Hindustan Times Complete Style Guide Contents

A: Stylistic Choices B: A-Z

A: Stylistic Choices
Abbreviations/Acronyms - always use the full form, including that of political parties and company names, at first mention - exceptions can be made in the rare case of entities whose abbreviations are more familiar to readers than their full forms or names which require no full form (examples are HIV, Aids) - if, for reasons of flow, an abbreviation/acronym eg the US or the UK is used in the introductory paragraph, the full form (the United States or the United Kingdom) should follow at next mention - no full stops between letters or at the end of abbreviations and acronyms so PMO not P.M.O. or US Embassy not U.S. Embassy - never more than one abbreviation or acronym in a headline (see Headlines) Age - a persons age can be recorded in one of two ways: Ram Singh, 38, or 25year-old Asha Rani - Rahul Gandhi, aged 34, or 52 year old Tony Blair (without the hyphens) is not allowed - all other forms of recording age, especially thirty-something, fortyish etc, are not allowed - people in their 20s or 40s takes no apostrophe - do not use the word youth unless referring to a collective of young people - a man or woman is someone 18 years and older - a girl or boy is someone 17 years or younger - a minor or juvenile is someone described thus by legislation or a court and used only in that context Ampersand

- not used in headlines or body copy unless it is part of a proper name eg Procter & Gamble - the only exceptions are: if it is used as a special effect in feature headlines and when we write J&K for Jammu and Kashmir in a headline

Attribution - see attribution in Style Guide A-Z and Code of Ethics - if a person carries or prefers a single name, say so in the attribution - made-up or fictitious names are not allowed - if you are not disclosing a name to protect a victim or patients identity, say so - if an official or representative does not wish to be identified, say why - minimise use of a company/government official said on condition of anonymity. State why because of company or government policy or because the person is not authorised to talk on this particular matter - say why you could not get a comment if you cant eg could not be reached for comment as he was traveling - a simple he said or she said will suffice when attributing quotes. Avoid he gesticulated, he averred, she griped - never write told HT, contacted by HT, told this reporter etc Banned words and phrases The following are banned: - Clichs - Indianisms like prepone, pin drop silence, serious (for seriously ill), wheatish complexion - contractions that may give offence (See Neutral Language) - remnants of archaic, colonial-era English like miscreants (use the word that is being used by the court), eve teasing, (use harassing or sexually harassing instead), etc, are avoided - see entries in the A-Z for more details - any word that is perceived as offensive by groups or communities

Bullet points upper case the first letter of each point. Do not take a full stop after each point, ie: This is the first bullet point This is the second This is the third and takes a full stop at the end of the list of points. Bylines - the reporters byline is always in bold type, flush left of the first column at which the story starts, below the headline and just above the dateline - only the first letter of each word in the byline is in capitals - a reporter will only take a byline if he or she has sourced or written at least 50% of the copy - if there are more than two contributors to a story, the bylines should appear at the end of the copy - the byline on a story that combines the efforts of an HT reporter with agency copy should read Reporters Name and Agency Name. Or the story may take the reporter's byline and the words with inputs by (name of agency) at the end if the reporter's work is more than 60% of the copy Captions - every photo unless it is part of an info-graphic should have a caption, even a picture of someone extremely well known. If space is available, the context of the photo should also be stated - what is obvious from the photograph, barring the identities of the people shown, should be omitted - a head and shoulder pic of someone used with a brief may be captioned in the copy as follows: bold the name at first mention and write left, right, above or below in brackets after the name Class (versus standard) - we use class and standard interchangeably in HT. While both are correct, for reasons of consistency, we will use class (uppercase) for school years followed by an Arabic numeral Class 1, Class 2, standard 1, standard II. And it goes up to and ; not Plus 1 or Plus 2

Colloquialisms and Slang - not permitted in the main section (eg kids, pricey, cool); - may be used, with care, in HT City, HT Cafe, HT Next and HT Edge Crime and Punishment a. allege, alleged, allegedly - use police jargon with care; consider alternatives such as apparent, suggested, reputed and ostensible pecify where an allegation comes from. In a criminal case, it should be an arrest record, an indictment or the statement of a public official connected with the case. In a civil case, it should come from court records or lawyers connected with the case - if you use alleged conspiracy (See Style Guide A-Z: alleged) b. guilty

- only in criminal actions do defendants plead guilty or not guilty. Be careful with recording the not-guilty pleading or verdict to avoid inadvertently dropping the not c. indict indict indicted for bribery. on a bribery charge d. juvenile delinquent juveniles may be declared delinquents in many states for anti-social behaviour or for breaking the law. Do not publish the names of juvenile delinquents indicted for killing indicted on a charge of killing, indicted

Currency - the first time a sum of money is referred to in foreign currency in any story, its rupee equivalent must be mentioned in brackets - the headline should take the currency in which the transaction has been made - in dollar figures with large amounts in billion in a global context, avoid conversion altogether - use the foreign exchange ratio from the exchange rates table from the RBI website on the day the story is being reported. Dates - dates must be set down in the order of month, day and year, with the month spelt out, and a comma after the day if the year is mentioned as well. The form is January 16, 2007 - avoid writing today, tomorrow or yesterday. State the day of the week to prevent confusion. - months may be mentioned in abbreviated form Jan, Feb, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec - in headlines and graphics, never in body copy. However the following months - March, April, May, June, July - must be written in full at all times Dateline - the dateline, giving the spot being reported from, should be in Roman, just below the byline and above the start of the body copy - less familiar names must be accompanied by the name of the state or the country after a comma. Or the state/country must be mentioned in the lead/intro - events occurring at the datelined place before the reporters arrival or after his departure should not be reported under that dateline. Carry agency copy instead - if more than one dateline, use the primary dateline just below the dateline and the others at the end of the copy - if the story has a foreign dateline and there is a time difference, write the IST in brackets after the time applicable to the dateline

Designations, Titles, Ranks - always lower case (see Upper Case Rules for exceptions) - do not use honorifics except for Dr and then only if it refers to a medical doctor AND it is relevant to the story - designations should come after the name and be lowercase (see exceptions below in Uppercase Rule) so Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director; Praful Patel, minister of civil aviation; AN Tiwari, chief information commissioner; or Deepak Pental, vice chancellor of Delhi University - ranks, designations, positions of any kind whether civil or military should be spelt out at first reference and abbreviated thereafter. For example: majorgeneral (maj-gen), senior superintendent of police (SSP), chief executive officer (CEO) Headlines - no more than one acronym in a headline - no use of contractions eg fin min. The few exceptions to this rule can be found in the Style Guide A-Z (Appendix 2) - no use of & in the headline - no clichs, puns or worn-out catchphrases - a headline should faithfully reflect the content of the body copy. Smart, pithy headlines are welcome, but not at the cost of accuracy

Hindi words, phrases and sentences - only those Hindi words without an English equivalent are permitted: names of flowers, trees, animals, birds peculiar to India; names of culinary dishes, items of clothing; religious rituals, religious figures, religious expressions, festivals, wedding rituals, which originated in, or belong to India alone; names of castes, tribes and ethnic communities; art forms, musical instruments and musical forms; kinship terms - if the word used is part of everyday speech and widely understood, it need not have an explanation. If it is not, the word is treated as a foreign word and its meaning or a translation must be given in brackets - when an exact English equivalent to the Hindi word exists, it should be used. Maternal uncle should prevail over mama - quotes, sentences of phrases in Hindi should be translated in brackets following the use

Foreign words - Latin abbreviations eg, ie, op cit, - should never be used, either in body copy or in the headline - foreign words will be written in Roman and not italicized - words originally from foreign languages but now entirely Anglicised, restaurant, rendezvous, bourgeois, need not take an explanation in brackets - foreign words, including Hindi words that are not in wide use, require a brief explanation or translation in brackets following the word at first use Names a. People: - No full stops after the initials in a proper name so VS Naipaul not V.S. Naipaul - set down a persons full name at first reference in a story, and thereafter use the surname alone - the use of first names alone will only be permitted in the Entertainment and Sports section and then only in the case of people whose first name is more familiar to readers. (Hrithik, Shah Rukh, Sachin) - alleged or convicted criminals, Dawood Ibrahim, Moninder Singh Pandher, Manu Sharma, should be referred to by their surnames after first mention - an exception can be made in stories about people from the same family (eg Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi) when first names may be used to distinguish between them. If two or more people in a story share the same surname say, Manmohan Singh and Arjun Singh, or Aamir, Shakhrukh, Salman and Saif Ali Khan the entire name must be used each time, first name alone will not do b. Rivers, mountains and lakes - lower case unless part of the proper name so river Ganga or the Yamuna river but Lake Placid, Mt Everest c. Books, films, music, TV programs, pamphlets, shows - written in Roman, not italicized, and first letters of each word in the title should be uppercase thus A Brief History Of Time, The Meaning Of Life, How I Met Your Mother - for a newspaper, generally, a definite article should precede its name thus the Hindustan Times, the Indian Express. If the article is part of the name, then it should be uppercase eg The New York Times or The Sunday Times - for magazines and other publications the definite article is dropped, unless it is part of the periodicals name. Thus: India Today, Outlook, The Week - terms like company (Co), limited (Ltd), public limited company (Plc) incorporated (Inc) can be used in their abbreviated forms when they

appear at the end of the proper name of an organisation (as in the brackets above), but should always be spelt out in full when they appear by themselves (eg X is a public limited company) d. Cities, towns, states - Always use the official name - name changes were adopted for some cities. Bombay became Mumbai, Madras became Chennai and Calcutta became Kolkata Thiruvananthapuram Vadodara However, names of some universities, institutions, exchanges, etc., still carry the old names, for example, IIT Madras - Always check with the correspondent or the website Neutral language - see Appendix 3: Neutral language - avoid cliches and cliched constructions - use value-neutral terms and constructions - avoid giving offence a) gender neutral and neutral job titles - chairperson, not chairman or chairwoman - actor: male and female, avoid actress except when it is the name of an award, eg Oscar for best actress - dancer: male and female; avoid danseuse - waitron or server: male and female. avoid waitstaff unless referring to a team of waitrons - firefighter, not fireman - flight attendant, not steward or stewardess - avoid suffixes to make words feminine eg usherette, comedienne, poetess - avoid terms such as male nurse, female judge etc. They are almost always irrelevant - some military ranks remain unchanged when applied to female soldiers - obstetrician; not midwife or childbirth assistant - police officer; not policeman or policewoman - photographer; not cameraman or cameraperson head teacher or principal; not headmaster, headmistress - shop assistant: not salesman, saleswoman or salesperson - housekeeper, cleaner or domestic workers; not maid or servant - use humankind or humanity rather than mankind - try to avoid saying his to cover men and women: but also avoid the clumsy his or her, try a different construction; in sentences such as a teacher who

beats his/her pupils is not fit to do the job teachers who beat their pupils b) race, nationality, cultural, community groups: - do not use pejorative or derogatory references to any group or community - upper case the names of races and peoples: Asian, Jewish, Hispanic - unless a person's race or nationality is material to the story, it is not necessary to mention - write Dalits; not Harijans - the words black and white to describe race should be lowercase and used only if material to a story; never use as a noun eg John Smith is "a black" - Never refer to someone as being a tribal or describe a group of people belonging to a particular tribe as tribals c) Disabled people or people who have an illness, disease use person who has or person with (epilepsy, leprosy, cancer, cerebal palsy etc); avoid victim of, crippled, suffering from, afflicted with, stricken with - avoid handicapped, the disabled, the blind, the deaf; use blind people, deaf people or disabled people - avoid able-bodied person as the opposite of disabled - avoid people with disabilities; disabled people is more acceptable - avoid wheelchair bound or confined to a wheelchair: say wheelchair user - avoid mentally handicapped; use person with a learning difficulty - don't use physically (or mentally) challenged; write person with a disability or disabled person. - don't use deaf-mute; write, deaf and hearing impaired - avoid writing in spite of her disability and overcame his handicap - avoid overly coy terminology such as specially abled d. Sexual preference - homosexual, gay, bisexual and heterosexual are primarily adjectives; avoid using them as nouns; so someone is homosexual not "a homosexual", we would write gay people not "gays". Lesbian is different as it is a noun as well as an adjective an individual accused of a crime is a suspect until he has been convicted. Reports of crime or criminal trials must remain forever conscious of this, with the term alleged being frequently employed in them e. Illegal immigrants - Write illegal immigrants or undocumented migrants for immigrants who do not have permission to be in a country; not aliens which means being from outer space

e. Age the terms elderly and senior citizen arent appropriate to refer to anyone under 65 and shouldnt be used casually to refer to anyone of any age - if possible, provide the persons age instead - elderly may be used, however, to refer to the demographic group: health care for the elderly Numbers, measurement, time - numbers from one to nine must be written out in words; 10 and above, in figures - if a sentence begins with a numeral, the latter has to be spelt out in words, no matter how large it is so try and write the intro differently - if a number has a decimal point, it should always be represented in figures, even if it is less than nine (eg 6.8) If the number is less than one, the decimal point should have a zero before it (eg 0.89) - lakh and crore when preceded by a numeral, do not take the plural form, the same way thousand or million do not. (It should always be 20 lakh, not 20 lakhs.) However, when there is no specific numeral, the plural form is used (eg crores of rupees were lost. The same applies to kilometre and kilogram eg 25 km away, not 25 kms away - the metric system of measurement is followed. All distances should be in centimetres, metres and kilometers, all weights in grams and kilograms, all volumes in millilitres and litres, all areas in acres or square metres or square kms. The exception is realty in which case the metric measurement must be given in brackets after the imperial measurement - mathematical symbols should be avoided as far as possible. This includes ratios so the : symbol is disallowed, so 4:6 should be written as four to six or 100 to 120. The exception is % (see below) - use the symbol %, not percent, per cent or pc with no space between the numeral and the % sign. All numbers preceded by the % sign should be numeral even those between 0 and 9 so 2%, 140%, 40.5% - numbers greater than four figures should have commas as separators so 100,000 or 234,000,000 with no spaces. Try to express as words, so one lakh or 234 million - our style is to use Arabic numerals, never Roman so write World War 1 or World War 2 - to indicate time, use figures and lowercase letters (9am, 6pm). No space, no punctuation between the figure and the letters. Exceptions are noon and midnight. Do not say 12 noon or 12 midnight, it's redundant - phone numbers: write 011-66561234, 09810198101, +345-222-9876. A

dash after the country code and area code and then the phone number digits without spaces Avoiding obscenities or giving offence - anything and everything with a news angle can be discussed, be it sexual behaviour, censorship, advances in biological sciences, or sex crimes. But the language employed will always be clinical, not coarse - care should be taken, especially in headlines, that the words used (even if they are clinical) do not give offence - offensive words, four-lettered or otherwise, are not permitted unless they are part of direct quotations and the editors agree there is a compelling reason for including them. Generally, we paraphrase instead, or just use the first letter followed by a dash to indicate the word used. See Appendix 4: Obscenities - on photographs, the editor will decide on a case by case basis Punctuation Full stop - (See Stylistic Choices: Abbreviations and Style Guide A-Z: Punctuation) Apostrophe: Word (or figure) contractions that require the use of an apostrophe to indicate missing letters (or numbers) should be avoided in copy, especially headlines. (Expressions like cant, shouldnt, 07, should not be used, except in direct speech it should always be cannot, should not, 2007) Inverted Commas: Double inverted commas should be used only when reporting direct speech. In all other cases, single inverted commas should be employed. In headlines single inverted commas alone should be used ellipsis ()

The proposed plan is expected to start by next year The government is firm on it.

Quotes - direct quotes are essential, but they should be used to take the story forward not merely repeat what the reporter has set down as factual information in the preceding sentence - they should sound like direct speech. Complicated figures, complex technical details, convoluted legal arguments, should not be put within inverted commas, but set down as information, with the source identified - quotes should never be distorted. What a person says can of be shortened in the interests of brevity, but not even a shade of meaning should be allowed to change - when quoting from a printed text or any kind of document, the breaks should be made very clear with the use of three dots. If explanatory words or phrases need to be inserted, these should always be in brackets. Spellings - the Hindustan Times follows British spellings, not American (See Style Guide A-Z: Spelling) - the Style Guide A-Z includes some specific examples of common spelling mistakes - the Oxford English Dictionary will be used as our guide to spelling. Please note that some words that have been included in the OED are banned eg propane. In such instances the Style Guide will prevail Upper case/Lower case The following will take upper case: - Acts of parliament: upper case when using full name, eg Companies Act 1956, Official Secrets Act; but lower case on second reference, eg the act, and when speaking in more general terms, eg we need a radical freedom of information act - Bills (same as Acts above) - all labels which stem from a proper noun, should start with a capital letter (Hinduism, Diwali, Marxism, Maoist, Gandhian, etc) - lc philosophies unless they derive from a proper name: communism, democracy, socialism, Marxism, Marxist, nazism, Nazi. Also: liberal Republican, conservative Democrat, communist dictator - religions, religious festivals eg Diwali, Christmas Eid (see Style Guide A-Z for specific entries) - major historical events the Quit India Movement, the Partition, the Emergency, World War 1 - all heads of state - Prime Minister, President

- the Chief Justice of India - all words deriving from a proper noun so Teflon, Alsation except where they have become the generic eg champagne (See the Style Guide A-Z for individual entries) - political parties and philosophies: uc both the name of the party and the word party if it is customarily used as part of the organisations proper name: The Bhartiya Janata Party, but the Congress party. In subsequent references, however, the party; uc Communist, Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, Republican, Socialist, etc when they refer to activities of a specific party or to individuals who are members of it Lower case - in matters relating to the internet, the Hindustan Times follows the worldwide trend to use lower case uniformly, thus it is email, e-commerce, dotcom, laptop, world wide web, etc, except if any of these words occur at the start of a sentence - cheese is always lower case even if named after a place

B: HINDUSTAN TIMES STYLE GUIDE

Introduction
The Hindustan Times is a national news brand with 11 editions featuring a number of different sections - ranging from business to sport, real estate to arts and lifestyle - and a news site. The Style Guide provides a framework that will guide the Hindustan Times journalist with respect to the conscious choices we have made with respect to style and language usage. This will ensure we are consistent with regards to how we gather the news and how we present the news so that the reader gets a consistent experience in all editions, all sections and on all platforms. The Guide should remove any doubt about what is the HT Style with respect to grammar, spelling, punctuation, image and graphic usage and design.

The Guide has been compiled out of a range of existing guides, handbooks, documents and other resources of language usage, grammar and style choices. Particular mention must be made of the Mint Stylebook, the Associated Press Style Guide, the Reuters Handbook for Journalists, the Poynter Institute and the Guardian and Observer Style Guide. The Mint Stylebook and the Guardian and Observer Style Guide in particular have been used extensively in the HT Style Guide and must be credited for laying the foundations for the Guide. Every journalist employed by Hindustan Times is expected to adhere, in all instances, to the codes and guides as set down here. In instances of doubt or where the Style Guide does not cover an issue, the editor concerned and, ultimately, the Editor-in-Chief, will make a decision. The Hindustan Times Style Guide is intended is to bring about a measure of uniformity and consistency across all stories, pages and sections of the Hindustan Times. Whenever or wherever the English language legitimately allows for variants in spelling, grammar and punctuation, in the use of capitals, hyphens, abbreviations and so forth, the Style Guide has made a conscious choice. These choices have been dictated chiefly by tradition the Guide merely codifying stylistic norms that are already are in force in the Hindustan Times, though they may not have been written down before. The choices made must henceforth be followed while writing and editing stories for the Hindustan Times. The Style Guide A-Z sets out a basic alphabetised list, definitely not exhaustive, to ensure that that whenever or wherever the English language has clearly laid down rules - rules of spelling, syntax and punctuation these are strictly followed. The Style Guide will evolve over time and the input of journalists is critical to keep it current. A Style Committee has been established by the Editor-inChief and this committee will have the responsibility of ensuring that the Guide is constantly updated; that any inconsistencies and errors are corrected and that any omissions are rectified.

Aa
a, an : a ear, a European, a university an LSE student

Police have caught the thieves caught the thieves? last week the inflation was 6 percent last week? abbreviations/acronyms

the police have Inflation was 6%

form (examples are HIV, Aids) - if, for reasons of flow, an abbreviation/acronym eg the US or the UK is used in the introductory paragraph, the full form (the United States or the United Kingdom) should follow at next mention - no full stops between the letters or at the end of abbreviations and acronyms so PMO not P.M.O. or US Embassy not U.S. Embassy - never more than one abbreviation or acronym in a headline - an acronym is an abbreviation which can, usually, be pronounced as a word by itself (For example: Aids, Aiims, Nato, Noida, Radar, Unesco) - everything said about abbreviations applies to acronyms as well. If the acronym is better known than the full form, in the case of the instances above, the acronym alone can be used

- with acronyms only the first letter is capitalised. (Asean, not ASEAN; Unicef, not UNICEF) we often use this term when we have to say untraceable. A person can be called to be absconding or an absconder only after the court has declared him a proclaimed offender - if mention of degrees is necessary to establish someones credentials, the preferred form is to avoid an abbreviation and use instead a phrase such as: One has a doctorate and the other a masters in psychology - abbreviations such as BA, MA, MBA, and PhD should be used sparingly and only with a full name lc except when words are proper nouns or adjectives: the department of history, the history department, the department of English, the English department

lc formal titles such as dean, president, chancellor and chairperson, even when they precede a name. For professor write: John Smith, a professor of history; the professor, Smith said ... See (Stylistic Choices: Designations, Titles, Ranks) Academy Awards

accept, except achilles heel, achilles tendon

acknowledgment

acre equal to 43,560 sq. ft, or 4,840 sq. yards - the metric equivalent is 0.4ha (two-fifths of a hectare), or 4,047 sq. m - to convert to hectares, multiply by 0.4 (5 acres x 0.4 = 2ha) See Stylistic Choices: Numbers, Measurement, Time acts of parliament Act Companies Act 1956, Official Secrets the act we need a radical freedom of information act

AD, BC century, eg fourth century BC. Don't write fourth century AD

Said He conceded he was wrong

Bills are passed. Laws are enacted a trademark for the synthetic or chemically extracted forms of epinephrine, a substance produced by the adrenal glands. The nonproprietary terms are epinephrine hydrochloride or adrenaline. Also: His adrenaline was flowing advice is the noun, advise is the verb. (So too with practice and practise) not advisor, but advisory not airplane affect means to influence; effect means outcome or consequence with or between, not to or for - pertaining to Africa and its people - do not use as a synonym for black - in some parts of Africa the word coloured is applied to those of mixed ancestry but the word may be considered derogatory, so avoid or put in quotation marks and explain it (n and adj) always hyphenated

- no hyphen when it is used to form a noun eg. aftereffect, afterthought - use the hyphen when it is used to form compound modifiers as in after-dinner drinks

the agenda has run its course

Aids victims suffering from Aids people with Aids (or living with Aids blown Aids. Unesco guidelines state: "This term implies that there are varying stages of Aids ... People have Aids only when they present with an Aids-defining illness" - a persons age can be recorded in one of two ways: Ram Singh, 38, or 25year-old Asha Rani - Rahul Gandhi, aged 34, or 52 year old Raj Singh (without the hyphens) is not allowed - all other forms of recording age, especially thirty-something, fortyish etc, are not allowed unless it is being used for effect - people in their 20s or 40s takes no apostrophe - do not use the word youth unless referring to a collective of young people - a man or woman is someone 18 years and older - a girl or boy is someone 17 years or younger - a minor or juvenile is someone described thus by legislation or a court and used only in that context AIR air conditioner, air conditioning air-conditioned aircraft names

Airbus models are an exception: Airbus A300, A318, A319, and A320, A330, A340 and A380 - some jet planes in commercial use: the BAC-111; Boeing 727, 737, 747, 767, 757 and 777; the Convair 880; the DC-8, DC-9 and DC-10, and the L1011. Avoid B747 even in headlines. Boeing doesnt append B to the plane type

- do not use quotation marks for aircraft with names: Air India One, Air Force One, the Concorde, the Enola Gay, the F-22 Raptor - for plurals: DC-10s, 727s, 747s - use Arabic figures, no hyphens for spacecraft and missiles: Apollo 10 air fare, air force, air raid, air show, air strike al Qaeda alien

See Stylistic Choices: Neutral Language

All India Trinamool Congress

all right alright altogether, all together

allude, refer

aluminium alumnus, alumna, alumni, alumnae

alternate, alternative

am, pm

amid among, between

amount or number?

the ampersand & is never used, either in a headline or in the body copy, unless it is part of a proper name (eg Procter & Gamble). The permitted form is - the ampersand may only be used in place of if its a special effect in feature headlines - the exception to this rule is J&K for Jammu and Kashmir in a headline

- is that one word or two? Depends on the context. Eg Anyone can criticise, but it has to be seen if any one of those who do, can perform better - same goes for every one and everyone two words two words the verb always takes a preposition. One appeals against something, or appeals to someone, one does not simply appeal (except while bowling or fielding in cricket)

- some plural nouns have no , eg children. These take an apostrophe and in the possessive, eg children's games, gentlemen's outfitter, old folk's home - the possessive in words and names ending in s normally takes an apostrophe followed by a second s (Jones's, James's), Mephistopheles' rather than Mephistopheles's two days time 12 years' imprisonment six weeks holiday nine months pregnant three weeks old one days time, one month pregnant

asked to comment on.../when contacted by HT ... attache attorney general attribution

see Code of Ethics prize award

BACK TO TOP

Bb
baby boomer bachelor of arts, bachelor of science bachelors degree (lc) is acceptable in all references

backup (n and adj), back up (v)

bagel Bahujan Samaj Party BSP is acceptable in all references but mention this political partys full name in copy the first time you use it balk obstruct, pull up, stop short baulk area of a snooker table ballboy, ballgirl, ballgame, ballgown, ballpark band names

- uc (its foreign equivalent) in other languages, eg Les Ngresses Vertes, Los Lobos - bands take a plural verb: Editors are overrated, Iron Butterfly were the loudest band of the 60s, etc - try to include diacritical marks if bands use them in their name, no matter how absurd: Maxmo Park, Mtley Cre, Motrhead, etc Bangladesh its citizens are Bangladeshi(s) - cliches - contractions that may give offense

- Indianisms like (for seriously ill), wheatish complexion (there are many dozens more) should be avoided. - remnants of archaic, colonial-era English like (use the word that is being used by the court), , (use harassing or sexually harassing instead), etc, are avoided - any word that is perceived as offensive by groups or communities any word that is perceived as offensive by groups or communities - certain overused, excessively colloquial or offensive words. The list includes: basically, boss, quip (as a verb) flay, slam (in the sense of criticise), slew (a slew of measures) doc, mum (for silent), dubbed (for called), fin min (for finance minister), nab, Mush (for Musharraf), prez (for president), Dubya (for George W Bush), Jap (for Japanese), Guj Maha propane, upgradation, scam whilst, betwixt base jumping extreme sport; the acronym stands for four categories of object from which you can jump, if so inclined - building, antenna, span and earth basis point do not change into %. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point bated breath not baited BC 1000BC but AD1066 see AD benefactor, beneficiary are sometimes confused: the former gives something; the latter gets it benefit, benefited, benefiting there is usually no doubling when the preceding vowel is unstressed (examples enter, entered, entering and visit, visited, visiting) bellwether one who takes the lead, just as a sheep wearing a bell leads the flock. In the business world, it is an acknowledged indicator of trends

Benelux countries Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg berserk not beserk beside, besides beside means by the side of or next to. Eg: He sat beside me. Besides means in addition to. Eg: He is an excellent worker; besides he is always punctual bestseller, bestselling betting odds these are meaningless to many readers so avoid. If you have to use: - long odds (eg 100-1 against, normally expressed as 100-1) mean something unlikely - shorter odds (eg 10-1) still mean it's unlikely, but less unlikely - odds on (eg 2-1 on, sometimes expressed as 1-2) means it is likely, so if you were betting 2 rupees you would win only 1 plus the stake - take care using the phrase odds on: if India are quoted by bookmakers at 31 to win a test match, and the odds are cut to 2-1, it is wrong to say the odds on Labour to win were cut last night. In fact, the odds against India to win have been cut (the shorter the price, the more likely something is expected to happen) between 15 and 20 not between 15 to 20 or between 15-20 Bharatiya Janata Party BJP is acceptable in all references to this main opposition political party at the national level. It is the leader of the National Democratic Alliance. Mention the full form even if your first mention is just the abbreviated form bhavan not bhawan, when used in Rashtrapati Bhavan or Raj Bhavan biwords with the prefix are solid: biaxial, bifocal, bilingual, bilateral, bipartisan

biannual, biennial biannual means twice a year; biennial means every two years. Avoid biannual whenever possible. It may be better to say, twice a year Bible - uc if referring to Old or New Testament - lc in such sentences as the stylebook is my bible; the adjective biblical is always lc bicentenary a 200th anniversary; bicentennial is the adjective big bang lc, even if you are talking about the origin of the universe, around 14 billion years ago Biju Janata Dal BJD is accepted in references to this Orissa political party but write it out at first mention

