.

expect. See anticipate, expect.

expedite . Overstated and commonly misspelled. Simplify. Replace with hasten or speed up.

express. See route number.

expresso. See espresso.

extension. See telephone numbers.

Back to Top