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Style
Select a letter of the alphabet to search for a specific topic.
L
land-grant—Hyphenate when used as an adjective. The University of Missouri became a land-grant institution in 1870.
Latino—One term for those whose ethnic origin is a Latin American country. Some prefer Hispanic, so use as appropriate. Be more specific and name a country if possible.
Legion of Black Collegians (LBC)—A student government organization on campus.
legislator—A member of the legislature.
legislature—Do not use as first reference for the Missouri General Assembly. Lowercase legislature in all uses when referring to Missouri’s governing body.
library—In first reference, capitalize the formal name of the campus’s library: either Elmer Ellis Library or Ellis Library. Second reference: Ellis or library. When referring to all branches collectively: MU Libraries.
- Do not capitalize branch units except for proper names: engineering library, geological sciences library, health sciences library (or J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library), journalism library, math sciences library, veterinary medicine library.
- Note: In referring to how many volumes the libraries have (more than 3 million books and 6 million microforms), the figures include Ellis Library and all branches.
lifelong
Life Sciences Center—See Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.
lifestyle
lifetime
Lincoln University—The state’s other land-grant university, established in 1890 in Jefferson City. Second reference: Lincoln or university (lowercase).
lists—For bulleted or numbered lists introduced by a complete sentence, use a colon after the introduction, capitalize the first letter of each item and do not use punctuation after each item. Example (follow the same format with numbers):
- Such a list should include the following:
- A colon after the introduction
- Uppercase letters to begin each item
- No terminal punctuation
- For lists that complete a sentence begun with the introduction, use a colon after the introduction and capitalize the first letter of each item. Use semicolons to separate items and a period after the last item, or use commas to separate items, the word and (or another conjunction) after the next to last item and a period after the last item. Examples (follow the same format with numbers):
- Such a list should:
- Use a colon after the introduction;
- Use uppercase letters to begin each item;
- Use semicolons to separate items;
- End with a period.
- An alternative to that form would:
- Use a colon after the introduction,
- Use uppercase letters to begin each item,
- Use commas to separate items and the word and after the next to last item, and
- End with a period.
login, logon, logoff (noun or adjective)—The time of the login was 7 p.m. Her login password is Mizzou.
log in, log on, log off (verb)—She plans to log in to check her e-mail.
long term (noun)—The plan worked in the long term.
long-term (adjective)—The long-term plan worked.
long time (noun)—The two were friends for a long time.
longtime (adjective)—The two were longtime friends.
M
maiden names—When necessary to include a maiden name, use no punctuation: Jane Smith Doe.
Maneater, The— MU’s student newspaper.
Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field—Field Home of the MU football team. The structure is Memorial Stadium. The playing field is named for former coach Don Faurot.
mid-America, mid-Atlantic, mid-Missouri, Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center, midsemester, midterm
mid-30s—Ages
mid-'30s—Years. Make sure the apostrophe faces the correct way (like a closing single quote).
midnight— Not 12 midnight
Midwest, Midwestern
Missouri General Assembly—Use on first reference for the state’s legislative body. On second reference use General Assembly, assembly or legislature.
Missouri Students Association (MSA)—Governing body for students at MU.
- Note the plural students.
Missouri University— Never use in any publication as a synonym for the University of Missouri in Columbia or the University of Missouri System. MU is the correct second reference for the University of Missouri, but it is not an acronym.
mix (verb)—Mix the batter.
mixture (noun)—Write The department has a mixture of students, not The department has a mix of students.
MIZZOU—The alumni magazine published quarterly by the Mizzou Alumni Association. Advertising, editorial, design and photography offices are in 407 Reynolds Alumni Center. The magazine’s official name, beginning with the fall 1995 issue, is MIZZOU (all uppercase, no italics). Do not use Missouri Alumnus unless referring to issues before fall 1995.
- First reference: MIZZOU magazine. Other references: MIZZOU or magazine
Mizzou—See University identification.
Mizzou Arena—The arena for basketball and other events opened in 2004 south of Memorial Stadium.
modifiers—Avoid vague, overused, all-purpose modifiers such as a lot, kind of, sort of, very, really, quite, somewhat, both, new, rather and wide.
mom—Uppercase only when the noun substitutes for a name: Hi, Mom but her mom. Use this approach for other family names, too.
months—When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.
- Spell out when using alone, or with a year alone.
- When a phrase lists only a month and a year, do not separate year with a comma or commas.
- When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with a comma.
- Examples: Professor Doe came to MU in January 1992. Professor Doe’s anniversary date is Sept. 2. Professor Doe, who has been at MU since March 10, 1993, was appointed dean on Feb. 6, 1996.
more, most important—Not importantly.
MU—see University identification.
multi—Rules in prefixes apply, but in general, no hyphen: multicultural, multipurpose.
MURR— Identifier for the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center.
- First reference: University of Missouri Research Reactor Center. Second reference: reactor, MURR or the center. Use the acronym in parentheses with first reference if you plan to use it in later references. The reactor is part of MU.
- See Research Reactor Center.
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