(See Acts of Parliament) billion 1000 million, or 100 crore bimonthly every other month bin Laden, Osama Bin Laden on second reference. He has been stripped of his Saudi citizenship, so can be described as Saudi-born but not as a Saudi. His organisation is known as al Qaeda bite-size not bite-sized

biweekly every other week black - use only as an adjective when referring to race, ie not blacks but black people or whatever noun is appropriate - use race reference only if material to the story (See Stylistic Choices: Neutral Language) black economy prefer hidden or parallel economy bloc, block bloc is a coalition of persons or groups with a common purpose or goal; block is any group of people or things treated as a unit blond adjective and male noun; blonde female noun: the woman is a blonde, because she has blond hair; the man has blond hair and is a blond boats, ships - a ship is a large, seagoing vessel, and a boat is usually a smaller vessel - boat is used in some terms applied to large craft: ferryboat, PT boat, gunboat - do not put the names in quotation marks, but italicise them: Queen Elizabeth 2 - vessels may be referred to by the pronoun it or she (or the corresponding possessive pronouns). Let the context determine which to use bogey golf, ghost, so bogeyman Bombay is now Mumbai. However, if Bombay is part of the name eg Bombay Club or Bombay Talkies, we will use the name as decided by the entity bookcase, bookkeeper, bookseller, bookshelf bored with, bored by not bored of, although usage seems to be changing, particularly among

younger people both both sides agreed is a tautology (like 6pm in the evening). It should be both agreed or the two sides agreed. unnecessary in most phrases that contain and; both men and women says no more than men and women, takes longer, and can also be ambiguous bourgeois adjective; bourgeoisie noun box office boy male under 18 BPO acceptable in all references for business process outsourcing, but mention the full form in copy the first time its mentioned Brahmin(s) applies to the priestly Hindu caste and to aristocracy in general: a Boston Brahmin. Britain, UK - these terms are synonymous - Britain is the official short form of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - used as adjectives, therefore, British and UK mean the same. Great Britain, however, refers only to England, Wales and Scotland. broadcast use broadcast also for the past tense, not broadcasted

bronze age, ice age, iron age, stone age budget, the

lc noun and adj, eg budget talks, budget measures, mini-budget, pre-budget report, etc buffaloes for the plural; not buffalo or buffalos bullet points uc the first letter of each point. Do not take a full stop after each point, ie: This is the first bullet point This is the second This is the third and takes a full stop at the end of the list of points. bullseye bureau plural bureaus (furniture) or bureaux (organisations) burns in medicine, there are three degrees of burns: - a first-degree burn is a reddening of the skin. Most sunburns fall in this category - a second-degree burn is a blistering - a third-degree burn involves destruction of the skin and tissues under it - the size of the burn is crucial. Second-degree burns covering 90% of the body are likely to be more dangerous than third-degree burns on 5% of the body

burned/burnt burned is the past tense form (he burned the cakes); burnt is the participle, an adjectival form of the verb (the cakes are burnt)

burqa not burka

buses, bussed, bussing busses refers to kisses buyout but buy-in

50% of the copy - if there are more than two contributors to a story, the bylines should appear at the end of the copy - the byline on a story that combines the efforts of an HT reporter with agency copy should read Reporters Name and Agency Name. with inputs by (name of agency

Cc
cabinet lc when referring to the body of Indian ministers: the Union cabinet, the Vajpayee cabinet cabinet titles uc only references to the Indian Prime Minister. So, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but agriculture and food minister Sharad Pawar and finance minister/minister for finance P Chidambaram.

cafe no accent call girl an old-fashioned term best left to the tabloids

cannot canon cleric, decree, principle, body of writings, type of music; a cannon is something you fire canvas, canvass one paints on a canvas, but one has to canvass for votes carat, caret, karat - carats are used to indicate the weight of diamonds and other precious stones. A carat is equal to 200mg - carets are used by writers and editors to mark insertions - karats are used to indicate the proportion of pure gold used within alloys

cards scratchcard, smartcard, swipecard but credit card, debit card, sim card catch-22 lc unless specifically referring to Joseph Heller's 1961 novel Catch-22 CD, CDs, CD-Rom a CD is a disc, not a disk cellphone prefer mobile phone Central Bureau of Investigation - second reference, CBI - it is the investigating police agency under the department of personnel,

Union ministry of personnel, pension and public grievances - in India, it is the nodal agency coordinating investigation on behalf of Interpol member countries center, centre the first will be used only in proper names of institutions or buildings. Centre in all other references century sixth century, 21st century, etc; but sixth-century remains, 21st-century boy, etc CEO the abbreviation for chief executive officer is acceptable in second references and in headlines

cheese normally lc, even if named after a place: brie, camembert, cheddar, cheshire, double gloucester, lancashire, parmesan, stilton, wensleydale, etc Chennai formerly Madras chickenpox one word Chief Justice uc only Chief Justice of India

chief minister lc chocoholic not chocaholic chords musical; cords vocal CIO use the abbreviation sparingly in second reference to a chief information officer city - uc city only if it is an integral part of a proper name: New York City - lc elsewhere: the city of Mumbai

Class 1, Class 2, Class 12

Class 11

clich avoid. A survey by the Plain English Campaign found that the most irritating phrase in the language was at the end of the day, followed by (in order of annoyance): at this moment in time like (as in, like, this) with all due respect to be perfectly honest with you touch base I hear what you're saying going forward

absolutely blue sky thinking other words and phrases that upset people included 24/7 ballpark figure bottom line it's not rocket science ongoing prioritise pushing the envelope singing from the same hymn sheet, and thinking outside the box co- retain the hyphen when forming nouns, adjectives and verbs that indicate occupation or status - however, always refer to the dictionary and dont use co-author as verb (see prefixes, suffixes) coca, coco, cocoa, cacao coca is a tropical plant that yields cocaine; coco is a palm tree that bears coconuts; cocoa is a chocolate drink, made from cacao beans Coca-Cola, Coke TM; the generic term is cola; coke for smokeless fuel and cocaine

cohort although it originally meant a band of people, it now is commonly used to mean an individual companion or associate. Because its connotation is often negative, use with care collective nouns - most collective nouns take singular verbs: The crowd is large, etc - there are a few exceptions: a couple, the police, Team India (the Indian cricket team), though usually team takes a singular verb - nouns such as committee, family, government, jury and squad take a singular verb or pronoun when thought of as a single unit, but a plural verb or pronoun when thought of as a collection of individuals:

The committee gave its unanimous approval to the plans; The committee enjoyed biscuits with their tea The family can trace its history back to the middle ages; The family were sitting down, scratching their heads college uc only when part of a proper name: Hindu College; otherwise it is the college colon (:) - use between two sentences, or parts of sentences, where the first introduces a proposition that is resolved by the second, eg Fowler put it like this: to deliver the goods invoiced in the preceding words - a colon should also be used (rather than a comma) to introduce a quotation: "He was an expert on punctuation," or to precede a list He was an expert on the following: the colon, the comma and the full stop. - use before quotes when the quote could stand on its own as a sentence. He said: "You'll never take me alive." - we are in danger of losing the distinction between colon and semicolon; many writers seem to think they are interchangeable but to make it clear: they are not see comedian male and female; do not use comedienne

comma (,) - for detailed guidance on use of the comma, consult the dictionary. - commas are used to separate elements in a series, but the so-called serial comma isnt used before the concluding conjunction in a simple series: Friends, Romans and countrymen - a comma should also be used before the concluding conjunction to avoid ambiguities and in complex series of phrases: Companies must consider whether they can meet the stiff requirements, whether they have the financial resources, and whether their boards will ultimately approve. - use commas to separate adjectives if the commas could be replaced by the word and without changing the sense: a pensive, deliberate

manner; a pretty, springlike day - do not use comma when the adjective directly before a noun is an integral part of the noun: a low-price mutual fund; a major auto maker - use a comma to set off words or phrases placed next to other words or phrases of definition or identity: The Chief Justice, Rajan Jhalotia, spoke at the session. The election, a year-long event, ended that night - use of a comma in some of these instances depends on the facts: They ate dinner with their daughter, Ranjana, and her daughter Nisha (this implies that they have only one daughter and that she has more than one daughter). They ate dinner with their daughter Ranjana and her husband, Daman. (A better construction would be They ate dinner where their daughter Ranjana joined in with husband Daman - this implies that they have a daughter who came with her husband. Here, her before husband would be redundant.) - a comma is usually used after phrases that precede the main clause of a sentence, but it may be omitted after short introductory phrases - with direct quotes, use a comma to introduce a complete, short quotation within a paragraph: Klemmer said, She spent six months in Argentina and came back speaking English with a Spanish accent. But use a colon to introduce longer quotations. After direct quotes, use a comma before the attribution: Consult my library, Roberta Gardner suggested - use a comma to set off an individuals hometown when it is placed in apposition to a name: J Gowalikar, Mumbai, and Ramesh Yadav, Barabanki, UP, attended. However, the use of the word of without a comma between the individuals name and the city name is preferred: J Gowalikar of Mumbai and Ramesh Yadav of Barabanki, UP, were there - use with geographical names. His journey will take him from Faridkot, Punjab, to Hissar, Haryana, and back. The Moradabad, UP, group met the governor. But with the possessive, the comma is omitted: Moradabad, UPs markets (which is better expressed as the markets in Moradabad, UP) - use parentheses rather than a comma if a state name is inserted within a proper name: the Dibrugarh (Assam) Times - use in direct quotes: Travellers, beware of rough roads. Readers, take - use for most figures higher than 999. Exceptions: street addresses (1234 Annamalai St.); room numbers; serial numbers; telephone

numbers; and years (2003) - commas always go inside closing quotation marks, whether they are single, double or both together - use in presenting company financial data, an example: In the companys first quarter ended April 30, profit was $8.7 million, or 20 cents a share, after special charges common sense (n), commonsense (adj) William Hague's 'commonsense revolution' showed little common sense communism, communist lc except in name of party: Communist Party Communist Party of India CPI may be used in all references but mention this national political partys full name in copy Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPM acceptable in all references but mention this national political partys full name in copy company names - in general, we use the names that companies use themselves: c2c, Capgemini, easyJet, eBay, ebookers, iSoft Group, etc. - exceptions include Adidas (not adidas), ABN Amro (not ABN AMRO), BAE Systems (not BAE SYSTEMS), BhS (no italicised H), Toys R Us (do not even attempt to turn the R backwards), Yahoo (no exclamation mark). See individual entries for more examples - many of these look odd, particularly when used as the first word in a headline, although some are becoming more familiar with time - company names are always singular - consult the company, the company's annual report or its official website if in doubt compare to/with the former means liken to, the latter means make a comparison: so unless you are specifically likening someone or something to someone or something else (eg Nothing Compares 2 U), use compare with A former lord chancellor compared himself to Cardinal Wolsey because he believed he was like Wolsey; I might compare him with Wolsey to assess

their relative merits comparisons should be exact, like with like. The power crisis today is more acute than 10 years ago or Air fares now are often lower than second class AC train travel are wrong usages. They should read The power crisis today is more acute than it was 10 years ago or Air fares now are often lower than second class AC train fares. comprise of but comprises (no of follows)

officials concerned

Confederation of Indian Industry not Industries. CII is acceptable in all references but mention the full name of this body, which claims direct membership of at least 6,000 organisations from the private and public sectors confess, confessed use the words carefully Congress - uc Congress when it refers to the Congress Party in India or the US Senate and House of Representatives - ucCongress also if referring to a foreign body that uses the term, or its equivalent in a foreign language, as part of its formal name: the Argentine Congress, the congress - lc congress when it is used as a synonym for convention or in second reference to an organisation that uses the word as part of its formal name: the Congress of Racial Equality, the congress Congress party acceptable in first and subsequent references to the Indian National Congress, but the full name should be included when it is a formal reference

consulate lc: the French consulate, the US consulate, the consulate consult with Consumer Price Index statistical measure of the average of prices of a specified set of goods and services purchased by wage earners in urban areas. Generally use the abbreviation CPI only in quoted or tabular matter continent the seven continents, in order of their land size: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Antarctica and Australia continual, continuous continual means frequent or repeated; continuous means without stopping even once, uninterrupted. There is a big difference, for instance, between continual rain and continuous rain contractions - do not overuse contractions such as aren't, can't, couldn't, hasn't, don't, I'm, it's, there's and what's (even the horrific there've has appeared); while they might make a piece more colloquial or easier to read, they can be an irritant and a distraction, and make a serious article sound frivolous - they also look horrible - avoid positive contractions, especially those such as hes that can have two meanings (he is or he has) - when using an apostrophe with a pronoun, as in a quotation, double-check to be sure that the meaning calls for a contraction: youre, its, whos, rather than a possessive: your, its, whose controversial overused, typically to show that the writer disapproves of something (the government's controversial academy schools scheme); like famous, it can

normally be safely removed from copy to allow readers to make up their own minds convict (v) - follow it with the preposition of, not for: He was convicted of murder - dont use the term in referring to a verdict in a civil suit. convince/persuade having convinced someone of the facts, you might persuade them to do something co-operate, co-operation, co-operative (See co-. See prefixes and suffixes) cop colloquialism for a police officer, it is better to avoid except in quoted matter

up copyright (n, v, adj) - entails the exclusive rights of artists, authors, composers, publishers and others to the contents of pieces of work, protecting them from plagiarism or imitation - The disclosure was made in a copyright story - use copyrighted only as the past tense of the verb: He copyrighted the article cosmetic surgery is not the same as plastic surgery and should be reserved for people treated for deformity or illness cost of living - the cost of living went up, but he didnt receive a cost-of-living adjustment. - this is the amount of money needed to pay taxes and to buy the goods and services deemed necessary to make up a given standard of living, taking into account changes that may occur in tastes and buying patterns - the term is often treated incorrectly as a synonym for the Consumer Price Index, which does not take taxes into account and measures only price changes, keeping the quantities constant over time

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Second reference, CSIR counsel, counselled, counselling, counsellor to counsel is to advise. A counsellor is one who advises counterpractically all combinations of counter- are without hyphens counteract counterattack countermeasures country names as a rule, use the simplified name of any country. It is Denmark, for instance, not the Kingdom of Denmark See appendix 1: List of country names couple - when used in the sense of two people, couple takes plural verbs and pronouns: The couple were married Saturday and left Sunday on their honeymoon. They will return in two weeks - in the sense of a single unit, use a singular verb: Each couple was asked to give Rs10 couple of - the of is necessary. Never use a couple tomatoes or a similar phrase - the phrase takes a plural verb in constructions such as: A couple of tomatoes were stolen court martial when used as verbs, court-martial, court-martialled, courts-martial cover up (v), cover-up (n and adj) he tried to cover up the scandal. He was prosecuted for the cover-up crash - in the stock market, it refers to a precipitate decline in prices, usually accompanied by a sharp decline in economic activity - use with extreme care in relation to markets, price trends and the like, unless the fall is dramatic

creche no accent crescendo a gradual increase in loudness or intensity; musically or figuratively, it is the build-up to a climax, not the climax itself credible, credulous credible means believable, and is the antonym of incredible; redulous means nave, one who will believe anything. creditworthy, creditworthiness (adj) cricket leg-side, leg-spinner, off-spin, off-stump, silly mid-on, mid-off, etc, all hyphenated Criminal Procedure Code CrPC in second reference cripple, crippled offensive and outdated; do not use crisscross crore Rs10 crore, crores of rupees crucifix not synonymous with cross: a crucifix depicts the body of Christ on the cross cull means pick or choose as in culled from the best authors. It doesn't mean killed, axed or massacred (though you cull sheep in order to kill them). So a jobs cull does not mean the same as mass sackings Cummings, EE US poet (1894-1962) who, despite what many people think, used capitals in his signature so don't call him ee cummings

the $ sign refers to the US dollars. If dollars of any other country are referred to (Australian, Canadian, Singaporean, etc) the appropriate symbol is A$, C$, S$ etc respectively. When you first mention these currencies, do write 45 Australian dollars first, with A$ in subsequent references. - use currency symbols, including that of the rupee (insert sign here) - use the foreign exchange ratio from the exchange rates table from the RBI website on the day the story is being reported.

currently now is preferable, if needed at all cusp - a place where two points meet (eg on the cusp of Manchester and Salford, on the cusp of Taurus and Gemini), which may be extended metaphorically to a place or time where two things or groups of things come into contact. - writers who use cusp under the impression that it is a clever way to say on the brink of or about to (on the cusp of adolescence, on the cusp of the final, the garlic was on the cusp of bursting into a constellation of white stars) are, sadly, mistaken

cutbacks avoid; cuts will suffice cybercrime but cyber attacks, cyber criminals cyberspace cynic, sceptic a cynic is a disbeliever. A sceptic is a doubter czar not tsar. lc except before the name of a former Russian ruler: Czar Boris, the czar; the energy czar

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Dd
dabbawallas men who ferry hot lunches to workers, especially in Mumbai Dad or dad? Dalai Lama - the dalai lama is the traditional high priest of Lamaism, a form of Buddhism, practised in Tibet and Mongolia - te dalai lama is a title rather than a name, but it is used alone when

referring to a man - uc ferences to the holder of the title: Dalai Lama spoke to the gathering damp, dampen (v) damp means to check or reduce, as the heat in a furnace. When the economy is being checked or cooled, it is damped, not dampened. Dampen usually meaning moisten, may also be used to depress: The news dampened his spirits dancefloor one word dangling participles - is a participle (usually at the beginning of a sentence) apparently modifying a word other than the word intended - The Guardian Style Guide has this advice: Avoid constructions such as having died, they buried him - the pitfalls are nicely highlighted in Mark Lawson's novel Going Out Live, in which a TV critic writes: "Dreary, repetitive and well past the sell-by date, I switched off the new series of Fleming Faces" - a particularly exotic example of this that somehow found its way into the Guardian: "Though long-legged and possessing a lovely smile, gentleman journalists aren't looking up her skirt and wouldn't even if she weren't gay ... " danseuse

dashes () - dashes can be used to mark an abrupt change in thought in a sentence or an emphatic pause: The reporter offered to further edit his copy it was quite unprecedented without throwing a fit - the dash is used far too often in copy, often to break up long sentences - a good rule is that unless used in the example given here, if your sentence needs dashes, it probably needs to be broken up into two - or more - sentences or, if you must, use commas instead. data takes a singular verb (like agenda); though strictly a plural, no one ever uses

agendum or datum date

dateline

date rape is an assault or attempted assault usually committed by a new acquaintance involving sexual intercourse without mutual consent

daughter-in-law plural daughters-in-law day off a day away from work, school, or a similar obligation; a free day. Charles always used her day off to do errands day out a day when you go out somewhere for fun or enjoyment. All children enjoy a day out at the fair day-to-day daybreak daydream day-long, month-long, year-long daytime but night-time

D-Day it was 6 June 1944, the day the Allies invaded France at Normandy in World War II. By extension, it is any major turning point

dead or died deaf

deal use the noun cautiously, as it can connote connivance deathbed but death row

dead end a position that offers no hope of progress; blind alley; cul-de-sac: His theory led him to a dead end deadlock a state in which progress is impossible, as in a dispute, produced by the counteraction of opposing forces; standstill; stalemate: The union and management reached a deadlock over fringe benefits. debacle a complete collapse or failure debris the remains of anything broken down or destroyed; ruins; rubble: the debris of buildings after an air raid debilitate to make weak or feeble; enfeeble: The siege of pneumonia debilitated her completely

decease the act of dying; departure from life; death. defensible deference respectful submission or yielding to the judgment, opinion, will, etc, of another: She took up the job in deference to his wishes disease illness; sickness; ailment deceit the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating: Once she exposed their deceit, no one ever trusted them again decent

kind; obliging; generous: It was very decent of him to lend me his watch deer animal (plural: deer) dear endearment or expensive defect a shortcoming, fault, or imperfection: a defect in an argument; a defect in a machine defective having a defect or flaw deja vu no accents. This is the illusion of having previously experienced something actually being encountered for the first time dekko a look or glance de jure by right; according to law de facto in fact; in reality Delhi government

democracy government by the people or their elected representatives democratic of, characterised by, or advocating democracy: democratic government; a democratic union Democrat (in the US) a member or supporter of the Democratic Party

demographics the characteristics of human populations and population segments, especially when used to identify consumer markets dengue denim - coarse twilled cloth, usually cotton, used for jeans, overalls, and work uniforms. - trousers or another garment made of this cloth denouement no accent departments of state - in the Union government departments are usually within ministries. The department of consumer affairs and department of food and public distribution, for example, are part of the ministry. Each is headed by a secretary-level officer - when in doubt, check the website of a ministry. If you don't know it, access it through the PIB site www.pib.nic.in. lc departments and ministries: the department of consumer affairs, the Union finance ministry, the ministry of external affairs. When referring to the defence ministry, the term Union is redundant. There is no defence ministry in states. (see Annexure 4: Departments and Ministries) dependant someone who depends on someone else dependent the condition of depending on someone else; eg she is dependent on him deport to expel from a country depart - to go away; leave (no use of force as in depart) - to die

- to vary, as from a regular course; deviate depose to remove from office or power; give a statement before a judge or court depreciation - in finance, it is the amortisation of fixed assets, such as plants and equipment, so as to allocate the cost over their depreciable life. It reduces taxable income. - in economics, it is the wearing out of capital goods, such as plant and equipment, through use and over time - in the foreign exchange market, it is the weakening in value of a currency against another currency in free trading

desiccated not dessicated

-designate hyphenate chairperson-designate destiny the future destined for a person or thing; fate; fortune; lot destination the place to which one is going or directed destress to release bodily or mental tension, to unwind dtente The easing of strained relationships, especially between countries detour a roundabout way or course, especially a road used temporarily instead of a main route

detract to take away a part (of); diminish: her anger detracts from her beauty devaluation, revaluation; depreciation, appreciation - the two sets of terms refer to movements in currencies - use depreciation and appreciation to describe changes in currency exchange rates that occur among freely trading currencies, such as the dollar and yen, through trading in the foreign exchange market - devaluation and revaluation, describing official changes in currency exchange rates or exchange rate targets, are possible only for currencies whose exchange rates central banks control or target - devaluation means the currency adjustment causes it to lose buying power against other currencies - revaluation causes the currency to gain buying power against other currencies Devanagari a syllabic script used in writing Sanskrit and Hindi devil, the lc but uc for Satan diarrhoea diaspora - a dispersion of a people from their original homeland. - the community formed by such a people diehard but the film series is Die Hard dietitian not the same as a nutritionist, a less precise term (although some nutritionists are also registered dietitians) differ from, differ with to differ from means to be unlike. To differ with means to disagree different

Both usages, different from and different than, are correct dignitary, dignitaries dilemma means two difficult choices, not any general problem dim sum diplomat an official, such as an ambassador or first secretary, engaged in diplomacy. diplomatic it suggests a smoothness and skill in handling others, usually in such a way as to attain one's own ends and yet avoid any unpleasantness or opposition diplomatic immunity a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments, which ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws (although they can be expelled directions and regions - uc, when reference is to geographical regions - uc political entities, commonly used names or words designating regions: the North-East, northern India, West Asia - but 50 km west of Delhi will not be capitalised, nor will western suburb of Mumbai director general two words, no hyphen direct speech people we write about are allowed to speak in their own, not necessarily our, style, but be sensitive: do not, for example, expose someone to ridicule for dialect or grammatical errors. Do not attempt facetious phonetic renditions. Correct errors without changing, in any way

disposable income - more a marketing term than an economic one - usually refers not to income after tax, but income after tax and expenditure on sustenance (food, clothing, education, shelter, etc) - while on the subject of income, several newspapers use terms such as earnings and income too freely - in the corporate context, earnings refers to net profit (profit after tax), and income is the equivalent of revenues - actually, income is the equivalent of revenues and earnings refers to net profit (profit after tax) dissociate, dissociation not disassociate, disassociation disc, disk use disc as the industry does in references to a phonograph record, compact disc, videodisc and disc jockey. Also use disc in disc brakes and disc harrows. Use disk in references to the computer storage devices floppy disks and hard disks, as well as in references to spinal disks discreet circumspect discrete separate

disinvest (usually followed by in) to remove investment (from) disparate distinct in kind; essentially different; dissimilar: disparate ideas disparage to speak of or treat slightingly; depreciate; belittle: Do not disparage good manners disposal a disposing of or getting rid of something: the disposal of waste material disposable designed for or capable of being thrown away after being used or used up: disposable plastic spoons; a disposable cigarette lighter disposition the predominant or prevailing tendency of one's spirits; natural mental and emotional outlook or mood; characteristic attitude: a girl with a pleasant disposition

dissent to differ in sentiment or opinion, esp. from the majority; disagree (often followed by from): Two of the justices dissented from the majority decision distract to draw away or divert, as the mind or attention: The music distracted him from his work distress great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; acute physical or mental suffering; affliction; trouble divest it takes the preposition of. A company doesnt divest a unit, it divests itself of a unit. Divestment and disinvestment are interchangeable divorcee

a divorced person, male or female Diwali uc. The festival of lights is also known as Deepavali. Our style is to use Diwali

dogs normally lc, eg alsatian, doberman, rottweiler, yorkshire terrier; but note Irish setter, Jack Russell, old English sheepdog dollars and cents - the dollar (often represented by the dollar sign, $, is the name of the official currency of many countries - write 5 cents, 12 cents; but $5, $12. Also, $100,000, $10.2 million, $10.22 billion, $10.223 trillion - dollar figures are generally rounded off as above - to one decimal place for millions, two decimal places for billions and three for trillions, instead of using the exact figure. But the precise figures can be used, when necessary, to differentiate between two nearly identical sums. (see Currencies) dolour painful grief domino effect is a chain reaction that occurs when a small change causes a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and so on in linear sequence. D'oh! as Homer Simpson would say (note the apostrophe)

Doordarshan the national broadcaster dos and don'ts dotcom as a noun or adjective, it refers to companies that do business mainly on the Internet. People in the industry are dotcommers dossier a collection of papers containing information on a particular subject or person -down Follow the dictionary. Some examples, all nouns or adjectives: breakdown, rundown, countdown - all are two words when used as verbs download, downplay, down payment sit-down downmarket, upmarket

Down's syndrome say (if relevant) a baby with Down's syndrome, not "a Down's syndrome baby" we wouldn't say "a cerebral palsy baby". The diagnosis is not the person dozen precisely, not approximately, 12

draught

a current of air, especially one intruding into an enclosed space drought a period of dry weather, esp. a long one that is injurious to crops. drink-driving driving a vehicle after having too much alcohol; drunken driving; drunk driving drug use a more accurate and less judgmental term than drug abuse or misuse drum'n'bass dumb do not use when you mean mute or speech-impaired DVD Stories with more than a passing reference should point out that it stands for digital videodisc. It is similar to a CD-ROM, but more versatile dyeing, dying dyeing refers to changing colours. Dying refers to death dyslexia write Paul has dyslexia rather than labelling him a dyslexic or saying he suffers from dyslexia See Stylistic Choices: Neutral Language

Ee
each it takes a singular verb when it is the subject of a clause: each of the companies is contributing to the effort. But when each comes after a plural subject, it doesnt govern the verb: The companies each are contributing to the effort each other, one another two people walk each other; more than two walk with one another. Either phrase may be used when the number is indefinite: We help each other. For the possessive, each others possessions. Not each others possessions. earlier often redundant since context will inform the reader: they met this month is preferable to they met earlier this month earring is one word with double r earshot the idioms out of earshot and within earshot of someone/ something mean too far or too near to be heard Earth uc in an astronomical context; lc in any other eg what on earth is that? and moon, sun Easter Day not Easter Sunday

eastern Europe, western Europe eBay a website on which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. ebook one word E coli

e-commerce ecstasy means state of bliss, lc effect/affect - as a verb, affect means to influence (smoking may affect your health) or to adopt a pose or manner (he affected ignorance) - effect as a verb means to accomplish (the prisoners effected an escape) - as a noun, the word needed is almost always effect (personal effects, the damaging effects of war) - affect as a noun has a narrow definition to do with emotional states (hence affection) effectively - not a synonym for in effect - the Blair campaign was launched effectively in 1992 means the intended effect was achieved - the Blair campaign was in effect launched in 1992 means this was not the official launch, but the event described did have the effect of launching it, whether intended or not - the word effectively is overused as well as misused, and can often be omitted Eid ul-Adha Muslim festival laid down in Islamic law, celebrates the end of the hajj. Note that eid means festival, so it is tautologous to describe it as the Eid festival

Eid ul-Fitr Muslim festival of thanksgiving, celebrates the end of Ramadan (ul-fitr means the breaking of the fast) eid mubarak not a festival but a greeting either use it to mean one or the other, not both. For example: There are arguments on both sides. Not: There are arguments on either side eitheror, neithernor the nouns that follows do not constitute a compound subject; they are alternative subjects and require a verb that agrees with the nearer subject. Neither they nor he is going. Neither he nor they are going elderly the terms elderly and senior citizen arent appropriate to refer to anyone under 65 and shouldnt be used casually to refer to anyone of any age. If possible, provide the persons age instead. Elderly may be used, however, to refer to the demographic group: health care for the elderly electrical, electronic electronic suggests a flow of electrons through semiconductor or other field, so the term applies to devices such as computers that arent simply electrical ellipsis () - it consists of three periods and is placed between two words, with spaces between the preceding and following words. it should always look like this, he said - if beginning a new sentence after the ellipses, then leave a space after it and begin with a capital letter: The proposed plan is expected to start by next year The government is firm on it. - avoid overusing the ellipses in quotations; paraphrasing is usually the better alternative El Dorado used metaphorically for any place where wealth can be rapidly acquired

electrocution death by electric shock, so dont say survivors of torture were electrocuted during their ordeal rather that they were given electric shocks elegiac expressing sadness, especially about past or people who have died (according to the Oxford dictionary) elite a group of people who have influence in society because they are rich, intelligent or powerful email

embargo plural embargos embarrass, embarrassment embassy lc, eg British embassy emigrate leave a country; immigrate means to arrive in one endanger to put to risk, while Engender means to bring about a feeling or situation enquire, inquire the latter is especially used in American English so avoid entrepreneur businessperson, business owner enamoured of, not by or with

England, English take care not to offend by saying England or English when you mean Britain or British en masse two words, means all together and in large numbers. Do not italicise enormity something monstrous or wicked; not synonymous with large enrol, enrolling, enrolment en route not on route ensure make certain, insure against risk, assure life enthral, enthralling epicentre the point on the earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake or underground explosion; frequently misused to mean the centre or focus itself

epilepsy we do not define people by their medical condition: seizures are epileptic, people are not; so say (if relevant) Singh, who has epilepsy not Singh, an epileptic epitaph words on a gravestone, words written about a dead person epithet phrase used to describe someones character epitome a perfect example of something

equator, the usually the is used equity refers to a companys shares ere long not eer long espresso the coffee is espresso, not expresso essential clauses, non-essential clauses both essential and non-essential clauses, sometimes called restrictive and non-restrictive clauses, provide additional information about a word or phrase in a sentence. But an essential clause cannot be eliminated without changing the meaning of a sentence establishment, the ethnic never say ethnic when you mean ethnic minority, which leads to such nonsense as the constituency has a small ethnic population

euro - the common currency for nations in Europe is lc - plural euros and cents - do not use as a prefix to everything European, but Euro-MP is an acceptable alternative to MEP - the nations in the European Union that have adopted the euro as of 2009 are: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. (The three that hadnt adopted it are Britain, Sweden, and Denmark.) - dont refer to the euro as Europes single currency, which is a misnomer. - use European cents instead of eurocents to refer to the denominations, although the coins are inscribed with eurocents

- Symbol for euro (a) is obtained with alt+0128 Europe includes Britain, so dont say, for example, something is common in Europe unless it is common in Britain as well; to distinguish between Britain and the rest of Europe the phrase continental Europe may be useful; eastern Europe, central Europe, western Europe European Commission the commission after first mention.

