Style, C-D-E

can, could — Can means am, is, or are able; it expresses ability and power. Could indicates possibility. (See may, might.)

capitalization — See guidelines below; also see the section Titles and Capitalization.

Capitalize brand or trade names and animal breeds: Roundup Ready, Hereford.

Do not capitalize common names of plants, animals, insects, or diseases unless they are proper names, Russian wheat aphid.

Capitalize names of recognized geographical regions but not references to local areas. Great Plains, Midwest but western Kansas.

Capitalize proper names of departments and organizations but not shortened versions. Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, but agronomy, university.

When referring to multiple units (counties or departments), don’t capitalize the plural. Clay County and Riley County, used separately, but Clay and Riley counties, as a plural.

chain saw — Two words.

child care — Two words when used as a noun; no hyphen in all instances. She is looking for affordable child care. My new child care provider lives nearby.

choose, chose — Choose means to select. Choose wisely. Chose is the past tense of choose. You chose unwisely.

community supported agriculture (CSA) — do not hyphenate.

compare with, compare to — Compare with means to examine similarities and differences. The corn-based diet was compared with the soybean-based diet. Compare to means to focus on similarities. The 4-H volunteer compared the excited campers to a herd of cats; it was impossible to keep the group together.

compose — to create or put together. "Kansas is composed of 105 counties."

comprise — to contain, include, or embrace. "Kansas comprises 105 counties."

Cooperative Extension Service — The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 authorized federal support for the Cooperative Extension Service, which is the national, noncredit educational network of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Each state shares research-based information through land-grant universities, which in turn provide that information through local offices of the Cooperative Extension Service. Kansas State University is the land-grant university in Kansas.

coproduct — Do not hyphenate.

co-author — Hyphenate.

co-worker — Hyphenate.

cultivar names —Punctuation of cultivar names does not place a comma between the name of the cultivar and the apostrophe to the right of the name. This conforms to common horticultural usage and Chicago Style. Examples: Certain cultivars of ornamental pepper, Capsicum annuum, including ‘Black Pearl’ or ‘Purple Flash’, are recommended for use as banker plants. Excellent garden varieties include Ceanothus ‘dark star’, ‘Yankee Point’, and ‘Joyce Coulter’.

dates — Spell out months written alone or with a year. January 2010. (Note: No comma when using month and year only.) Abbreviate months with more than five letters when used with the day and year. Jan. 1, 2010. Months may be abbreviated in tables to save space.

Correct abbreviations for use in tables: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.

Dates may be written as Jan. 1, 2010, or 1 Jan. 2010, depending on the publication and intended audience. Because many K-State Research and Extension publications are distributed to a varied audience, we recommend the month, day, year format.

Write dates of decades without an apostrophe before the “s.” The decade is written 1990s, but use an apostrophe to designate missing numerals. Class of ’07; the ’80s.

diabetes — Two main forms: type 1 diabetes (formerly called juvenile diabetes) and type 2 diabetes (the most common kind; also called adult onset diabetes). (This exception to AP style follows the preferred form used by health and nutrition professionals.)

disability — Use people-first language to focus on the person, not the disability. He is an adult with a disability. She has a seizure disorder. Her son has a learning disability. My brother uses a wheelchair. My mother has a hearing impairment. But when possible, ask a person what they prefer and follow that preference.

disc, disk — Generally, CDs and DVDs are discs; other storage media are disks (hard disk, disk drive).

disinterested, uninterested — These words are not interchangeable. Disinterested means impartial. The mediator served as a disinterested observer of the proceedings. Uninterested means not interested. She is uninterested in the fortunes of the football team.

do’s and don’ts — AP style uses an apostrophe in the plural word do’s, which is an exception to general rules for using apostrophes.

dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) — A coproduct of the ethanol production process. Note word order and lack of apostrophe.

Economic Prosperity Plan — (https://www.k-state.edu/research/economic-prosperity/). The proposed plan focuses on four areas of emphasis: Food and Agriculture Systems Innovation, Digital Agriculture and Advanced Analytics, Biosecurity and Biodefense, and K-State 105.

email — Short for electronic mail. No hyphen.

Escherichia coli O157:H7; E. coli O157:H7 — Use O not zero. Because the term is common, some scientists use E. coli O157 without the :H7.

every day, everyday — Every day (two words) refers to something that occurs daily. The convenience store is open every day. Everyday (one word) means common or routine. It’s an everyday occurrence.

eXtension — Online site of the Cooperative Extension Service; note “e” is lowercase, “X” is capitalized. Avoid starting a sentence with this word.

extension — Abbreviated reference to the Cooperative Extension Service. Use K-State Research and Extension or Cooperative Extension Service. Use capitals when it is part of a proper name. Avoid using extension alone when referring to the organization in Kansas because it does not encompass its organizational scope within the state. Don’t capitalize the term when it is used generically. She is an extension specialist. Preferred: She is a human nutrition specialist with K-State Research and Extension.