cabal

A group engaged in schemes, especially against a government; or those schemes themselves.

The word originates to Caballa, the Medieval Latin spelling for the Jewish Book of Mysticism and the mystic form of Jewish practice, Kabbalah. Therefore, OAJ advises against using this term, despite its current and frequent political use unless in quotes.

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camel case

Used in coding and in hashtags. The first word is lower case, and each word that follows is capitalized.

Examples:

• #everydayHustle
• #catVideos
• #justiceForAlex
• eBay
• macOS

Also see how to write hashtags.

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capital

Capital is a noun with a number of meanings:

1. Referring to any of a series of upper case letters in an alphabet;
2. Being the seat of government; a city serving as a seat of government; or a city preeminent in some special activity;
3. Being of chief importance or influence;
4. Most serious;
5. Punishable by death; involving executions;
6. A stock of accumulated goods; the value of these accumulated goods; accumulated goods devoted to the production of other goods; to bring in income; net worth; a store or supply of useful assets or advantages
7. In architecture, the uppermost member of a column crowning the shaft and taking the weight of the entablature.

Do not confuse with capitol.

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capitol

Refers to the building or buildings where the functions of government take place, specifically where the legislative body meets.

For example:

The old capital building is getting a complete renovation, so the state legislature is temporarily meeting elsewhere.

Capitol, with a capitalized C, is used in reference to the U.S. Capitol, where the U.S. Senate and U.S. House meet, or Capitol Hill.

Do not confuse with capital.

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CDC

The national public health agency responsible for responding to emerging diseases; disease outbreaks; epidemics; pandemics; chronic health problems that cause disability and death; promoting personal health and safety behaviors; promoting public health and safety behaviors; training public health and safety workers; and working with national health data.

On first reference, use U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On subsequent references, use CDC with the <abbr> tag:

<abbr title="U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention">CDC</abbr>

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climate

The average of atmospheric weather conditions over a series of years using the prevailing data over short periods of time, such as a given year for a certain location. The data generally includes temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and other local weather information. Do not confuse with climate change.

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climate change

Observations and modeling in the local, regional and global climate across time using data collected from sea level changes, glacial changes, sea and air temperature changes and other changes to show a pattern of change in the climate. According to NASA in 2024:

Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the mid-20th century are driven by human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, raising Earth’s average surface temperature. Natural processes, which have been overwhelmed by human activities, can also contribute to climate change, including internal variability (e.g., cyclical ocean patterns like El Niño, La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and external forcings (e.g., volcanic activity, changes in the Sun’s energy output, variations in Earth’s orbit).

Although the terms global warming and climate change are often used interchangeably, global warming is actually an aspect of climate change, per NASA, and the terms are not interchangeable.

Please note: Due to concerns of misinformation or removal of terms like climate change and global warming by the Trump administration from all government websites, the links are archived pages.

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closed captioning

Abbreviated CC. Synchronized text that accompanies video to describe dialogue and sound effects. It is stored as a separate track from the audio and video and can be turned on and off by the viewer.

There are multiple types of closed captioning formats:

• .SRT (SubRip) — A plain text file and the commonly used format. Contains the caption text with start and end timecodes. Compatible with all major social media platforms, as well as YouTube, Amazon, Vimeo, and Netflix.
• .SBV or .SUB (SubViewer) — A plain text caption file format, used for adding captions or subtitles to YouTube videos. Includes start and end timestamps for each caption.
• .VTT (WebVTT) — A highly compatible with most major web platforms based on the SRT format. Can include metadata and other descriptions including screen placement in addition to the caption text.
• .DXFP (Distribution Format Exchange Profile) — A XML format compatible with YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, all Adobe products, and some Microsoft products. Contains information about formatting and caption location specifications in addition to caption text.
• .SCC (Scenarist Closed Caption) — A file format created for analog TV, VHS and DVD formats and for iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon. Includes caption text, timings, and details on the look and placement of captions.

Also see open captions.

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coda

A noun meaning a concluding event, remark, or section; often used in connection with performing arts such as music or dance.

Do not confuse with the acronym CODA, which stands for child of deaf adult.

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CODA (child of deaf adult)

An acronym that stands for child of deaf adult.

Do not confuse with the noun coda.

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