European Union

every day noun and adverb eg it happens every day everyday adjective: an everyday mistake

eve-teasing avoid; say sexual harassment ex- use no hyphen for words that use ex- in the sense of out of: excommunicate, expropriate - hyphenate when using ex- in the sense of former: ex-convict exhusband - dont capitalise ex-when it is attached to a formal title before a name: ex-president Clinton. But former is preferred: former US president Clinton exclamation point (!) - use very sparingly to express a high degree of surprise, incredulity or

other strong emotion. Use a comma or period instead after mild interjections - avoid in headlines - place the exclamation mark inside quotation marks when it is part of the quoted material: How extraordinary! he exclaimed. Never! she shouted - place it outside quotation marks when it is not part of the quoted material: How I hated Moby Dick! extra- do not use a hyphen when extra- means outside of unless the prefix is followed by a word beginning with a or a capitalised word: extraterrestrial, extramarital, extraterritorial - but: extra-alimentary, extra-Britannic. Follow extra-with a hyphen when it is part of a compound modifier describing a condition beyond the usual size, extent or degree: extra-base hit, extra-large book, extra-dry drink, extra-mild taste extrasensory perception (ESP) ESP is acceptable on second reference exclusive a tabloid term that should be used only with express permission of the editor execution the carrying out of a death sentence by lawful authority, so a terrorist, for example, does not execute someone expat, expatriate not ex-pat or expatriot; this is ex meaning out of (as in export, extract), not ex- meaning former (as in ex-husband) exit poll an election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. Unlike an opinion poll, which asks whom the voter plans to vote for or some similar formulation, an exit poll asks whom the voter actually voted for (wikipedia) eye level no hyphen

eyewitness witness is usually sufficient

Ff
facilitate to make easier or less difficult; help forward; felicitate is to offer congratulations to face-to-face fair - in a proper or legal manner - skin tone - good faithful, faithfully fag end do not use Fahrenheit 68F etc, use in brackets after celsius figure. To convert to Celsius, subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit figure, multiply by 5 and divide by 9 (77-32 equals 45 x 5 equals 225, divided by 9 equals 25) Fairtrade the Fairtrade mark is a certification system run by the Fairtrade Foundation; products are entitled to be called Fairtrade (uc F) if they meet the following criteria: - a price that covers producers' costs - a premium for producers to invest in their communities

- long-term and more direct trading relations fair trade refers to the movement as a whole, eg only fair trade will enable farmers in developing countries to become self-sufficient fairer sex

fall use only when it means drop; do not use to mean autumn unless it is in a direct quote fallout one word. it means the adverse results of a situation or action Falun Gong the preferred name for the spiritual movement also referred to as Falun Dafa. Dont call it a cult familial that relating to family family relationships uc words denoting family relationships only when they precede the name of a person or when they stand unmodified as a substitute for a persons name: I wrote to Grandfather Smith. I wrote Mother a letter. I wrote my mother a letter fanbelt, fanclub, fanmail FAQs frequently asked questions, this is a format used to summarise. Spell it out in copy but you may use the abbreviation in graphics fare - in a proper or legal manner - do - price of passage farsighted

it means, literally or figuratively, that one can see things at a distance but has difficulty seeing them close at hand fast-moving consumer goods the acronym FMCG is not acceptable. FMCG can be written as makers of consumer and home care products such as toothpaste, soap and detergent. Define the goods faux artificial; fake faux pas a social blunder far, farther, farthest of distances, otherwise further, furthest far east but Middle East fatwa an edict, not necessarily a death sentence fedayeen Arab fighters (the word means those who risk their lives for a cause); can be capped up when referring to a specific force, eg the Saddam Fedayeen militia which fought coalition forces in the 2003 Iraq war fed up with not fed up of fewer/less fewer means smaller in number, eg fewer coins; less means smaller in quantity, eg less money fianc male, fiance for female; but note divorcee is both male and female fief not fiefdom

figures

filet, fillet filet mignon is a preparation of beef tenderloin. A fillet is a deboned cut of fish or meat filibuster to filibuster is to make long speeches to obstruct the passage of a Bill. A parliamentarian who uses this tactic is also a filibuster, not a filibusterer. Filipino native or inhabitant of the Philippines film-maker financial year do not use the expression financial year. Stick to fiscal year, fiscal 2010 (year ending March 2010)

fine-tooth comb used with reference to a thorough search or investigation. Not fine-toothed comb firefighter not fireman firing line the people who do the firing; if they are aiming at you, you are in the line of fire not in the firing line firm strictly a partnership without limited liability, such as solicitors or accountants, but may be used in place of company in headlines

first second, third spell out up to ninth, then 10th, 21st, millionth See Stylistic Choices: Numbers, measurements, Time first aid first family always lc first-hand first lady lc all references to the wife of a head of state first world war lc. World War I is preferred unless in a sentence like during the first world war firstly, secondly avoid; prefer first, second, etc flair a natural talent or aptitude; a knack

flare to flame up with a bright, wavering light flak not flack flaunt/flout to flaunt is to make a display of something, as in flaunting wealth; to flout is to show disregard for something, as in flouting the seatbelt law fledgling not fledgeling flier, flyer

a flier is a handbill, an aviator or a person who flies. Flyer is used in the formal names of some fast buses or trains. flyer not flier flounder/founder to flounder is to perform a task badly, like someone stuck in mud; founder means fail: a business might be foundering because its bosses are floundering focus, focused, focusing foetus not fetus foie gras a pate made from goose liver (marinated in Cognac) and truffles following prefer after, eg Mansfield Town went to pieces after their Cup exit font

fools paradise foot and mouth disease foreign words

formula plural formulas, but formulae in scientific context formula one motor racing fortuitous by chance, accidental; not by good fortune, lucky Fourth Estate uc when used as a collective name for journalism and journalists fount someone is the fount of all knowledge, never the font of all knowledge fractions two-thirds, three-quarters, etc, but two and a half

Frankenstein the monsters creator, not the monster freeze-frame french toast fresco plural frescoes freudian slip fulfil, fulfilling, fulfilment fulfil, fulfilled, fulfilling fundraiser, fundraising

fungus plural fungi

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Gg
gaff iron hook or the spur on a climbing iron. Different from gaffe, which means social blunder or faux pas gamma testing in the development of new software, gamma testing is a third stage sometimes conducted after the alpha and beta testing, as a precaution just before commercial marketing. gambit an opening strategy that involves some sacrifice or concession; so to talk of an opening gambit is tautologous - an opening ploy might be better gameplan, gameshow single words, without any space game names no quotation marks, just italics: Monopoly, Pictionary gaming generally prefer gambling, except in proper names or in quotations Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (also, Mahatma) not Ghandi. No need to write the full name, Mahatma Gandhi will do, unless it is pertinent to the story garda

Irish police force garda (plural garda) Irish police officer garotte (v and n)

gases plural of gas, not gasses Gatt general agreement on tariffs and trade gauge gauge also designates the bore size of shotguns. Gage, seldom used, is a security or pledgeor a variety of plum. gay use as an adjective, eg gay bishops, gay people, rather than a noun (gays), though gays and lesbians is okay. Note: He is gay (not he is a gay)

Gaza Strip

gigabits (gb); gigabytes (GB)

s. Youll probably not hear someone describe a 200-gigabyte drive as being 1,600 gigabits. Instead, bits are typically used to describe data transfer rates (DTRs), or how fast bits of information can move between devices, such as modems, Firewire, or Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports. - two types of numerical systems used with computers are the decimal system and the binary system. The decimal system counts the kilo as 1000, while the binary system counts the kilo as 1024. This is because it takes an

extra 24 bits of data to store 1000 bits of information on a hard drive or standard storage device. For simplicity, and when referring to data transfer speeds, the more typical designation is the decimal system as follows: 1000 bits = 1 kilobit 1000 kilobits = 1 megabit 1000 megabits = 1 gigabit 1000 bytes = 1 kilobyte 1000 kilobytes = 1 megabyte 1000 megabytes = 1 gigabyte gender - our use of language should reflect not only changes in society but the newspaper's values - chairperson, not chairman or chairwoman - actor: male and female, avoid actress except when it is the name of an award, eg Oscar for best actress - dancer: male and female; avoid danseuse - waitron or server: male and female. avoid waitstaff unless referring to a team of waitrons - firefighter, not fireman - flight attendant, not steward or stewardess - avoid suffixes to make words feminine eg usherette, comedienne, poetess - avoid terms such as male nurse, female judge etc. They are almost always irrelevant - some military ranks remain unchanged when applied to female soldiers - obstetrician; not midwife or childbirth assistant - police officer; not policeman or policewoman - photographer; not cameraman or cameraperson - shop assistant: not salesman, saleswoman or salesperson - housekeeper, cleaner or domestic workers; not maid or servant - use humankind or humanity rather than mankind - try to avoid saying his to cover men and women: but also avoid the clumsy his or her, try a different construction; in sentences such as a teacher who beats his/her pupils is not fit to do the job, there is usually a way round the problem - in this case, teachers who beat their pupils

Generation X originally applied to people born in the US from 1965 to 1980, after the baby boom. Also: Gen X and Gen Xers

Generation Y initially applied to people born in the US in 1980 or thereafter gentleman dont use as a synonym for man general general Tommy Franks at first mention, then Gen Franks general election not elections Geneva convention german measles but rubella is preferable ghetto plural ghettoes. Dont use ghetto indiscriminately as a synonym for the sections of cities inhabited by minorities or the poor Gibraltar overseas territory or dependency, not a British colony gift not a verb (unless, perhaps, directly quoting a cricket commentator or player: We gifted the match to the English" girl female under 18. Also, use sales assistant, not salesgirl girlfriend single word girly noun (only when quoting someone) girly adjective (eg girly clothes) girlish behaviour Giuseppe

regularly misspelt as Guiseppe glamorous not glamourous Global Equity Market the New York Stock Exchange and Euronext are partners in the Global Equity Market, or GEM, formed for joint trading of global companies securities. GM crops, GM food no need to write genetically modified in full at first mention. The only GM crop allowed commercially in India so far is cotton GMT Greenwich mean time: the ship ran aground at 8am local time (0530 GMT) glasnost goal line, goalpost gobsmacked use only when directly quoting someone

gods and goddesses - uc God in references to the deity of all monotheistic religions - uc all noun references to the deity: God the Father, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit - lc personal pronouns: he, him, thee, thou - lc the words gods and goddesses in references to deities of multitheistic religions - uc names given to deities - names of Hindu gods and Indian historical figures. We say Ram, Lakshman, Pandavs, Kauravs, (emperor) Ashok, Ravan, Ganesh. In all first references, we will say Hindu god Ram godchild, godfather, godmother, godson, goddaughter gold

commercially, it is used mostly in electronics, jewellery and coins Golden Quadrilateral the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) is the largest express highway project in India launched by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former prime minister of India. It is the first phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), and consists of building 5,846km of four-six lane express highways connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai (thus forming a quadrilateral of sorts) golf for holes, use numbers: 1st, 2nd, 18th, etc; matchplay: one word, except World Match Play Championship; the Open not the British Open Good Friday agreement goodness, for goodness sake goodnight go-slow noun go slow verb good, well - good, an adjective, means something is better than average - good should not be used as an adverb, but it is properly used as an adjective in sentences with linking verbs, such as The future looks good - well, when used as an adjective, means suitable, proper, healthy - as an adverb, well means in a satisfactory or skilful manner - good-paying, as in a good-paying jobs, is ungrammatical, and wellpaying is subjective. Use better-paying jobs unless quoting someone Gospel, gospel uc Gospel and Gospels only when referring to any or all of the first four books of the New Testament: the Gospel of St John, the Gospels government - lc in all contexts and all countries - it is the government resist the trend to say, for eg, Montek Singh fended off accusations of being too close to government; you should

write the government - do not use short forms like govt in the copy or headlines. governmental bodies - uc references to specific organisations and corporations: the Election Commission, the Delhi Fire Service, India Tourism Development Corp. Ltd - the same principles apply to foreign bodies government, junta, regime - a government is an established system of political administration: the federal, the Union government, the state government - a junta is a group or council that often rules after a coup. It becomes a government after it establishes an administration - regime is a synonym for political system: a democratic regime, an authoritarian regime. Dont use regime to mean a specific government or junta - an administration comprises officials who make up the executive branch of a government - say government employees rather than public servants. government departments lc

government of national capital territory of Delhi, or NCT

governor generally lc and spell out. Except for members of boards of governors, the governor isnt considered a formal title graffiti plural, graffito is the singular. But graffiti is often used as a singular in reference to the practice of drawing on walls and vehicles: Graffiti has almost been eliminated gram - not gramme for the basic unit of weight in the metric system

- it is the weight of 1 cu. cm of water at 4 degrees Celsius - a gram is about one-28th of an ounce. To convert to ounces, multiply by 0.035 Granada, Grenada Granada is a city in Spain; Grenada is a Caribbean island Grand Slam uc in reference to the four major tournaments in golf and tennis - the US Open, the British Open, the Masters and the PGA championship in golf and the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in tennis granddaughter, grandfather but grandad (note, single d) grand prix lc, the British grand prix; grands prix (plural) grant-in-aid, grants-in-aid grassroots one word Great Britain England, Wales and Scotland; if you want to include Northern Ireland, use Britain or the UK great-grandfather, great-great-grandmother green a green activist, the green movement, but upper case when referring to sonamed political parties, eg the German Greens green belt designated areas around cities subject to strict planning controls, not open countryside in general greenhouse effect energy from the Earth's surface is trapped in the lower atmosphere by gases

that prevent it leaking into space, a natural phenomenon that makes life possible, whose enhancement by natural or human means may make life impossible. Not the result of the hole in the ozone layer, whose thinning in the upper atmosphere is due to CFCs; the connection is that CFCs are also greenhouse gases green paper green card a registration card granting an alien permission to live and work in the US greenfield project a project that is to be started from scratch. Define on first use grisly gruesome grizzly bear gross dont use as a verb gross domestic product the total value of goods and services produced in a nation. It replaced gross national product as the US commerce departments main measure of economic output. GDP is acceptable on second reference gross national product the total value of a nations output of goods and services, including what the nation produces abroad. GNP is acceptable on second reference group normally takes singular verbs and pronouns: The group is reviewing its position group of ministers the ruling coalition has several groups examining issues. lc only o, GoM may be used in headlines but prefer the group, or the ministers, in copy grow one grows crops or a beard. Growing a business or a company or the economy is jargon, so confine that usage to quotations

G7 Group of Seven leading industrial countries (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US), but no need to spell out G8 the G7 plus Russia G20 spell out as Group of Twenty on first reference. The G20 industrial and developing nations are the finance ministers and central bank governors from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US. The European Union is represented by the EU Council president and the head of the European Central Bank GSM Global System for Mobile Communications Guantnamo Bay guest dont use as a verb except in quoted matter

guerrilla Gulf, the not the Persian or Arabian Gulf Gulf war of 1991 guilty only in criminal actions do defendants plead guilty or not guilty. Be careful with recording the not-guilty pleading or verdict to avoid inadvertently dropping the not. Generally say instead that the defendants are acquitted guineapig

gun battle not gunbattle guttural not gutteral Gulf Co-operation Council group comprising the six Arab nations of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates Gulf Stream gung-ho colloquialism gut confine the verb form to the meaning remove the intestines. Use burned out the interior of or destroyed the interior of to describe damage done by a fire Gypsies uc, recognised as an ethnic group under the Race Relations Act, as are Irish Travellers

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Hh
Haaretz Israeli newspaper habeas corpus see Annexure 6: Legal terminology) hacker

in the computer world, the term for an accomplished software strategist has come to imply mischievous or illegal manipulating of the software. Use the term carefully Hades but lc hell The Hague not the Hague Haj, Haji uc. A Haj is a pilgrimage to Mecca, required of every Muslim. A Haji is a Muslim who has made the pilgrimage halfFollow the dictionary. Hyphenate if not listed there. - one word: halfback, halfpennyworth, halfway - two words: half blood, half brother, half measure, half size, half dollar, half sole (n.), half note, half tide - with a hyphen: half-baked, half-life, half-moon, half-cocked, half-sole (v.), half-hour, half-truth, half-tone, half-hearted, half-time, halfcentury - on ships and at naval stations, flags are flown at half mast. Elsewhere, flags are flown at half staff half a dozen, half past halfway, halfwit Halloween halo plural haloes hallelujah but the spelling alleluia is preferred for Catholic prayer usage Halleys comet after Edmond Halley, an English astronomer who predicted the comets appearance once every 75 years. Last seen in 1986

See Stylistic Choices: Neutral Language hang, hanged, hung one hangs a picture, a criminal or oneself. For past tense or the passive, use hanged when referring to executions or suicides, but otherwise use hung handbill, handbook, handout handicapped do not use to refer to people with disabilities or learning difficulties Hanukah happy-clappy derogatory term describing evangelical Christians, do not use hara-kiri known less vulgarly in Japan as seppuku harass, harassment

hardline adjective, hardliner noun, take a hard line harebrained not hairbrained hare lip never use, say cleft lip or cleft palate hazard/risk scientists use hazard to mean a potential for harm and risk to mean the actual probability of harm occurring; though headline writers may feel more at home with risk than hazard, the distinction is worth bearing in mind hard drive

in a computer hard drive, data is written onto and read from rotating disks with magnetic coating hardware computer components such as disks, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, printers and chips Haryana Vikas Party second reference, HVP hat-trick H-bomb Use hydrogen bomb unless a direct quotation is involved hectare - a unit of surface measure in the metric system equal to 10,000 sq. m. - abbreviate to ha - a hectare is equal to 2.47 acres, 107,639.1 sq. ft, or 11,959.9 sq. yards - spell when saying 1 hectare to avoid illusion of 1ha - to convert to acres, multiply by 2.47 See Stylistic Choices: Numbers, Measurement, Time

headteacher or principal one word, not headmaster or headmistress; but Association of Head Teachers

e (given the inevitable time constraint!) should be lavished on them - a headline should faithfully reflect the content of the body copy. Smart, pithy headlines are certainly welcome, but not at the cost of accuracy - the headlines of a responsible, high circulation newspaper like the Hindustan Times should never exaggerate or sensationalise. In the matter of the death toll in particular, following a natural disaster, accident, riot or whatever, it is better to err on the side of caution

- clichs, puns and worn out catchphrases should be avoided- please see the style with respect to abbreviations - no more than one abbreviation or acronym in a headline - abbreviations should be avoided - for news stories, a headline should always be long enough to fill up the space available to it. Left over white space to the right looks ugly - in two tier or three tier headlines, appropriate words should be used so that very little white space (or none) is left over in each line - in feature stories, single tier headings which have been centered, with equal amounts of white space on either side are permitted headdress headquarters can be used as a singular (a large headquarters) or plural (our headquarters are in London); HQ, however, takes the singular healthcare one word, even for healthcare institutions. Also skincare, but personal care products, child care facilities. Do not hyphenate heating oil No. 2 fuel oil, a distillate fuel oil, is used for domestic heating and in some commercial and industrial burners heaven heavenly bodies - uc the proper names of planets, stars, constellations, etc.: Mars, Arcturus, the Big Dipper, Aries - for comets, uc only the proper noun element of the name: Halleys comet - lc sun and moon, but if their Greek names are used, capitalise them: Helios and Luna. he, him, his, thee, thou personal pronouns referring to the deity are lc hedge funds they are lightly regulated private investment partnerships that invest across

all manner of global financial markets and can hedge their positions by betting against the market. A short description for general use: Hedge funds are private investment partnerships that cater largely to institutions and wealthy people hell but capitalise Hades height in metres with imperial conversion, eg 1.68metres (5ft 7in) heir apparent someone certain to inherit from a deceased unless he or she dies first or is taken out of the will; dont use to mean likely successor hello not hallo (and certainly not hullo) help help to decide or help decide; not help and decide he, him, his, thee, thou personal pronouns referring to the deity are lc heights hell but uc Hades hemisphere lc hemisphere: the eastern and western hemispheres, the hemisphere here dont overuse the word as a means of referring to the dateline city of a story. It is often redundant or confusing heroin the narcotic, originally a trademark herculean

Her Majesty the Queen of England is HM, not HRH hertz is the same in singular or plural, has been adopted as the international unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second. In contexts where it would not be understood by most readers, it should be followed by a parenthetical explanation: 15,400Hz (cycles per second) hiccup not hiccough

avoid the use in the context of the Congress party which is a euphemism of the party's top leadership and/or Sonia Gandhi high commission high court lc in all references. Same with tribunals. Only Supreme Court goes upper lower high flyer

high street lc in retail spending stories: the recession is making an impact in the high street hijab covering for the head and face worn by some Muslim women hijack of movable objects only, not of schools, embassies, etc hike dont use as a synonym for raise or rise. A hike is a sharp increase

- only those Hindi words without an English equivalent are permitted: names of flowers, trees, animals, birds peculiar to India; names of culinary dishes, items of clothing; religious rituals, religious figures, religious expressions, festivals, wedding rituals, which originated in, or belong to India alone; names of castes, tribes and ethnic communities; art forms, musical instruments and musical forms; kinship terms - if the word used is part of everyday speech and widely understood, it need not have an explanation. If it is not, the word is treated as a foreign word and its meaning or a translation must be given in brackets - when an exact English equivalent to the Hindi word exists, it should be used. Maternal uncle should prevail over mama - quotes, sentences of phrases in Hindi should be translated in brackets following the use hip-hop hippopotamus plural hippopotamuses hippy plural hippies Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, this Japanese city and military base was the target of the first atomic bomb dropped as a weapon. The explosion destroyed around 4 sq. miles and killed or injured 160,000 people historian, historic use a not an, unless in a direct quote his, her use the pronoun he or his when an indefinite antecedent may be male or female: A doctor listens to his patients. (Not his or her patients.) Often, however, the better choice is a slight revision of the sentence: Doctors listen to their patients Hispanic (n. and adj.) Hispanic is generally the preferred reference to those of any race descended from a Spanish-speaking culture or from any area of Latin America. But use Latino to refer to a specific group that prefers the term. If possible, use a

more specific term such as Cuban or Puerto Rican historic, historical - a historic event is an important occurrence, one that stands out in history - historical means concerned with history or occurrences in the past. Because the h is pronounced, use the article a: a historic occasion history avoid the redundancy past history hi-tech HIV refers to the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. Either define it or call it the AIDS virus. Dont use the redundancy HIV virus. (See AIDS) Hizbullah not Hezbollah hoard/horde a hoard of treasure; a horde (or hordes) of tourists

Hodgkins disease Thomas Hodgkin, an English physician, first described the disease of the lymph nodes Hobsons choice an apparent free choice that actually is no choice. Dont confuse it with a dilemma or quandary Ho Chi Minh City this became the name of the former Saigon after the Vietnamese Communist takeover in 1975 hold on to not hold onto

hoi polloi common people, the masses; the hoi polloi is acceptable Holland do not use when you mean the Netherlands, with the exception of the Dutch football team, who are conventionally known as Holland holidays and holy days uc: New Years Day, Valentines Day, Christmas, Holi, Diwali, etc. holocaust - uc in reference to the Nazi extermination of Jews in World War II - lc or find a better word in other references to other massacres or firestorms Holy Father preferred form is the pope or the pontiff, or the individuals name: Pope John Paul II. Use Holy Father only in direct quotations or special contexts for special effect holy grail Holy Land Holy See the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church in Vatican City homebuyer, homeowner one word home counties homeopathy homeopathy is preferred over homoeopathy, even though the latter is not incorrect homeland but home town home page

the introductory screen of a site on the Internet or an intranet homicide, murder, manslaughter - homicide applies to a killing of a person - murder is malicious and premeditated homicide - manslaughter is homicide without malice or premeditation - do not say murderer or a victim was murdered unless someone has been convicted of the crime homogeneous uniform, of the same kind homogenous (biology) having a common descent; the latter is often misused for the former homosexual rape do not use; say rape (or male rape if necessary) honeybee Hong Kong names Hong Kong names are written in two parts with a hyphen, eg Tung Chee-hwa honorary degrees all references to honorary degrees should specify that the degree was honorary. Dont use Dr before the name in such cases hon members of parliament honorariums not honoraria, for the plural of honorarium - do not use

hopefully strict constructionists use hopefully only in the sense of in a hopeful manner (He started the mission to China hopefully) and object to the use of hopefully in the sense of it is hoped (Hopefully, the law will be passed). So it

is hoped that we will generally avoid it and prefer constructions such as Congress hopes or most people hope horrendous sounds"like a rather ugly combination of horrific and tremendous, but is in fact from the Latin for fearful; horrific is generally preferable horizontal portal a broad-interest Internet portal such as Yahoo! Portals geared to users with specific interests are vertical portals. Dont use the terms without explaining them hospital use a not an horse races capitalise their formal names: Kentucky Derby hospitalised avoid; use taken (never rushed) to hospital hotdog

hotel - uc it as part of the proper name of a specific hotel: the WaldorfAstoria Hotel - lc when standing alone or used in an indefinite reference to one hotel in a chain: The city has a Sheraton hotel hotspot houseboat, housebreaker, housebuyer, householder, housekeeper House of Commons, House of Lords they are the two houses of the British Parliament. In second reference: Commons or the Commons, or the Lords

House of Representatives - uc when referring to a specific government body: the US House of Representatives - uc shortened references: the US House - retain uc if US is dropped, but the reference is clearly to a specific body - lc plural uses: the Massachusetts and Rhode Island houses housewife homemaker is the term preferred by many women Hovercraft TM a vehicle that travels on a cushion of air html stands for hypertext markup language, the system used to create documents on the World Wide Web http hypertext transfer protocol hub in the cyber world, it is a device that splits one network cable into a number of cables, each connecting to an individual computer. Email hub refers to a processing centre where telecom messages and servers converge, much like airplanes converging on an airlines hub city humanity, humankind use instead of mankind hummus you eat it, humus you put it on the garden humour, humorist, humorous hunky dory hurricanes dont personalise hurricanes in using the names assigned to them. Earlier, Hurricane Betsy changed course and devastated the coast. Not: Betsy

behaved capriciously and took a devastating turn. For pronoun references to hurricanes, use it, not she or he hydrothe rules in prefixes apply, but in general, no hyphen: hydroelectric, hydrophobia hyperthe rules in prefixes apply, but in general, no hyphen: hyperactive, hypercritical. hyperbole dont overegg stories: strive instead for straight and accurate reporting; HT readers prefer the unvarnished truth. hyperlink a link from an Internet page to another page in the document, as a newspapers home page with a link to its editorial page hypertext a system of linking electronic documents

hyphen (-) - hyphens are joiners. Use them to avoid ambiguity or to form a single idea from two or more words - hyphens are justified in the following: Washington-based, selfdependent, non-food, non-resident, non-profit, non-equity, non-entity, day-old debate, big-ticket investment, two-lane highways, tie-up and tie up, non-US, quarter-end and month-end. Some general guidelines - there are no fixed rules to decide which words should be hyphenated and which should not. It is best to consult a standard dictionary (in our case the preferred Oxford English Dictionary) - present day writing allows much flexibility and choice in the matter of hyphens there are writers who simply turn the hyphenated word into one word (or two!) and have dispensed with the hyphen altogether

