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The Times Style Guide: A guide to English usage
Ian Brunskill


Uncover the rules, conventions and policies on spelling, grammar and usage followed by the journalists, contributors and editors working on the Times newspaper.Assure or ensure? Affect or effect? Even the most accomplished writer will run up against these and many similar problems in the quest for clear, elegant and grammatical writing.The Times editors answer these and hundreds of other usage conundrums with a comprehensive collection of entries covering the quirky minefield of the English language.Although no literary straitjacket, this authoritative guide is the foundation of correct English usage for all Times journalists and contributors and provides a benchmark style, the essential ingredient of all well-written English.













Copyright (#ulink_439ee507-920c-5f8a-9074-64dd9aa4d5b7)

Published by Times Books

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First published 2003

Second edition 2017

© Times Newspapers Ltd 2017

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Ebook Edition © April 2017 ISBN: 9780008146184

Version 2017-04-27







Contents

Cover (#ube8b171c-e7c8-5b50-a64d-ebedcd5a212d)

Title Page (#u42e9eec8-377c-51f4-a0a3-d2229fe3d92a)

Copyright (#ulink_19d03b50-e0e7-575a-b4c4-2fa467475554)

Introduction (#ulink_3cf8867b-7fb9-54c3-bc61-07d3096219b0)

Acknowledgments (#ulink_e87b622e-f67c-5b18-9bdf-9630fd3cf86c)

Aa (#ulink_46bd2b37-02d7-594a-b153-a7db33cfaa43)

Bb (#ulink_3fc2c812-788d-5365-9ecb-8e84c662c06f)

Cc (#ulink_942187ea-c476-56be-9480-bfc4528568d4)

Dd (#litres_trial_promo)

Ee (#litres_trial_promo)

Ff (#litres_trial_promo)

Gg (#litres_trial_promo)

Hh (#litres_trial_promo)

Ii (#litres_trial_promo)

Jj (#litres_trial_promo)

Kk (#litres_trial_promo)

Ll (#litres_trial_promo)

Mm (#litres_trial_promo)

Nn (#litres_trial_promo)

Oo (#litres_trial_promo)

Pp (#litres_trial_promo)

Qq (#litres_trial_promo)

Rr (#litres_trial_promo)

Ss (#litres_trial_promo)

Tt (#litres_trial_promo)

Uu (#litres_trial_promo)

Vv (#litres_trial_promo)

Ww (#litres_trial_promo)

Xx (#litres_trial_promo)

Yy (#litres_trial_promo)

Zz (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)


Introduction (#ulink_26e91529-3934-54ce-8f70-e5d9acb9ae6a)

This updated version of The Times Style Guide aims to provide writers and sub-editors with a quick reference to contentious points of grammar and spelling, and to guide them through areas where confusions have arisen in the past. It is a guide, not a straitjacket. Consistency is a virtue, but it should not be pursued at the expense of clarity, elegance or common sense.

By the standards of its predecessors this is a permissive volume. It avoids unnecessary prescription and prohibition. It tries to distinguish linguistic superstitions from grammatical rules. It hesitates to condemn common usage that neither baffles nor offends. English is not a language fixed for all time. Speech changes and its written form should change too. The Times must use the language of its readers, but that language at its best, clearest and most concise.

The guide sets out the paper’s detailed preferences in such fields as capitalisation, hyphenation and variant spelling. More general entries are intended to encourage reflection about words and the way we use them. While all Times journalists should follow house style, they should not do so unthinkingly. Considered exceptions can (and often must) be made, especially in direct quotes, in features, diaries and other less formal kinds of writing, and with columnists whose individual voices should be heard and whose flow of argument should be preserved.

Where extra guidance is needed, and for all spellings, hyphenations etc not covered by the guide, staff are expected to use as their first point of reference Collins English Dictionary. Other helpful resources are the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors (Odwe), the Concise Oxford or Chambers. For place names The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World should be consulted.

Further advice on style and on good writing may be found in the familiar authorities: Fowler (Modern English Usage), Partridge (Usage and Abusage), Gowers (The Complete Plain Words) and their admirably brisk US counterpart Strunk & White (The Elements of Style). The compendious Chicago Manual of Style contains sensible (American) guidance on almost everything. Kingsley Amis’s The King’s English takes a more idiosyncratic approach. All are valuable works of informed and considered opinion; none should be regarded as a repository of unbreakable rules.

There are thoughtful books on the particular challenges of journalistic writing by Harold Evans (Essential English for Journalists, Editors and Writers) and Keith Waterhouse (On Newspaper Style).


Acknowledgments (#ulink_b8a39a30-b1ef-5813-8861-2b4986a37d04)

Special thanks to Isabella Bengoechea, Magnus Cohen, Fiona Gorman, Alan Kay, Matthew Lyons and Siobhan Murphy, who worked on production of the book at The Times, and to Gerry Breslin, Jethro Lennox, Kevin Robbins and Sarah Woods at HarperCollins.

Thanks also to Nic Andrews, Chris Broadhurst, Josie Eve, Hannah Fletcher, Jeremy Griffin, Robert Hands, Oliver Kamm, Nick Mays, Robbie Millen, John Price, Chris Roberts, Fay Schlesinger, Mark Shillam, Craig Tregurtha, Emma Tucker, Roland Watson, Rose Wild and John Witherow at The Times; and to Tim Austin, Richard Dixon, Sir Simon Jenkins and the late Philip Howard, who were responsible for earlier editions of this guide.


Aa (#ulink_b0f823ba-c2d6-54c7-b8b5-6bc979463767)

a, an use a before all words beginning with a vowel or diphthong with the sound of u (as in unit) — a eulogy, a European etc; but use an before unaspirated h — an heir, an honest woman, an honour. Whether or not to use an before an aspirated h when the first syllable of a word is unaccented — hotel, historian, heroic — is a matter of preference; The Times prefers a. With abbreviations, acronyms, initials, be guided by pronunciation: an LSE student, an RAF officer, an NGO

abbreviated negatives (can’t, don’t, shan’t etc, and similar abbreviations/contractions such as I’ll, you’re) should be discouraged except in direct quotes, although in more informal pieces such as diaries, sketches and some features they are fine when the full form would sound pedantic

Abdication cap with specific reference to Edward VIII’s; in general sense use lower case

Aboriginal (singular, noun and adjective) and Aborigines (plural), for native Australian(s); aboriginal (lower case) for the wider adjectival use

absorption is the noun from absorb; absorbtion is a non-word that has found its way more than once into The Times

abstraction often an escape from precise meaning and a sign of lazy writing. Beware words such as situation, crisis, problem, resolution, question, issue, condition. A newspaper is about what happens and what people do; it should use concrete words. A headline, especially, may be killed by an abstract noun or phrase

abu means “father of” so must not be separated from the name that follows, ie Abu Qatada at first mention remains Abu Qatada (“father of Qatada”), not simply Qatada, and certainly not Mr Qatada

accents give French and German words their proper accents and diacritical marks, unless they have passed into common English usage. Use accents as appropriate also on capital letters and in headlines. With anglicised foreign words, no need for accents (hotel, depot, debacle, elite, regime etc), unless it makes a crucial difference to pronunciation or understanding, eg cliché, façade, café, exposé. NB matinee, puree etc.

In Spanish give accents only on the names of people, if they can be checked. In other Spanish words and place names, ignore accents and diacritical marks except for n with the tilde (Ñ or ñ, as in El Niño); this is considered a distinct letter of the alphabet in its own right and is also familiar to (and easily pronounceable by) most English-speaking readers

Achilles’ heel a small but deadly area of weakness in someone seemingly invulnerable (like the Greek hero of the Trojan war, hence cap and apostrophe); but achilles tendon (lower case, no apostrophe, as the connection with the myth is more remote)

acknowledgment as with most (but not quite all) such words, no middle e

acronym a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words, eg Opec, from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or Ukip for the United Kingdom Independence Party. If the acronym is easily pronounced and usually spoken as a word, write with an initial cap and then lower case: Opec, Nato, Ukip, Rada, Bafta, Nice, Acas, Asbo etc; follow this house style whatever the organisation itself may choose to do. Acronyms do not normally take the definite article.

Non-acronym abbreviations based on initials that are spelt out separately in speech (ie not pronounced as a word) remain in caps, and normally retain a definite article: the BBC, the RAF, the CBI, the LSO, the UN, the EU etc. A few, by convention, take an unpleasant mixture of upper and lower case: MoT, the MoD, the DfE, the IoD. All but the most familiar organisations, bodies, concepts and things should be named in full at first mention with the initials in brackets. However, a lot of initials in text will produce an unappetising alphabet soup, so use as sparingly as possible; after first mention try to vary with a suitable word: the ministry, the corporation, the department, the institute etc

Act theatre, ballet, opera etc, use cap and use roman numerals when naming, specifying or giving references: Macbeth, Act I, Act II etc; for more general refs use lower case, eg “in the second act of the play”, “in the third scene of Act II”

Act and Bill (parliamentary) cap when giving full name (the Data Protection Act, the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill etc) but otherwise lower case: “a bill intended to decriminalise assisted suicide”; “the act covers the gathering, storing and processing of personal information” etc

action as a transitive verb meaning undertake (“The marketing department will action this”) is corporate jargon of the most irritating kind; avoid

active verbs generally better (and shorter) than passive

actor, actress for women use the feminine designation

AD, BC note that AD comes before the date, eg AD35; BC comes after, 350BC. Both have no spaces. With century, both are used after, eg 3rd century BC/AD. The terms BCE and CE (Common Era) are not to be used by Times writers but may exceptionally be allowed to a guest columnist/letter writer if context/courtesy seems to demand it (eg Lord Sacks, as chief rabbi, preferred CE in his Credo columns)

addresses no commas in 1 Pennington Street, 3 Thomas More Square, 1 London Bridge Street etc; and do not abbreviate. No commas either between county names and postcodes, eg West Sussex BN6 9GS

adjectives do not overuse, especially in news reporting. Ask if the adjective is necessary and what it adds. Try to use adjectives to add precision, not merely for colour or emphasis. Beware especially those adjectives that come unbidden to mind with particular nouns: serious danger, devout Catholic, staunch Protestant, blithering idiot

administration (US) now lower case (cf government) even when specific, eg the Trump administration; generic always lower case, eg a lame-duck administration; also lower case adjectival, eg an administration official

Admiral do not abbreviate to Adm Jones etc except in lists; upper case when used as a title (Admiral Jones), at subsequent mentions “the admiral”

ad nauseam not ad nauseum

adrenaline with the final e

advance notice is faintly tautologous, but probably defensible; “advanced notice” is just wrong

adverbs as with adjectives (only more so), do not overuse, and never use without thought. Ask what, if anything, is being added or changed. Consider if there might be a better way of achieving the same effect, eg by using a more vivid or dramatic verb: to rush or race, say, rather than to run fast.

Adverbs are rarely a good way of beginning a sentence. “Interestingly”, “ironically”, “oddly” all clumsily flag something that ought to become obvious to the reader soon enough.

