L
lady
- Use woman.
- See Nondiscriminatory Language.
- Do not use as a synonym for woman. Lady may be used when it is a courtesy title.
late
- Do not use it to describe someone’s actions while alive. Incorrect: The late president introduced this initiative. (The president was not dead at that time).
layoff (n.), lay off (v.)
lecturer in
- Lowercase and follow with subject area: He is a lecturer in economics.
lectures
- Capitalize the titles of lectures and put them in quotation marks. Do not italicize: Oliver Miles, distinguished visiting professor in Arabic studies, is giving a lecture, “What Ambassadors Actually Do.”
- Do not capitalize adjectives that precede lectures: She delivered the third lecture in the annual Tahrir Dialogue series.
left wing (n.), left-wing (adj.)
- Generally, try to avoid when describing political leanings.
less, fewer
- Use fewer in reference to items that could be counted. Use less in reference to value, degree or amount: Fewer students were admitted this year. This winter was less rainy than last year.
- See fewer, less.
level
- Hyphenate when level is part of a compound modifier: undergraduate-level courses, a 400-level course, but courses at the 400 level.
liaison
library
- See names, libraries.
life-size
life span
lifestyle
lifetime
lists
- See bulleted series.
livestream, livestreaming
LLM
- No periods. See Academic Degrees.
loan (n.), lend (v.)
lock down (v.), lockdown (n., adj.)
login, logon, logoff (n.)
- But use as two words in verb form: He logs in to his computer.
long term, long-term
- Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier: This will be of benefit in the long term. He has long-term goals.
long time, longtime
- They have worked together for a long time. They are longtime friends.