- words beginning with the following usually take a hyphen: (There are exceptions - certain titles take a hyphen: etc)

- adjectives comprising two or more words take hyphens: 30-year-old business owner, left-wing propaganda, value-added tax maker in-chief buy-out, stand-off planned project, a recently discovered virus a carefully family-run book-keeping co-operate, pre-empt, filmoverrule, withhold mother-in-law, commander-

hypoone word: hypodermic, hypoglycemia, hypothyroid BACK TO TOP

Ii
IAF the air force IAS Icar

ICBM, ICBMs

ICCR

ICMR icon, iconic

Id ie IFS IIM Ahmedabad/Bangalore A/B

illegal use it only to mean a violation of the law. In labour-management disputes, for example, unauthorised is usually appropriate when referring to strikes or other actions that one side in the dispute may call illegal illegitimate

do not use to refer to children born outside marriage iMac, iPod imam lc to refer to the leader of a prayer in a Muslim mosque; capitalise before a name of a Muslim leader immigrate to arrive in a country emigrate to leave one immune to not immune from impact avoid using as a verb impartiality

impinge, impinging imported from abroad where impostor

not imposter impracticable impossible, it cannot be done impractical possible in theory but not workable at the moment -in with noun forms, use the hyphen: break-in, walk-in, cave-in, write-in in when in is used to indicate that something is in vogue, use quotation marks only if followed by a noun: It was the in thing to do. But: Short skirts are in again. in- do not use hyphen when it means not: inaccurate, insufficient - other uses without hyphens: inbound, infighting, indoor, inpatient (n, adj), infield - with a hyphen: in-box (not email), in-crowd (the in-crowd), in-group, in-depth, in-home, ink-blot test, in-liner, in-house, in-law, in-flight inasmuch as in a major development avoid; its redundant in order to avoid; no need for in order; to will suffice Inc. accepted short form for Incorporated inch the metric equivalent is exactly 2.54cm. To convert to centimetres, multiply by 2.54 inchoate just beginning or undeveloped, not chaotic or disorderly incident

be wary of this word, another attack or clash, for example will often stand better in its place; within a couple of years of the massacre in Tiananmen Square the Chinese government was referring to it as an incident or even alleged incident incidentally

include, comprise include is used when only some of the elements or components of a group or a body are mentioned; comprise when all of them are. eg: The G-7 nations include the United States and Japan; The G-7 nations comprise the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada income support income tax incorporated abbreviate and uc as Inc. when it is part of a formal corporate name. PepsiCo Inc., without a comma before the Inc. independence lc index plural indexes, except for scientific and economic indices Indian city names

India Inc, corporate India

Indian Administrative Service Indian Air Force Indian Army

Indian Council of Agricultural Aesearch Indian Council for Cultural Relations Indian Council of Medical Research

Indian Foreign Service India Meteorological Department

Indian National Congress

Indian National Lok Dal Indian Navy

Indian Ocean Indian Penal Code Indian Railways

Indian Revenue Service Indiana University

Indianisms

indict use indict only in connection with the legal process of bringing charges against an individual or corporation. To avoid any suggestion that someone is being judged before a trial, do not use phrases such as indicted for killing or indicted for bribery. Instead, use indicted on a charge of killing, indicted on a bribery charge

indispensable not indispensible Indousually hyphenated and capitalised: Indo-Aryan, Indo-German, Indo-Hittite, Indo-Iranian. But: Indochina Indochina formerly French Indochina, it now is divided into Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam indoor (adj) indoors (adv) indoor recreation is conducted indoors in fact

infant applicable to children through 12 months of age infantile paralysis preferred term is polio infer/imply to infer is to deduce something from evidence; to imply is to hint at something (and wait for someone to infer it) infinite without limit; does not mean very large inflammable means the same as flammable; the negative is non-flammable informant, informer They both provide information, but use informer to designate one who informs against others, often for compensation. information highway, the in effect, it is everyones computer connected to everyone elses computer.

Shorter versions such as infohighway, infobahn, infoway and I-way are acceptable in contexts where their meanings are clear, but use the full information highway whenever possible. information technology IT is acceptable in second reference. Information technology is the umbrella term for the development and installation of computer systems and applications infraone word: infrared, infrastructure in, into in indicates location within: he was in the room; into indicates motion to a location within: she walked into the room initials - no periods to be used when an individual or company uses initials instead of a first name: HL Mehta or DS Kulkarni Developers - dont give a name with a single initial (J Verma) unless it is the individuals preference or a first name cannot be learned - abbreviations using just the initials of a persons name dont take periods: JFK, FDR innocuous innuendo plural innuendoes inoculate not inoculate inquire, inquiry not enquire, enquiry inshallah Arabic for God willing insignia are plural

insisted overused, especially in political stories; just use said insolvency the declared inability of a business or person to pay debts when due. in spite of despite means the same thing and is shorter. install, instalment instil, instilled, instilling followed by into Institute for Development Sciences not Institute of Development Sciences insure against risk assure life ensure make certain insurgent insurgents, or rebels, are individuals or groups revolting against an established authority or government. When they commit acts of violence against noncombatants, they are also terrorists (See terrorist) integrated services digital network ISDN is acceptable in second reference to the high-speed telecommunications system. interthe prefix means among or between, whereas intra- means within. The rules in prefixes apply: inter-American, interstate, interracial intercontinental ballistic missile the abbreviation ICBM is acceptable in first reference for intercontinental ballistic missile, but the spelt-out version should be included in the article. Avoid the redundancy ICBM missiles

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development World Bank is acceptable in all references International Court of Justice uc but lc when referring to the court. the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The court, unavailable to individuals, has jurisdiction over matters specifically provided for in the UN charter or in treaties and conventions. It also has jurisdiction over cases referred to it by UN members and by non-members that subscribe to the court statutes. In second reference, use international court or world court in lc. Dont abbreviate International Criminal Police Organisation Interpol is acceptable in all references. No need to write out the full form international date line imaginary line is drawn north and south through the Pacific Ocean, largely along the 180th meridian. By international agreement, when it is 12.01am Sunday just west of the line, it is 12.01am Saturday just east of it International Labour Organisation UN agency based in Geneva, it monitors employment conditions around the world. ILO is acceptable in second reference International Monetary Fund IMF is acceptable in second reference. Established in 1945 and based in Washington, the IMF supervises a supply of money supported by subscriptions of member nations to help stabilise international exchange and promote orderly and balanced trade internet, the - the internet, also called the Net, is the global computer network that connects independent networks - internet addresses include email addresses and website designations - in stories, if an internet address falls at the end of a sentence, use a period. If an address breaks between lines, split it directly before a slash or a dot that is part of the address, without inserting a hyphen - an internet host is a computer on which internet-accessible data is stored - cap Net but not web - website is one word.

- if mentioned in full, write world wide web - intranet is lc Interpol acceptable in all references to the International Criminal Police Organisation intra (See Annexure 8: Prefixes and Suffixes) intranet lc the word for a generic internal corporate network intra-uterine device IUD is acceptable on second reference introduction typically, the opening paragraph of a story need not be more than 40-50 words. If you need to pack more, at least break the first sentence if it is exceeding 15-20 words. The thought can be continued appropriately in the next sentence. A longer thought can be carried over to the next paragraph into but on to IOU, IOUs IQ IQ is acceptable in all references for intelligence quotient invalid means not valid or of no worth; do not use to refer to disabled or ill people invariable, invariably unchanging; often used wrongly to mean hardly ever changing Iran once called Persia, Iran is not an Arab country. The people are Iranians, not Persians or Iranis. The language is usually called Persian outside Iran. Inside Iran, the language is called Farsi

Iraq the Arab nation coincides roughly with ancient Mesopotamia. Its people are Iraqis. Iraqs dialect of Arabic is Iraqi Iraqi placenames use these spellings for Iraq's biggest cities and towns: Amara, Baiji, Baghdad, Baquba, Basra, Diwaniya, Dohuk, Falluja, Haditha, Hilla, Irbil, Kerbala, Kirkuk, Kut, Mosul, Najaf, Nassiriya, Ramadi, Rutba, Samarra, Samawa, Sulaimaniya, Tikrit (note that these transliterations do away with al- prefixes and the final h) Irda acceptable second reference for the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Ireland Ireland is acceptable in most references to the Republic of Ireland. Use Irish Republic when a distinction must be made between this nation and Northern Ireland, a part of the UK. In subsequent references: the republic Irish coffee brewed coffee, with Irish whiskey and whipped cream Irish Republican Army the group seeks to wrest Northern Ireland from British rule and unite it with the Irish Republic. IRA is acceptable in an unambiguous second reference Iron Curtain use it only in quoted matter IRS acceptable in later references to the Indian Revenue Service is expected to avoid using. Its redundant is planning/hoping to change to plans to/hopes to

ISDN stands for integrated services digital network, used by telecommunications companies to deliver high-speed services. The abbreviation is acceptable in second reference Island - uc island or islands as part of a proper name: the Hawaiian Islands - lc island and islands when they stand alone or when the reference is to the islands in a given area: the Pacific islands - lc all island of constructions: the island of Nantucket ironfounder, ironmonger, ironworks iron curtain ironically - avoid. If what you mean to say is strangely, coincidentally, paradoxically or amusingly, do so and leave it up to the reader to decide if its ironic - there are times when ironically is right but too often it is misused - the idiotic post-ironic is banned -ise not -ize at end of words, eg maximise, synthesise (exception: capsize) Islam (means submission to the will of God) - Muslims should never be referred to as Mohammedans, as 19thcentury writers did. It causes offence because they insist that they worship God, not the prophet Muhammad - Allah is simply Arabic for God. Both words refer to the same concept: there is no major difference between God in the Old Testament and Allah in Islam. Therefore it makes sense to talk about God in an Islamic context and to use Allah in quotations or for literary effect. - the holy book of Islam is the Quran (not Quran or Koran) Islamist an advocate or supporter of Islamic fundamentalism; the likes of Osama bin Laden and his followers should be described as Islamist terrorists and never as Islamic terrorists Islamophobia

it use this pronoun, rather than she, in references to countries and hurricanes IT IT is acceptable in second reference for information technology, the umbrella term for the development and installation of computer systems and applications I-T short for income tax italics See Stylistic Choices: Hindi words and phrases and Foreign Words

its, its - its this can mean only two things: it is and it has (Its twenty-five to three. Its been raining) - its this can mean only one thing: the neutral possessive something which indicates belonging to - so, The Congress party wont let power go into the hands of its allies. Its against the partys philosophy. Ivory Coast use this English language version of the countrys name, without the article the. The people are Ivoirians Ivy League the members are Dartmouth College; Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities; and the University of Pennsylvania (not Pennsylvania State University) BACK TO TOP

Jj
jail not gaol Jack Daniel's technically a Tennessee whiskey, not a bourbon jack-in-the-box but jack of all trades Jacuzzi TM; named after its US inventors, Roy and Candido Jacuzzi; call it a whirlpool bath unless you're sure it really is a Jacuzzi jail not gaol Jalalabad city in Afghanistan; Jalal-Abad is in Kyrgyzstan Janata Dal (Secular) political party now prominent in Karnataka, may be referred to as JD (S). One of the many splinters of the original Janata Dal Janata Dal (United) this political party, prominent in Bihar, may be referred to as JD (U) Japan Current a warm current flowing from the Philippine Sea east of Taiwan and the north-east part of Japan jargon - not jargons there is no such word - avoid jargon. Call a space a spade, not a manual earth-restructuring implement (Bill Bryson)

jeep, Jeep lc the military vehicle; uc when referring to the trademarked four-wheeldrive civilian vehicle Jehovah's Witness jellaba loose cloak with a hood, worn especially in north Africa and the Middle East Jesus Christianitys central figure is called Jesus or Jesus Christ or Christ by followers. Use lc personal pronouns to refer to him: Christ is the lord, he has many followers jet, jetliner, jetski jet plane Jew the phrase a Jew is sometimes considered pejorative when applied to an individual, say instead that he or she is Jewish. Dont use Jewess jewellery Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) JMM is acceptable as a reference to this political party. jibe not gibe; it means to taunt jihad used by Muslims to describe three different kinds of struggle: an individual's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible; the struggle to build a good Muslim society; and the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary (holy war) jobseekers

(See Stylistic Choices: Designations, Names, titles)

Jockey shorts TM John F Kennedy Space Center situated at Cape Canaveral, Florida, it is the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations principal launch site. Kennedy Space Center is acceptable in all references jodhpurs john dory fish joint chiefs of staff also: the joint chiefs, the chiefs or the chiefs of staff jokey not joky

Joneses as in keeping up with the Joneses; also note the Joneses house (not the Jones' house) joules; kJ kilojoules Jr no period required as the word ends with the last letter of the word judge lc. Where required, use justice as the formal title before a name so, sessions judge Anil Gupta and justice Amit Lamba judgment not judgement judgment call use this phrase only if you delete the word call

jumbo jet two words junior - abbreviate to Jr not Jun or Jnr, eg Sammy Davis Jr - abbreviate as Jr and Sr only with full names of people or animals - do not precede with a comma: J. Paul Goble Jr - the notation II or 2nd may be used if it is the individuals preference - note, however, that II and 2nd arent necessarily the equivalent of junior. They often are used by a namesake grandson or nephew. If necessary to distinguish between father and son in second reference, use the elder Goble and the younger Goble junior minister do not use junior minister: change it to minister of state for Junior Chamber of Commerce now is officially the Jaycees

junk bonds a jargon term; avoid jury lc; takes singular verbs and pronouns: The jury has been sequestered until it reaches a verdict just deserts not just desserts, unless you are saying you only want pudding justice - the formal title for members of the Supreme Court and for state courts - in such cases, do not use judge on first or subsequent references. - continue to use justice before the name on subsequent references - capitalise only Chief Justice of India ustices XYZ and ABC justice

Kk
Kabah cube-shaped shrine in the centre of the great mosque in Mecca towards which all Muslims face in prayer; the shrine is not worshipped but used as the focal point of the worship of God Kashmir adjective Kashmiri; but cashmere fabric Kasparov, Garry former world chess champion, born in Azerbaijan in 1963 Kathmandu capital of Nepal Kazakhstan adjective Kazakh

kebabs a doner kebab is made using meat from a rotating spit; shish kebabs are made from skewered cubes of meat Kefalonia not Cephalonia Kellogg's Corn Flakes but cornflakes in general Kelvin scale scale of temperature based on the Celsius scale and used in science to record very high and very low temperatures. Zero on the Kelvin scale is equal to minus 273.15 degrees Celsius and minus almost 460 degrees Fahrenheit kerosene once a trademark, it is now is a generic term key a useful headline word cheapened by overuse keyring KFC not Kentucky Fried Chicken K-For Nato peacekeeping force in Kosovo KGB was the Soviet secret police organisation khaki kibbutz plural kibbutzim kibosh kick-off (n), kick off (v)

kickstart avoid, unless the story is on manually starting a bike kidnap, kidnapped, kidnapping, kidnapper in police use, it is used when the victims are children. For adults, their term is abduction kids the use of the word to mean children should be limited to informal contexts may only be permitted, and then with great care, in HT City, HT Caf, HT Next and HT Edge Kilimanjaro not Mount Kilimanjaro killer if saying someone is a killer, ensure that this has been declared by a court. Until then, the person is an alleged killer kilogram/s, kilojoule/s, kilometre/s, kilowatt/s abbreviate as kg, kJ, km, kW

king uc when used before the name of royalty: King Louis X1V, King Louis. lc all other references km/h kilometres an hour (not kph) kneejerk reaction Knesset Israeli parliament. Israels parliament is normally preferred knockout (n) knock out (v) knot measure of nautical miles an hour; A knot is one nautical mile an hour so do

not say knots per hour knowhow knowledgable koala not koala bear Kolkata formerly Calcutta; use except in instances where an institution retains Kolkata in its formal name See Bombay Korean names normally have three parts, without hyphens, and the surname is first: South Korean president Roh Moo Hyun; president Roh kosher Kosovo, Kosovans adjective Kosovan, not Kosovar kowtow krona Swedish or Icelandic monetary unit. The plural is kronor for the Swedish money, kronur for the Icelandic money krone Danish or Norwegian monetary unit. The plural is kroner krugerrands kudos Greek word of praise for an achievement. Purists consider the word a singular, kudo. Avoid Ku Klux Klan the 42 separate organisations known collectively as the Klan in America. KKK is acceptable in second reference. Members are Klansmen

kukri Gurkha knife kung fu Kuomintang Chinese Nationalist political party. Tang means party, so dont follow Kuomintang with party Kyrgyzstan adjective Kyrgyz

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Ll
laboratory, laboratories in corporate names, Lab and Labs are acceptable on second references and in headlines lady avoid as a synonym for woman. Especially dont say lady doctor if its a female doctor and think about whether stating the doctors gender is even material to the story (See woman, women) lag pipes are lagged; other things lag behind laager South African encampment lager beer

LaGuardia New York airport Lailat al-Miraj Islamic holy day Lailat al-Qadr Islamic holy day, time for study and prayer laissez-faire no italics lake uc as part of a full proper name: Dal Lake lakh -

Rs1-10 lakh, but lakhs of rupees one lakh 100,000 if referring to other currencies, both in copy and headlines for all other units such as number of cars on the road or phone subscribers, use 100,000 and not lakh, and million for six-digit figures and beyond (see Stylistic Choices: Numbers)

lakh crore - do not use - 1 lakh crore =1 trillion. Will be used in all cases, including Indian rupee and conversions eg Rs2,25,000 crore would not be written as Rs2.25 lakh crore, but as Rs2.25 trillion (million million - for Indian currency figures below this amount, use Rs in lakh and in crore 100 crore = billion and 1 million million = trillion - All right to use up to Rs99,999 crore, but beyond, change to trillion - a lakh crore forces readers to try and do a lot of math that we don't think they should as it is not an easy number to grasp (see Stylistic Choices: Numbers) lambast not lambaste lamb's wool

lamp-post LAN abbreviation is acceptable in second reference for local area network Lancet, The the London medical publication isnt to be confused with the British Medical Journal landmark avoid; this is overused as an adjective, perhaps in an attempt to make a story sound more important or dramatic landmine Land Rover TM, write utility vehicle instead languages uc the proper names of languages and dialects: Hindi, English, Telugu, Kannada, Cajun, Persian, Serbo-Croatian, Yiddish La Nina La Nina, meaning little girl, was coined to contrast with El Nino. The term is applied to a pattern that turns tropical Pacific Ocean waters unusually cold, affecting weather patterns. These patterns affect the south-west monsoon lanolin formerly a trademark, it now is a generic term to mean

laptop largesse larva (plural larvae), insects; lava, volcanic magma; we often say the former when we mean the latter

Lashkar-e-Taiba lasso plural lassoes last - avoid as a synonym for the latest, to avoid implying finality. The companys last announcement was made Thursday is ambiguous, so use latest instead - do not write last May or next November if they refer to months of the current year. May or November will do - use past instead of last in other contexts to avoid the suggestion of finality: in the past 10 days; in the past 12 months - to prevent ambiguity, the word last should be avoided in references to earlier days in the current week or earlier months or seasons in the current year - use clear dates as far as possible, with the year Last Supper

- use dead instead of this euphemism for someone who has died - dont use late when describing an individuals actions while he was alive. - note that widow of the late is redundant later often redundant since context will inform the reader: they will meet this month rather than they will meet later this month Latin America applies to most of the region south of the US. Exceptions include Suriname, which is the former Dutch Guyana, and the areas with a British heritage: the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and various islands in the West Indies Latino (n and adj) - synonym for Hispanic widely used in the (US) south-west - the feminine noun is Latina - with specific groups, use Latino or Hispanic as they prefer, but

continue to use Hispanic as a general rule. Both words refer to those of any race descended from a Spanish-speaking land or culture - Latino and Latina, however, dont apply to Spaniards latitude and longitude - write it like this: 21 deg 14 min S - Latitude, the distance north or south of the equator, is designated by parallels - Longitude, the distance east or west of Greenwich, England, is designated by meridians - use these forms to express degrees of latitude and longitude: New York City lies at 40 degrees 45 minutes north latitude and 74 degrees 0 minutes west longitude; New York City lies south of the 41st parallel north and along the 74th meridian west lawsuit lawyer - preferred term for all members of the bar - an attorney is a legally named representative to act for another, not always a lawyer, who is technically an attorney at law. The term isnt used generally in India - a barrister is a British lawyer who appears exclusively as a trial lawyer in higher courts. He is retained by a solicitor, not directly by the client. It is roughly equivalent to a counsellor or litigator in the US - counsellor, in a legal sense, is someone who conducts a case in court, usually a lawyer, or counsellor at law. Counsel frequently is used collectively for a group of lawyers or counsellors. Again, not terms used much in India - in Britain, a solicitor is a lawyer who performs legal services for the public. A solicitor appears in lower courts but does not have the right to appear in higher courts, which are reserved to barristers - in the US, a solicitor is a lawyer for a governmental body; solicitor general is a title for a chief law officer, equivalent to an attorney general. Sometimes it refers to the deputy to the attorney general - do not use lawyer as a formal title lay off (v), layoff (n) a layoff does not mean to sack or make redundant, but to send workers home on part pay because of a temporary lack of demand for their product

lay waste a hurricane can lay waste an island, or lay an island waste, but it does not lay it to waste or lay waste to it (the word comes from the same root as devastate) lbw (cricket) lead, led a leader leads; the team is led by a leader; but a lead pencil lead time time between when an item is ordered and when it is ready for use leak in news gathering, a leak is an intentional disclosure by someone who wants to remain anonymous. Dont use the term unless you know the circumstance and the term clearly applies leap year learned not learnt, unless you are writing old-fashioned poetry: he learned his tables, a lesson well learned lectern, podium a speaker stands behind or at a lectern and on a podium or rostrum LED stands for light-emitting diode. Include the definition when you use the term left parties, leftists when referring to the Communist parties in India or their members left wing, left-wing parties; left-wingers; right-wing values legislature lc unless part of the formal name of a body

lent past tense of lend. Do not say leant lepers do not use: the term is regarded as inappropriate and stigmatising; prefer people affected by or people with leprosy lesbian, lesbianism lc the words in references to homosexual women, except in names of organisations -less usually, no hyphen before this suffix: childless, treeless, unless the base word ends in l eg tail-less less/fewer less means smaller in quantity, eg less money; fewer means smaller in number, eg fewer coins. So dont write there were less people at the rally lessee, lessor a lessee is one to whom property is leased; a lessor is one who gives a lease for property leukaemia leverage refers to the use of borrowed assets by a business to enhance the return to the owner's equity. The expectation is that the interest rate charged will be lower than the earnings made on the money. liabilities claims against a corporation or other entity, including accounts payable, wages and salaries due to be paid, dividends declared payable, taxes payable and obligations such as bonds, debentures and bank loans liaison libel - the best defence against libel is accuracy

- if a lawyer or individual threatens libel action: o respond courteously and get any details the person complaining is willing to offer o do not discuss unpublished information o discuss the matter with your editor and relate all facts o if the person is aggressive, refer them to Hindustan Times legal department liberal, liberalism licence (n), license (v) driving licence, licensed to kill lie in state only people who are entitled to a state funeral service lie in state lieutenant abbreviation Lt lieutenant governor abbreviate as L-G (no relation to LG Electronics) when used as a formal title before one or more names in regular text; lc and spell it out in other uses lifelong lightbulb lifesaver, lifesaving light, lighted, lighting, lit lighthearted light year a measure of distance, not time likable not likeable -like generally dont precede this suffix with a hyphen. Use a hyphen if the letter

will be tripled or if the word is a coinage: bill-like, lifelike, businesslike, shell-like like, as - like is used while comparing nouns or pronouns: He acted like a fool - as is used when comparing verbs: He acted as fools do - never use the former to mean the latter: it looks as if he's finished not it looks like he's finished like, such as like excludes; such as includes: Cities like Delhi are wonderful suggests the writer has in mind, say, London or New York; she actually means cities such as Delhi

likely he is likely to win or he will very likely win, not he will likely win if you want to use that form, say he will probably win lilliputian means a very small person or being, from the name of the island Lilliput in Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift liquefy not liquify limited abbreviate and uc a - Ltd - when used as part of a formal corporate name. Do not set off from the name with commas. It wont take a period after the d because it ends with that letter limpid means clear or transparent, not limp linchpin not lynchpin Line of Control

line numbers use figures and lc the word line in identifying individual lines of a text: line 1, line 9. But: the first line, the 10th line (See Stylistic choices: Numbers) lineup, lineout linoleum formerly a trademark, it is now a generic term for a floor covering made from renewable materials

liquefied natural gas LNG is acceptable in second reference. The natural gas, usually methane, is liquefied for transport on vessels liquefied petroleum gas LPG is acceptable in second reference. It usually is propane and butane, derived from the refining of crude oil and liquefied under pressure liquidation the process of converting assets such as shares of stock into cash. When a company is liquidated in a bankruptcy or other action, the cash obtained is used to repay debt, first to holders of bonds and preferred stock. Any remaining cash is distributed to holders of common stock liquidity an assets liquidity refers to its ability to be bought or sold quickly and in large volume without substantially affecting its price. Any assets that can be liquidated fast are liquid eg. a savings account; money market mutual and stocks Bank FDs, post office schemes (recurring deposits, Kisan Vikas Patra), etc., are not liquid as they have lock-in periods liquorice not licorice lira

for the Italian money, the plural is lire. For the Turkish money, the new Turkish lira, the plural is liras litre - the basic unit of volume in the metric system, defined as the volume occupied by 1kg of distilled water at 4 degrees Celsius - a litre is 1,000 cu. cm or 1 cu. Dm - a litre is equal to approximately 34 fluid ounces or 1.06 liquid quarts - a litre also equals 0.91 dry quart - the metric system doesnt distinguish between dry volume and liquid volume. Thus: o to convert to liquid quarts, multiply by 1.06 o to convert to dry quarts, multiply by 0.91 o to convert to liquid gallons, multiply by 0.26.

literally term used, particularly by sports commentators, to denote an event that is not literally true, as in Manchester City literally came back from the dead. But, writes Bill Bryson, it is all too often used as a kind of disclaimer by writers who mean, literally, the opposite of what they are saying: It should not need saying, but if you dont wish to be taken literally, dont use literally. Examples of its excruciating use include Hetzel was literally born with a butchers knife in his mouth (from the Chicago Tribune) LJP use in second reference for the Lok Janshakti Party loan (n) the verb is lend. You dont loan someone money, you lend it local area network a group of computers, such as in an office, connected with coaxial cables, optical fibres or standard telephone lines. LAN is acceptable in second reference logbook, logjam Lok Janshakti Party in second reference use LJP, for this political party based in Bihar

Lok Sabha - LS is acceptable in headlines - members of this House of Parliament are elected directly by people. Its presiding officer is the Speaker. The maximum House strength envisaged by the Constitution is 552, up to 530 to represent states, up to 20 to represent Union territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian community to be nominated by the President if he believes it is not adequately represented. At present, it has 545 members. The qualifying age for an MP is 25 London Eye official name of the millennium wheel

long distance, long-distance use hyphen in reference to telephone calls: He called long-distance. In other uses, hyphenate only before the word it modifies: They covered a long distance. She made a long-distance trip Long Island iced tea longitude (See latitude and longitude) long time, longtime they have known each other a long time; they are longtime partners look to used too often in place of hope to or expect to looking-glass loose and lose the first means something that is not tight and the second is to not win Lord's cricket ground loss, net loss, deficit

refers to the excess of expenses over revenue. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, generally use net loss on first reference for the bottom-line figure. In comparing losses, use the term widen or narrow rather than increase or decrease lovable not loveable lowlife plural, lowlifes, not lowlives LSD the abbreviation is acceptable in all references for lysergic acid diethylamide

lumpenproletariat

lured avoid; the word has negative connotations Luxembourg the country; Luxembourgeois its inhabitants luxury, luxurious LVMH the luxury goods firm is, in full, Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton -ly dont use a hyphen between adverbs ending in -ly and the words they modify: a rapidly rising rate BACK TO TOP

Mm
Mac or Mc? Shirley MacLaine, Malcolm McLaren, Elle Macpherson, Paul McCartney Macau the spelling formerly was Macao Macedonia the country was once a republic in Yugoslavia. The name also applies to districts in Greece and Bulgaria. Always make clear which Macedonia is being referred to machinery do not use machineries, there is no such word Mach number - represents the ratio of the speed of an object to the speed of sound in the air the object is moving through - the speed of sound is 750 miles an hour at sea level, and lower numbers above sea level - travelling at Mach 1 is equal to the speed of sound - Mach 2 is equal to twice the speed of sound - Mach is named after Austrian physicist Ernst Mach machiavellian after Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527); suggests deceit or cunning machine gun (n) machine-gun (v) also submachine gun Madagascar capital is Antananarivo. Its people are Malagasy Madame Tussauds no apostrophe, even though there was a Mme (Marie) Tussaud

Madras now known as Chennai (See Annexure XX: Indian states, cities, towns) madrasa Muslim religious school madeira wine and cake Madison Square Garden (not Gardens) in New York City mafia, mafioso, mafiosi lc; a secret society of criminals and its members, it refers in general to organised crime or the underworld

magazine names - uc the name and italicise it, dont place it in quotes - lc the word magazine unless it is part of the publications formal title: Outlook magazine, the India Today magazine, Newsweek magazine, Time magazine - no the before single-word titles - check the masthead if in doubt (See Stylistic Choices: Names) magistrate lc magistrates court no apostrophe maharajah Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi in all references, unless theres a context where his full name Mohandas Karamchand needs to be used mailbag, mailbox

mail train mainmast, mainsail mainland mainframe major overused; avoid except in military context Majorca incorrect. Write Mallorca majority leader lc majority, plurality - a majority is more than half - a plurality is the excess over the next-highest number - to describe the size of a majority, use the excess over half of the total. To describe the size of a plurality, use the highest number and subtract the next highest number - when majority and plurality are used alone, they take singular verbs and pronouns: The majority has made its decision - if a plural word follows an of construction, the number of the verb depends on the sense of the sentence: A majority of the absentee votes was calculated. The majority of the people on the plane were killed makeover, makeup no hyphens Malay, Malaya, Malaysia Malay refers to those in the Polynesian ethnic group on the Malay Peninsula and their language.Malayan refers to inhabitants of Malaya, which includes the peninsula and the nearby area.Malaysia, a constitutional monarchy, is the larger territory, and Malaysian refers to its people.