When adverbs are used to qualify adjectives the joining hyphen is rarely needed, eg heavily pregnant, classically carved, colourfully decorated. In some cases, however, such as “well founded”, “ill educated”, when used before the noun, eg a well-founded rumour, write the compound with the hyphen. The best guidance is to use the hyphen in these phrases as little as possible or when the phrase would otherwise be ambiguous. Thus, “the island is well regulated”, but “it is a well-regulated island”

advertisement prefer to advert or ad, especially at first mention; but the shorter forms are perfectly acceptable (and often preferable at second mention and in headings etc)

adviser never advisor

-aemia not -emia, for blood conditions such as anaemia, leukaemia; thus anaemic, leukaemic

affect, effect as a verb, to affect means to produce an effect on, to touch the feelings of, or to pretend to have or feel (as in affectation); to effect is to bring about, to accomplish. If in doubt, always consult the dictionary. Affect as a noun should be used only by psychologists, among themselves

affidavit a written declaration on oath. Such phrases as “sworn affidavit” and “he swore an affidavit” are, strictly speaking, tautologous

Afghan noun or adjective; an afghani (lower case) is a unit of currency, not a person

Africa note north Africa, east Africa, west Africa, southern Africa, all lower case: these are locators, not place names (unlike South Africa)

African-American hyphenate

Afrikaans the language; Afrikaners the people. Afrikanders a breed of cattle

after almost invariably to be used rather than “following” and always preferable to such ponderous constructions as “in the wake of”. Remember that after is a useful way of indicating a clear and particular temporal relationship; do not say after if what you mean is when. Also beware of lazily using after to convey a cause relationship. “The British player won a place in the final after beating the seeded German” is journalese for “… by beating the seeded German”

afterlife one word

ageing takes the middle e

ages are helpful to readers; they add context and human interest, particularly in stories involving unfamiliar people. Use common sense. Information should be useful or interesting, not distracting; there is no need to give an age for every minor figure mentioned in passing in a news report, or to tell Times readers how old the prime minister is whenever she crops up.

Normal style is “Joe Brown, 33, a porter,” but occasional variations such as “Andrew Hunt, who is 74,” are fine. For children’s ages, except in headlines, write out numerals up to and including ten: “Emma Watson, seven, who …”, “Emma Watson, who is seven”, “Emma Watson, aged seven”, “the seven-year-old Emma Watson” etc. For consistency, however, use figures for both numerals if one is lower than ten and one higher so, eg “children aged 5 to 14” (not “five to 14”). In headlines, numerals save space and may often be clearer: “Children aged 7 are victims of school sexting epidemic.” For more general ages use lower case decades, ie “I wish I was still in my thirties” etc.

Note caps in Ice Age, Stone Age, the Dark Ages etc

aggravate means to make (an evil or complaint) worse. It does not mean to annoy or irritate

AGM caps, but prefer annual meeting in text

ahead of do not use in the sense of timing to mean before/prior to/in advance of

aide-memoire roman, hyphen, no need for accent; plural aidesmemoire. Traditionally minded French speakers might prefer the plural to be aide-mémoire; aide is a verb, not a noun, and there is still only one mémoire being aided, so the form is invariable; since the French spelling reform of 1990, however, the tendency has been to treat such composites as simple nouns and add an s at the end of all of them, so most younger French people would probably write aide-mémoires. All this is academic; aide-memoire has been anglicised through common use (no accent, no italics, no attempt at French pronunciation); in the process it has acquired various more or less awkward English plurals, of which the most widely accepted seems to be aides-memoire; this may be poor French, but it is comprehensible English, and if it is good enough for Collins, the OED and the National Archives (where British government and diplomatic aides-memoire are catalogued and stored), it should be good enough for us

Aids (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is not a disease, but a medical condition. Diseases that affect people who are HIV-positive may be called Aids-related diseases; but through custom and practice we can now afford to relax our rule about never saying “died of Aids”. Write HIV/Aids when appropriate regarding the virus and the condition together

airbase, airstrip, airspace no hyphens

air conditioner, air conditioning no longer hyphenate as noun; but hyphenate adjectivally, eg an air-conditioning unit

aircraft prefer to planes wherever possible. Remember that not all aircraft are jets, some are still turbo-prop. Do not use the American airplanes

aircraftman, aircraftwoman not aircraftsman etc

aircraft names are italicised, like ship or locomotive names, on the rare occasions when they are needed, eg the Enola Gay (Hiroshima bomber)

aircraft types B-52, F-111 etc (roman, hyphens between letter and numbers just because it looks neater)

air fares two words, as rail fares, bus fares etc

air force cap Royal Air Force (thereafter the RAF), otherwise all lower case: the US air force (USAF, or in Second World War contexts USAAF), Brazilian air force; and lower case in adjectival use, eg an air force raid. No hyphen, even adjectivally

airplane ugly Americanism; do not use

airports as a general rule for British airports, use the name of the city or town followed by lower case airport, eg Manchester airport, Leeds/Bradford airport, East Midlands (formerly Nottingham) airport, Luton airport; but Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted are fine on their own

air raid two words (unlike airstrike)

air show two words; lower case even when specific, eg the Paris air show, the Farnborough air show

airstrike one word in military sense, but air raid (two words)

AK47 no need to hyphenate the Kalashnikov assault rifle

akimbo use only with reference to arms (never legs). It means hands on the hips with elbows turned outwards

al- as the prefix to Arabic nouns (including names), prefer the al- to the el- form, except where the el- has become widely accepted. The prefix is dropped from names at second mention, so that Bashar al-Assad becomes Assad

Albert Hall, the prefer to give Royal at first formal mention (that is its name); subsequently (or informally) fine without

alcohol its strength is measured either by volume (a percentage) or by the more traditional proof system, of which there are British and American variants. Do not confuse the percentage and proof systems by writing, eg that a drink is 48 per cent proof. As an example, a spirit that is 40 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) is 80 degrees proof on the American scale (which runs from 0 to 200, and the proof number being precisely double the ABV figure); on the old British scale, which runs from 0 to 175, 40 per cent ABV would be 70 degrees proof. On the British scale, 100 degrees proof spirit (57.1 per cent ABV) is the minimum strength of distilled alcohol that when mixed with gunpowder sustains its combustion, and this property was used to test the traditional rum ration in the British navy. Since 1980 Britain has used the ABV system. See drink-drive

A level no hyphen as a noun, but A-level results etc (hyphenate when adjectival). A levels now embrace AS levels and A2s, and can still be used as the generic phrase and in historical context. But use O levels (same hyphenation rules) now only in historical context

alfresco one word, roman

algebra take great care in writing and presenting algebraic expressions. Individual terms should be in italics. Be sure that superscripts, including squares of numbers, and subscripts are properly rendered, eg E=mc


. As an example in narrative text: “Dr Edwards noted that the mass, m, is proportional to Ax where A is the area of the burger and x is its thickness. If all other parameters remain the same (heat of grill, absence of sudden downpour, mood of cook and so on), then t, the total cooking time, is proportional to x


A.” See italics

alibi not a general alternative to excuse; it means being elsewhere at the material time

Alistair always check the spelling of this name (Alastair, Alasdair, Alister etc)

all in phrases such as “all the president’s men” there is no need to write “all of the president’s men”

Allahu akbar (God is greatest); note also alhamdulillah (“praise God”, approximately equivalent to the Judaeo-Christian alleluia/hallelujah)

allcomers one word

allege avoid the suggestion that the writer is making the allegation; somewhere in the story always specify the source. Do not assume that use of this verb will keep you out of legal trouble; if in doubt, ask a lawyer. Do not use alleged as a synonym of ostensible, apparent or reputed

All Hallows Eve not Allhallows

Allies cap the Allies in the Second World War context; generally, lower case alliance, as in the Atlantic alliance, Gulf War alliance etc

all right never alright, except in the television programme It’ll be Alright on the Night

All Souls College Oxford (no apostrophe)

all-time avoid as in all-time high; use highest or record high instead

al-Qaeda thus, hyphen and ae

alsatian lower case, the German shepherd dog. See dogs

alternate (adj) as well as being English for “every other” or “every second” in a sequence, is also American for alternative. This latter use is to be resisted, firmly, although we may need to concede that alternate history has gained more or less universal currency to denote the “what if” school of fiction that imagines, eg life in a Britain occupied by victorious Nazis after the Second World War

alternative of two, choice of three or more, but there is no need to be obsessive about this

alternative vote (AV) system; note also first-past-the-post system

alumnus a (singular, male) graduate of a particular educational institution; alumni is the plural, including for mixed groups. The female equivalents are alumna and alumnae

ambassador lower case even when specific (see capitalisation); the French ambassador; “he was appointed ambassador to Japan”

ambience prefer to the French spelling ambiance

Amendment spell out and upper case for clarity in relation to the US constitution, eg the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment etc

Americanisms generally to be resisted, unless they have clearly passed into standard English use

American spellings allow US spellings for proper names of institutions, well-known landmarks etc. So Lincoln Center, World Trade Center, Labor Day, Medal of Honor, Pearl Harbor etc; in practice this means US spellings may be retained in proper names used with initial caps, as it will be clear what is going on; job titles that in our style become lower case (ie almost all of them) should be anglicised (the secretary of defence etc, so that they do not just look like spelling mistakes); for all other words use English spellings.

Be aware that the differences are not all as obvious as writing theater for theatre or missing the u out of words such as colour; eg US usage does not double the final l of the root verb in forms such as traveller, cancelled, fuelled, modelling etc; license is both verb and noun in US English, and so, confusingly, is practice; avoid all of these and be ready to change them in agency copy or quotes

America(n)/US in general, try to use American as in “American cities”, “American food” etc; but US in headlines and in the context of government institutions, such as US Congress, US navy, US military operation. Never use America when ambiguity could occur with Canada or Latin America

amid not amidst; similarly among, not amongst

amok not amock or amuck

ampersand use in a company name if the company uses it

amphitheatres in classical context are oval or circular (eg the Colosseum in Rome); do not confuse with theatres, which are semi-circular or horseshoe-shaped

