backward (not backwards)
benefit, benefited, benefiting
bestseller (n.), best-selling (adj.)
better and best—Compounds formed by combining adjectives or participles with the adverbs better and best are hyphenated before a noun and open after a noun: better-prepared scholar, best-loved music, a writer that is better known.
bi- (prefix)—Generally closed, no hyphen: bilingual, bimonthly, bipartisan. (See prefixes and suffixes.)
black—Lowercase for African American.
board of directors—Lowercase always.
Board of Education (Buffalo Board of Education, the board)
Board of Regents (Regents, Regents biology)
Board of Trustees (SUNY Board of Trustees, the board)
book—Most compounds with book are closed. Consult the dictionary; if the entry is not listed, form as an open compound (two words): checkbook, notebook, textbook, pocketbook, coupon book, reference book, trade book.
books, parts of—Use arabic numerals with parts of books. Lowercase and spell out in running text: chapter 3, volume 11. Abbreviations also are set in roman type and may be used in parenthetical references: (chap. 3), (vol. 14, pp. 77–82).
Use the following abbreviations for parenthetical references: Plurals for all except page (pp.) and note (nn.) are formed by adding s.
(vol.) volume
(pt.) part
(no.) number
(bk.) book
(chap.) chapter
(p.) page
(n.) note
(app.) appendix
(pl.) plate
(fig.) figure
books, titles of—See titles, composition.
borne—Compounds formed with the suffix borne are generally closed but are “hyphenated after words ending in b and after words of three or more syllables: waterborne, foodborne, cab-borne, mosquito-borne.” (2) (See prefixes and suffixes.)
BSC—Do not use. Use Buffalo State College, State University of New York. (See Buffalo State College).
Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society
The Buffalo News—See newspapers, names of.
Buffalo Niagara (n., adj.)
by (prefix)—Generally closed, no hyphen: bylaws, byline, byproduct. (See prefixes and suffixes.)
(2) Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (2003), 7.90