Malaysian names and titles Malaysian names take any of a variety of forms, depending on the ethnic background of the individual. Follow the individual's preference. But the first name or the first two names are used in second reference: Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is Abdullah in second reference and Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar is Syed Hamid in second reference Maldives use the Maldives, not the Maldive Islands malice used in libel law; its not malice but actual malice Man Booker prize at first mention; thereafter the Booker prize or just Booker managing editor, managing director manday, manhour - manday is a unit of time equal to one day of work done by one person - manhour is a unit of time equal to one hour of work done by one person. - avoid, instead write number of hours worked or number of hours worked. - do the maths and work it out mangetout one word mankind avoid: use humankind or humanity See Stylistic Choices: Neutral Language manifesto plural manifestos manoeuvre, manoeuvring manslaughter mantel, mantle

qa mantel is a shelf; a mantle is a cloak manufacturing use the abbreviation Mfg only if a company uses the abbreviation in its corporate name. The abbreviation may be used in tabular matter and in a corporate name in a headline Maoism, Maoist refers to the Communist philosophy and policies of Mao Tse-tung and to adherents of the philosophy. Use the spelling Mao Zedong Maori singular and plural Mao Zedong Mao on second mention marines Royal Marines, but US marines Mardi Gras margarita cocktail margherita pizza mark use DM instead of deutsche mark or D-mark for the German currency, except in quotes marketeer do not say marketer Marks & Spencer at first mention, then M&S markup - in the retailing industry, the markup or gross profit is figured by dividing the difference by the selling price rather than dividing the

difference by the acquisition cost - an item bought for $100 and sold for $200 is said to have a 50% markup, not a 100% markup - when the markup is a significant part of the story, wording should be included to explain the aberration: ...That is, a 50% markup as retailers figure it, based on the selling price Marrakech Marseille not Marseilles marshal, marshalled, marshalling, Marshall - military rank - not marshall, a frequent error - marshal is the spelling for both the verb and the noun - Marshall is a proper name: George C. Marshall martial law Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MDMK is acceptable in all references but it is better to use this Tamil Nadu political partys full name once in copy Marxism (Marxist) system of thought was developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. massive massively overused; avoid Masonite TM for a brand of hardboard mass lc; mass is celebrated or said, not read massacre the savage killing of large numbers of people MasterCard

masterful imperious; masterly skilful master of arts, master of science the term masters degree is acceptable in any reference. See academic degrees for guidelines on when the abbreviations MA and MS are acceptable (See Stylistic Choices: Names, Titles) master's as in I did my master's at UCL masthead

matinee no accent matins

matt matt finish, etc maxiuse the rules in prefixes; dont hyphenate unless the base word ends with an i: maxiskirt, maxi-intelligence may, can may is used while seeking permission, can relates to the ability to do something. There is a difference in meaning between may I sit down? and can I sit down? may or might? - the subtle distinctions between these (and between other so-called modal verbs) are gradually disappearing, but they still matter - may implies that the possibility remains open: they may have played

tennis, or they may have gone boating suggests I dont know what they did - they might have played tennis if the weather had been dry means they didnt, because it wasnt - may also has the meaning of having permission, so be careful: does Megawatt Corp may bid for TransElectric Inc means that it is considering a bid, or that the competition authorities have allowed it to bid? May Day May 1; International Workers Day or Labour Day and, in some cultures, a celebratory day marking the end of winter Mayday distress signal; from the French maidez! mayor lc MC For master of ceremonies, the abbreviation is preferred over emcee. McDonald's hamburgers MD a term such as physician or surgeon is preferred in reference to individuals. (See (See Stylistic Choices: Names, Titles) MDMK see Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam meanwhile almost always misused to mean heres a slight change of subject by lazy writers and copy editors Meat and Livestock Commission Medal of Honor the highest military honour given by the US Congress for risk of life in

combat beyond the call of duty. There is no Congressional Medal of Honor Mdecins sans Frontires international medical aid charity (dont describe it as French) Medelln Colombia Medical Research Council media plural of medium: the media are sex-obsessed, etc; but a convention of spiritualists would be attended by mediums medieval not mediaeval meet, met not meet with, met with someone mega horrible; do not use megabyte equals a million bytes megahertz representing a million operating cycles per second, megahertz is typically used in reference to a computers clock rate, which is a measure of its power and speed. Abbrev.: MHz megawatt equals 1,000 kilowatts. Abbrev.: MW. 500MW no space. member of the legislative assembly MLA is acceptable in all later references to a member of a state house, elected directly member of the legislative council MLC is the second reference for members of a states upper house. Not all states have a legislative council

memento plural mementoes memorandum plural memorandums menage no accent menswear

- take care using language about mental health issues - Clearly offensive and unacceptable expressions as loony, maniac, nutter, psycho and schizo, must be avoided because they stereotype and stigmatise - write include victim of, suffering from, and afflicted by - a person with is clear, accurate and preferable to a person suffering from - never use schizophrenic to mean in two minds" - avoid writing the mentally ill say mentally ill people, mental health patients or people with mental health problems Mercedes-Benz plural for the DaimlerChrysler auto is either Mercedeses or MercedesBenzes meridians lc; use numerals to identify the imaginary locator lines that ring the globe from north to south through the poles. They are measured in units of 0 to 180 degrees east and west of the prime meridian, which runs through Greenwich, England

metaphor traditionally defined as the application to one thing of a name belonging to another, eg bowling blitz, economic meltdown Meteorological Office or Met Office metres -

metric [in square brackets] if it doesn't ruin the flow of the quote - it is not necessary to convert moderate distances between metres and yards, which are close enough for rough and ready purposes (though it is preferable to use metres), or small domestic quantities:

- small units should be converted when precision is required: 44mm (1.7in) of rain fell in two hours -

(See Stylistic Choices: Numbers Measurements, Time) metros - there is no formal classification of metros, but industry recognises seven metros: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune - classification of cities or town into tier I, tier II, etc. is mostly estate consultant-specific - some classify as per the cost of living - tier I: Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi; tier II: Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai; tier III: Kolkata, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kochi, Indore, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangalore. However, at times Chandigarh may be referred to in tier II mexican wave Miami Beach US city mic abbreviation for microphone microthe rules under prefixes apply. microcredit, microfinance, micronutrients. Check dictionary (See Annexure XX: Prefixes and Suffixes) micron a unit of linear measure equal to one-millionth of a metre, or about onehundredth the width of a human hair midno hyphen unless a capitalised word or numeral follows. Check with your dictionary. So mid-90s, mid-60s, etc and mid-Atlantic (but transatlantic) midday middle ages usually considered to be the age range of about 40 to 65; may cause offence so use with care

Middle Ages AD 476 to AD 1450 middle America middle class (n), middle-class (adj) She isnt middle class, but she has middle-class values Middle East never Mid, even in headlines. Use West Asia. It comprises Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen middle America, middle England

middle income - according to a 2005 NCAER study, those earning between Rs2 lakh and Rs20 lakh as annual income come within the middle-income bracket - there is no universally accepted definition of middle income, but the US Census Bureau says that families in the middle 20% of the income spectrum had gross incomes in 1999 between $39,600 and $59,400. The middle 60% had gross incomes between $22,826 and $88,082. Families with incomes above $155,000 are in the top 5% of all American families and are not middle income middle or first initials avoid unless the person specifically wishes it to be included or in the case of a person who is known as such. W Michael Blumenthal, Thomas A Edison, J Paul Goble midnight - dont put a 12 in front of it - part of the day that is ending, not the one that is beginning - to avoid confusion, particularly in labour-contract stories, put the deadline at 12.01am, not midnight

midsize not midsized midterm no hyphen midterm elections our style is early elections and not midterm elections midweek midwest (US) might avoid; use may instead (See may or might)

Milad ul-Nabi Islamic festival celebrating the birth of the prophet; many Muslims disapprove of celebrating this event mileage militant tendency military academies - uc names, Indian Military Academy; but lc other uses - cadet refers to students at the army and air force academies - midshipman refers to students at the navy and Coast Guard academies

(See Annexure XX: Military Titles) militate/mitigate to militate against something is to influence it (his record militated against his early release); to mitigate means to lessen an offence (in mitigation, her counsel argued that she came from a broken home) Milky Way millenary, millennium, millennia

millennium wheel its official name is London Eye million - in copy use m for sums of money, units or inanimate objects: 10m; 45m tonnes of coal; 30m doses of vaccine - use million for people or animals: 1 million people, 23 million rabbits etc - use m in headlines mimic, mimicked, mimicking min/s contraction of minute/minutes, no full point mineworker minithe rules in prefixes apply. Dont hyphenate unless the base word begins with an i or a capital letter: minibus, mini-Olympics, minicomputer, miniinvasion, minicab, miniskirt (See Annexure Xx: Prefixes and Suffixes)

minimum plural minima minister dont use as a capitalised title before the name of a member of the clergy ministers ministry ministry of commerce and minister for commerce minority jargon when applied to an individual. Make it minority group member. Minority is appropriate as a modifier: minority applicant minus sign spell out minus in copy; the exception is in tables and charts

minuscule not miniscule mistakable, unmistakable misuse, misused no hyphen mishap refers to a minor misfortune; accident is usually the better word mix up (v), mixup (n and adj) MLA (See member of the legislative assembly) MLC (See member of the legislative council) mobile phone use cellphone instead

Moby-Dick Herman Melville's classic is hyphenated Mot & Chandon mom/mum use mum moneys - not monies - moneyed, not monied - the plural is generally used only in referring to the mediums of exchange of two or more countries - sums of money generally take singular verbs: About $10 million is still unpaid, and $50 million of that is overdue mongooses (not mongeese) plural of mongoose Mongol one of the peoples of Mongolia Montenegro inhabited by Montenegrins Montessori (method or system) named after Maria Montessori, it is a system of teaching that encourages self-education months - uc in all uses - do not abbreviate except in headlines - when a phrase lists only a month and a year, dont separate the year with commas - when a phrase refers to a month, day and year, no comma: January 2005 was a cold month. 14 January was the coldest day of the month. His birthday is 15 March. 5 June 2007 was the scheduled date (See Stylistic Choices: Dates)

moon lc for the Earth's moon moon walk what Neil Armstrong did moonwalk what Michael Jackson did more than generally preferable to over: there were more than 20,000 people at the game, it will cost more than Rs100 to get it fixed; but she is over 18 morning-after pill Moslem use Muslim instead

mosquito plural mosquitoes Mothers Day mother of three etc, not mother-of-three. Only use if material to the story motorbike, motorcar, motorcycle motorways mottoes is the plural of motto mount abbreviate to Mt in all uses, including the names of cities and of mountains: Mt Everest, Mt Vernon mouse mice has become the plural for the computer mouse

movable movie ratings U for all ages admitted, A for adults, U/A for 12-18 movie titles uc the first letter of the first word and proper names; do not italicise (See Stylistic Choices: Names) mph (miles per hour) no points MP/s abbreviation for member of parliament; acceptable in second reference Mr, Ms, Mrs, Miss, Ms we don't use honorifics (See Stylistic Choices; Titles) Muhammad/Mohammed - our style is Muhammed when referring to Muhammad, considered by Muslims to be the last of Gods prophets, who delivered Gods final message - they recognise Moses and Jesus as prophets also - the above transliteration is our style for the prophet's name and for most Muhammads living in Arab countries, though where someones preferred spelling is known we respect it, eg Mohamed Al Fayed, Mohamed El Baradei Muhammad Ali mujahideen lc. Collective noun for people fighting a jihad; the singular is mujahid mukhabarat Saddam Husseins secret police mull a verb that is overused in headlines; avoid it in favour of study

multithe rules in prefixes apply. Some examples: multicoloured, multimillion, multilateral, multimillionaire. multicultural, multimedia, multimillion but multi-ethnic Mumbai (formerly Bombay) Murphy's law If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it; also known as sod's law museums uc if it is part of the name: History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A on second reference), Metropolitan Museum of Art, etc music (See Stylistic Choices: Names (SeeA-Z: Band Names) Muslim not Moslem Muzak TM MW megawatts mW milliwatts Myanmar - formerly Burma - its capital is Pyinmana; earlier capital Yangon, formerly Rangoon - the language is Burmese, and the people are informally called Burmese

BACK TO TOP

Nn
naive, naively, naivety no accent namaskar Indian greeting; does not need to be italicised

a. People:

b. Rivers, mountains and lakes c. Books, films, music, TV programs, pamphlets, shows

themselves (eg X is a public limited company) d. Cities, towns, states - Always use the official name - name changes were adopted for some cities. Bombay became Madras became and Calcutta became . Trivandrum is now , Baroda is - Karnataka is in the process of changing the names of 10 cities and towns however, names of some universities, institutions, exchanges, etc., still carry the old names, for example, IIT Madras - always check with the correspondent or the website namely avoided or substitute with a colon (:) Other than the main paper Hindustan Times has other offerings: HT City, Brunch, HT Next, HT Live Nasa National Aeronautics and Space Administration, but no need to spell out nation

there is a tendency to use nation and country interchangeably. This is incorrect. A nation is a large body of people united by common descent, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular state or territory. While country refers to the territory occupied by a nation. So it is incorrect to say Our nations borders. That will be Our countrys borders etc national anthem

nationalities and races - uc the proper names of nationalities, peoples, races, tribes, etc: Arab, African, American, Chinese (both singular and plural), Japanese (both singular and plural), Jew, Indian - lc black, white, red, mulatto (although we would not write mulatto) Nato North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, but no need to spell out naught means nothing; nought is the figure 0 uc on when referring to the Indian Navy, its formal name; etc lc. This term is wrongly used interchangeably with Maoist. A naxalite is a member of the Indian extremist communist movement named after the town of Naxalbari, western Bengal, where a peasant uprising was suppressed 1967. The movement was founded by Charu Mazumdar Nazi but nazism refers to the National Socialist German Workers Party, the fascist political party that controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945 nearby one word, whether adjective or adverb: the pub nearby; the nearby pub nearsighted in medical terminology, it means an individual can see well at close range

but has difficulty seeing objects at a distance negatives negative sentences are difficult to process. This is because even though the sentence is telling us what isnt, we are trying to figure out what is. So it is better to express a negative in a positive form. So instead of I am not in the office next week, try I am away from the office next week neithernor in neither ... nor constructions, the verb should always agree with the noun nearest it. Neither Manoj nor Abhishek has any idea. Neither Pankaj nor any of his team members were aware of the workshop. When neither is used on its own, without the nor, the verb should always be singular: Neither of the men was ready; Neither of us is hungry nerve-racking Net, the the Net is an acceptable short form for the internet when the meaning is clear. Dont use net as a verb meaning attain profit net income, profit, earnings the amount left after taxes and all other expenses have been paid. Net may be used alone on second reference and in headlines net worth usually equity capital plus reserves new often redundant, as in a new report said yesterday new age lc. It refers to a cultural movement in the 1980s characterised by a concern with spiritual consciousness and combining belief in reincarnation and astrology with such practices as meditation, vegetarianism and holistic medicine. It also refers to a repetitive style of music intended to create a serene mood New Delhi the capital of India. For all states and other countries, referred to their

capitals with lc c new wave lc for music of the late 70s and early 80s (the likes of Talking Heads); also for any other new wave (eg the Moroccan new wave in cinema) New Year, New Years Day, New Years Eve nicknames - a nickname should be used in place of a persons given name in news stories only when it is the way the individual prefers to be known: Jimmy Carter, Dan Quayle - if in doubt about the individuals preference, use his or her formal name rather than a short form or a nickname - when a nickname is inserted into the identification of an individual, use quotation marks: Averell Ace Smith, Edwin Eugene Buzz Aldren. Also: Astronaut Aldren was known as Buzz nightcap, nightdress, nightfall, nightgown, nightshade, nightshirt but night-time niqab veil that covers the face apart from the eyes No. use No. as the abbreviation for number in conjunction with a numeral to indicate position or rank : No. 1 man, No. 3 choice, No. 2 auto maker. Use a period after the abbreviation and N is upper case no plural noes noble having high moral qualities. Nobel Prize, Nobel prizes - uc when referring specifically to one of the five Nobel Prizes established under the will of Alfred Nobel are: Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Physiology or medicine

- lc when writing he won a Nobel prize - the separate Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science was established in 1968 as a memorial to Alfred Nobel - a Nobel prize winner, a Nobel prize-winning poet, a Nobel laureate no-brainer means something along the lines of this is so obvious, you don't need a brain to know it not only someone with no brain would think this no doubt that, no question that are opposites: There was no doubt that he was lying means he was lying; There was no question that he was lying means he wasn't, although the two are routinely confused nonconformist

none - it is a (persistent) myth that none has to take a singular verb: plural is acceptable and often sounds more natural: none of the companies pay taxes. None of them pay taxes - it takes a singular verb or pronoun if it is followed by a singular noun: None of the work was done on time - it also can take a singular verb or pronoun to stress the idea of not one: None of the companies has ever paid a penny of tax. In this case it would be better to supply the emphasis by changing the none to not one nonetheless north pole no soonerthan no sooner, as a comparative adverb, should be followed by than, not when, as in these typical examples: No sooner had she released her page than the computer went bust

nosy not nosey not use the word to connote denial instead of evasion. So if you mean to say X is inefficient, do not say X is not very efficient

singer/actor/writer...say what the person has done of note. If the person is really famous, there is no need for the qualifier. Would we say noted actor Amitabh Bachchan? novel long fictitious story in book form. It also means new or original, eg; novel design

- numbers from one to nine must be written out in words; 10 and above, in figures - if a sentence begins with a numeral, the latter has to be spelt out in words, no matter how large it is so try and write the intro differently - if a number has a decimal point, it should always be represented in figures, even if it is less than nine (eg 6.8) If the number is less than one, the decimal point should have a zero before it (eg 0.89) - lakh and crore when preceded by a numeral, do not take the plural form, the same way thousand or million do not. (It should always be 20 lakh, not 20 lakhs.) However, when there is no specific numeral, the plural form is used (eg crores of rupees were lost. The same applies to kilometre and kilogram eg 25 km away, not 25 kms away - the metric system of measurement is followed. All distances should be in centimetres, metres and kilometers, all weights in grams and kilograms, all volumes in millilitres and litres, all areas in acres or square metres or square kms. The exception is realty in which case the metric measurement must be given in brackets after the imperial measurement - mathematical symbols should be avoided as far as possible. This includes ratios so the : symbol is disallowed, so 4:6 should be written as four to six or 100 to 120. The exception is % (see below)

- use the symbol %, not percent, per cent or pc with no space between the numeral and the % sign. All numbers preceded by the % sign should be numeral even those between 0 and 9 so 2%, 140%, 40.5% - numbers greater than four figures should have commas as separators so 100,000 or 234,000,000 with no spaces. Try to express as words, so one lakh or 234 million - our style is to use Arabic numerals, never Roman so write World War 1 or World War 2 - similarly, we would write class 1 to class 12, never class I or class XII - to indicate time, use figures and lowercase letters (9am, 6pm). No space, no punctuation between the figure and the letters. Exceptions are and . Do not say or , it's redundant BACK TO TOP

Oo
objet(s) dart obliged not obligated - anything and everything with a news angle can be discussed, be it sexual behaviour, censorship, advances in biological sciences, or sex crimes. But the language employed will always be clinical, not coarse - care should be taken, especially in headlines, that the words used (even if they are clinical) do not give offence - offensive words, four-lettered or otherwise, are not permitted unless they are part of direct quotations and the editors agree there is a compelling reason for including them. Generally, we paraphrase instead, or just use the first letter followed by a dash to indicate the word used. S - on photographs, the editor will decide on a case by case basis

obtuse means mentally slow or emotionally insensitive (Collins); often confused with abstruse (hard to understand) or obscure occupational titles lc

occasion, occasional, occasionally on the grand occasion of Abhisheks 40th birthday Ash organised a fancy dress party. Rekha, who is known for her occasional public appearances, turned up alright. What is more, dinner time saw her occasionally rushing to the washroom to touch up her makeup occurred two rs oceans, seas upper case when the specific ocean is mentioned. They are, in order of size: Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Antarctic Ocean, Arctic Ocean. Subsequently: the ocean, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. oddhyphenate: odd-looking, odd-numbered, 40-odd. But: oddball oedipal complex the female equivalent is electra complex offbeat, offhand, offside office lc in most instances. uc only if part of a company name off-licence offload avoid, except in quoted matter. Use unload instead off - off is used in the sense of opposite of on. Switch off, drive off, walk off

- follow the dictionary. Hyphenate if not listed there: off-colour, charge-off (n), off-peak, send-off (n), off-site, stop-off (n), off-white, write-off (n).words without a hyphen include cutoff (n), offside, liftoff (n), offstage, offhand, offset, offline, playoff (n), standoff (n), offshore, takeoff (n) oh! not O! - the exclamation O, always uc, is used only in poetic and religious contexts: O Canada is the national anthem. - the interjection oh is lc except starting a sentence, usually with an exclamation mark: Oh, the pain! oilfield oil painting OK avoid. Better to use okay old master Old Testament old-time, old-timer, old times Old-time colleague. For old times sake Olympic Games - also the Olympics, the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics, the Summer Games, the Games. But: an arm-wrestling olympics - Beijing Games, Athens Games, the Games in later references. omelette onhyphens arent used in onrush, onshore, onside, onstage one one should find an alternative, preferably you (unless one is making fun of one's royal family)

onto, on to We drove onto the turnpike. (We got on the turnpike.) We drove on to the turnpike. (We drove until we got to the turnpike.) onehyphenate one- when it is used in writing fractions: one-half, one-third, onefourth. A half, a third and the like are also acceptable. One must follow the path that one (not s/he) has chosen but avoid this use one another, each other two people correspond with each other; three or more correspond with one another One Day International second reference ODI one in six, one in 10 - etc should be treated as plural. There are good grammatical and logical reasons for this. Compare more than one in six Japanese is 65 or older with "more than one in six Japanese are 65 or older - " grammatically, we are talking not about the noun one but the noun phrase one in six, signifying a group of people - logically, the phrase represents a proportion just like 17% or one-sixth, both of which take plural verbs. Two out of every seven and three out of 10 take plurals too, functioning identically - one in six is is also unnecessarily (and possibly misleadingly) specific, implying that of any six people from the group you take, exactly one will be as described. One in six means one-sixth on average over the whole group, and a plural verb better reflects this. We wouldn't say only 1% of Republican voters is able to point to Iraq on a map just because there's a one in there ongoing prefer continuous or continual; avoid except in quoted matter only generally, place only before the word it modifies: She only goes to the store means she doesnt go elsewhere. Only she goes to the store means she is the sole shopper. She goes to the only store here means there is no other store here. Its only that there are idiomatic exceptions: She was only trying to help. I only have eyes for you

on the one hand Refining margins have reached a new high this month on the back of strong demand, on the one hand, and the closure of several refineries for maintenance, on the other. One without the other is wrong English; comma before and after is a must onetime, one-time no hyphen is used when it means former. Use hyphen when it refers to something done just once: The onetime chairperson said the dividend omission was a one-time event on to not onto

Opec Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, necessary to spell out on first use oped page the page in a newspaper opposite the editorial page open access in the world of broadband internet services, open access potentially gives multiple internet service providers, or ISPs, access to a cable television companys lines, allowing the providers to deliver high speed Internet access directly to consumers. Cable companies typically offer their own Internet service to customers; implementing open access gives their internet competitors the right to use the cable companys line as well open interest a measure of liquidity in future contracts, open interest refers to the total number of futures contracts that have been opened, with either a purchase or sale, and not yet closed by an offsetting purchase or sale. A liquidation closing an open contract position is thus called an offset operas Cap the first letter of each word in the title; do not italicise

operating margin the percentage of sales left after subtracting production, marketing and other expenses operating profit analysts and companies often refer to operating profit or operating income, to exclude income from sources other than the companys regular activities and before charges and other deductions. But the term is ill defined, so explain references to it in earnings articles and also include net income, the figure required by the SEC and accountants operating system in the computer world, it is the software connecting other software to the hardware.

opposition - lc when referring to a political faction: the Labour opposition - uc when referring to the main Opposition in Parliament options in the securities business, they are contracts that give the holders the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a set amount of securities or commodities at a set level oral, verbal, written use oral to refer to spoken words, written to refer to words on paper, and verbal to encompass both ore reference to ore without specific metal being named with it iron ore. For any other, must signify whether its chrome, etc. Second reference can be ore if copy is about one only. However, in headlines a stand-alone ore will always be taken top mean iron organisations and institutions - uc the full names of organisations and institutions: the Indian Medical Association - lc for segments of an organisation: the board of trustees of Columbia University, the history department of Hindu College

- some organisations and institutions are widely recognised by their shorter forms: Nato, but use full name in first reference - uc acronyms that cannot be pronounced as one word: NSD, AICTE, etc - upper/lower those acronyms that can be pronounced as one word: Awacs, Unicef, Ficci, Assocham, USAID, R-Adag, RCom Orient, Oriental uc when referring to the nations of Asia and nearby islands. Asian is the preferred term for the people. Also: an Oriental rug orient to make or adapt for a particular purpose Oscar, Oscars (see academy awards) other backward classes lc. OBCs in second reference outfollow the dictionary. Hyphenate if not listed there outdo outpost outbox output outdated outrun outscore outfield outstrip outfox outtalk outpatient (n, adj) outgrow outgun outmanoeuvre -out - follow the dictionary; hyphenate nouns and adjectives not listed there - the following nouns would be used as two words for the verb forms:

bailout, buyout, cop-out, fallout, fade-out, flameout, pullout, walkout, washout outed, outing take care with these: if we say, for example, that a paedophile was outed, we are equating him with a gay person being outed. Use exposed or revealed instead outpatient, inpatient St Thomas' hospital in south London boasts the following styles, all on signs within a few yards of each other: Out Patients, Out-Patients, Outpatients, and outpatients outgoing generally use the word only to refer to a personality trait. Use departing to apply to someone laving office or leaving town. outside not outside of outsourcing, offshoring - convey as clearly as possible what is meant by outsourcing if a company is closing an operation in Baltimore and replacing those workers with new hires in Bangalore, outsourcing to India is appropriate - but, if that company chooses to staff a new business in Shanghai instead of Chicago, this is better described as expansion than as outsourcing - whenever possible, indicate whether a company is shifting its operations overseas or simply expanding where it does business - one domestic company hiring another to run its computer databases or manage its call centres represents domestic outsourcing over refers to spatial relationship. The plane flew over the city. Over can, at times, be used with numbers: She is over 30. Do not use for more than. He walked over the bridge that was more than a kilometre long overconsult dictionary to see what takes a hyphen and what does not. Most words with the prefix over do not need a hyphen - overreact, override, overrule. Some remain two words - over emphasise, for example, take the

word with the prefix over as one word: overreach, overexploit, etc (See Appendix XX: Prefixes and Suffixes) -over follow the dictionary. Hyphenate if not listed there. Some nouns or adjectives: carryover, stopover, holdover, walkover, takeover. Use two words when any of these occurs as a verb overall, over all, overalls It was the overall policy of the farmers to wear overalls, but over all, their wives didnt overestimate, overstate take care that you don't mean underestimate or understate

oxford comma a comma before the final and in lists: - straightforward ones (he ate ham, eggs and chips) do not need one, - but sometimes it can help the reader (he ate cereal, kippers, bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade, and tea), - and sometimes it is essential: compare I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis, and JK Rowling with I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis and JK Rowling oxymoron does not just vaguely mean self-contradictory; an oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms are used in conjunction, such as bittersweet, darkness visible (Paradise Lost), the living dead (The Waste Land)

