R
races
- The names of racial, linguistic, tribal, religious and other groups are capitalized but not hyphenated: Egyptian American, Arab American, African American, Caucasian, Hispanic.
- See Nondiscriminatory Language.
radio
- Capitalize names of official stations: Radio Free Europe, Nile FM.
RAM
- Random-access memory of a computer. RAM is acceptable in all references.
Ramadan
- Reference to the month in which Muslims fast from dawn until sunset every day. Capitalize in all instances, and do not italicize.
range
- For constructions indicating a range, use an en dash (See Punctuation), leaving a space on both sides: 9 – 11 pm.
- In a construction such as 7 – 9 pm, it is not necessary to use pm twice.
- In running text, preferably use the from/to construction: The play lasted from 7 to 9 pm.
- If you use from, you must use to; don’t combine two forms:
- Incorrect: from 1998 – 2003.
- Correct: from 1998 to 2003.
- If you are listing more than one time, give the minutes for all of them if you are going to use it for any:
- Incorrect: 2:30 am, 4 pm and 8 pm.
- Correct: 2:30 am, 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm.
rarely
- Rarely ever is redundant.
ratios
- Use figures and hyphens, and always use the word 'ratio': the ratio was 2-to-1, a ratio of 2-to-1, a 2-1 ratio.
- As illustrated, the word to should be omitted when the numbers precede the word ratio.
reapplication
- One word.
reason why
- Use reason.
re-
- Use a hyphen only with words that begin with an e: re-enter, re-elect; or need clarity: re-creation.
recreation, re-creation
- Recreation (one word, no hyphen) refers to entertainment.
- Use a hyphen when meaning to create again.
reference works
- Capitalize but do not italicize or put in quotation marks. This includes almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks, school yearbooks and similar publications.
regions
- Capitalize names of regions: Middle East, Far East, the Orient.
renaissance, Renaissance
- Lowercase when meaning a birth or revival: She wanted a renaissance in her country.
- Capitalize when referring to the 14th to 16th century revival of classical art, architecture and literature.
Renaissance man (or woman)
- A man (or woman) who has broad intellectual interests and is accomplished in both arts and sciences. Always capitalize.
résumé
- Distinguished from resume (meaning to continue) by using diacritical marks. To put the marks:
- Type out resume, then highlight the first e.
- Go to Insert in the program menu and choose Symbol.
- Highlight é.
- Click Insert.
- Repeat the same steps for the second é or copy and paste the first é.
résumé, resume
- Résumé (with the accent marks) is your CV. To resume means to continue. See CV, curriculum vitae.
revolution
- Capitalize when correlated with the year or date: the January 25 Revolution, the 2010-2011 Tunisian Revolution. Lowercase in other uses: a revolution, the revolution, the Egyptian revolution, the Tunisian revolution.
reunion
- Capitalize Class of 1960, but lowercase 45th reunion, 20th reunion.
Rhodes scholar
- Lowercase scholar and scholarship.
Roman
- Use Roman numerals for wars and to show sequence for people: World War II, King George VI.
room names and numbers
- In running text, do not capitalize room when it is followed by a number unless it is the first word in a sentence: We will meet in room P073 in the Administration Building.
- When listing contact information (not in running text), capitalize room: School of Sciences and Engineering, Room C135.
- Capitalize room when it is part of the official name of the room: Board of Trustees Room, Blue Room.
- Do not use the abbreviation Rm in running text; use only in tabular format where space is limited and capitalize.
roundtable
- One word: roundtable discussion.
RSVP
- Means répondez s’il vous plaît (please reply).
- Use this abbreviation (capitalize and do not put periods) with a telephone number or email address and a deadline for responding.
- When in doubt about whether or not your audience will understand RSVP, use please respond.
- Avoid using RSVP in running text (use mainly in invitations).
runner-up, runners-up