Amsterdam treaty (lower case t), but the Treaty of Amsterdam

analogue in all contexts, noun and adjective

anathema meaning accursed, consigned to perdition; there is no need for an article, thus: “It is anathema to me.” Although a noun, it is quasi-adjectival in usage

ancestor strictly means a person from whom another is directly descended, especially someone more distant than a grandparent. Do not use in the looser sense of predecessor; eg Queen Elizabeth I is not the ancestor of the present Queen. An ancestor is not a descendant, so do not mix them up

ancient Briton/Britain ancient Greek/Greece, ancient Egyptian/Egypt, ancient Roman/Rome, the ancient world; seems fine to lower case the a on ancient but cap the national adjective or noun

and also do not use together

androgynous not androgenous in reference to having both male and female characteristics; androgenic refers to male hormones, eg testosterone

aneurysm not aneurism

angioplasty is a procedure carried out by cardiologists and is not surgery

Anglesey never Anglesea

anglicise, anglophile, anglophobe, anglophone all lower case

angst roman, lower case

animals cap proper nouns or adjectives derived from them when naming breeds of animals (or species of birds): Indian elephant, Nile crocodile, Bengal tiger, Arctic tern, Dartford warbler, African grey parrot, Bewick’s swan etc; otherwise all lower case. When referring to individual animals in stories or captions, use “he” or “she” if the sex is definitely known or if the creature is called by a masculine or feminine name (eg Felix the cat had only himself to blame). But use “it” if sex is unspecified or irrelevant. On the racing pages, horses are always “he” or “she”. See anthropomorphism

annexe noun, but to annex verb

anniversary by definition, is the date on which an event occurred in some previous year. So avoid such nonsense as the “nine-month anniversary” or the “300-day anniversary” of something

answerphone or answering machine

Antarctic around the South Pole, Arctic around the North: capitalise, spell correctly and do not mix up

antennae plural of antenna in zoological sense; antennas in radio or aerial sense

anthropomorphism the lazy option in captioning photographs of animals; try instead to convey some real information about the creatures or the photograph

anti in compounds, generally no hyphen (unless hideous or confusing without) but always hyphenate before a capital letter, eg anti-American

Antichrist initial cap, no hyphen

anticipate widely (and acceptably) used to mean expect; better, however, to preserve the senses of to foresee something and react (to anticipate a blow), or to do something before the due time (so that to anticipate marriage is quite different from expecting to marry)

anticlimax no hyphen

anticyclone no hyphen

antidepressant (noun or adjective), no hyphen

antihero no hyphen

Antipodes, Antipodean cap A when referring to Australia and New Zealand

antisemitic, antisemitism arguments have been advanced for using the unhyphenated form to mean specifically hatred of Jews, which is what is almost always intended, and anti-Semitism to denote hostility to a whole group of Semitic peoples; the distinction seems rather effortful but it reinforces our preference for avoiding hyphens where we can

antisocial

antisocial behaviour orderAsbo; plural Asbos

anti-tank one that probably looks better with a hyphen

anti-terrorism another

antiviral one word

any more always two words

apart from prefer to the Americanism “aside from”

ape, aping, apish

aphelion the point in its orbit when a planet or comet is farthest from the sun. See perihelion

apostrophes with proper names/nouns ending in s that are singular, follow the rule of writing what is voiced, eg Keats’s poetry, Sobers’s batting, The Times’s style (or Times style); and with names where the final s is soft, use the s apostrophe, eg Rabelais’ writings, Delors’ presidency; plurals follow normal form, as Lehman Brothers’ loss etc.

Note that with Greek names of more than one syllable that end in s, generally do not use the apostrophe s, eg Aristophanes’ plays, Achilles’ heel, Socrates’ life, Archimedes’ principle; but note Jesus’s (not Jesus’) parables. Beware of organisations that have variations as their house style, eg St Thomas’ Hospital, where we should respect their preference.

Take care with apostrophes with plural nouns, eg women’s, not womens’; children’s, not childrens’; people’s, not (usually) peoples’. Also beware of moving the apostrophe when creating plurals: a lot of shepherd’s pies, two rival builder’s merchants, two private member’s bills, etc.

Use the apostrophe in expressions such as two years’ time, several hours’ delay etc.

Some place names and many company names have lost their apostrophes: Earls Court, St Andrews, Barclays, Lloyds the bank (but Lloyd’s the insurance market), Morrisons etc; others — Sainsbury’s, Sotheby’s, Christie’s etc — have not; always check.

An apostrophe may for clarity be used to indicate the plural of single letters — p’s and q’s — if the alternative seems worse; a rare instance of a permissible greengrocer’s apostrophe. See also do’s and don’ts

apothegm maxim; prefer to apophthegm

apparatchik

appeal do not use the Americanism “appeal a verdict or decision”; English usage requires appeal against

appellations, titles, honorifics, names on News pages, although not on Features and Sport, almost every adult surname should be granted the courtesy of a title. Give the name in full at first mention, then refer to Mr, Mrs, Ms. There may be occasions when it is more appropriate at second mention to use just a first name (Bob, Sue etc). Such occasions will be rare; they require justification and careful thought.

The exceptions, who may be referred to by surname alone are: convicted offenders (or, rarely, offenders still on trial but who have clearly admitted guilt, see 6 (#ulink_6fd8004b-c113-5e84-b0c1-8d3eb08b7dc5) below), the dead (but not the quite recently dead, except in obituaries; in news reports be particularly sensitive when writing about victims of crime); and, mostly in the Arts, Sport, Books and Diary sections, where common usage omits a title. On News pages, similarly, sportsmen, artists, authors, film stars, pop stars, actors etc should now normally not be referred to as Mr/Mrs/Ms, except in court cases or exceptional occasions where guilt would be implied by omitting the honorific. Where sportsmen, entertainers etc have been given honours, it will often seem more natural to refer to them by their full title once at first mention (“Sir Mick Jagger”) and thereafter as “Jagger” (rather than “Sir Mick”). Minors may when appropriate be referred to by first name alone.

General rules:

1. First mention, Herbert Palfry, Juliette Worth, subsequently Mr Palfry, Mrs/Miss/Ms Worth; only children should be referred to by first names alone.

2. Put the name first, then the age (if relevant), then the description; eg Penélope Cruz, 34, the Spanish actress; avoid the journalese construction “actress Penélope Cruz” or the like.

3. Avoid initials and middle initials (as in eg American names) unless the person is best known thereby (eg WG Grace, PJ Harvey, JK Galbraith, Cecil B DeMille, AJP Taylor, all with no full points).

4. Ms should be used when a woman wants to be called thus, or when it is not known for certain if she is Mrs or Miss.

5. Dr need not be confined to medical doctors; if a public figure with an academic doctorate from a reputable university insists on being called Dr, we can allow them the title as a courtesy, although we should discourage this unless the doctorate (and the expertise it suggests) is of some interest or relevance to the story. Generally, as for Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms, do not use Dr at first mention.

6. Court proceedings, professional body disciplinary hearings etc: accused people should be accorded the appropriate title (Mr, Miss etc), however guilty they may appear, after name and first name have been given at first mention; only convicted persons or those who have admitted guilt in recognised legal or disciplinary proceedings should be referred to by surname alone. But do be sensitive especially in murder cases, where the accused is given, for example, his “Mr”; the victim (despite the dead not usually being given a title) should here be accorded the courtesy of the title. Otherwise the stark contrast of, say, Mr X being accused of the murder of Dando, can appear gratuitously offensive

appendix plural appendices, but appendixes in anatomy

Apple Computer not Computers, for the Mac company

appraise means evaluate; apprise means inform. Never confuse

appurtenance

April Fool’s Day, April fool, but All Fools’ Day

aqueduct not aquaduct

Arabic refers to the language. Use Arab in such phrases as “the Arab world”

Arabic names there is no universally accepted system of transliteration. Arabic has 28 letters, many of which change shape, sometimes considerably, depending on whether they stand alone or on where they appear within a word: initial, medial, final. Vowels are largely ignored in most printed and handwritten text. There are ligatures and diacritical marks by the dozen. There are consonants with no direct counterparts in English, and sounds with no obvious equivalents at all.

Attempts to replicate these complexities (with elaborate spellings and much use of apostrophes) are confusing and look a mess. Clarity, simplicity and a degree of consistency should be our aims. Where there is a western consensus on a spelling, eg among reputable news agencies, big media outlets and/or diplomatic sources, we should follow it, except in the very few cases where a different preferred spelling is specified in this guide. For other cases these are some very basic guidelines:

prefer al- to el- or Al (and to variants such as as- ash- ad- or ul-) unless an individual or corporation is established in the West and has a preferred or familiar western style (eg Al Jazeera, the broadcaster, or Saudi royals who are Al; also Mohamed Al Fayed, who may or may not be entitled to style himself thus, but does). Drop al- when not giving the full name (eg Bashar al-Assad becomes Assad)

end names in i not y (Ali, not Aly etc)

do not use the apostrophe in eg Ba’ath

do not generally attempt to distinguish long and short vowels, but in common names with long vowels generally prefer ee to i (eg Rasheed rather than Rashid; Fedayeen, not Fedayin; Mujahideen); prefer ou to u or oo (eg Yousef, Mansour etc)

prefer q to k or kh (Rafiq, qat)

abu, abd, abdul, bin, bint: these are not self-contained names but words meaning “father of”, “slave of” etc. Usually lower case, except as the first word of a name, they attach to the name that follows and must not be separated, eg Abu Qatada remains Abu Qatada, Osama bin Laden becomes bin Laden)

Arab Spring cap for the uprisings at the start of 2011 in north Africa and the Middle East

arbitrate, arbitration do not confuse with mediate, mediation. An arbitrator hears evidence from different parties then hands down a decision; a mediator listens to the different arguments then tries to bring the parties to agreement

archaeologist, archaeology

archbishops

1. Anglican archbishops and diocesan or suffragan bishops in the UK: at first mention, the Archbishop of Barchester, the Most Rev John Smith; or the Bishop of Barchester, the Right Rev John Smith, or (if a doctor) the Bishop of Barchester, Dr John Smith; subsequent references, the archbishop or bishop (lower case), or Dr Smith (if so entitled), never Mr Smith.

2. The Archbishop of Canterbury is primate of All England, the Archbishop of York is primate of England.

3. Anglican bishops are consecrated, Roman Catholic bishops ordained.

4. Roman Catholic archbishops, at first mention: the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Rev John X, subsequent mentions Archbishop X or the archbishop; bishops, first mention the Roman Catholic Bishop of Plymouth, the Right Rev Christopher Y, thereafter Bishop Y or the bishop, unless he has a doctorate, when he is Dr Y; Anglican and Catholic archbishoprics carefully avoid overlap, but there is no reason readers should know this, so it may be helpful to spell out in this way at first mention which church is involved

arch-rival hyphenate in the sense of chief rival. For combinations using the prefix arch-, some will look better hyphenated while others can be a single word, eg archbishop

Argentine is the adjective; an Argentinian is a person from Argentina (never the Argentine)

Argyle for socks, jumpers and the Plymouth football club; Argyll for the Scottish county and its regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

armada cap in historical reference to Drake etc, otherwise lower case; try to avoid (or at least limit) imprecise use of this word: it means a fleet of armed ships, so strictly should not be applied to just any collection of boats or ships; flotilla might sometimes be a better word for what you want

Armageddon cap

armchair, deckchair no hyphens

armed forces, the lower case; also the services

Armistice Day is not the same as Remembrance Sunday (unless November 11 falls on a Sunday)

arm’s length as in “he was kept at arm’s length”; but hyphenate as a modifier, eg “the former partners now have an arm’s-length relationship”

army cap the British Army, if naming in full (but otherwise and thereafter the army, eg “he joined the army”; “government efforts to reform the army”); otherwise all lower case: the Belgian army, the Swiss army, the US army; always lower case when used adjectivally, eg an army helicopter, a British army tank, a Swiss army knife