BACK TO TOP

Pp

paean song of praise; paeon metrical foot of one long and three short syllables; peon peasant page 1 etc but Page 3 girl palate the top part of the inside of the mouth; palette used by an artist to mix paint; pallet hard bed, wooden frame moved by forklift truck Palestine best used for the occupied territories (the West Bank and Gaza); if referring to the whole area, including Israel, use historic Palestine (but Palestine for historical references to the area prior to 1948) Palestine Liberation Organisation PLO is acceptable in second reference Palme d'Or (Cannes film festival) panno hyphen when combined with a common noun: panchromatic, pantheism. Most combinations with pan- are proper nouns, however, and both pan- and the proper name it is combined with are capitalised and carry a hyphen: panAfrican, pan-Asiatic, pan-Indian (See Annexure XX: Prefixes and Suffixes) panama hat Pandora's box panelled, panelling panellist pantsuit not pants suit

pantyhose not pantyhose paparazzo plural paparazzi; named after a character in Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vita paperboy, papergirl but paper round. Write newspaper vendor instead papier-mache paraffin rather than kerosene parallel, paralleled, 49th parallel Paralympic games or Paralympics pardon, parole, probation the terms are often confused, but each has a specific meaning - a pardon forgives and releases a person from further punishment. It is granted by a chief of state or a governor. A general pardon, usually for political offences, is also called amnesty - parole refers to the release of a prisoner before his sentence has been served, on condition of good behaviour - probation is the suspension of sentence for a person convicted but not yet imprisoned, on condition of good behaviour. It is imposed by a judge and may be revoked by him parentheses (( )) - place a period outside a closing parenthesis if the material inside is not a sentence. (But a complete parenthetical sentence takes a period before the closing parenthesis.) - use parentheses if a state name or similar information is inserted within a proper name: the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) New Era. But use commas if no proper name is involved: The Lancaster, Pennsylvania, teacher.

parent-teacher association PTA is acceptable in second reference. uc if it as part of a proper name parliament, parliamentary but cap up those parliaments referred to by their name in the relevant language, eg Knesset, Folketing, Duma, etc. uc the Indian Parliament in all references parliamentary standing committee lc. Note: every ministry has one, eg, parliamentary standing committee on finance Parma ham but parmesan cheese part-time partwork party lc in name of organisation, eg Labour party unless it is part of the party name party affiliation when party designations are needed, use any of these constructions: - Rajya Sabha Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said ... - Sushma Swaraj, BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha, said ... (generally avoid this form in Page 1 and other feature stories.) - Lok Sabha member Milind Deora also spoke. The Congress MP said passerby plural passersby password past use past in phrases such as the past few weeks, the past year (See last)

pasteurise pt with accents patients are discharged from hospital, not released patisserie bakery Pattali Makkal Katchi PMK is used in all references to this political party from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry but mention the full name in copy payback, payday, payoff, payout, paywall peacekeeper, peacetime peccadillo plural peccadilloes pedaller cyclist; peddler drug dealer; pedlar hawker peking duck pendant (n) pendent (adj) peninsula (n) peninsular (adj) penknife pensioners do not call them old age pensioners; older people is preferable to elderly people or the elderly penny-wise people, persons

- people is preferred in all plural uses: Only 20 people attended the annual meeting. Some people pay no income tax. The company employs 50 people. - people takes a plural when used to refer to a single race or nation: The Argentine people are united on the issue.Also: the peoples of Africa speak many languages peoples use this possessive form in general and when the word occurs in the formal name of a nation: the peoples Republic of China per generally a is preferable in constructions such as a gallon, a mile, a share, a hundred bushels. But: per 100km

percent, %, percentages, percentage points - use the symbol %, not percent, per cent or pc with no space between the numeral and the % sign. All numbers preceded by the % sign should be numeral even those between 0 and 9 so 2%, 140%, 40.5% percentage rises an increase from 3% to 5% is a 2 percentage point increase or a 2-point increase, not a 2% increase; any sentence saying such and such rose or fell by X% should be considered and checked carefully performance-related pay -person write chairperson, spokesperson and not chairman, spokesman (see Stylistic Choices: Neutral Language) pharaoh a king of ancient Egypt phenomenon plural phenomena PhD, PhDs the preferred form is to say a person holds a doctorate and name the

individuals area of speciality Philippines inhabited by Filipinos (male) and Filipinas (female); adjective Filipino for both sexes, but Philippine for, say, a Philippine island or the Philippine president philistine Phnom Penh phone numbers 011-66561234, 09810198101, +345-222-9876. A dash after the country code and area code and then the phone number digits without spaces phoney phosphorus not phosphorous photocall, photocopy, photofit, photojournalist photo-finish photo opportunity Photostat , for a type of photocopy picket, picketed, picketing picket is a noun (one who pickets), it's not picketer pick up (v), pickup (n and adj) pickup may be used alone to mean pickup truck piecework pigeonhole verb or noun

pigsty plural pigsties Pilates pill, the (contraceptive) pin not Pin or PIN number; stands for personal identification number so pin number is unnecessary ping pong synonym for table tennis. Ping-Pong is the trademark name

pinstripe suit etc, not pinstriped pipebomb; pipeline Piscean one who is born under the sign of Pisces pixelated - an image divided into pixels, the basic unit of representation, on a television or computer screen - to display a person or object in pixels to disguise their identity pixilated drunk placename plane a higher plane, not a higher plain (unless literally) planets uc the names of the planets of the solar system except earth. In order of their mean distance from the sun, they are: Mercury, Venus, earth, Mars, Jupiter,

Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto has just been stripped of its status planning not forward planning plants - in general, lc the names of plants, but uc proper names or adjectives that occur in a name: fir, white fir, Douglas fir - if a botanical name is used, uc the first word, lc others: blue azalea (Callicarpa Americana) plateau plural plateaux plateglass playbill, playgoer, playwright Play-Doh TM but you can say play-dough play-off play titles italicise with first word and proper nouns in uc (see names) plc not PLC plea, pledge words used all the time by journalists (esp in headlines), but rarely by normal people pleaded not pled plebeian not plebian

plough not plow plurals - many Latin-root words ending in us are changed to i for the plural: alumnus, alumni - most ending in a change to ae: alumna, alumnae (formula, formulas is an exception) - those ending in on change to a: phenomenon, phenomena - most ending in um change to a: memoranda, referenda, stadia. Among those that still use the Latin ending: addenda, curricula, data, media. Check dictionary - compound words written solid add s at the end: cupfuls, handfuls, tablespoonfuls - separate words or words linked by a hyphen, usually form the plural the adding an s to the most significant word: adjutants general, aides-de-camp, assistant attorneys general, courts-martial, sons-in-law, postmasters general, secretaries general, sergeants major, assistant corporation counsels, deputy sheriffs, major generals - proper names ending in s, sh, or ch or z add es: Joneses, Charleses, Bushes, Gomeses. Most names ending in y add s even if preceded by a consonant: the Reddys, the two Kansas Citys, treasurys (for treasury bonds and notes, etc.). Exceptions include Alleghenies and Rockies. Other proper names simply add s: the Mahantas, the Nadars - for numerals add s: The custom began in the 1920s. The airline has two 727s. Temperatures will be in low 20s - single letters; use 's: Mind your ps and qs. The three Rs - several letters add s: The VIPs knew their ABCs (see Collective nouns, Possessives and Numbers) PMK (See Pattali Makkal Katchi) PO box post box pocketbook, pocketknife but pocket money poet laureate

poetry a suggested method is to separate the lines with spaces and a slash; italics are acceptable: I struck the board and cry'd, 'No more; / I will abroad.' / What, shall I ever sigh and pine? / My lines and life are free; free as the rode, / Loose as the winde, as large as store point-to-point point-blank pointe (ballet); on pointe, not on point or en pointe

pole position or on pole means starting from the front row in a motor race, so be careful if using metaphorically police department uc only the proper names: Delhi Police, for example police titles lc (See Stylistic Choices: Designations, Names, Titles) police units lc: anti-terrorist branch, flying squad, fraud squad, special branch, vice squad politburo political jargon avoid. Some examples:

political parties and philosophies

- uc both the name of the party and the word party if it is customarily used as part of the organisations proper name: The Bhartiya Janata Party, but the Congress party. In subsequent references, however, the party - uc Communist, Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, Republican, Socialist, etc when they refer to activities of a specific party or to individuals who are members of it - lc philosophies unless they derive from a proper name: communism, democracy, socialism, Marxism, Marxist Nazism, Nazi. Also: liberal Republican, conservative Democrat, Communist dictator (See Stylistic choices: Names, titles) politics usually it takes a plural verb: My politics are my own business. As a study or science, it takes a singular verb: Politics is a demanding profession

poncey not poncy Pope uc when used as a formal title before a name; lc in all other uses: Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Benedict, the pope pop art pope, the and papacy, pontiff; normally no need to give his name in full possessive - plural nouns not ending in s: add s - the alumnis donations, the childrens games, the peoples choice - plural nouns ending in s: add only an apostrophe: the states rights, VIPs entrance. The same is true when a generically plural word occurs in the name of a singular entity: General Motors profits, the Times story, the US policy - singular nouns: add s even with words ending in sibilant sounds: Xeroxs earnings, the foxs trail - nouns, singular and plural: one deers tail, two deers tails. Use only an apostrophe in these cases: ancient classical names: Euripides dramas, Socrates life, achilles heel; names of more than syllable when the

last syllable is unaccented: Kansas law, Moses journey, Jesus teachings, Texass cowboys - compounds: add an apostrophe or s to the word closest to the object possessed: the major generals decision, the attorney generals request Also: anyone elses job, Paul Martin Jrs father. Use a possessive form after only the last word if ownership is joint: Jim and Monicas house. Use a possessive form after both words if the objects are individually owned: Jims and Monicas books - descriptive terms: dont add an apostrophe to a word ending in s when it is used primarily descriptive: a teachers college, a Teamsters strike, a writers guide - formal names: use the entitys practice: the Ladies Home Journal, the Veterans Administration. - double possessives: the double possession shown in a phrase such as a friend of Marthas is acceptable and sometimes necessary. Note the difference between a picture of Martha and a picture of Marthas postgraduate Post-it TM postmodern, postmodernist postmortem Post Office uc the organisation, but you buy stamps in a post office or sub-post office PoW abbreviation for prisoner of war practice (n) practise (v) - I practise the piano. You are practising golf. The doctor has been practising for 10 years. He is a practised man. - I have done my football practice. Without enough practice, she would not get better at English. Practice makes perfect. She visits her local doctors practice. pre-

redundant in such newly fashionable words as pre-booked, pre-reserved, pre-ordered, and even pre-rehearsed precis singular and plural predilection not predeliction pre-eminent prefab, prefabricated premier only when constitutionally correct. The Chinese traditionally give their prime minister the title of premier, eg Premier Wen Jiabao. Bermuda also has a premier not a prime minister premiere no accent Premier League - no longer FA Premier League or Premiership in England - in Scotland it was briefly the Premierleague, now the Scottish Premier League or more commonly SP prenuptial or (if you must) prenup prepone (verb) the Oxford dictionary does now include this Indianism which means to bring something forward to an earlier date but it is banned in HT prepositions there are no shortcuts to getting those prepositions right. But there are two rules of usage that just might make life easier. Rule 1: it deals with preposition choice. Certain prepositions must follow certain words, and the correct preposition must be used to make relationships between words in the sentences clear Rule 2: it has to do with the prepositions place in the sentence. Prepositions

must be followed by nouns, and prepositions can only go on the end of the sentence in certain situations. Here are some examples of Rule 1. absolve from abhorrent to accord with acquit of affinity between agree with (a person) agree to (a proposal) appeal against, a taste of (food) a taste for (art, etc.) averse to bestow on (upon) change for (a thing) change with (a person) change to (become) confer with (talk with) confer on (upon) (give to) confide in (trust in) confide to (intrust to) conform to comply with conversant with correspond with (write to) correspond to (a thing) dependent on (upon) die by, die for, die from, die of, die with different from dissent from derogatory to deprive of differ from differ with disappointed in (a thing obtained) disappointed of (a thing not obtained) expect of, expect from independent of involve in

part from, part with protest against/over/at, reconcile to reconcile with punctuation possessive (See possessive): add s after nouns whatever the final consonant. Charless page. Praveens story. Pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, ours have no apostrophe. But indefinite pronouns do. Ones rights; Somebody elses umbrella comma - in a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after every term except the last. Red, white, and gold - enclose parenthetic expressions between commas - nonrestrictive clauses - that do not serve to identify or define the antecedent noun, merely add something - are parenthetic, and require commas - a comma is needed before a conjunction introducing an independent clause - do not join independent clauses with a comma; use a semicolon - do not use periods (full stops) where you need a comma colon - the colon has more effect than the comma, less power to separate than the semicolon, and more formality than the dash - it can join two independent clauses if the second amplifies/interprets the first - can introduce a quotation that supports the first clause dash - a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses - use only when a more common mark of punctuation seems inadequate

isn't

good enough?

prepone (see banned words) prepubescent pre-Raphaelite

presently means soon, not at present president lc except for the President of India and when used in title: President Obama, but Barack Obama, the US president press, the singular: the Indian press is a shining example to the rest of the world pressured, pressurised use put pressure on or pressed to mean apply pressure, ie not the Baggies pressured [or pressurised] the Wolves defence

Pret a Manger food pret a porter fashion prerequisite required or necessary as a prior condition preteen pretext by its nature false, so while it may or may not be true that Tony Blair went to war on a pretext, it is tautologous to say he did so on a false one prevaricate to speak or act falsely with intent to deceive (Collins); often confused with procrastinate, to put something off preventive not preventative prewar

prima donna plural prima donnas prima facie not italicised prime minister write Gordon Brown, the prime minister, said not prime minister Gordon Brown said; never use the American English style prime minister Brown principal - most important - head of a school - sum of money lent on which interest is paid

principle moral rule guiding behaviour prise it's prise apart (to open), not prise apart prisoners should not be described as inmates prize Booker prize, Nobel prize, Whitbread prize, etc unless using the official name prizefighter, prizewinner but prize money proactive do not use this hideous jargon word with a hyphen. Or without one probe a dental implement, not an inquiry or investigation pro-choice not pro-abortion

procrastinate to delay or defer; often confused with prevaricate prodigal wasteful or extravagant, not a returned wanderer; the confusion arises from the biblical parable of the prodigal son. A common mistake profile a noun, not a verb program (computer); otherwise program. This computer program is not responding but this TV programme is really great; the programme of events was interesting at the sports day and the training day had several programmes to choose from pro-life do not use to mean anti-abortion prone face down; supine face up proofreader, proofreading prophecy noun; prophesy verb pros and cons protege male and female, no accents protest against, over or about not, for example, protest the election result protester not protestor proved/proven

beware the creeping proven. Proven is not the normal past tense of prove, but it a term in certain English idioms, eg proven record proviso plural provisos Ps and Qs public schools are actually private schools, so that is what we should call them publicly not publically public-private partnership PPP on second mention pundit self-appointed expert purchase as a noun, perhaps, but use buy as a verb put athletics; putt golf PS post script psychic of or pertaining to the human soul or mind; mental (opposed to physical) pyjamas pyrrhic victory psycho slang; insane, crazy. Avoid pice de rsistance an outstanding accomplishment

perquisite a payment or profit received in addition to a regular wage or salary, especially a benefit expected as one's due BACK TO TOP

Qq
al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden's organisation; it means the Base quadriplegia the paralysis of all four limbs as opposed to paraplegia, the total or partial paralysis of both legs quantum jump, quantum leap in any area other than physics, a cliche best avoided (unless you are referring to the cult 70s band Quantum Jump or the cult 90s TV series Quantum Leap) quarter-final hyphenated queueing not queuing question marks do not use question marks in headlines where, if they are accidentally dropped, the meaning can be changed from a possibility to a fact

quicklime, quicksand, quicksilver quip the president/prime minister quipped... is a phrase almost invariably followed by something that is not funny. Avoid both quip and third-rate humour quite avoid; in American usage it means very and in European usage it can mean just a little or only moderately quixotic quiz a suspect is questioned, not quizzed (however tempting for headlines) quizshow quotation marks - use double quotes at the start and end of a quoted section, with single quotes for quoted words within that section - place full points and commas inside the quotes for a complete quoted sentence; otherwise the point comes outside: Sanjoy said, Your style guide needs updating, and I said, I agree. - but: Sanjoy said updating the guide was a difficult and time-consuming task. Try and reform such a sentence as double quotes look clumsy. - when beginning a quote with a sentence fragment that is followed by a full sentence, punctuate according to the final part of the quote, eg: The minister called the allegations blatant lies", adding, "but in a position such as mine, it is only to be expected". - for parentheses in direct quotes, use square brackets quotes - take care with direct speech: words appearing in quotation marks must accurately represent the actual words uttered by the speaker - ums and ahems may be removed and bad grammar improved. If you arent sure of the exact wording, use indirect speech - where a lot of material has been left out, start off a new quote with: He added: , or signify this with an ellipsis - take care when extracting from printed material

- introduce the speaker after the first sentence: All salaries will be hiked, said Sudeep. Not: Sudeep said All salaries will be cut. - copying quotes from other newspapers/TV channels/websites without attribution is bad journalism and legally risky. If there are no libel issues and if you are going to repeat quotes, always say where they came from so the reader can evaluate the reliability of the source - include an attribution if you are taking quotes off the radio or television. This matters less if it is a pooled interview or news conference which happens to be covered by, say, NDTV or Doordarshan. If the quote comes from an exclusive interview on a radio or TV programme we should always include an attribution BACK TO TOP

Rr
racecourse, racehorse race - stories should be free of conscious or unconscious racism - avoid stereotyping and describe membership of a group, ethnicity or race precisely - mention race or ethnicity only when essential to the story. For example, if someone is facing deportation, it is appropriate to give his or her nationality. Similarly, the ethnic origin of a person who receives racial threats or is the target of a racist attack is essential context - take care when reporting crimes and court cases. The race of an accused person is not usually relevant - race is a factor in stories about racial controversy or immigration, or where an issue cuts across racial lines. For example, if European-born people join Tibetan exiles in demonstrations against Chinas Tibet policy, this is a point worth mentioning - race is pertinent in reporting a feat or appointment unusual for a person of a particular ethnic group, for example someone born in China who becomes an international cricket umpire - in the United States, the terms black and African-American are acceptable. Black is fine as an adjective, eg "Obama will be the first black US

president". - as a noun, the plural is acceptable where it might contrast with another group, eg doctors found differences between the treatment offered to whites and blacks - never use black as a singular noun. It is awkward and offensive. "Barack Obama would be the first black to become US president" is unacceptable. Better to say "Barack Obama will become the first black US president" - native Spanish speakers in the United States may be referred to as Latino or Hispanic, but it is better to be specific (Colombian, Mexican). Also, some people from Latin America are not Hispanic, eg Brazilians. - as a rule, use the term by which the people of a particular ethnic group describe themselves: Inuit (not Eskimo), Roma (not Gypsy), Sami (not Lapp), Native American (not Indian) - uc the names of races and peoples: Asian, Jew, Hispanic - lc black and white racked with pain, not wracked rackets not racquets, except in club titles radical avoid this word in a political context radiographer takes x-rays; a radiologist reads them radius plural radii raft something you float on; do not say a raft of measures, which has very rapidly become a cliche (particularly in political reporting) railway, railway station not the American English versions railroad, train station raincoat, rainfall, rainproof

Ramadan the month of fasting when devout Muslims refrain from all food, drink or sex during daylight hours and focus on devotion and good works. The majority Sunnis fast between dawn and sunset, the Shia from dawn to dusk. The start and end of the month for most Islamic countries depends on the sighting of the new moon by the naked eye. It is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic, lunar calendar. Eid al-Fitr is the holiday celebrated at the end of Ramadan rand no s in plural

ranges $22 million to $26 million, not $22 to $26 million rape victims in many countries it is illegal to report the names of victims of sexual crime. Standardise globally to say we do NOT name victims. Preferred is rape survivor, not rape victim rapt, wrapped rapt is entranced or wholly engrossed, wrapped is folded together or enfolded rarefy, rarefied rateable ravage, ravish ravage is to lay waste or pillage. Ravish is to abduct or to rape. You ravage a village and ravish a maiden razed to the ground tautologous. Razed will do R&B re/re- use re- (with hyphen) when followed by the vowels e or u (not pronounced

as yu): eg re-entry, re-examine, re-urge - use re (no hyphen) when followed by the vowels a, i, o or u (pronounced as yu), or any consonant: eg rearm, rearrange, reassemble, reiterate, reorder, reuse, rebuild, reconsider - Exceptions include re-read; or where confusion with another word would arise: re-cover/recover, re-form/reform, re-creation/recreation, resign/resign realpolitik lc, no italics reafforestation not reforestation realtor an Americanism; write real estate agent instead reassure use this word with caution. It means to give a new assurance. It does not mean that the person to whom the assurance is given is necessarily reassured (e.g. Hitler reassured Czechoslovakia that he had no designs on its territory). Better to write again assured rebut, refute use with care. Refute means to disprove, not to deny or reject. Rebut has a similar meaning, not just to argue against, so its use implies an editorial judgment. Avoid, except in quotes, unless we are really sure we are using them correctly. Deny or reject may be preferred recent avoid: if the date is relevant, use it recession a period of low economic activity with high unemployment and numerous business failures. There are varying definitions. In the United States it is two consecutive quarterly falls in gross domestic product record by definition any record just set is new, so do not write a new world record

recur, recurring, recurred re-elect, re-election refer refer means to mention directly; allude means to refer to in passing without making an explicit mention. He alluded to the sins of his past and referred to his criminal record referendum plural referendums

re-form to form again; reform means to change for the better; we should not take the initiators' use of the word at its face value, particularly in cases where the paper believes no improvement is likely refute use this much-abused word only when an argument is disproved; Should be used carefully as it has a legal connotation. If someone has not comprehensively proved something to be false us contest, deny, rebut regrettable reinstate religious right religion, religious titles religion - names of divinities are capitalised but unspecific plurals are lower case, eg Allah, the Almighty, Christ, God, Jehovah, the Deity, the Holy Trinity, but the gods, the lords of the universe - uc religious titles when they immediately precede a personal name, otherwise use lc, eg Bishop Thaddeus Smith, Dean Robert Jones, but the bishop, the dean - use only the simplest and best-known titles at first reference, eg the Rev Jesse Jackson rather than the Right Rev Jesse Jackson

- uc names of denominations and religious movements, eg Baptist, Buddhist, Christian, Church of England, Islamic, Jew, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox. But non-denominational references are lower case, eg adult baptism, orthodox beliefs, built a temple - the Pope is head of the Roman Catholic Church (that is, the whole body of Roman Catholics) but he would celebrate mass in a Roman Catholic church (that is, a building) - a baptist is someone who baptises. A Baptist is a member of the Protestant denomination. It is incorrect to refer to the Baptist Church as a singular entity. The correct reference would be to Baptist churches or to the specific Baptist group involved, e.g. the Southern Baptist Convention religious terms abaya: full-body overgarment worn by some Muslim women to cover all but their face, feet and hands. Most frequent in Arab countries adhan: the Muslim call to prayer Anglican Communion: the worldwide association of Anglican and Episcopal churches. Not the Worldwide Anglican Communion Baha'i faith: a syncretic religion that preaches the unity of all humankind and all spiritual beliefs. It recognises many major religious figures of history - including Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Jesus, Mohammad and its founder Baha'ullah - as authentic messengers of God helping to bring humanity to spiritual maturity. The Baha'is, who claim about five million followers, began in 19th century Iran but have since spread around the world. The Baha'i faith emerged from Shi'ite Islam, but we should not refer to this origin when we describe it. Despite retaining some elements of Shi'ite Islam, the Baha'i faith also took in many other ideas that made it a separate religion on its own. Calling it an offshoot of Islam is like calling Christianity an offshoot of Judaism; it is correct in a very limited sense but misleading overall. The religious authorities in Shi'ite Iran consider the Baha'is heretics. The Baha'is accuse Iran of oppressing them basilica: a major church with special status, not necessarily a cathedral, which is the church of a bishop burqa: a one-piece head-to-toe covering for Muslim women, with a headband to hold it in place and a cloth mesh to cover the face but allow vision. Most frequent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some European languages use burqa for other kinds of covering, but avoid this usage cardinal: honorary title for Catholic clerics who elect the next pope if

they are under 80. Most but not all are archbishops. New cardinals are made at a consistory cathedral: central church of a diocese and seat of the bishop. Not a generic term for any large church chador: full-length cloak for Muslim women that covers the head and body but leaves the face visible. Worn over a loose-fitting blouse and pants, it is open in front and held together by the wearer. Usually worn in Iran, mostly in black Christian: use as an overall term, but not as a substitute for a precise name of a denomination. If possible, it is preferable to name the denomination, eg Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, etc. Protestant and Orthodox are also overall terms and more precision, for example Methodist or Greek Orthodox, is preferable church, Church: a church is a house of prayer or a denomination. Capitalise when used in a title. In a story about a single church, the Church can be used to refer to the whole denomination on second reference and Church can be used as an adjective to mean belonging to that church Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: the Mormon church. Mormon church acceptable on first reference, but give the official title soon afterward cult: refers to a faith group far from the religious mainstream, implying a charismatic leader and possibly extreme views. Use very carefully denomination: term for the different Christian churches, usually used for Protestant churches. Catholics and Orthodox object to being called denominations Eastern Catholic churches: Eastern Rite churches, the ancient Middle Eastern churches in communion with the Roman Catholic Church ecumenism: co-operation among Christian churches. Inter-faith refers to co-operation among religions Episcopal Church, Episcopal, Episcopalian: the Episcopal Church is the US branch of Anglicanism. Episcopal is the adjective referring to it and Episcopalian is the noun referring to its members. Do not refer to its members as Episcopals. This is one of the most frequent mistakes made on the religion file evangelical: a term for Protestants who stress personal conversion (born again) and the authority of the Bible. Evangelicals embrace modern culture, even if they are socially conservative, while fundamentalists try to avoid what they see as sinful modern ways. Evangelicals are found in several churches. Note in Europe, especially Germany, evangelical is a

general term for mainstream Protestant. uc only when in a title evangelism, evangelising: neutral term for spreading the Gospel. Proselytise has negative connotations evangelist: originally, one of the four authors of the Gospels. Also, a preacher whose sermons aim to convert listeners to Christianity. If a cleric heads a church of already converted Christians, call him or her a preacher, not an evangelist Father: For Catholic priests, only use if in a quote. Rev. is the proper title for a priest fundamentalist: originally refers to Protestants who stress the fundamentals of their faith and reject liberal interpretations. Often used for conservatives, especially for Muslims, but so overused that it is best avoided. Alternatives are traditionalist, orthodox, conservative, etc Haj: uc. A Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca headscarf: general term for Muslim womens head covering, either the hijab (covering just the hair) or the niqab (covering the face but leaving the eyes open). hijab: Muslim headscarf for women to cover the hair but leave the face open. Some styles also cover the neck and shoulders Mass: The central service of Catholic worship. It is celebrated or said Methodist churches: Methodist churches are Protestant churches that trace their origins to an 18th-century Church of England revival movement led by John Wesley. There are many separate churches in the Methodist family, which at about 75 million members worldwide is one of the largest Christian traditions. Some but not all Methodist churches are part of the evangelical movement. There are over 40 Methodist denominations in the United States, including the United Methodist Church (the largest) and several African-American Methodist churches. The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest one in the United Kingdom minister: term for a cleric in many Protestant denominations. It is not a title and should not be capitalised. new religious movement: Neutral term to describe a faith group outside the religious mainstream. niqab: Muslim womans full head and face covering that leaves only the eyes open Orthodox, orthodox: uc in titles such as Orthodox Church or Orthodox Judaism. lc to denote strict adherence to the doctrines of a religion pontiff: synonym for the pope, always lc Pope, pope: uc for the title, eg Pope Benedict, but lower case for the

