The Official Guide to Malarkey Style

This is an incomplete, evolving style sheet.

Follow latest version of Chicago Manual of Style unless noted here.

In general, American spelling, default to Merriam-Webster unless otherwise stated.

Take author preference into account.

Oxford comma, yes.

Em dashes—and not double hyphens—should butt right up to the words they break up.

For ellipsis, tend to prefer the way MLA does it, with  a space in front, spaces in between the three dots, and a space after:  . . .

Four dots if eliding a whole sentence somewhere: . . . .

Look up brand names to make sure we’re following their spelling/capitalization, unless we’re trying to take the piss or something

Avoid his/hers, he/she. Singular they is fine or just reword.

One space between sentences (tip: if editing a manuscript with two spaces between periods, fix by using find and replace. In the Find box hit the space bar two times. In the Replace With box hit the space bar one time. Then Replace All. Now you’re set.)

Punctuation inside quotes: ,”.

“Double quotes” for quoting words, ‘single quotes’ only for a quote within a quote

Numerals: one to one hundred

a.m.

p.m.

back yard (unless it’s an adjective. Examples: I went to the back yard for a smoke. The asshole neighbors didn’t invite me to their backyard barbecue.)

Black (as in Black Americans, not black Americans)

browbeat

damn it

fuckup (noun)

geekdom

goddamnit

internet, not Internet

makeup

okay (Alan notes his preference for OK, but we had a poll and the people voted for okay.)

résumé

screw up (verb)

screwup (noun)

small talk

website, not Web site