A-road, B-road etc hyphenated

around do not use as an alternative to about

Arran Isle of, in the Firth of Clyde; but the Aran Islands (note one r) off Co Galway in western Ireland, and Aran Island (singular) off Co Donegal; and an Aran sweater etc

arrest rarely necessary to add “by the police”; an arrest made by anyone else is worth explaining. If, unusually, there is a good reason for specifying a particular squad or unit, then do so: he was arrested by the anti-terrorist squad, by officers investigating phone-hacking, by detectives from South Yorkshire police who had travelled to Spain etc

art deco artistic style/movement (see below), lower case seems fine, but use caps if needed for clarity

artefact do not use artifact

artiste not a word to use seriously; prefer entertainer, performer, singer, dancer etc

artistic knights with these, use only surname in their artistic contexts (eg Rattle conducted the Berlin Philharmonic with panache), but full title in news stories with, for example, political or social contexts (eg Sir Simon Rattle visited No 10 yesterday). Similarly, McKellen played Lear, but Sir Ian McKellen led the gay rights march

artistic movements/styles generally lower case for all period or stylistic designations — baroque, classical, neoclassical, rococo, modernist, minimalist, postmodern — except in the context of quite specific art historical discussion (of, eg an exhibition of German Expressionist painting) or where clarity is helped by a capital: the romantic movement, for instance, can usually be lower case like the rest, but there may be times when it matters that Romantic verse, as written by Byron or Keats, is not necessarily romantic verse, in which case use a cap for clarity

Arts and Crafts movement seems to need caps for clarity

as beware of sloppy use in sentences such as “They were moved out as the blast tore open the building”; what is meant is “after the blast …”. The sport headline “Martis makes crucial mistake as Mowbray’s men go down” wrongly suggests that the blunder by Shelton Martis, the West Bromwich Albion defender, was unconnected to his team’s relegation from the Premier League in May 2009. In fact, it was his error that led to a first Liverpool goal. After that, his team lost and went down to the Championship. Avoid having lots of headlines using “as”; ensure here as well as in copy that its precise meaning of “when” is retained. It is not a synonym for “before” or “after”

Ascendancy for clarity cap when referring to the landowning Protestant minority in Irish historical context

ascendant, ascendancy prefer to ascendent, ascendency

Asian while this is obviously an adjective pertaining to Asia, or a person from that continent, note that in Britain it can have a narrower officially sanctioned, although in some quarters controversial, meaning of a person who comes from, or whose parents came from, India, Pakistan or elsewhere in south Asia; be aware that using it in this way (especially in eg crime stories) may annoy British Asians of other backgrounds. In North America Asian is more likely to refer to people from China, Japan or elsewhere in east Asia

aside from do not use this Americanism. Write apart from

as of (with dates) prefer on, after or from to make clear what is meant

assassin, assassinate, assassination to be used only in the murder of a statesman or politician from a political motive; not to be used for the killing of general celebrities or others

assizes like quarter sessions, no longer function, having been replaced by the Crown Court

assure you assure your life; ensure means to make certain; you insure against risk

as to avoid in the sense of the much preferred about

asylum seeker no hyphen

at the present time, at this time use now; but avoid the phrase “as of now”

Atlantic (Ocean) North Atlantic, South Atlantic, but transatlantic

attendee ghastly word that there was no need to coin; avoid

attorney-general, solicitor-general both are hyphenated; they are law officers, not legal officers

aubrieta prefer to aubrietia and aubretia (named after Claude Aubriet). The genus, as per standard botanical style, is Aubrieta

auditor general lower case, no hyphen

Auntie not aunty as antique colloquialism for the BBC

autumn statement delivered by the chancellor, lower case

awards such as Baftas, Oscars etc should be lower case, eg best actor, best director. Also, note Academy award. See prize

awayday one word

Awol absent without leave, not AWOL

axing no middle e; but try to avoid in sense of cutting jobs, dismissal etc

ay (yes), aye (ever), Ayes (debate)


Bb (#ulink_fd0c163b-ee68-5846-a08c-435db9fbadef)

b (abbreviation for born), no full point, eg b 1906. Likewise d for died: d 1997

baby boomer (no hyphen) a person born in the postwar demographic baby boom (roughly 1946–64)

baby-walker

baccalaureate use anglicised spelling with lower case for general use, but cap in specific context of the International Baccalaureate, taken in some British schools; and note the specifically French examination or degree from which this derives, the Baccalauréat (italic, cap, accent, no final e)

backache, backbreaking but back pain

back benches (parliamentary) two words; but backbenchers, backbench (adjectival, as in backbench revolt)

back burner no hyphen, but be sparing of the cliché “on the back burner”, especially when context renders it idiotic (“Never put an explosive issue on the back burner”)

backlash overworked word; try to avoid

backstreet(s) noun or adjective, no hyphen; similarly, backyard

back-up noun, hyphenate

bacteria is the plural of bacterium. Bacteria and viruses are different and the terms are not interchangeable. Make sure the terminology is correct. Note that antibiotics are used to treat bacterial but not viral infections

bail out as in to bail someone out of trouble; also bail water from a boat; but bale out of an aircraft by parachute, to escape. NB bailout (one word, as noun)

bait see bated

balk not baulk

Balkans prefer to Balkan states. This region includes the former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, as well as Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece and the European part of Turkey

ball plural in Court Page headlines is dances

ballgown one word

balloted like benefited, budgeted etc, has only one t

Baltic states (lower case states) from north to south, and coincidentally in alphabetical order, they are Estonia (capital Tallinn), Latvia (capital Riga) and Lithuania (Vilnius). Do not use the abbreviated Baltics

bandana prefer to bandanna

B&B with caps and closed up around ampersand as abbreviation for bed and breakfast

banister not bannister

bank holiday bank holiday Monday etc, lower case

Bank of England retain cap for clarity in subsequent refs to the Bank

Bank of Mum and Dad

bankruptcy in Britain people file a petition for bankruptcy; they do not file for bankruptcy

baptistry prefer to baptistery

Bar, the (legal); also cap for the Bar (but not the bars) of the House of Commons and cap in military honours sense, eg DFC and Bar

barbecue, barbecuing barbeques should be confined to pub menus

barcode one word

bar mitzvah lower case, roman; also bat mitzvah for girls

barony pertains to barons (who are Lord X, never Baron X, except in the formal announcement that a title has been gazetted). Baronetcy to baronets (hereditary titles carrying the prefix Sir, eg Sir Fred Y. The Times does not usually use the Bt suffix except with obituaries). Knighthoods, which also use the title Sir, are not hereditary

baroque lower case like similar terms

barter to exchange one thing (or service) for another; not a synonym for bargain or haggle

basically greatly overworked word that rarely adds anything to a sentence. Always try to avoid

basis “on a … basis” is a cliché and to be avoided. For “employment on a part-time basis” say “part-time employment”. Other usages are similarly redundant (“on a regular basis” — “regularly”; “on a daily basis” — “daily”; “on a voluntary basis” — “voluntarily”, “willingly”, or “without pay”, depending on context; and so on)

Basle (Switzerland), not Basel or Bâle. But note, FC Basel, the football team, and Art Basel, the art fair

Basque country, the

bated/baited note the difference: bated breath; baited hook; bait as a verb is to persecute, tease or torment (as in bear baiting); bate is the verb to use of a tethered hawk beating its wings and trying to jump from its perch, should you have occasion to write about such a thing

battalion never batallion. Say the 1st Battalion, the 7th Battalion etc (not First, Seventh)

battle try to avoid using as a transitive verb as in “The students battled the police …”; use “fought” or “battled against” instead; be wary of using at all (along with similar language) in relation to illness (battle against cancer etc)

battle cry

battleship a heavily armoured warship of the largest type, with many large-calibre guns. Beware. Battleship is not synonymous with warship: eg cruisers and destroyers are warships but they are not battleships. Historically, a battleship (line-of-battle ship) was any warship of sufficient size and armament to take her place in the line of battle; in other words, a ship of the line

BBC no need to spell out as British Broadcasting Corporation, although “the corporation” is a useful alternative in text. Avoid “the Beeb” except, on rare occasions, in columns or commentaries . The BBC is an organisation fond of capitals. Most are unnecessary. BBC job titles, like any others, are lower case: controller, chairman, director-general, governor. So are BBC television and BBC radio and the BBC charter. The BBC Trust may be capped when there is a risk of ambiguity, but is generally lower case. Caps for the historic radio stations: the Light Programme, the Home Service and the Third Programme

BC See AD

be-all and end-all note hyphens

beanbag one word

Beatles, the no need to cap the unless at the start of a sentence; similarly the Clash, the Killers, the Rolling Stones, the Smiths, the Who etc (now even the The, should there ever be any need to refer to them again)

becquerel lower case for the radioactive unit, symbol is Bq

bedizened archaic but lovely word meaning dressed or decorated gaudily or tastelessly

Bedouin prefer to Beduin for the nomadic peoples of Middle Eastern and north African deserts

beg the question refers in logic to an informal fallacy whereby an argument assumes its own conclusion: eg “this usage is unattractive because it is ugly”; that sense seems worth preserving. More commonly used as just another (less good) way of saying “raise (or ask) the question”; some readers are (logically) annoyed by this

beleaguered a cliché, especially in a political context, so best avoided

Belfastnorth, south, east and west, lower case

bellringer, bellringing, belltower no hyphens

bellwether not bellweather

benchmark no hyphen

bendy bus two words

benefited not benefitted

benzene is a substance obtained from coal-tar; benzine is a spirit obtained from petroleum

Beretta a type of pistol favoured by James Bond, not to be confused with a biretta (not berretta), a hat worn by Catholic clergy

Bermudian not Bermudan; but Bermuda-rig to describe the most common configuration of sails on modern cruising and racing boats (a fore and aft rig with a tall triangular mainsail and single headsail)

Berne use the anglicised version of the Swiss capital’s name (not Bern)

berserk not beserk

Berwick-upon-Tweed the northernmost town in England. North Berwick is in Scotland

beseeched prefer to besought

best loved, best-loved etc ensure there is a hyphen if you mean a best-loved writer rather than a best loved writer

bestseller one word; likewise, bestselling

bête noire no longer italic; final e on noire; bugbear is a good English word that you might prefer

betting odds use a hyphen (16–1, 6–4 etc), not a slash (16/1). For odds-on, smaller figure comes first (1–2, 4–11 and so on). The higher the odds, the less likely something is; if the chances of something happening are raised, the odds are lowered. Not everyone understands odds as well as they think they do. If in doubt, consult the racing desk

bi- take care with this difficult prefix. Its correct use is in Latin compounds, where it has the force of two, not half, such as bicentenary/bicentennial (a two-hundredth anniversary), or biennial (recurring every two years). Biannual means twice a year; to avoid confusion, write out twice a year

biased

Bible cap and roman, not italic, in the religious context; but biblical (lower case); biblical references thus: II Corinthians ii, 2; Luke iv, 5. Write bible (lower case) in a metaphorical sense, eg “For many, Vogue is the fashion bible”

