Terminology, spelling and naming

Source: Patterson Companies Copy Style Guide, 04/2022 [COPY22] unless noted.

1. Spelling list

appendixes (not appendices)   cancellation           cloud (not Cloud)
codebook                      COVID                  do's and don'ts
email (no hyphen)             e-commerce             e-newsletter
everyday (adj.)               every day (adv.)       fundraising / fundraiser
gray (not grey)               internet (lowercase)   kickoff (n.)
kick-off (adj.)               kick off (v.)          log in / log off (v.)
login / logon (n.)            Mac (not MAC)          online
on-site (not onsite)          set up (v.)            setup (n.)
back up (v.)                  backup (n.)            smartphone
cell phone                    T-shirt                trade show (two words)
voicemail                     web address            webpage
website                       X-ray

Hyphenation patterns:

Pattern	Rule	Examples
`-wide`	No hyphen	`companywide`, `nationwide`
`-up` nouns	No hyphen	`startup`, `buildup`, `cleanup`
`co-`	Hyphenated for people, closed otherwise	`co-owner`, `co-worker`; `copay`, `coexist`
`mini-` / `multi-`	No hyphen	—
`self-`	Hyphenated	—
`bi-` / `semi-`	Unhyphenated	`biannual`, `biennial`, `semiannual`, `biweekly`, `semiweekly`
`toward`	US form, no s	—

2. Commonly confused

Word	Meaning
assure	give confidence to a person
ensure	guarantee an outcome
insure	cover with insurance
Diplomate	a board-certified veterinary specialist
Diplomat	a country’s representative
annual	an event is not annual until its second year — use inaugural, never first annual

3. Trademarks and product names

Initial cap only, or all caps if the name is initials: Ikea, AT&T.
Medial capitals are permitted (NaVetor, iPod) but do not recreate a graphic treatment: write Prana, not prAna.

Exact spellings

Correct	Wrong
A-dec	Adec
Bloodborne Pathogens Standard	Bloodborne Pathogen Standards
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	Center for Disease Control…
DesignEdge	Designedge, Design EDGE
ePET	ePetHealth
HIPAA	HIPPA
Lucite (trademark; use acrylic if it is not Lucite)	lucite
NewTom	Newtom
Radmedix	RadmediX
SheerVision	Sheer Vision
TechEdge	Tech Edge
Turnkey	TurnKey
Twitter (capitalized) / tweet (lowercase)	—
Vet2Pet → say practice-branded app on first mention	vet2pet, V2P
VetOvation	vetOvation
Vetsource → say prescription delivery	home delivery
VetSuccess → say effortless data analysis on first mention	Vet Success, Vetsuccess
401(k), 501(c)(3)	—

4. Company and business-unit naming

No Inc. or Co. in content [BG25 p.10].
Patterson Animal Health — internal use only. Customer-facing: Patterson Veterinary or Animal Health International.
Patterson Veterinary on first reference; Patterson Vet acceptable afterwards in marketing content, but never in legal copy.
National Veterinary Services Group spelled out on first reference, NVS afterwards.
Also correct: Inside/Patterson, Patterson Shop.
Legal entity: Patterson Companies, Inc. Address on all style-guide letterheads: 1031 Mendota Heights Road, Saint Paul, MN 55120.

5. Job titles by business unit

Unit	Title
Dental	territory representatives
Veterinary	territory managers
Animal Health	outside sales representatives (OSRs) and inside sales representatives (ISRs)

Other required titles:

Correct	Not
General manager (Dental branches)	branch manager
Branch procurement specialist	equipment administrator
TechEdge coordinator	service coordinator
Regional president	region president
Fulfillment center (Patterson locations)	distribution center

6. Veterinary industry terminology

Use	Not
patient	pet, animal
exam room	operatory
clinic or hospital	office, business

7. Words to avoid `[BG25 p.10]`

Avoid meaningless intensifiers: great, special, really, very. Find the right word instead of reaching for an adverb. Remove unnecessary prepositional phrases, “ands” and “thats”. Avoid internal jargon — write in the words customers use [BG25 p.11].

Source of truth: plugins/patterson-brand/skills/copy-style-guide/references/terminology.md in the patterson-corp repository.