term the pope proselytise: to seek converts to a faith. Some Christian denominations say it has a negative connotation, implying the use of aggressive or unethical methods such as threats or rewards, and prefer evangelise as a more neutral term Roman Catholic Church: official title, although Catholic Church can also be used. The head of the Roman Catholic Church is the pope. Refer to a reigning pope at first reference as e.g. Pope Benedict and at subsequent references as the pope or the pontiff. A reigning pope does not take Roman numerals after his name. Past Church leaders should take Roman numerals after their name on first reference eg Pope Pius XII and may be referred to simply by their name eg Pius, on subsequent references unless to omit the numerals would cause confusion. The popes closest advisers are known as cardinals, who are appointed by him. Those under 80 can enter a conclave to elect a new pope. At first reference Cardinal John Doe. At subsequent references the cardinal or Doe. A high-ranking member of the Church, such as a cardinal, an archbishop or a bishop, can be referred to subsequently as a prelate. Its best to avoid the term monsignor since it means a rank between priest and bishop (eg Monsignor Martin Smith) in some countries but in others, especially Italy, France and Spain and in Latin America, it is a catchall title used for monsignors, bishops, archbishops and cardinals, eg the Archbishop of Bogota, Monsignor Enrique Perez. Avoid this usage also. Use Boston Archbishop Charles Dust. For priests, use Rev. John Doe, not Father John Doe (except in quotes). Do not use the Rev., Reverend or Most Reverend. The Church hierarchy is: priest, pastor, pastor, bishop, archbishop, cardinal, pope. The Church government working in the Vatican is known as the Curia, which must be explained if used. The Vatican technically refers to the city-state in Rome and the Holy See to the Churchs central administration, but the terms have become interchangeable in common use. The Holy Sees ambassadors around the world are known as papal nuncios and its embassies as nunciatures. If the Holy See does not have formal diplomatic relations with a country the Popes envoy to the church in that country is an apostolic delegate. sect: religious group that has broken off from a larger one. Use carefully as it has negative connotations. The neutral term is new religious movement. skullcap: preferred generic term for small religious headpiece known as the Jewish kippa, Catholic zucchetto or Musilm kufi. Avoid yarmulke,

which is a Yiddish term used mostly in the United States temple: non-Christian house of prayer. Some Jews use it for synagogue, but the latter is preferred Unification Church: founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon in South Korea in 1954, the Unification Church is a religious movement that has expanded around the world and is believed to have up to three million members. Members have been dubbed Moonies by their critics, but this is a pejorative term which we should not use in copy and avoid in direct quotation if possible. The movements's goals include the defence of conservative family values and it regularly organises mass public weddings of couples brought together by the church. It has links to many businesses, especially in publishing (Washington Times, UPI), and has been accused by critics of being a cult, brainwashing members and enriching its leaders, all of which it denies. It teaches that Rev. Moon received private revelations from Jesus, Mosus and Buddha to fight communism and promote world peace Virgin Mary: use this title or the Madonna, not Our Lady except in titles such as Our Lady of Czestochowa or in the names of churches. In Catholicism, do not confuse the Virgin Birth (the dogma that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus) with the Immaculate Conception (the dogma that Mary was the only human conceived without Original Sin). yarmulke: use skullcap reopen reluctant, reticent reluctant is unwilling or resisting; reticent is sparing in communication. A gossip is reluctant to be reticent. remain, remained avoid in leads. There is always a more lively way of phrasing remainder use the rest rendezvous singular and plural. Prefer meeting or appointment repeat (v), repetition (n) John Smith tried to avoid a repetition of his blunder, not a repeat of his

blunder. Repeat again is tautologous unless something is being said or done more than twice. Just repeat will do repechage in sport, a contest between runners-up, usually for a place in the final (especially in rowing) repellant (n) repellent (abj) you fight repellent insects with an insect repellant repertoire an individual's range of skills or roles; repertory is a selection of works that a theatre or dance company might perform replaceable replica exact reproduction, in size and materials. Do not confuse with model reported, reportedly if you use the word reported without stating the source at once, you must give it in the next sentence or paragraph. Do not use reportedly report report on, not into reports do not refer to just to reports, unconfirmed or otherwise. Specify where the reports are coming from or originate report the Adhikari report, etc; use report on or inquiry into but not report into, ie not a report into health problems reported speech - when a comment in the present tense is reported, use past tense: She said:I like vodka (present tense) becomes in reported speech she said she liked vodka (not she said she likes vodka). - When a comment in the past tense is reported, use had (past perfect tense): She said: I drank too much vodka (past tense) becomes in reported

speech she said she had drunk too much vodka (not she said she drank too much vodka) - once it has been established who is speaking, there is no need to keep attributing, so long as you stick to the past tense: Sonia said she would vote Congress. There was no alternative. It was the only truly progressive party repulsive too strong a word, use only in a quote and even then advisedly

use only when we mean alleged' or 'fabled' or 'rumoured'. We tend to use it when we mean to say 'famous' or 'well known'. The word is REPUTABLE requirements needs is shorter and better resistible, irresistible responsible only people are responsible for the effects of their actions. Things cause things to happen. Drought caused famine, not was responsible for famine restaurateur one who runs a restaurant result in use a stronger, more direct verb, such as cause back is redundant, to means to go back, or give something back

reveal use with caution. Use of the word implies (a) acceptance that the statement is true and (b) that the information had previously been kept secret, which may not be the case revenue not revenues Reverend, Rev.

uc religious titles when they immediately precede a personal name, otherwise use lc, eg Bishop Thaddeus Smith, Dean Robert Jones, but the bishop, the dean. Use only the simplest and best-known titles at first reference, eg the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Dr John Smith rather than the Right Rev. John Smith revert back just revert will do rhinoceros, rhinoceroses rickety ricochet, ricocheted, ricocheting riffle to flick through a book, newspaper or magazine; often confused with rifle, to search or ransack and steal from, eg rifle goods from a shop right wing a right-winger, a right-wing politician, but the right wing of the political spectrum. Use with caution, as with all political labels rigmarole river lc, eg river Ganga, Yamuna river riveted, riveting road map two words rob you rob a person or a bank, using force or the threat of violence; but you steal a car or a bag of money rocks Americans throw rocks, but in most other places use throw stones

roadside rock'n'roll one word role model two words rollercoaster one word Rorschach test psychological test based on the interpretation of inkblots round up (v), roundup (n) two words for the verb and one word for the noun round robin not a newsletter or circular, but a petition where the signatures are in a circle so no individual can be identified as the instigator rounding off figures - round off unwieldy figures, eg Japan produced 1.45 million cars in the six months ended not Japan produced 1,453,123 cars. - as a rule, round off millions to the nearest 10,000, thousands to the nearest 100, hundreds to the nearest 10 - figures are normally rounded to two significant decimals, with halves rounded upwards. Thus 15.564 becomes 15.56, while 15.565 becomes 15.57 - do not round off interest rates. Give them to the full number of decimal places supplied by the source of the information - round off foreign exchange quotations to four decimal places, eg the dollar rose to 0.9784 euros. If a country adjusts its currency, any rate given must not be rounded off, eg Manchukistan announced a rate of 5.79831 manchuks to the dollar - do not round company dividends, eg the company announced a dividend of 0.123456 pence per share - Where totals do not add up because of rounding, this should be explained row do not use for argument or dispute

royalty - retain the titles of rulers and their consorts at second reference, eg King Hussein, Queen Beatrix, the queen - the titles of other members of royal families can be dropped at second reference. In Britain, for instance, Queen Elizabeths husband is the Duke of Edinburgh, and at second reference the duke or Prince Philip. Her eldest son is Prince Charles, Prince of Wales. Either title can be used at first reference; then Charles or the prince - use Roman numerals in referring to royalty, eg Charles I, Louis XIV not Charles 1st or Charles the First rubber stamp (n), rubber-stamp (v or adj) rule a word with negative overtones in a political context. Use govern as a verb run for office use for candidates in a presidential election. For those in a parliamentary one, say stand rundown (n), run down (v) run-down (adj) rundown is the noun but prefer review or summary runner-up, runners-up rush hour (n), rush-hour (adj) rushed to hospital a clich. Use taken to hospital or treated in hospital BACK TO TOP

Ss

sacrilegious not sacreligious Sahara not Sahara Desert sahara means desert in Arabic said he said, she said when quoting someone. Not he quipped, she averred, he grimaced, she gesticulated. Said is good enough, even if youre saying it ten times in the same story Saint, St St does not take a full stop saleable salutary not salutory, for promoting health or safety, or wholesome. But salutatory, the adjective for a greeting Salvadorean, not Salvadoran salvo plural salvoes Samoa the islands making up the former Western Samoa are now officially known as the Independent State of Samoa. Use Samoa for short . The neighbouring US territory is American Samoa sanatorium not sanitorium, plural sanatoriums sanction avoid sanction as a verb. It has conflicting meanings, to approve and to punish sat sat, or was seated, or was sitting, but not was sat

saviour not savior Scandinavia comprises Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The Nordic countries are these three plus Finland and Iceland. Because of the danger of confusion, list the countries even if you use Nordic or Scandinavian in a lead for the sake of brevity. sceptic, but in American style skeptic schizophrenia, schizophrenic use only in a medical context, never to mean in two minds, which is wrong, as well as offensive to people diagnosed with this illness schoolboy, schoolgirl, schoolchildren, schoolroom, schoolteacher scientific measurements take care: m in scientific terms stands for milli (1mW is 1,000th of a watt), while M denotes mega (1MW is a million watts); in such circumstances it is wise not to bung in another m when you mean million, so write out, eg 10 million C - amps A; volts V; watts W; megawatts MW; milliwatts mW; joules J; kilojoules kJ scientific names in italics, with the first name (the genus) capped, the second (denoting the species) lc: Escherichia coli, Quercus robur E coli, Q robur scientific terms some silly cliches you might wish to avoid: nanosecond (you would find it difficult to hesitate as the shortest measurable human hesitation is probably about 250 million nanoseconds, or a quarter of a second); astronomical sums when talking about large sums of money scotch whisky, scotch mist SEALS special operations force of the U.S. Navy. The acronym is for sea, air, land

sea change, sea level, sea serpent, sea sickness seas, oceans uc, eg Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Pacific Ocean seasons spring, summer, autumn, winter, all lc second guess (n) second-guess (v) second-hand second lieutenant two words Secret Service in the United States, a federal agency administered by the Department of Homeland Security. The Secret Service Uniformed Division protects the presidents residence and offices and embassies in Washington secretary-general hyphenated; lc in most instances (See Stylistic Choices: Designation, Names, Titles) sector industry is better Security Council the 15-member United Nations Security Council in New York is the body that takes many of the decisions on UN action around the world, often through numbered resolutions, eg Resolution 649. It consists of five permanent members with the power of veto over any resolution Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. There are also 10 nonpermanent members of the Security Council, made up of other UN countries which serve in rotation, representing different areas of the world. The Security Council presidency rotates monthly, by English alphabetical listing of its member states. - the UN Security Council becomes the council (lc) at second reference

see, saw inanimate objects do not have the power of sight. Do not write the game saw several violent incidents; the clubs progress has seen them climb to seventh in the table. The device is less absurd but similarly lazy when overused to apply to people, Bill McGreer saw his shot go wide seize not sieze self-control, self-defence, self-esteem, self-respect semi in general, no hyphen semiannual prefer twice-yearly or twice a year semi-final semicolon The following sentence, from a column by David McKie, illustrates perfectly how to use the semicolon: Some reporters were brilliant; others were less so senior abbreviate to Sr not Sen or Snr, eg George Bush Sr September 11 - do not write 9/11 - the official death toll (revised January 2004) of the victims of the Islamist terrorists who hijacked four aircraft on September 11 2001 is 2,973. The figure includes aircraft passengers and crews, but not the 19 hijackers. Of this total, 2,749 died in the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre (1,541 have been identified from remains at Ground Zero), 184 were killed in the attack on the Pentagon, and 40 died when their plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania septuagenarian

Serie A uc. Italian first division soccer serviceable sewage, sewerage sewage is waste and sewerage is the system that removes it services, the armed forces

set point two words in tennis scoring sexing up avoid the temptation to overplay something. If the writer succumbs, the desk should take care to ensure that this error is corrected. Often the concern over how the competition may report something tempts you to overplay it. Resist. If a story is strong enough let it speak for itself

shakeout, shakeup Shakespearean shareholder

shall, will strictly shall and should are reserved for the pronouns I and we, while will and would are used with you, he, she and they. If the action is performed with decided intention then shall and should can be used with you, he, she and they. They shall go to the ball no matter what their mothers say. The distinction between shall and will varies from country to country and can probably be ignored sharia Islamic religious law (note lower case s). Sharia law is tautologous. Write sharia or Islamic law

sheikh not sheik or shaikh. A courtesy title in Saudi Arabia but avoid in this context. The real sheikhs there are religious figures and sheikh should be used at first reference. Elsewhere in the Gulf it applies to members of ruling families as well as religious figures and should be used at first reference sheriff (US) lc Shia, Sunni two branches of Islam (note: not Shiite); plural Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims, though Shias and Sunnis are fine if you are pushed for space ships are not feminine: it ran aground, not she ran aground shipbuilder, shipbuilding, shipmate, shipowner, shipyard shoo-in not shoe-in shopkeeper short-lived, short-sighted shutdown

Siamese twins do not use: they are conjoined twins side effect side by side as an adverb, no hyphens eg they walked side by side.. Hyphenate as an adjective, eg The stories received side-by-side display siege not seige

silicon, silicone silicon chips but silicone implants since do not use to mean because Singaporean names Are in three parts, eg Lee Kuan Yew single out should refer to only one person or thing. He singled out Chappell and Dravid as the main culprits for our World Cup fiasco is wrong Sinhalese major ethnic group in Sri Lanka. The language spoken by them is Sinhala sink past tense sank, past participle sunk: he sinks, he sank, he has sunk siphon not syphon sister-in-law, sisters-in-law situation can usually be dispensed with, as in a crisis situation, a debt situation, a flood situation

sizable ski, skis, skier, skied, skiing skilful skipper use only of fishing vessels; otherwise captain

slang avoid slang not readily understood outside the English speaking world or your own country. It creates problems for translators. If a vivid quote contains slang, explain it in brackets or give a paraphrased version, eg Hes in the cat-bird seat (in a favoured position) or Saying Smith was in a favoured position, he added: Hes in the cat-bird seat. slew colloquial and a clich. If you are trying to say a large number or amount then express it more precisely slump sudden or serious fall in economic activity or prices

smaller in size tautologous, of course its smaller in size

sneaked not snuck so-called (adj and adv) socialism, socialist lc unless name of a party, eg Socialist Workers Party social security benefits lc, income support, working tax credit, etc

software uc, without quotation marks, eg Windows, Internet Explorer. Use quotation marks for computer games, eg Bust a Move: Dance Summit Somali not Somalian some write about 500 people rather than some 500 people. As an indication that a figure is an approximation, some is more likely to confuse translators than about song titles uc every word in the title apart from conjunctions, articles, particles and short prepositions, eg All You Need Is Love, Son of a Preacher Man sophisticated modish word when applied to weapons. Most weapon systems are sophisticated. If you just mean modern, say so sorcerer SOS an appeal for rescue; no spaces, no points sources secretary in the agriculture department said The

xyz said xyz told HT

crime branch Both leaders discussed regional issues, said the official in apparent reference to trouble along Pakistan-Afghanistan border. a senior police officer in the a senior marketing executive

South Asia use for the region that includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka southern hemisphere south pole span of years 1995-99; but between 1995 and 1999, not between 1995-99

spastic do not use spaceship space shuttle lc unless part of a proper name spacewalk special avoid; it rarely adds value. Instead tell us directly what is special about the person or the event species same word for singular and plural speeds use numerals for speeds 7 mph, 7 to 9 knots spelled, misspelled not spelt spicy not spicey spin off (v), spinoff (n) spiral prices (and other things) can spiral down as well as up; try a less cliched word that doesnt suggest a circular movement split infinitives try to avoid wherever possible but, as the Guardian Style Guide puts it,

spoiled, spoilt she spoiled her son: in fact he was a spoilt brat

spokesperson not spokesman, spokeswoman sponsorship try to avoid: we are under no obligation to carry sponsors' names. So Indian Premier League, not DLF Indian Premier League, etc. Unless the competition is named after the sponsor, we are not obliged to carry the name spoonful plural spoonfuls

square brackets use for interpolated words in quotations, eg Hazra said: Huffman [J Ford] has my full support square metres not the same as metres squared: eg 300m squared is 90,000 sq m which is very different to 300 sq m; we often get this wrong square leg (n), square-leg (adj) two words for the fielding position in cricket, at square leg, but hyphenated as an adjective, square-leg umpire stadium plural stadia stalactites cling from the ceiling; stalagmites grow from the ground stalemate do not use to mean deadlock or impasse; a stalemate is the end of the game, and cannot be broken or resolved stanch (v), staunch (adj) the staunch supporter stanched the flow of blood startup one word for a new business

star, superstar avoid. Do not use in sports reporting station wagon stationary not moving; stationery writing materials steadfast steamboat, steamhammer, steamship steam engine sten gun stepfather, stepmother stepping stone stiletto plural stilettos still life plural still lifes stimulus plural stimuli stock market, stock exchange storey, storeys the third storey of a building; but tell me a different story storms - a storm is more severe than a gale - the most severe of all storms is a cyclone, in which winds blow spirally inwards towards a centre of low barometric pressure - the word cyclone is used of such storms in the Indian Ocean and

Australia - in the China Seas and West Pacific such a storm is a typhoon and in the Caribbean and on the east coast of the United States a hurricane - a tornado is a violent whirling windstorm with a very narrow focus, common in the United States - in many countries meteorological offices give tropical storms the names of men and women in alphabetical sequence - Japan numbers them sequentially, beginning afresh on January 1 each year - to be recognised as typhoon, a tropical storm has to have winds of 17 metres (56 feet) per second or stronger. The Beaufort scale measures wind speed (See Annexure XX: weather terminology) straightforward straitjacket strait-laced not straight-laced. Means narrow in principles, or prudish stratum plural strata streetwise stretchered off do not use; say carried off on a stretcher stricture adverse criticism, or a binding or closure. The first meaning is the one most commonly used strike do not use as a transitive verb. For strike action say strike strong-arm (v and adj) stumbling block

stupefy, stupefying, stupefaction stupor stylebook but style guide subsubcommittee subcontinent subeditor sublet sublieutenant subplot, subsection submachine gun subpoena, subpoenaed suchlike suicide exercise care in reporting suicide or issues involving suicide, bearing in mind the risk of encouraging others. This applies to presentation, including the use of pictures, and to describing the method of suicide. Any substances should be referred to in general rather than specific terms. When appropriate a helpline number should be given. The feelings of relatives should be considered summer summit use only for meetings of heads of state or government. You cannot have a summit of foreign ministers or of trade union leaders. Do not use minisummit. Two leaders can make a summit summon (v), summons (n) Sunni/Shiite - Muslims are split into two main groups, Sunni and Shi'ite - Sunnis are estimated about 80 percent of all Muslims and include

most Arabs. Sunnis and Shi'ites draw spiritual inspiration from the same source, the Prophet Mohammad, but Shi'ite theologians have much greater freedom of interpretation as well as adhering to the revelations of the Muslim holy book, the Qoran, Sunnis follow the Prophet Muhammad's rule of life (the Sunna) and traditions based on his sayings Shi'ites hold that the succession to the Prophet should remain in his own family. Since the direct line was broken not long after the death of Muhammad, Shi'ites believe there is a Hidden Imam (spiritual leader) who will reappear one day in Iran, where Shi'ites are predominant, the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was considered the Imam's deputy on earth. His successor as Supreme Leader holds the same authority Rivalry between Sunnis and Shi'ites extends back to the years following the death of the Prophet Muhammad, when Islam first split over the question of who was the rightful successor some hardline Sunnis regard Shi'ites as heretics and Shi'ite minority communities in some parts of the Middle East complain of discrimination

supermodel every new face who makes a name for herself these days is labelled a supermodel; model is sufficient supersede not supercede superlatives be careful with first, largest, biggest, highest and oldest because such descriptions are often challenged. Have a source for them. but be particularly sceptical about news releases claiming records, especially auction records. Avoid similar value judgments. Do not call a company giant, because many companies are giants in one way or another supervisor supremo do not use the term for a supreme commander, which is not widely understood outside Britain

surge prefer rise or increase, if that is the meaning; but surge is preferable to upsurge surrealism Surinam, not Suriname former Dutch colony in South America surrounded completely surrounded is tautologous, as is surrounded on all sides. it is impossible to be surrounded on two or three sides SUV Sport (singular) Utility Vehicle swap not swop swath, swathe A swath is a strip cut by a scythe or mowing machine. Swathe is to wrap, or a binding or bandage. Cut a swath, but swathe someone in love. swearwords Do not use for effect. If unavoidable in a quote please ask yourself if the word will offend rather than add to a piece. If you're absolutely sure a word is necessary, consult a senior editor. syllabus, syllabuses sync, synch, synthesise, synthesizer prefer synch as a way to shorten synchronisation, as in out of synch. synopsis plural synopses syntax beware of ambiguous or incongruous sentence structure: a man was charged with exposing himself in court yesterday

BACK TO TOP

Tt
-t ending for past participle: the cakes were burnt, the word was misspelt. But earned, not earnt T not tee; as in it suited her to a T, he had it down to a T tableau plural tableaux table d'hote tactics singular and plural tad is a tad overused tag lines a credit at the end of stories for the reporters who have contributed. They appear in italics. They should include the reporters city only if it is different from the dateline or if the article has a byline box that situates the other reporters (See credit, credit lines)

Taiwan call it Taiwan, not Chinese Taipei, buy avoid referring to it as a country since India does not recognise it as one Taiwanese names like Hong Kong and Korean names, these are in two parts with a hyphen, eg Lee Teng-hui (Lee after first mention)

taglines they are the lines at the end of stories, crediting those who contributed. They appear in italics, and are contained in brackets. They should include the reporters/reports city/cities, only if they are different from the dateline of the article, or if the article has a byline box that situates the other reporters Tajikistan adjective Tajik take, bring bring denotes movement toward the speaker or toward the dateline or toward India. Take denotes movement that is not toward the speaker. In a datelined story, bring refers to conveyance toward the dateline city. In headlines, bring normally refers to movement toward India from abroad take-home pay takeoff (n) take off (v) takeover Taliban plural (means students of Islamic knowledge) talkshow talk to not talk with Tamil Nadu TN acceptable in a headline or, in some cases, as a second reference

Tampax TM; say tampon Tangier not Tangiers tanks use numeric digits, separated from letters by a hyphen: M-60, M-60s tap, bug a tap is attached to a telephone circuit to pick up conversations on the line, or refers to the act of using such a device. A bug is a concealed listening device designed to pick up sound, or the act of using such a device targeted, targeting tariff tarot cards taskforce taxable income adjusted gross income on which government taxes are applicable tax avoidance is legal tax evasion is illegal taxonomic names names of organisms are italicised, with the genus name capitalised and the specific epithet lowercased: Canis familiaris; Borrelia burgdorferi taxi, taxiing of aircraft Tbilisi capital of Georgia Tchaikovsky

TDP Telugu Desam Party teabag, teacup, teapot, teaspoon teachers college no apostrophe team-mate team a team is, team members are teams sports teams take plural verbs: Australia won by an innings, Mahindra were relegated again, etc; but note that in a business context they are singular like other companies, eg Leeds United posted its biggest loss to date teargas teen, teenager (n), teenage (adj) dont use teenaged techie informal. Slang for a computer technician, but also used to refer to anyone with a high degree of enthusiasm or involvement in the field of computers/electronics. Not tekkie or tekky Technicolor TM; a process of making colour motion pictures; not Technicolour teetotaller Teflon TM; say non-stick pan Telengana Rashtra Samithi or TRS political group demanding a separate state of Telengana. Was initially part of the coalition ruling at the Centre, the United Progressive Alliance, from

2004, but has since withdrawn support telecom telecom companies telcos can be used in headlines, short for telecom companies, but avoid in text. Do not say cellcos for mobile phone companies

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India second reference TRAI. Prefer the telecom regulator teledensity telemarketer, telemarketing telephone numbers space after area codes: 011 23016160, 0124 4226767 (India); 001 766 82341212 (US). Do not hyphenate mobile phone numbers, so 0837671234 teleprompter generic term for prompting device in television studios teletext a type of videotext, for the delivery of information to home TV sets Teletype TM, brand of teleprinters and teletypewriters television channel, TV channel generally used as a second reference to a channel name: CNN-IBN and later, the TV channel or the channel. TV channel can be used, as a second reference television programme titles use italics eg The Bold and the Beautiful television set, TV set including the word set is preferred when referring to the receivers

television shows chat show, game show, quiz show, talk show television station when this phrase is needed, use lower case: television station WGAL or station WGAL-TV

Telugu Desam Party or TDP TDP is accepted in subsequent references to this political party from Andhra Pradesh temperatures use Celsius so 30C. Temperatures get higher or lower but they dont get cooler or warmer Temple Mount in Jerusalem, it is Judaisms holiest site. It is known by Muslims as alHaram al-Sharif, meaning Noble Sanctuary Ten Commandments dont abbreviate or use figures tend, tending one's flock, etc not tend to or tending to tender offer an offer to buy shares in a company, usually at a premium, often with the purpose of taking control of the target company. The tender offer seeks to have stockholders of the target company tender their shares to the potential purchaser. tendinitis not tendonitis, for inflammation of the tendons tenses - main verbs in newspaper writing are generally in the past tense but, in features and in some columns, the present tense can be used. - rules governing the sequence of tenses call for a verb in a subordinate

clause to be in the past or past-perfect tense if the main verb is in the past tense - however, when the subordinate clause refers to a continuing condition, the subordinate verb should be in the present tense to make this clear. I said I am married conveys a continuing married state, whereas I said I was married indicates that the married condition was in the past - Weve Only Just Begun was playing on the radio. He began to drink; in fact he drank so much, he was drunk in no time at all. He sank into depression, knowing that all his hopes had been sunk. Finally, he sneaked away. Or perhaps snuck away (according to Pinker, the most recent irregular verb to enter the language). tenterhooks, on refers to the condition of unease or strain, often misspelled as tenderhooks terrific words such as terrific, terrifying and terrible are often used interchangeably, out of ignorance. Terrific is generally laudatory, terrifying denotes fear and horror, terrible is normally used to express awe, distress or fear about an unfortunate treatment, event or occurrence terrace houses not terraced terracotta, terra firma terrorism/terrorists - a terrorist act is directed against victims chosen either randomly or as symbols of what is being opposed (workers in the World Trade Centre, tourists in Bali, guests at hotels in Mumbai) - it is designed to create a state of terror in the minds of a particular group of people or the public as a whole for political or social ends - although most terrorist acts are violent, you can be a terrorist without being overtly violent (poisoning a water supply or gassing people on the underground) - groups that admit to terrorist acts are said to take responsibility, not credit - the UN says: Criminal acts calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public are in any circumstances unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify them."