Bible belt

biceps, triceps same form for the singular and the plural of these muscles

bid prefer not to use in text as synonym of effort, attempt or try, although it may be used sparingly in headlines in this sense

big bang lower case for the event postulated by cosmological theory relating to the beginnings of the universe (lower case); note big-bang theory (hyphen as modifier). But Big Bang (caps) to distinguish the modernisation of the London Stock Exchange in October 1986

bight is a curve in a coastline or river; bite involves teeth; bytes are units of digital information in computing. Do not confuse

Big Society, the philosophy of community involvement once espoused by the Conservatives under David Cameron

Bill and Act caps only when fully identified or when clarity demands

billion one thousand million, not a million million. Write £5 billion, £15 billion (£5bn, £15bn in headlines), three billion, 15 billion etc

bin Laden, Osama note lower case “bin”, except where it is the first word of a headline or sentence. Avoid the “Mr” designation, as with Saddam Hussein etc. The organisation founded by bin Laden is al-Qaeda (not al-Qaida). Bin Laden was killed in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the early hours of Monday, May 2, 2011 (time differences mean it was still May 1 in Washington and London)

bin liner

biological terms with Latin terms, cap letter for first (genus) word, then lower case for the second (species); and italicise for all but the most common, eg Turdus merula, the blackbird

birds cap proper nouns or adjectives derived from them in names of species: Arctic skua, Montagu’s harrier, Cetti’s warbler, Slavonian grebe, etc

Biro is a trade name and misuse is aggressively policed, so cap; generic alternative is ballpoint pen

birthday people and animals have birthdays; everything else has anniversaries. Write 33rd birthday, 65th birthday etc (any number higher than tenth)

birthrate, birthright, birthplace no hyphens; but birth control, birth certificate etc

bisexual pronounshe and his can no longer refer to both sexes equally; he or she will sometimes do. Always be sensitive in this contentious area. It is often easier to use the plural they, for he or she, and sometimes even the ugly their for his or her. Do this only when necessary. Do not, for instance, write “one of the Chelsea players threw their shirt into the crowd”, or “each nun has their own list of tasks” — the sex of those involved in both cases is quite clear and should be stated

bishops once consecrated they are bishops for life unless defrocked; retirement from a see does not make anyone “a former bishop”

bit abbreviate to b; thus kilobit (kb), megabit (Mb) etc

bite (as with teeth) must not be confused with the computing term byte or the geographical bight

blacklist one word as noun or verb

blackout noun, one word

black (people), lower case; do not use “non-white” or “coloured” — and never “immigrants” (which many are not). Unless you want to evoke South Africa under apartheid, prefer “black people” to “blacks”. Be sensitive to local usage: African-American is now standard usage in the United States, for instance, while Afro-Caribbean (or African-Caribbean) and Black British are widely used in the UK. See also coloureds, race

blackspot (accident, unemployment etc), one word; similarly, troublespot, hotspot

blame take care with this word; blame is attached to causes, not effects. So say “Bad weather is blamed for my bronchitis”, NOT “My bronchitis is blamed on bad weather”

bloc use in context such as the former Soviet bloc, a power bloc etc; but block vote

blond (noun and adjective) for men, blonde for women; but all should have blond hair

blood groups write, eg O negative (no hyphen)

bloodied but unbowed, a cliché best avoided, but written thus if used; but red-blooded etc

blood sports two words; similarly field sports, motor sports

bloody mary lower case for the cocktail of tomato juice and vodka

blowsy prefer to blowzy

blue lower case for an Oxbridge sportsman or woman and for the award itself

blue-chip hyphen as modifier, eg a blue-chip company

blue-collar workers as white-collar workers

blueprint avoid this greatly overworked word when all you mean is plan, scheme or proposal

bluetongue one word for the notifiable disease afflicting ruminants

bluffers be very cautious. The Bluffer’s Guide/Guides are trademarks, rigorously protected by their publishers. So generic phrases such as “a bluffer’s guide to …” must be avoided

Blu-Tack proprietary so must cap

boat is generally used of a small vessel, including fishing boats up to the size of a trawler; a ship is a large seagoing vessel big enough to carry smaller boats. In the Royal Navy, submarines are called boats. All take the pronoun she and the possessive her

Boat Race caps for the annual Oxford-Cambridge race on the Thames

Bobcat should not be used in a generic sense as a description of skid-steer loaders or other equipment

Boche derogatory slang for Germans; Bosch, the household appliance or power tools manufacturer

bodyline one word, no quotes for the cricketing tactic; use lower case in general usage such as bodyline bowling but cap for the Bodyline tour (of the 1932–33 Ashes)

boffin avoid as a synonym of scientist, except ironically or in direct quotes

Bogart, Humphrey but (Sir) Dirk Bogarde

bogey (golf, plural bogeys); bogie (wheels); bogy (ghost); but note bogeyman

Bohemia, Bohemian cap only in specific reference to the geographical entity but lower case bohemia, bohemian metaphorically

Bolshevik

bolshie lower case for rebellious; cap in (derogatory) political context

bolt hole two words

bombscar bomb, fire bomb, nail bomb, petrol bomb, suicide bomb etc; but hyphenate verbal or adjectival use, eg to fire-bomb, a nail-bomb attack

bombshell in metaphorical use, as in “drop a bombshell”, is a cliché. Avoid

bonanza another greatly overworked word that should be avoided wherever possible

Bonfire Night initial caps; see Guy Fawkes Night

Book of Common Prayer, the roman

bookshop

boom overused word

Boötes pronunciation requires a diaeresis on the name of the constellation, should you ever have to refer to it

border lower case, even the one between England and Scotland (north of the border); cap the (Scottish) Borders; remember that the border is not marked by Hadrian’s Wall

bored with/by not of

-born normally prefer to use nationality, rather than country, eg English-born, but there are exceptions, eg Singapore-born; for counties, cities etc, normally use the noun, eg London-born, Manchester-born, Dorset-born, but again there are exceptions, eg Cornish-born

born/borne the second is what you want except when writing about birth. Something to be borne in mind; a theory borne out by the facts; an initiative (or a tree) that has borne fruit; shame borne in silence etc

borstals no longer exist; they are now young offender institutions

bortsch Russian or Polish soup

Bosphorus a strait, not a river

Botox trade name, so must cap

bow tie no hyphen

box office as noun, two words; but hyphenate when adjectival (eg box-office success)

box setsboxed sets may be more logical for the collections of CDs, DVDs etc, but no one says it; we must concede defeat

boy band two words. Note also girl band

boyfriend, girlfriend

boy’s own as generic phrase, lower case and roman; but the old publication was called The Boy’s Own Paper

braille lower case

brainchild try to avoid this cliché

branch in police context, eg special branch, anti-terrorist branch, lower case unless there is any risk of confusion

breakthrough avoid describing every bit of medical and scientific progress as a breakthrough — “a significant development or discovery, especially in science”. It isn’t

breakout, breakdown (as noun, each one word); but to break out etc, and break-up (hyphenate as noun)

breastfeed(ing) no longer use hyphen

breaststroke no longer hyphenate the swimming discipline

Breathalyser (cap, proprietary), but to breathalyse (lower case, generic)

breathtaking no hyphen

breech birth

brevity Verbosity clouds meaning. Brevity is a virtue, in phrases, sentences, whole passages of writing. Even in words. Use short rather than long ones if you can: “be” rather than “exist”, “go” rather than “proceed”, “know” rather than “comprehend”, “do” rather than “perform”, “execute” or “carry out”. Whenever you write a long word, consider a short one instead. When you write a long sentence or paragraph, ask yourself why

Bric Brazil, Russia, India and China collectively, all relatively fast-growing developing economies; thus, eg the Bric countries. (The financial wizards who coined Bric are also responsible for Mint: Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. Mercifully, perhaps, this has yet to gain quite the same currency in the wider world; if it has to be used at all, it should be explained)

bridges cap as in Severn Bridge, London Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge

Britain is now widely used as another name for the United Kingdom or Great Britain, and pragmatically we accept this usage. Strictly, Great Britain = England, Wales, Scotland and islands governed from the mainland (ie not Isle of Man or Channel Islands); United Kingdom = Great Britain and Northern Ireland; British Isles = United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands

British Overseas Territory eg Anguilla; Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory; British Indian Ocean Territory; British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Pitcairn Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Turks & Caicos Islands. Note that they may have a premier rather than a prime minister, so always check

Britpop not Brit Pop; and Britart

Broadmoor inmates are patients, not prisoners, as it is a hospital

broadsheet retains some currency as a way to describe the serious British press, even though most British newspapers are now of a smaller format (tabloid, or compact; Berliner etc). Quality, serious or (at a pinch) upmarket may be used as appropriate synonyms

Brobdingnagian cap. Huge, immense, unnaturally large; from Brobdingnag, the imagined land of giants in Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels; use sparingly, for colour and rhetorical force, eg “a politician with a truly Brobdingnagian ego”

brownfield, greenfield as in building sites. But note green belt (two words)

brownie points lower case

Brummie (not Brummy), Geordie, Scouse etc, people and dialect, all capped

Brylcreem

BSE bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow (no need for quotes) disease. See mad cow disease

buddleia thus. Buddleja (cap, note j) is the scientific spelling, after Linnaeus, for the genus of shrubs known commonly as butterfly bush, but despite that, Collins and Oxford dictionaries give buddleia (lower case, note i) as the common spelling, and that is what we must use. See wisteria (what is it with botanists?)

budget lower case; the budget, Philip Hammond’s budget, budget day; also note pre-budget report and autumn statement (lower case)

buffalo plural buffaloes

Buggins’s turn awkward, perhaps, but consistent with Times style of such possessives

buglers, trumpeters cavalry regiments have trumpeters, infantry regiments have buglers. They are not interchangeable

builder’s merchant(s) as in shepherd’s pies, the apostrophe does not move in the plural

bulletproof adjective or verb, one word

bullion is gold or silver in unminted form

bull-mastiff, bull-terrier

bullring, bullfight(er)

bullseye

bumf prefer to bumph

bunga-bunga lower case, hyphen, eg in the context of sexually charged déshabillé partying linked to Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister. The derivation is uncertain and theories abound, including genuine African origins, a Fascist colonialist-racist construct or a word given to Mr Berlusconi via Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the deceased Libyan leader

bungee jumping no hyphen

bureau plural bureaux or bureaus depending on context; eg bureaux de change, Citizens Advice Bureaux; but prefer bureaus for writing desks and distant newspaper offices

burka prefer to burqa for the long, enveloping garment worn by Muslim women in public. The niqab is the piece of cloth that they use to cover the face. The hijab is a covering for the hair and neck

Burma not Myanmar (except in direct quotes); the inhabitants are Burmese, while Burmans are a Burmese people

Burns Night (caps, no apostrophe) falls on January 25

burnt not burned

Burton upon Trent no hyphens; and note the colloquial gone for a burton (lower case)

bus, buses noun; but in verbal use, busses, bussed, bussing

Bush, George W do not use Jr. Refer to him subsequently as Mr Bush or the former president. Refer to his father as the first President Bush or George Bush Sr

