Rule 8.6: Count numbers, units, abbreviations, identifiers, quoted text, titles, and proper nouns as one word each

What a checker looks for

Guidance rather than a pass-or-fail test.

• When counting a sentence's words, count a standalone number (e.g. '13', 'twenty-one') as one word, and count a number together with its adjacent unit of measurement (e.g. '10 °C', '20 kg', '10 a.m.') as a single word.
• Count each abbreviation, acronym, or initialism (e.g. 'NASA', 'VPN', 'No. 1') and each alphanumeric identifier (e.g. '36L7') as one word.
• Count an entire block of quoted text, or text shown in uppercase/different font to indicate quotation (e.g. a switch legend, a formula), as one word regardless of how many words it contains.
• Count an entire title, heading, or verbatim placard/label text as one word, and count an entire proper noun for a specific individual, group/organization, or geopolitical entity (e.g. 'United States of America') as one word.

What this rule does not cover

• Numbers used solely to number paragraphs or procedural work steps (document numbering) are excluded from the count entirely — they are not counted as one word, they are not counted at all.

How to fix it

When deciding whether a sentence exceeds its word-count limit, recompute the count using these one-word groupings before shortening anything; never split, paraphrase, or shorten a title, heading, placard/label text, or proper noun just to reduce an inflated word total.

Constraints on the fix

• Never alter the wording of a quoted title, heading, placard, label, or proper noun to change its word count.