Writing for Grammar: Editing D to H

In the editing world, a bastard title is really nothing to be ashamed about, but it should be kept out of the gutter.

dagger
Name for the † character.

dead copy
Manuscript that has been typeset and proofread.

dingbat
An ornamental character, such as a smiley face.

display type
Large type used for chapter titles and headings.

double dagger
Name for the ‡ character.

ellipsis
Name of the . . . character. Plural ellipses.

em dash
Name of the — character. In manuscripts, the em dash is often typed as -- (two hyphens).

en dash
Name of the – character.

endnote
Reference or explanatory note at the end of a chapter or book.

face
The style of type.

figure
An illustration printed as part of the running text.

first ref
First appearance in a text of a proper name or of a source in reference notes.

flag
To call someone's attention to something (sometimes with a gummed label attached to hard copy).

flush
Positioned at the margin (either left or right) of the text page.

flush and hang
Way of setting indexes and lists: first line of each entry is set flush left, and the remaining lines are indented.

FN
Short for footnote.

folio
Page number in a typeset text. A drop folio is a page number at the bottom of a page. A blind folio has no page number though the page is counted in the numbering of the text.

front matter
Material at the front of manuscript or book: title page, copyright page, dedication, table of contents, list of illustrations, preface, acknowledgments, introduction. Also called prelims.

front slash
Name of the / character.

glance
A brief listing of information that accompanies a story.

gutter
The space or margin between facing pages.

head
Title that indicates the start of a section of a document or a chapter.

headline style
Capitalization style for heads or titles of works in which all words are capitalized except articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions. Sometimes prepositions longer than four or five letters are also printed in upper case. Also called UC/lc or title case.

headnote
Short explanatory material following a chapter or section title and preceding the running text.

house style
The editorial style preferences of a publisher.