“businesses that depend on water” beware this and similar phrases. All businesses depend on water to some extent; some businesses, eg farms, are especially dependent on water

But there is no grammatical rule to prevent it starting a sentence; even Fowler describes this as a superstition. Be aware, however, that there are readers (and editors) who dislike it, and that it is easily overdone. Be sure, in any case, that “but” is the word you want; it often seems to be used to add a note of spurious drama where all that is meant is “and”

buyout and buyback one word as nouns; but prefer buy-in, take-off, shake-out, shake-up, sell-off, sell-out etc with hyphens, wherever the composite noun looks hideous

buzzword one word

by-election

bylaw

bypass noun or verb

by-product

bystander

byte (abbreviate as B) is a computer term for a small collection of bits (binary digits), roughly equivalent to one character. Do not confuse with bite (as with teeth). But note soundbite

Byzantine cap in historical context (art, architecture, empire); lower case in general use (complexities etc)


Cc (#ulink_298f3da0-a009-5930-ae28-38e5b5e6de63)

cabbie (not cabby) as colloquialism for taxi driver

cabinet lower case in both British and foreign use, whether used as a noun or adjectivally, except (rarely) if a cap seems absolutely necessary to avoid confusion. Note Cabinet Office, but cabinet secretary (or secretary of the cabinet), war cabinet. All cabinet committees should be lower case, eg the cabinet committee on science and technology

Caernarfon (town and parliamentary constituency, no longer Caernarvon), but Lord Carnarvon

caesarean section lower case. Babies are delivered, not born, by this surgery

café with accent

caffeine prefer to caffein

cagoule but kaftan

call centre noun, two words; hyphen as adjective, eg call-centre manager

call-up (noun), but to call up

camaraderie not cameraderie

Cambridge, University of colleges and halls are: Christ’s College; Churchill College; Clare College; Clare Hall; Corpus Christi College; Darwin College; Downing College; Emmanuel College; Fitzwilliam College; Girton College; Gonville and Caius College; Homerton College; Hughes Hall; Jesus College; King’s College; Lucy Cavendish College; Magdalene College; Murray Edwards College (formerly known as New Hall); Newnham College; Pembroke College; Peterhouse; Queens’ College; Robinson College; St Catharine’s College; St Edmund’s College; St John’s College; Selwyn College; Sidney Sussex College; Trinity College; Trinity Hall; Wolfson College

came as or comes as overused device that links, or tries to link, two loosely related bits of news within a single story (“The announcement of the rise in interest rates came as demonstrators took to the streets”); often smacks of desperation

camellia not camelia

camomile prefer to chamomile

Canada nationally there is a prime minister; in the provinces there are premiers

Canadians are rightly annoyed when they are designated as Americans. Beware. Among prominent Canadians are Paul Anka, kd lang, Joni Mitchell, Donald Sutherland, Neil Young etc etc

canal boats do not use the term “barge” indiscriminately; barges are towed, unpowered boats for transporting cargo. Use the term narrow boats for the boats on the narrow 7ft-wide canals, or canal boats for wider vessels on wider canals. If in doubt, use canal boat (never canal barge)

canapé accent

cancer take care not to describe cancer as “the biggest killer” in the UK. Heart disease is. Beware of writing about cancer in terms of battles, fights, brave struggles etc: such language can imply a lack of strength or effort or will on the part of others who succumb to the disease; this rightly upsets and offends

cannon (military) same form for singular and plural; but canons (ecclesiastical, both churchmen and church laws), and canon as a collection/list of an author

Canute prefer the traditional spelling to the more historically authentic Cnut, if only to mitigate the consequences of careless typing. Remember that his intention on the seashore was to demonstrate the worthlessness of temporal power; he knew he was going to get wet

canvas (as in painting); plural is canvases; canvasses with central ss is of the verb “to canvass” (ie polling)

CAP all caps for clarity; when spelt out is lower case common agricultural policy; similarly, common fisheries policy (CFP)

cap and trade noun; adjectivally hyphenate, eg a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions

capitalisation too many capital letters are ugly and distracting. Capitals are often unnecessary. Try to avoid them unless to do so causes confusion or looks absurd. There will always be room for discretion and common sense, and clarity is more important than consistency, but if in doubt use lower case. Do not use capitals to indicate importance or (with some rare, specified exceptions) as a mark of respect. Avoid especially what the 1959 edition of this guide called the “local interest” capital: “the Canteen of the works journal, the Umpire of the laws of cricket, the Directors of the company prospectus, the Village Hall of the parish magazine”.

The following guidance sets out some general principles. See also under individual alphabetical entries.

Job descriptions, titles and names

Almost all job descriptions should be lower case. This includes all company chairmen, vice-presidents, managing directors, chief executive officers, general secretaries, ambassadors, editors etc.

There are, however, some (not many) job descriptions that are also titles, ie that are commonly (and formally) used in conjunction with the proper name of the person holding the position in question. These take a capital when used as titles in front of the name but lower case at all other times. So, for instance, we would refer to President Trump but to Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States. We would refer to President Putin but to the Russian president’s influence on the world. We would refer to Professor Jones, but to the professor’s latest book.

In British usage political job descriptions are not generally attached to names as titles in this way. We do not refer to Prime Minister May, or to Chancellor of the Exchequer Hammond or to Foreign Secretary Johnson. These should all, therefore, be lower case at all times. Theresa May, the prime minister; Philip Hammond, the chancellor of the exchequer; Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary. Similarly the secretary of state for defence, the permanent secretary, the shadow chancellor, the cabinet secretary, the leader of the opposition, the minister of state for policing, criminal justice and victims at the Home Office. This may seem unsettling at first, but it is clearer and more consistent than any of the other options. The Speaker is a rare exception, as clarity seems to demand a cap (a deputy speaker remains lower case, however, as there is no risk of comparable confusion); be prepared to consider similar exceptions as they arise; do not pursue consistency at the expense of clarity or common sense.

The titles of ecclesiastical dignitaries may be said to describe a position or job, but they also name an individual holder of that position (even when no surname is given), and they may be attached as titles in front of a name (as political or other job titles in British usage are not). As a courtesy, they take a capital letter when used as names (which in practice will generally be at first mention); subsequent references are lower case; in this they are treated in the same way as aristocratic titles (see below) rather than, eg political jobs. This may be slightly anomalous, but it is probably what most Times readers expect, even in a secular age. So, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or Archbishop Welby, but then the archbishop; the Bishop of London, or Bishop Chartres, then the bishop; the Dean of St Paul’s, or Dean Inge, subsequently the dean; the Archdeacon of Barchester, or Archdeacon Grantly, then the archdeacon. Lower case when referring not to the individual but generally to holders of the office: future archbishops of Canterbury, the role of dean of Westminster, the first woman bishop of Gloucester etc.

Royalty etc The Queen, exceptionally, and as a courtesy, remains the Queen (upper case) at subsequent mentions, whenever the individual monarch is intended (likewise in historical stories referring to the reigning monarch of the day). There is no need for other monarchs or for senior members of the royal family to have capitals at all times; so, treat in the same way as senior clergy: the King of Spain, then the king; the Duke of Edinburgh, then the duke; the Prince of Wales, or Prince Charles, then the prince; the Duke of Cambridge, then the duke; Prince Harry, then the prince. The courtesy of a capital at all times is also extended to the Pope, whenever the individual pontiff is intended. When referring to the position of queen or pope rather than the person, use lower case: “the Queen (or Queen Elizabeth II) has had an impressive reign, which any future queen will struggle to match”; “the Pope (or Pope Francis) is the first pope to come from Latin America”.

Aristocrats The Duke of Wherever is thus at first mention; subsequently the duke; never Lord W. Other aristocrats take a capital when named in full: the Marquess of X; Viscount Y; the Earl of Z; at subsequent references all normally become Lord X, Y, Z (although the marquess, the viscount, the earl etc would be acceptable for occasional variety). Lower case when not naming individuals: an earlier marquess of Bath, future earls of Oxford, the seat of the dukes of Devonshire etc.

Similarly with military ranks, General Jackson would usually remain General Jackson at subsequent mentions, but the general might be used if variety seems necessary.

Police ranks are capped when attached to names: Chief Inspector Morse etc; subsequently the chief inspector or Mr Morse; chief constable, like prime minister, is not generally used with a name. We don’t say Chief Constable Jones, it remains lower case: Mr Jones, the chief constable; the chief constable of Merseyside etc.

With few exceptions, such as those indicated, resist using capitals to indicate the dignity or supposed dignity of a position.

Government departments etc The names of specific government departments and other significant national or international bodies or organisations are upper case when the full name is used (the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Education, the European Commission, the Law Society, the Football Association, the Independent Press Standards Organisation) but otherwise (or subsequently) lower case: the ministry, the education department, the commission, the regulator etc. The Home Office, the Foreign Office, the Cabinet Office, the Treasury remain upper case. All committees, etc, are lower case. In local government, generally upper case only for the name of the place: Norwich city council, West Somerset rural district council planning department (if such a thing exists).

Political terms in general Government, parliament, administration and cabinet are always lower case except when used as part of an official title, such as Government House, Houses of Parliament, Her Majesty’s Government or the Cabinet Office. The opposition is likewise lower case; there is some risk of ambiguity, but context will usually make quite clear what is meant. (Her Majesty’s Opposition, like Her Majesty’s Government, would be upper case if for some reason used.) Also lower case for all references to the state (except in naming, eg the US State Department): a state visit, the state opening of parliament, church and state. The word party is upper case where it it integral to the title: thus Labour Party, Conservative Party, Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) and United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip). Similarly in the case of foreign parties where the equivalent word is integral to the title: Popular Party (Partido Popular of Spain), Workers’ Party, Freedom Party etc.

Terms derived from proper names There are grey areas here and common sense is required.

As a general principle, with terms derived from the names of people (or peoples), the closer the connection with the proper name, the more likely it is to be upper case. Christian values, Thatcherite Tories, Homeric epithets and Marxist academics, for instance, all depend for their significance on the proper noun from which they derive; without knowing something of Christ, Margaret Thatcher, Homer or Karl Marx, we will not understand what is meant. When we talk of spartan conditions, herculean tasks, gargantuan appetites and quixotic acts, however, we are using words which have become common adjectives; they denote familiar attributes, and their meaning may be understood by people who know nothing of Greek history or myth, and who have never read Rabelais or Cervantes.

It will often be difficult to draw such a neat distinction, however. In such cases, rather than waste time worrying over how close the connection may be between a word and the person or place to which it refers, consider what is likely to seem more natural to the reader. This is an area in which our general preference for lower case may have to be qualified. Because we are so used to seeing them capped, the names of people and places (and the proper adjectives derived from them) tend often simply to look wrong when lower case.

For examples see the lists under food and drink, animals and birds, dogs, cheeses, wines etc. They are not exhaustive. They undoubtedly contain some expressions where the capital letter may seem otiose; the question to ask then is whether the needless capital in those phrases is more irritating than a missing capital would be in the rest.

