[Serpentine]

Using the i tag:

<i>word</i>

or using a span and css:

<p>some other text <span class="italic">in</span> this paragraph.</p>

with the css:

.italic {
    font-style: italic
    }

I prefer the simple tag, as it's nicer to work with distinct elements when using regex and the rest - you never know what things will look like later on.