- whatever one's political sympathies, Palestinian suicide bombers, al-Qaeda, most paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, and Eta can all reasonably be regarded as terrorists - we have to be very careful about using the term: it is still a subjective judgment (one persons terrorist may be another persons freedom fighter). Often, alternatives such as militants, radicals, separatists, etc, may be more appropriate and less controversial, but this is a difficult area: references to the resistance, for example, imply more sympathy to a cause than calling such fighters insurgents. The most important thing is that, in news reporting, we are not seen - because of the language we use - to be taking sides Test (cricket) the third Test, etc, it is capitalised. See also ODI/ODIs and T20/T20s Texan a person; the adjective is Texas: Texas Ranger, Texas oilwells, Texas tea, etc textbook use italics if naming a specific book that do not use automatically after the word said, but it can be useful: you tend to read a sentence such as he said nothing by way of an explanation would be forthcoming as he said nothing by way of an explanation and then realise that it does not say that at all; he said that nothing by way of an explanation would be forthcoming is much clearer that or which? that defines, which informs: this is the house that Jack built, but this house, which Jack built, is now falling down that or who? for people, use who or whom. For objects, plants or animals, use that or which. But for animals that are given names or otherwise personalised, us who or whom the - leaving the out often reads like jargon: say the conference agreed to do

something, not conference agreed; the government has to do, not government has to; the Super League (rugby), not Super League - do not use constructions such as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said especially after a first reference. Prominent figures can usually just be named, with their function at second mention: Manmohan Singh said on Sunday night (first mention); the Prime Minister (or PM) said (subsequent mentions). Where it is thought necessary to explain who someone is, write N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, said or the BCCI secretary, N Srinivasan, said. In such cases the commas around the name indicate there is only one person in the position, so write the Leader of the Opposition, Arun Jaitley, said (only one person in the job), but the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said (there have been many) - use the before the names of newspapers or magazines except when it is a single word name, such as Time magazine. But it would be the International Herald Tribune. However, IHT would be IHT. Similarly, it would be the Reserve Bank of India, but RBI and not the RBI. Do use your ear in instances like GoM. It would be the Group of Ministers and the GoM. The World Bank estimates of global poverty but World Bank estimates are seen to be off the mark - the will not be used preceding a companys name, not even when the companys name is otherwise an English word/term (such as News Corp.); it will be used if it is an indispensable part of the name (The Body Shop, The Energy and Resources Institute or Teri). However, the House of Tatas, the Birlas, the Aditya Birla Group, the Ruias, the UB Group (See a, an) theatre - use this spelling except when the formal name of a theater or company is spelt theater - normally lc in name, eg Adelphi theatre, Crucible theatre (or just Adelphi, Crucible) - uc if Theatre comes first, eg Theatre Royal, Stratford East theatregoer theirs no apostrophe then the then prime minister, etc (no hyphen)

thermonuclear Thermos TM; also vacuum flask The Star-Spangled Banner US national anthem things avoid, especially in captions and blurbs. Not the economics of things Its too vague. Give specifics such as television, business, etc thinktank one word Third Reich third way third world lc, but inappropriate; developing countries or the developing world is preferable this and that that was then, but this is now; this looks forward, that looks back: so the man showing his son and heir the lands lying in front of them says: One day, son, all this will be yours. Then he points behind him to the house and says: But that remains mine thoroughbred, thoroughgoing threefold, threescore 3G third generation mobile telephony throwaway thunderstorm

Tiananmen Square public square in Beijing tidal wave just what it says it is; tsunami is a huge wave caused by an underwater earthquake tidewater tikka masala timebomb, timescale, timeshare times - 1am, 6.30pm, etc - 10 o'clock Sunday night but 10pm on Sunday - half past two, a quarter to three - two-and-a-half hours, an hour and a half, half-hour intervals - for 24-hour clock, 00.47, 23.59 - use figures except for noon and midnight - use a full-stop to separate hours from minutes. Avoid redundancies such as 10pm tonight (drop pm) - 2 minutes; 5 hours; but eight months; two years; in five years time; twoday/three-night package - a.m. can go with periods in headlines when in photo essay/feature pages and where it can be mistaken for I in large print if the periods are dropped time element - specify the day of the week on which routine announcements are made or on which routine actions occur - to prevent ambiguity, generally avoid terms such as last Tuesday or next Tuesday and last March or next March - use dates and months - the past, present or future tense of the verb usually provides adequate indication of which Tuesday is meant time zones - uc the full name: Indian Standard Time, Eastern Daylight Time; Central Standard Time, Central Daylight Time; Mountain Standard Time; Mountain

Daylight Time; Pacific Standard Time; Pacific Daylight Time - but short forms: Eastern time, Mountain time, Alaska time, Hawaii Standard Time (Hawaii doesnt switch to daylight time) - Greenwich Mean Time has been replaced as the world standard by Coordinated Universal Time tinfoil

tipoff noun tipping point another example of jargon that has quickly become hackneyed through overuse titbit not tidbit titleholder titles/names

Mumbai, Chennai Thiruvananthapuram Kolkata Vadodara

- lc all other occupational descriptions: finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Delhi University vice-chancellor Deepak Pental, the president or chief executive of any company, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan. See Designations, Titles - Pope would be uc when it precedes a name, Pope Benedict, but not when it is the pope, Benedict. - vice president is two words, lower case - titles of study should be upper case, roman and go without quote marks, the first letter of each word in the title after the first (except in/of/and etc) is capped, The 2007 WHO Study on Diabetic Malnutrition; but generally use the full name of the study only if it is very pertinent, provocative or interesting in itself, or, if not using it can cause confusion. Otherwise, just say: a 2007 report on malnutrition etc - separate a long title from a name by a construction that requires a comma: Jairam Ramesh, the Union minister of state for environment and forests or, Union environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh

T-junction TNT stands for the explosive trinitrotoluene, as well as for Turner Network Televsision

today do not write today, yesterday or tomorrow in news stories, only names of weekdays. The occasional exception can be made in a headline announcement of an event (the World Cup begins today) to-do as in what a to-do! toe the line (not tow) Italicise titles of books and films. TV programmes, paintings, songs, albums take initial caps. See told Hindstan Times, told HT City etc this is used far too often: it should be replaced by said and reserved for occasions when it genuinely adds interest or authority to a story (if someone got an exclusive interview with, say, Osama bin Laden) tomato plural tomatoes ton not to be used, other than in sport, for a century (a hundred runs); use tonne tonne not ton: the metric tonne is 1,000kg (2,204.62lb), the British ton is 2,240lb, and the US ton is 2,000lb; usually there is no need to convert Top 10, Top 40, etc use Top 3/Top 10 when referring to a group or ranking of leading players in an industry, market or sector. These B-schools are in the Top 5, but they figure among the top five business schools

tornado plural tornadoes (storm) Tornado plural Tornados (aircraft) tortuous a tortuous road - one that winds or twists torturous a torturous experience - one that involves pain or suffering Tory, Tories total avoid starting court stories with variations on the formula three men were jailed for a total of 19 years, a statistic that conveys no meaningful information (in this case, they had been given sentences of nine, six and four years). The only time this might be justified is when one person is given a series of life sentences, and he was jailed for a total of 650 years at least conveys how serious the crimes were totalled to the tune of avoid touchdown town councillor, town hall tout use the word with care. An advertisement may tout a product, but an analysts recommendation doesnt normally tout a stock. Negative connotations tradeable trade in (v), trade-in (n and adj) trademarks (TM) take care: use a generic alternative unless there is a very good reason not to,

eg ballpoint pen, not biro (unless it really is a Biro, in which case it takes a cap B); say photocopy rather than Xerox, etc trade off (v), trade-off (n. and adj) trade union, trade unionist, trades union council Trades Union Congress (TUC) traditional, traditionally generally avoid as synonyms like usual or usually tragic use with care, especially avoiding cliches such as tragic accident Trai acceptable second reference for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. But prefer telecom regulator transthe rules in prefixes apply transatlantic transcontinental transmigrate transoceanic trans-Siberian trans-shipmen Trans-Siberian railway travellers cheque(s) travelogue Treasury, the treaties lc, eg Geneva convention, treaty of Nice Trekkers

how to refer to Star Trek fans unless you want to make fun of them, in which case they are Trekkies trenchcoat tribal tribal a tribal (See nationalities and race) Tricolour, the Indian flag, any other flag would be in lowercase and specific (country name, as in French/Irish tricolour) trigger happy trillion 12 zeroes or 1 million million = trillion. 100,0000 crore = 1 trillion Trinamool Congress or the All India Trinamool Congres West Bengal-based political party trip-hop Trips trade-related intellectual property rights triweekly means both every three weeks and three times a week. To avoid confusion, use one of these more precise terms instead trooper soldier in a cavalry regiment, a trouper is member of a troupe, or dependable worker trooping the colour not trooping of the colour tropic of Cancer, tropic of Capricorn

TRS See Telengana Rashtra Samithi trustee lc try out (v), tryout (n)

try to never try and, eg I will try to do something about this misuse of language tsar use czar tsetse fly T-shirt not tee-shirt tsunami wave caused by an undersea earthquake; not a tidal wave. Preferred plural is tsunamis. Reserve tidal wave for a sea wave related to the oceans tides tuberculosis TB is acceptable on a second reference turgid does not mean apathetic or sluggish - that's torpid - but swollen, congested, or (when used of language) pompous or bombastic turkish delight Turkmenistan singular noun and adjective is Turkmen; its citizens are Turkmen, singular Turkman. Formerly nomadic central Asian people who now form a minority in Iraq; they speak Turkmen turnover (n), turn over (v)

TV acceptable as an adjective or in constructions such as cable TV. But dont normally use as a noun unless part of a quotation or in a headline. The receiver is a TV set 21st century but hyphenate if adjectival: newspapers of the 21st century, 21st-century newspapers Twenty20; T20, T20s, T20I reference to the shortest official form of cricket of 20 overs a side; Twenty20 can be used, with T20 as a second and more reference, but in sports pages, T20 is generally acceptable even as a first reference. T20I refers to a T20 international game between countries (See also IPL) twisted pair Telecommunications jargon for the two copper wires used in old-style analog household telephone wiring. Because telephone companies deliver high-speed services over a speedy digital connection such as ISDN, or integrated services digital network, the twisted pair can cause a bottleneck twitchers birdwatchers or birders are preferable terms Twitter users are known as tweeters (and sometimes twitterers, but not tweeps, please) and spend much of their time sending tweets, also known as tweeting or twittering twofold tying BACK TO TOP

Uu
uber no accent if you are saying something like uber-hip, but use the umlaut if you are quoting German U-boat UFO, UFOs the abbreviations are acceptable in second reference for unidentified flying object(s) UK or Britain in copy and headlines for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (but note Great Britain comprises just England, Scotland and Wales) (see United Kingdom) ulema or ulama (pl.n) Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law ultrathe rules in prefixes apply, but in general, no hyphen is used ultramodern ultranationalism ultraviolet Ukraine not the Ukraine; adjective Ukrainian ukulele not ukelele

umlaut in German place names, ae, oe and ue should almost always be rendered , , . Family names, however, for the most part became petrified many years ago and there is no way of working out whether the -e form or the umlaut should be used; you just have to find out for each individual umm-ed and ahh-ed umpteen, umpteenth unthe rules in prefixes apply but, in general, a hyphen is used only before a proper noun un-American unnecessary unarmed unshaven UN no need to spell out United Nations at first mention, but it is advisable to use the full form early in the copy UNAids Uncharted not unchartered unchristian Uncle Sam a way of referring to the United States of America or the US government underthe rules in prefixes apply but, in general, no hyphen is used underachieve underact underage undercover underdeveloped

underdog underground undermanned underprivileged underrated undersea undersigned undersold undervalue underweight underestimate, understate take care that you don't mean overestimate or overstate (we often get this wrong) underground, the but London Underground for name of company undersecretary one word under way, underway - in most cases, use the two words: The project is under way. The naval manoeuvres are under way - it is one word when used as an adjective before a noun in a nautical sense: an underway flotilla Unicef acceptable in all references for the United Nations Children's Fund. The words International and Emergency, originally part of the name, have been dropped Unesco acceptable on first reference for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation but, in most instances, a subsequent reference should give the full name. UNFPA now known in expanded form as the UN Population Fund, but the acronym stays the same

UN general assembly UNHCR United Nations high commissioner for refugees; not commission (although the name stands for both the high commissioner and the refugee agency) Union uc when referring to the government at the Centre: Union government union names long formal names of unions may be condensed to conventionally accepted short forms: All India Trade Union Congress, for example, may be referred to Aituc but the full name should be mentioned in a story Union territories uc Union, UT(s) may be used in second reference but, if you are using, do carry the abbreviation in brackets after first mention Union Public Service Commission UPSC acceptable in all references but mention the full name in a story. It supervises recruitments to services and posts under the Unionthrough exams and selections, gives advice on promotion, transfer-on-deputation and disciplinary cases uninterested means not taking an interest; not synonymous with disinterested, which means unbiased, objective unit in headlines and in second references in stories, unit is acceptable to a subsidiary or a division, but try to be specific on first reference in stories. Unit shouldn't be used in reference to an affiliate United Arab Emirates the UAE is acceptable in second reference United Kingdom - only the UK in any reference, except in a quote - comprises Britain and Northern Ireland.

- Britain comprises England, Scotland and Wales - Ireland, formally the Irish Republic, is independent of the United Kingdom - BT Global Services, UK, no the before UK as it makes for awkward reading. UK-based Prudential Plc, not necessarily the UK-based..., especially if followed by the full name of a company or a person United Nations use the UN in second reference in stories. uc Secretariat, Security Council, and General Assembly even when they aren't preceded by UN United Progressive Alliance the coalition of political parties led by the Congress may be referred to as UPA. It came to power at the Centre in the 2004 elections. The Left parties are not in the government but are supporting the ruling coalition. Memberparties of the coalition include the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party, DMK, PMK, Nationalist Congress Party United States - spell out only in quotes or for special effects. Otherwise include in corporate names, always abbreviate to the US. - however, US-based..., not necessarily the US-based..., especially if followed by the full name of a company or a person units of measurement - no period, no space in between: 10kg, 50g, 7ft, 10 sq. ft, 100mtpa, 200mBtu, 500FEUs, 19 cu. m, 50V, 57W - do not spell out kilogram kilometre, etc. - however, mscmd, etc., will need to be elaborated in the first reference - litres, but kl for kilolitres; megawatts for MW, kilovolts kV, megahertz MHz, kilowatt-hour will be kWh. See hertz - while using terms such as square feet or km use 150 sq.ft, 200 sq, km unit trusts they are mutual funds universities uc eg Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University if the word university is part of the name until

not up until unveiled pictures are, as are cars sometimes, but these days almost everything seems to be so the government unveiled a raft of new policies (two cliches and a redundant new in six words) or a company unveiled record profits. There is nothing wrong with announcing, reporting, presenting or publishing up in general, no hyphen: upbeat upend upfront upgrade upmarket upstage uptight uptown but upside down -up follow the dictionary. upcoming use coming instead, except in quotation up close at close range upcountry of, relating to, or characteristic of an inland, upland, or outlying region upfront frank, forthright uplift not upliftment; it means to elevate upped to increase the price or amount of something. eg the buyers upped their offer

by Rs 2,000 upstart a person who has just started in a new position or job but who behaves as if they are more important than other people in a way that is annoying uptight anxious and/or angry about something; rigidly conventional upmarket upper lip eg (keep) a stiff upper lip: to hide your feelings in a difficult situation upper hand advantage, mastery, control up to date all uses except in an up-to-date fashion urban relating to or concerned with a city or densely populated area; suburban is relating to or concerned with a suburb (a residential area or community outlying a city) urban legend an often lurid story or anecdote that is based on hearsay and widely circulated as true urban sprawl the spreading of urban developments (as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city URL referring to an internet address, it stands for Uniform Resource Locator. In a URL, http is the protocol, or method of transfer; // indicates a computer name follows, subsequent words to the server, the domain, the folder and the file (html is a type of file) US

for United States, not USA: no need to spell out, even at first mention; America is also acceptable USAid user-generated content utopian U-turn BACK TO TOP

Vv
v versus vs use roman for versus, not vs and no need for a full stop: India v Sri Lanka, the State of New jersey v the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In headlines, lc the abbreviation, and use vs only for occasional special effect: A Case of Good vs Evil Valentine's Day valley lc even in the Kashmir valley and the valley Valium TM; a brand of diazepam valuable, invaluable they are not antonyms: valuable means something of high worth, invaluable means something of still higher worth, priceless, whose value cannot be measured

vapour but vaporise Varanasi modern name of erstwhile Banaras Vaseline TM. Brand of petroleum jelly VAT value added tax; no need to spell it out Velcro TM. Brand of fastener veld not veldt venal open to bribery venial easily forgiven venetian blind venture capitalists they invest pools of money in businesses in exchange for roles in running the businesses and obtaining shares of the profits verbal or oral? by strict usage, it should be verbal when youre referring to anything in general, but oral for anything that refers to the spoken word, especially legal. So an unwritten agreement should be an oral agreement, not a verbal agreement VE Day 8 May, 1945, designated by the Allies as the day victory was won in the European phase of World War II veranda not verandah verdicts recorded by coroners; returned by inquest juries

vermilion versus spell it out in most contexts. Dont use vis--vis when you mean versus (See v versus vs) very usually very redundant vet dont use for an armed services veteran. The verb form, derived from veterinarian, means to examine or investigate veterinary veto, vetoes, vetoed, vetoing viceuse two words and hyphenate: vice-chairperson, vice-president VCR videocassette recorder. VCRs is the plural vice versa vichyssoise vie, vying Vietnamese names Vietnamese, like Chinese, normally use their family name first, but for the Vietnamese it is usually followed by two given names. And, unlike the Chinese, the Vietnamese adopt the Western practice of using the final part of the name for subsequent references, with the appropriate honorific. Thus, Nguyen Dang Dao is Dao, and Dieu Van Luyen is Luyen in later references. An exception to this practice was Ho Chi Minh, who was Ho in subsequent references, in the Chinese fashion Vietnam War it spanned 1954-75 village uc only when part of a proper name

V-neck (n and adj) virtuoso plural virtuosos vis-a-vis Visakhapatnam Vizag can be used in headline but not in copy vitamins lc vitamin, use uc and a hyphen and number if required; vitamin A, vitamin B-12 vocal cords not chords voice mail electronic systems store and record voice-mail messages voiceover VOIP voice over internet protocol, which shouldnt be hyphenated volcano plural volcanos vortal tech term for vertical portal, or an internet site with a tight focus on users with specific interests. Broad-interest portals such as Yahoo! Are horizontal portals. Dont use the terms without explaining them votes - in stories and headlines, use figures and a hyphen for pairs of numbers up to 1,000: The vote in the Senate was 79-8, with 2 abstentions - spell out numbers below 10 in other phrases related to voting: by a fivevote majority, with three abstentions, four votes short of the necessary twothirds majority vortex plural vortexes vulgarities (see obscenities, profanities, vulgarities, swear words) vuvuzela

not vuvuzuela BACK TO TOP

Ww
wags wives and girlfriends (generally of footballers: the term was popularised during the 2006 World Cup); the singular is wag. Now in danger of overuse, and arguably sexist although variations include habs (husbands and boyfriends) Wahhabi a sect attributed to Abd-al-Wahhab, an 18th century scholar from what is today Saudi Arabia. Often referred to as sect within Sunni Islam, although this designation is disputed. The term Wahhabi is considered derogatory by the people it is used to describe. waive, waiver the relinquishing of a claim or right waver to hesitate wake in the wake of is overused; nothing wrong with as a result of or simply after Wakf Board our style is Wakf Board not Waqf Board walkout walkover walled city lc in reference to old Delhi

Wall Street when the reference is to the New York financial community, the Street is an acceptable short form in second reference Waqf Board our style is Wakf Board not Waqf Board war uc when part of the name for a specific conflict, such as: the Civil War, the Persian Gulf War, the Gulf War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the War of 1812, World War II. lc in other references eg the Iraq war, the Gulf war war cry; war game; war dance; war zone warfare warmonger on the warpath war horse, warhorse use two words for a horse used in battle, but one word for a veteran of many battles: He is a political warhorse warrant in the investment world, it is a certificate giving the holder the right to buy securities at stipulated prices, usually within a specified time limit warranty the same as a guarantee Washington Post, The uc The. But make it the Post on second reference washing-up liquid washout watchdog, watchmaker, watchword watercolour, watercourse, watermark

not water-logged or water logged

waterproof, waterskiing, waterworks WASP acronym for white Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Considered objectionable by some so avoid weapons anti-aircraft: cannon that fires explosive shells. artillery: not necessarily carriage mounted any more. All howitzers and field, mountain, medium, anti tank, anti-aircraft, s elf-propelled, towed guns fall in this category automatic: pistol with cartridges held in a magazine: a .22-calibre automatic bullet: projectile fired by a rifle, pistol or machine gun calibre: the diameter of a gun barrel cannon: weapon mounted on a carriage or ship that fires explosive projectiles carbine: short, lightweight rifle. cartridge: comprises a bullet, metal casing, primer and propellant. Colt: a make of handgun named for Samuel Colt: a Colt .45-calibre revolver gauge: the size of a shotguns bore. The bigger the number, the smaller the shotgun Insas: Indian Small Arms System. Standard personal weapon for armed, paramilitary and many police forces. gun: any small firearm M-1, M-16: rifles used by the military: an M-1 rifle, an M-1, an M-16 carbine, an M-16 machine gun: automatic gun that fires as long as the trigger is depressed musket: large-calibre shoulder firearm that fires musket balls by using a matchlock, wheel lock, flintlock or percussion lock pistol: hand-held revolver or an automatic revolver: pistol using cartridges held in revolving chambers rifle: a gun designed with a long barrel having a rifled bore. Rifles are fired from a stationary position shells: ammunition used in military weapons and shotguns shot: small lead or steel balls used as ammunition in shotguns. Buckshot applies to the largest shot sizes. shotgun: gun with one or two smooth-bore barrels, usually using shot: a 12gauge shotgun.

submachine gun: lightweight automatic gun.

weather terms (based on the US National Weather Service terminology) - blizzard: winds of 35 mph or more, falling snow, and visibility near zero cyclone: a storm with strong winds rotating around a center of low pressure Cyclone is also used to mean tornado in parts of the US and hurricane in the Indian Ocean flash flood: follows heavy rains or melting snow within a few hours freeze: when the temperature at or near the surface is expected to be below 32 degrees Fahrenheit during the growing season. gale: winds from 39 to 54 mph high wind: winds of 39 mph or more, sustained for at least an hour hurricanes: a warm-core storm originating east of the international date line. West of the date line, the storms are called typhoons. When a hurricane or typhoon loses strength after landfall, it is reduced to tropical storm status. The Saffir-Simpson scale: Category 1: 74 to 95 mph winds Category 2: 96 to 110 mph winds Category 3: 111 to 130 mph winds Category 4: 131 to 155 mph winds Category 5: winds exceeding 155 mph hurricane eye: the relatively calm area in the centre of the storm, where winds are light and the sky only partly cloudy National Hurricane Center: The US National Weather Services centre in Miami tracks hurricanes and lesser storms. The services centre in Honolulu tracks Pacific storms sandstorm: involves visibility of a half mile or less caused by sand and wind speeds of 30 mph or more sleet: involves generally solid grains of ice from freezing of raindrops or the refreezing of melted snowflakes squall: sudden increase of wind speed by at least 16 knots and rising to 25 knots or more and lasting for at least one minute temperature humidity index: the effect of heat and moisture on human comfort. Readings above 70 indicate increasing levels of discomfort. tornado: most destructive localised atmospheric condition known. The Fujita scale: F0: 40 to 72 mph winds F1: 73 to 112 mph winds

F2: 113 to 157 mph winds F3: 158 to 206 mph winds F4: 207 to 260 mph winds F5: winds exceeding 260 mph

weatherman use the term weather forecaster web, webpage, website, webcast, World Wide Web web, the web is acceptable in all references to the world wide web websites take care not to let the addresses be hyphenated inappropriately; break them at a sensible point within the name if you need to turn a line weights, measurement, dimensions - use numerals: The baby weighed 3kgs. She had a 3kg boy - no periods to be used, no space in between: 10kg, 30g, 7ft long, 20MHz, 10m - but space in 100 cc, 10 sq. ft, 2,500 cu. m, 150 sq. ft, 100 mtpa; - do not spell out kilogram, kilometre, etc.; however, mscmd, etc., will need to be elaborated on first reference - spell out litres, but kl for kilolitres, mn for million and bn for billion but only in headlines - 5% in copy, headlines or info boxes - a gram is the basic unit of weight in the metric system. A gram is about one-28th of an ounce. To convert to ounces, multiply by 0.035 - for directions and regions: north, east, west, south India. uc political entities, commonly used names or words designating regions: The NorthEast for the seven Indian states (N-E in headlines), West Asia, western Europe, South-East Asia, Mumbai South (the constituency). But 50km west of Delhi and western suburb of Mumbai. Western for traits and people related to the West (See Stylistic Choices: Numbers, Measurement, Time) wellhyphenate as part of a compound modifier before the noun: She is a welldressed woman. Otherwise: She is well dressed

welch not welsh if you're talking about someone who fails to honour an obligation wellbeing well-known as with famous, if someone or something is well-known, it should not be necessary to say so wellnigh welsh dresser west, western, westernised as in western Europe West Asia not Middle East, except if used as such in quotes or columns by writers West Bengal do NOT use acronym WB for the state in text or headline. Bengal will do western hemisphere comprises the continents of North and South America and the islands near them Western Wall wall in Jerusalem formerly called the Wailing Wall West Indian applies to people from the former British colonies in the Caribbean. It doesnt apply to those from Cuba or Puerto Rico wheelchair say (if relevant) that someone uses a wheelchair, not that they are in a wheelchair or wheelchair-bound which is stigmatising and offensive, as well as inaccurate See Stylistic Choices: Neutral Language

we are fond of inserting this before quoting someone eg When contacted, the police chief said ... Of course we did; quite superfluous and, indeed, irritating whence it means from where; do not use whereabouts takes a singular verb: His whereabouts is a mystery whether or not the or not is usually superfluous. But when the meaning is regardless of whether, the or not is required: The show will go on whether or not it rains whet ones appetite (not wet) whilst do not use whip lc even when it is a formal title before a name whiskey, whiskeys use the spelling whisky for all kinds of whiskies, such as Scotch whisky, but use whiskey for Irish whiskey and US whiskey whistleblower white - the reference to skin colour is lc - use only when material to a story (See Stylistic Choice: Neutral Language) white knight

in corporate takeover lingo, a white knight is a friendly suitor who helps a company fend off a hostile takeover white paper lc; an official government report. white paper when opposition issues it whitish for the colour, not whiteish whiz kid, whiz-bang not whizz whodunit is the usual spelling for a mystery story. Note the single n whoever, whomever the object of the preposition is the entire clause, and whether you use whoever or whomever depends on whether that word is the subject or object of the clause. Give this to whoever answers the door. Give this to whomever they designate wholewheat who, whom - use who and whom as pronouns referring to humans and animals with names. Otherwise use that and which - who is used as the subject of a sentence, clause or phrase: The woman who headed the division was responsible. She is the woman who heads the division. - whom is used when someone is the object of a verb or preposition: She was the one to whom the vice-president reported. Whom do you talk to? wicketkeeper -wide - no hyphen. Some examples: citywide, industrywide, continentwide, nationwide, countrywide, statewide, worldwide - Exceptions are proper-noun combinations: Asia-wide wide area network (WAN)

system linking an organisations individual computer workstations worldwide, using telecommunications to share files widow when combined with the late is redundant. Its either the wife of the late Egyptian president or the widow of the Egyptian president Wi-Fi wildcat (adj) when applied to strikes, it means unauthorised. Be sure it is unauthorised before you call a strike a wildcat strike wild west Windbreaker for a wind-resistant sports jacket window dressing (n), window-dress (v) wind up (v), windup (n and adj) wine - normally lc, whether taking their name from a region (eg beaujolais, bordeaux, burgundy, chablis, champagne) or a grape variety (eg cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, merlot, muscadet) - the regions themselves are uc: so one might drink a burgundy from Burgundy, or a muscadet from the Loire valley; as are wines of individual chateaux, eg I enjoyed a glass of Cos d'Estournel 1970 - the Spanish grape Pedro Ximnez (also a variety of sherry), is uc, as is the South American grape Pedro Gimnez winter wipeout (n), wipe out (v) -wise - no hyphen when it means in the direction of or with regard to: clockwise, otherwise, lengthwise, slantwise

- avoid contrived combinations such as moneywise, religionwise - the term penny-wise is hyphenated because it is a compound modifier in which wise means smart, rather than a use of the suffix -wise. The same for street-wise wishy-washy witchcraft but witch-doctor, witch-hunt with not together with withhold witness not eyewitness wits' end woeful woman, women - are nouns, not adjectives, so say female president, female MPs etc rather than woman president, women MPs BUT only use such descriptors if it is material to the story - dont use physical descriptions, sexual references, family status and stereotypical wording, especially if parallel wording wouldnt be used in references to men. - try to use plural nouns and pronouns when both sexes are involved. Taxpayers are expected to verify their deductions; rather than: The taxpayer is expected to verify his deductions See Stylistic Choices: Neutral Language womenswear word of mouth (n and adj) workworkbook, workday, workhorse, workload, workforce, workplace,

workstation, workweek but: work sheet working class (n), working-class (adj) workstation type of computer system used for engineering applications, desktop publishing, software development and other applications that require highquality graphics capabilities. In computer networking, the term applies to any computer that is connected to a local area network World Bank the World Bank is acceptable in all references for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Based in Washington and affiliated with the United Nations, it assists economic development of member nations by making loans when private capital isnt available. World Bank members are also members of the International Monetary Fund world court informal name for the International Court of Justice World Cup, World Cup final football, cricket or rugby World Food Programme may be abbreviated to WFP after first mention World Health Organisation WHO on second mention. Headquarters is in Geneva world heritage site World Trade Center, Ground Zero but the twin towers World Trade Organisation based in Geneva, it succeeded the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1995. WTO is acceptable in second reference World War I, World War II

uc and roman numeral worldwide world wide web the information retrieval system for the Internet; the web is acceptable in all references. A website is an information page on the web. A web browser is a software application that locates and displays web pages worse, worst the idiom is if worst comes to worst, not if worse comes to worst worth - in giving evaluations, generally use valued at instead of worth - avoid such constructions as $22 million worth of jewellery, because the item in question could be valued at more or less than the stated figure - usually worth can be dropped without harm: $22 million of jewellery would-be wrack wrack as a noun generally is confined to the phrase wrack and ruin. To wrack means the same as to rack, but rack is preferred wrap up (v), wrap-up (n and adj) wriggle room not wiggle room write down (v), write-down (n and adj) write in (v), write-in (n. and adj) write off (v), write-off (n and adj) wrongdoing wrongfoot (v) as in I was wrongfooted by the question wryly

not wrily BACK TO TOP

Xx
x-ray

Yy
yard - equal to 3ft - the metric equivalent is approximately 0.91 metre. - to convert to metres, multiply by 0.91 year-on-year years use figures, without commas: 1975. Use an s without an apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries: the 1800s, the 1890s, the 1990s. For spans, use 1985-92 yesterday yesterday, tomorrow, today are okay in headlines, but not in copy yoghurt yo-yo yorkshire pudding, yorkshire terrier

Yorkshire Ripper young turks yours no apostrophe youth between 16 and 25 years (see age) yuan use yuan to refer to the currency of China, though renminbi is also used by some Yugoslavia comprises the republics of Serbia and Montenegro. Capital is Belgrade yuletide

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Zz
-ze endings: use -se, even if this upsets your (American) spellchecker, eg emphasise, realise; but capsize zeitgeist zero plural is zeros but he zeroed in on zero hour

zigzag zloty Polish unit of currency zoo lc: London zoo, San Diego zoo, etc

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