God Cap when referring to the deity of monotheistic religions. No need for he, his, him to take cap unless there is a risk of confusion. Where there are many gods, use lower case, as in the Greek gods (or eg the Greek god of war).

When spelling out capitalised abbreviations such as CAP (common agricultural policy) use lower case.

Compass points and other terms indicating location except in proper place names, these are now generally lower case: east London, central London, west Africa, eastern Europe etc. See entries below

capsize is spelt thus. See -ise, -isation

captions are often read before the reports to which they relate. They need to make sense on their own, and to explain as much of the story as space allows. It is surprising how often this basic journalistic principle is overlooked. They should be clear, informative and, where appropriate, witty; they should make the reader want to go on to read the story. What they must not be is pointless or dull. Do not state the obvious. Readers can see the photograph for themselves; there is no need to describe what it quite clearly shows; say something useful or interesting about it instead. Dismal local-paper caption clichés — sharing a joke, in happier times etc — are banned.

Style in captions When a caption covers two or more images it should start with the main one. When space is tight, especially on single-column “mugshots”, the name may be just the surname, even when the person is titled, eg Sir Marcus Fox would be simply Fox, as in headlines. Where women are photographed be sensitive: readers complain about our omitting the Christian name, especially in court cases where the woman is the victim. Where possible give the woman’s full name, although this is not a hard-and-fast ruling.

When identifying faces with left and right etc, use commas rather than brackets (eg Fred Smith, left, and his wife, Jean, leaving the court); make the identification in the caption fit the sequence of faces (left to right) in the photograph. Words such as “pictured” and “inset” should be redundant. Note that, as in text, double quotation marks are used in captions, including narrow-measure captions next to narrow-measure illustrations. Don’t tie yourself in knots trying to link lots of pictures in a single caption of continuous prose; if it can be done, and done elegantly, so much the better; if not, opt for clarity instead and link separate caption elements with semi-colons

carabiniere (lower case), an Italian police officer; plural carabinieri

carat a measure of purity in gold (24-carat is 100 per cent); in precious stones and pearls, a measure of weight. The international carat is standardised at 200mg (0.2g; about 7/1000th of an ounce)

car boot sale no hyphen

carcass

cardholder

cardiac arrest not synonymous with heart attack; check which is meant, and do not change one to the other

careen to sway or cause to sway dangerously over to one side; too often confused with career, to move swiftly along, rush in an uncontrolled way

care home company etc no need to hyphenate

cargo prefer cargos as the plural

carmaker one word

car park two words; multistorey car park

carpetbagger one word

case was “an overworked word” in the 1959 edition of this guide; it still is

cashcard in general sense; cashflow, cashback

cash for honours, cash for peerages no need for quotes for these two phrases; but they do need hyphens when adjectival, eg the cash-for-honours inquiry, the cash-for-peerages affair

Cashpoint is Lloyds Bank’s trademarked cash machine system, so takes the cap and must not be used generically; in the general sense, use cash dispenser or cash machine, or less formally, hole in the wall

Castilian (castellano) is the standard spoken and literary Spanish of Spain; Catalan is the distinct language of Catalonia

casualties be cautious in use of early and unconfirmed estimates of casualties in instances of terrorism, militia gunfights or disasters. Give the estimate’s source where possible, and be aware of politically inspired exaggeration

catapult not catapault

Catch-22 there is a hyphen in the title of Joseph Heller’s 1961 satirical novel; avoid altogether the grossly overworked cliché Catch-22 situation

catchphrase one word

cathedrals cap when giving the full name, eg St Paul’s Cathedral, Wells Cathedral; similarly the names of churches, eg St Mary’s Church, Ely, unless we know that the church name specifically excludes it, eg St Stephen’s, Ely

Catherine one of those names that should always be checked: Catharine, Katherine, Katharine, Kathryn etc are all possible. cf Alistair

Catholic in church context, say Roman Catholic at first mention if necessary to make clear that this is what is meant. Eg if there could be confusion with Eastern rite churches or with those Anglicans who call themselves Catholic. Otherwise, if context is clear, just say Catholic

CAT scan to avoid confusion, exceptionally keep caps in this acronym; not Cat scan

cat’s eyes should preferably be called reflecting roadstuds. Catseye is a trademark

caviar no final e

CBI no need to spell out as Confederation of British Industry

ceasefire

ceilidh social gathering (Highland)

Cellophane is proprietary, so cap

celsius, centigrade use either term. In news stories use centigrade first then fahrenheit in brackets at first mention, eg “The temperature rose to 16C (61F).” Take great care with conversions, which often seem to go wrong

census lower case even in specific cases, such as the 1901 census, the 2001 census

centenarian also septuagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian

centenaries use centenary, bicentenary, tercentenary; after that, say four-hundredth anniversary or five-hundredth anniversary

central Europe with lower case c; also central London etc; likewise northern Europe, southern Europe. Use lower case also for eastern and western Europe except in historical context of the Cold War, but Central America needs cap for clarity

centre, the as with (the) left and (the) right, use lower case in political context unless clarity demands a cap. Similarly for compound nouns, the centre left, the centre right, and for adjectives, a centre-left politician with a rightwing policy

Centre Court at Wimbledon upper case; likewise No 1 Court, No 14 Court etc

centrepiece no hyphen

centring but centering of arches in bridge-building

centuries the style is the 3rd century BC, the 9th century, the 18th century etc; and adjectivally with the hyphen, eg 20th-century architecture

Ceylon the former name for Sri Lanka. The people are Sri Lankan, the majority group are the Sinhalese

cha-cha-cha not cha-cha

chainsaw one word

chair do not refer to anyone as a “the chair of” anything, unless in a direct quote. Neither must you use “chairperson”. A man must be referred to as a chairman and a woman as a chairwoman. Even if a person’s official title is “chair of …” use chairman or chairwoman (lower case). This is not sexist, it is simply a preference for calling things (and people) by their names, and a reluctance to allow ugly and unnecessary jargon to replace perfectly good words. A professor may, however, be said to hold the chair of theoretical physics, or whatever; a person can chair (used as a verb) a committee; and questions can be put through the chair (which is the office held). Similarly, write spokesman or spokeswoman. If the gender of the person is not clear, write spokesman

chaise longue two words, no hyphen; plural chaises longues (s on both words)

chamber (lower case) of the House of Commons

champagne lower case, because we use it as an English common noun rather than a French proper name. Use only, however, for the product of the Champagne region of France, to which its proper application is restricted by law; otherwise write, eg Russian sparkling wine. The champagne producers protect their name rigorously. See wines

Champions League (European football), no apostrophe

chancellor of the exchequer lower case

changeable

Changing the Guard not … of the Guard

Channel, the upper case. Generally, no need to write “the English Channel” for the body of water between England and France

Channel tunnel lower case tunnel, unless there is some possibility of confusion; also, Channel tunnel rail link

Chanukkah prefer this to variants such as Hanukkah etc, for the Jewish festival of lights

chaos overused, and often hyperbole; confusion, disorder, upheaval, turmoil, disarray: say what is meant

charge that an Americanism, never to be used as a synonym of allege that

charisma has become a boring cliché; try to find an alternative such as presence, inspiration etc

charters (as in John Major’s now forgotten initiative) lower case

château plural châteaux

Chatham House rule, the strictly speaking just the one, so don’t write Chatham House rules. It says that information disclosed at a meeting may be used or reported by those present on condition that neither the source nor anyone else attending is identified

chat room two words, but chatline one

chat show, game show, quiz show, talk show etc no hyphens when used as noun or when adjectival, eg chat show host; note also chatline, sexline

cheap goods are cheap, prices are low

check-in (noun) but check in (verb)

checklist, checkout counter note also checkup (noun); check up (verb)

cheerleader one word

cheeses we tried making these all lower case. It worked, but it always seemed a triumph of consistency over common sense. Readers are used in most contexts to seeing capital letters at the start of proper nouns and adjectives, especially place names. So that is what we should do. Wensleydale, Lancashire, Red Leicester, Cheshire and their foreign equivalents simply seem more natural than the lower case alternative. This will give us a few more capital letters in the paper than we might like, but for it to become a problem, we would have to write about cheeses a lot more often than we do. Exceptions are made for cheddar and brie, which are almost universally treated as common nouns (Canadian cheddar, Irish cheddar, Somerset brie). See foodstuffs

chequebook one word, either as noun or adjective (eg chequebook journalism)

chi prefer to qi for the vital energy in oriental medicine, martial arts etc believed to circulate around the body in currents

chickenpox no hyphen; similarly smallpox

chief constable lower case, the chief constable of Lancashire or the chief constable. Do not write, eg the chief constable of West Midlands police, but simply the chief constable of the West Midlands

chief inspector of prisons/schools also chief medical officer

chief of the defence staff is the professional head of the British armed forces and the principal military adviser to the defence secretary and the government; the chief of the general staff is the professional head of the British army

chief petty officer is an NCO (non-commissioned officer) in the Royal Navy, not an officer

Chief Rabbi cap at first mention when naming the individual, then the chief rabbi or refer to as Rabbi X or Lord Y (like the Archbishop of Canterbury). See capitalisation (titles of ecclesiastical dignitaries)

chief whip lower case

child access, child custody do not use these terms regarding divorce unless in direct quotes and from lay people. Under the Children Act 1989 children are given residence with one parent and the other in disputed cases has contact. Put more simply, children live with one parent and the other is allowed to see them

childcare as healthcare

childminder one word

child pornography/child porn never use these terms, except in direct quotes. Use instead internet child sex abuse, sex abuse images, or similar

children’s names generally for under-18s, write eg John Jones at first mention and then simply John at second mention

child-sex abusers/offenders use hyphen

chilli (plural chillies) prefer to chili

chill out two words as verb; one word as noun or adjective

chimera prefer to chimaera

chimpanzees are apes, not monkeys

Chinese cap C in idioms such as Chinese whispers, Chinese walls

Chinese names use the Pinyin rather than the traditional Wade-Giles, so write Beijing, Mao Zedong (though Chairman Mao or just Mao are acceptable), Zhou Enlai etc. Normal style is to place family name first, then given name, so that the actress Zhang Zivi, for instance, becomes Zhang at second mention. For place names, follow The Times Atlas of the World except where older usage is well established, eg the special administrative regions Hong Kong (not Xianggang) and Macau (not Aomen); and the autonomous regions Tibet (not Xizang) and Inner Mongolia (not Neimengu)

chip and PIN no hyphen as a noun or adjectivally

chocoholic but shopaholic and workaholic

chopper, copter not to be used as substitutes for helicopter, even in headlines

Christ discourage use as a casual exclamation or expletive; it offends many readers

Christ Church (the Oxford college), two words, thus, and never Christ Church College

Christchurch in Dorset and New Zealand

christened Christians are christened; ships, trains and people not known to be Christians are named

Christian, Christianityunchristian, non-Christian, antichristian, Antichrist

Christian Democrat cap when referring to specific European parties for both noun and adjective, as in Christian Democrat MP

Christian names take care in context of non-Christians; in such cases use forename or first name

