If you are like me, your computer inbox is always full. No matter how hard I try to achieve “Zero Inbox”, I send and receive hundreds of messages per day. But help is on the way! I will no longer be inundated with “e-mail”, because the proper spelling for electronic mail is now “email”: no hyphen! According to the AP Stylebook, which is one of the standards for writers, “e-mail” is now to be correctly spelled “email”.

The “e” in email of course stands for “electronic”, and when sending electronic messages first became popular a few decades ago, it seemed natural to hyphenate the term. But AP now says that “email” qualifies as a term in itself and has standardized the new spelling. Of course, AP adds to the confusion by stating that other forms of “e” communication, such as e-books, e-commerce, and e-business will retain their hyphens, for now.

If you need assistance with e-spelling, contact the writers at Writing It Right For You! We’ll get right back to you; via email, of course!