Christian terms mostly lower case when possible but cap eg the Bible, the (Ten) Commandments, the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, Mass, Holy Communion (and simply Communion), Eucharist, Blessed Sacrament, Advent, Nativity (also cap adjectival Advent calendar, Nativity play), the Scriptures; also when naming the persons of the Trinity, God (the Father), Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit; but then follow the Vatican and Lambeth Palace in using lower case for he/his except where clarity demands a cap (“Isaiah looks forward to God rescuing His people”, ie God’s, not Isaiah’s). Cap the names of books of the Bible: the Book of Revelation, Acts of the Apostles, the Gospel of (or According to) Matthew; but generally lower case for the apostles, the disciples, gospel, the gospels. Use lower case for evensong, matins. There are columnists and feature writers who like to use eg God, Christ and Jesus as harmless exclamations or mild expletives; they should know that this offends many Times readers

Christmas Day, Christmas Eve seem to need caps

church cap in names — the Church of England, St James’s Church, Piccadilly etc — but otherwise only if absolutely necessary to distinguish an institution from a building (“the Church is often said to be in terminal decline, but the church I attended on Sunday was absolutely packed”). Context will usually suffice to make clear which is meant, so lower case should be possible more often than not

Church in Wales not Church of Wales for the disestablished Anglican church once headed by Dr Rowan Williams

churchwarden one word

cinemagoer as concertgoer, operagoer, theatregoer etc

cipher not cypher

circa abbreviate simply as c (roman) followed by a space

City of London the City, City prices

civil list (lower case unless clarity demands caps) has been replaced by the sovereign grant (also lower case unless clarity demands caps)

civil partnership commonly referred to as gay marriage before gay marriage became legal. A suggested shorthand for headings is civil union

civil service, also civil servants lower case as a noun unless clarity demands a cap. Otherwise lower case in adjectival use, eg a civil service memorandum. Lower case for the administrative grade, ie permanent secretary, deputy secretary and assistant secretary, when used as part of the full title; thus, Sir Alfred Beach, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence

civil war generally lower case but by convention cap the English Civil War and the American Civil War

claim do not use when simply said or declared would do. The word carries a suspicion of incredulity. Also, avoid the loose construction in sentences such as “The firm launched a drink which is claimed to promote learning ability”. This should read “… a drink which, it is claimed, promotes learning ability”. Do not allow terrorists to “claim responsibility” for their crimes

claims and facts remember to distinguish between a claim and a fact, particularly in headlines/standfirsts. Witnesses to rioting telling amid confusion of up to 600 people dead did not justify an unequivocal standfirst death toll of 600; if claims are made, say who is making them

clamour, clamouring but clamorous

clampdown not banned, but use as little as possible

Clapham Junction is not Clapham. It is not even in Clapham. They are separate places and their names are not interchangeable. Clapham is in the London Borough of Lambeth; Clapham Junction is in the Battersea part of Wandsworth. A reader helpfully noted, at the time of the London riots in August 2011: “The Victorians are responsible for the confusion that has persisted for generations. When they opened their large interchange station in 1863 they designated it Clapham Junction because that district was then much more genteel than working-class Battersea”

clarinettist

Class A, B or C drugs (cap C)

clichés and hype We are lucky to have intelligent and sophisticated readers. They buy The Times to avoid the hype and the stale words and phrases peddled by some other papers. Words such as shock, bombshell, crisis, scandal, sensational, controversial, desperate, dramatic, fury, panic, chaos etc are too often ways of telling the readers what to think. Let them decide for themselves.

Any list of proscribed formulas is soon out of date, as old clichés give way to new. There may be nothing inherently wrong with the words or phrases themselves. They gain currency in the first place because they seem vivid, amusing, fresh. Soon, however, they become fashionable, are overused, grow tired and stale, then finally cease to mean anything much at all. A good writer or editor will know when a word or phrase has outlived its usefulness

climate change levy lower case, no hyphen

clingfilm lower case, one word

cliquey

clock tower two words

closed-circuit television

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium, not a virus. Write C. difficile at second mention (and as a bonus do not pronounce it “DIF-ficil”: it is not French but Latin. Try “dif-FI-chil-ay”)

clothing say menswear, women’s wear, children’s wear, sportswear

cloud-cuckoo-land two hyphens

clouds no need to italicise the names. Four main types: nimbus produce rain; stratus resemble layers; cumulus resemble heaps; and cirrus resemble strands or filaments of hair. Prefixes denote altitude, ie strato (low-level), alto (mid-level) and cirro (high-level)

clubbable

co- the prefix does not normally require a hyphen even before an e or another o unless confusion or utter hideousness might result. Thus co-operate (but uncooperative), co-opt, co-ordinate (but uncoordinated), coeducation, coexist

CO2 use subscript

coalface, coalfield, coalmine (each one word) similarly coalminer (but prefer miner)

coalition lower case noun or adjective, eg the coalition government

coastguard lower case and one word, in the British context; but note the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (caps for full name), although the coastguard service (generic) retains the lower case. The US coast guard

coasts lower case south coast, east coast, west coast and north coast in all contexts

coats of arms see heraldry

Coca-Cola (hyphen); note also the trademark Coke. Similarly Pepsi-Cola. If in doubt about the identity of a beverage, write the lower case generic cola

cock a snook not snoop, please

cockfight no hyphen, as bullfight and dogfight

cockney lower case for the person, the dialect and adjectival use

codebreaker, codebreaking one word

coeducation(al) but permissible to use co-ed in headlines as coed would look hideous

coexist

cognoscenti roman, not italic

Coldstream Guards may be called the Coldstream and the men Coldstreamers or Coldstream Guards; neither should be called Coldstreams

Cold War caps

collarbone one word

collectibles (not -ables) items sought by collectors

collective nouns usually use the singular verb, as with corporate bodies (the company, the government, the council etc). But this rule is not inviolable; the key is to stick to the singular or plural throughout the story: sentences such as “The committee, which was elected recently, presented their report” are unacceptable. Prefer plural use for the couple, family, music groups and bands, the public, sports teams

Colombia is the country; Columbia is the Hollywood studio, university, river and Washington district. Also, note British Columbia and pre-Columbian

colons throw meaning forward and introduce lists

Colosseum in Rome; Coliseum in London

Coloureds (in South Africa), cap; not to be used in any other context

comedienne avoid; use comedian (or, if you must, comic) for both sexes

comeuppance no hyphen

commander-in-chief, officer commanding lower case

Commandments cap in biblical context, as the Ten Commandments, the Fourth Commandment

commando plural commandos (not -oes)

commas Unnecessary commas interrupt the flow of a sentence; omit the comma before if, unless, before, after, as, since, when unless the rhythm or sense of the sentence demands it.

Keith Waterhouse, as so often, had sound advice: “It is not the function of the comma to help a wheezing sentence get its breath back. That, however, is how the comma earns much of its living in journalism.” If your sentence needs a comma just to stop the reader collapsing in a heap before reaching the end, you might do better to recast it as two sentences anyway.

There is often no need for a comma after an adverbial formation at the beginning of a sentence: “Last week we were told etc”, “Until now there has been no need etc”, “In opposition the Lib Dems said etc”, “Minutes later the announcement was made”.

Avoid the so-called Oxford comma; write “he ate bread, butter and jam” rather than “he ate bread, butter, and jam”, except where to do so might create nonsense or confusion: “For lunch they had lamb with roast potatoes, and chocolate mousse.”

Commas with names and descriptions may help to indicate number. If “he was accompanied by his brother John” suggests that he has other brothers who did not accompany him, then “he was accompanied by his brother, John” makes clear that John is the only brother he has. With brothers the distinction may seem too subtle to bother about; it is worth bearing in mind when naming someone’s wife.

There is no need to put a comma between adjectives that form a kind of unit or where the last adjective is in closer relation to the noun than the preceding one(s), eg fine dry evenings, a good little boy.

Keep commas where they should be logically in “broken” sentences. Thus, the comma goes outside in the following example: “The trouble is”, he said, “that this is a contentious issue”

Commission when named: the European Commission, the Competition Commission; lower case in other refs

commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

commit do not use as an intransitive verb without a direct object, eg “he wants to commit to the reforms”; write “he wants to commit himself to the reforms” or “he wants to make a commitment to the reforms”

committee on standards in public life examines standards of conduct of all holders of public office. It is different from the select committee on standards and privileges, which deals with the conduct of MPs (subsequent mentions, the privileges select committee or lower case the committee)

committees are generally lower case but note 1922 Committee (cap) of Tory backbenchers, as it looks odd lower case. Cabinet and select committees should be lower case

common agricultural policy lower case, abbreviated as CAP for clarity; similarly, common fisheries policy (CFP)

common market usually use EU or EC (see Europe), although common market is acceptable in its historical context

common sense (noun), but commonsense, commonsensical (adjective)

common serjeant lower case. Note j spelling

Commons (keep cap) takes singular verb, eg “the Commons is debating …”

Commons fees office lower case. At subsequent mention the fees office for the place where decisions are made about whether to reimburse members’ expenses for moats and beams

Commonwealth heads of government meeting lower case after cap C

communiqué

communism, communist as with socialism and socialist, the best rule of thumb is to cap only when in specific party context, eg a Communist candidate, a Communist rally, the Communist mayor of Lille; but communist ideology, communist countries etc. Likewise fascist. It will help to think of a parallel with conservative/conservatism or liberal/liberalism. But Marxist, Stalinist and Nazi should be capped

community beware overuse in phrases such as the international community, the black community etc

companies there was once a useful distinction to be made between company and firm; the latter implied a business partnership, as in the legal or accountancy professions, estate agents etc. The words now seem to be used more or less interchangeably to cover almost any sort of enterprise, not least because the shorter word has obvious advantages for headlines

company names and brand names Follow the style and spelling that the company prefers unless it is ugly, distracting or absurd; use common sense. In practice, given the irritating prevalence of initial minuscules and mid-word caps in the modern corporate world, this will mean applying conventional orthography to many names that the companies themselves choose to write differently. So, use all caps only if a name consists of (and is pronounced as) a series of initials: BMW, IBM, EDF etc. Otherwise generally (and if in doubt) use an initial cap followed by lower case as for any other name, even if corporate branding is all upper or lower case or has capitals in odd places: Adidas (not adidas), Amazon (not amazon), Ikea (not IKEA), Easyjet, (not easyJet), Moneysupermarket (not MoneySuperMarket), Talktalk (not TalkTalk), Talksport (not talkSPORT) etc. An exception is made for the small number of household name global brands that have a capital as their second letter: iPad, iPhone, eBay; these may be written thus, and there seems no need to give them an extra initial capital even when they start a sentence or headline (something they should do only if it cannot be avoided). Prefer to ignore spurious typographical symbols in contrived or gimmicky spellings: Yahoo not Yahoo!, Eon not E.ON, Fevertree not Fever-Tree etc. Abbreviate to Co in, eg John Brown & Co. Company is singular. No full points in company titles, as in WH Smith and J Sainsbury. Usually no need to add Ltd, plc, LLP etc




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