an
Use before any h without a consonant sound such, as honest.
abattoir
abbreviations
Avoid abbreviations as they can be misleading. If essential, write in full
at the first instance with the abbreviation after in brackets e.g., Royal
Air Force (RAF).
Abdication
Use a capital when referring to a particular instance, otherwise use lower
case.
Achilles' heel
But Achilles tendon
acknowledgement
Act and Bill
Use capital
whether fully identified or not.
AD and BC
AD comes before a date, e.g., AD35
BC comes after a date, e.g., 350BC.
When referring to a century both are used after, e.g., 3rd century BC/AD.
Admiral,
do not abbreviate
ad nauseam (not ad nauseum)
adrenalin
adviser
affect and effect
To affect means to produce an effect on, to touch the feelings of, or to
pretend to have or feel (as in affectation). To effect is to bring about, to accomplish.
If in doubt, always consult
the dictionary.
afterlife
ages
Use capitals for Ice Age, Stone Age, the Dark
Ages, etc.
aggravate
Means to make (an evil or complaint) worse. It does not mean to annoy or
irritate.
agoraphobia (not agaro-, agra- etc.)
Aids
(acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
This is NOT a disease, but a medical condition. Diseases that affect
people who are HIV-positive may be called Aids-related diseases.
AIM
The
Alternative Investment Market
airbase, airstrip, airspace (no hyphens)
But air-conditioner,
air-conditioning (hyphenate)
aircraft
types
B52, F111, etc. (no hyphens between letter and numbers)
aircraftman, aircraftwoman
air raid
air
show
Use capitals when being specific,
e.g., the Paris Air Show, the Farnborough Air Show.
airstrikes
alibi
Means being elsewhere at the material time.
allcomers
All
Hallows Eve (not allhallows)
Allies
Use capitals for the Allies in the Second World War but generally lower
case alliance, as in the Atlantic alliance.
all right never alright
alternative of two, choice of three or
more
Ambassador
Use capitals when specific, e.g., the French Ambassador, thereafter the
ambassador.
ambience
America(n)/US
Use American as in “American cities, American food”, etc.
US in the context of government institutions, such as US Congress, US
Navy, US military operation. Never use America when ambiguity could occur
with Canada or Latin America.
American spellings
Normally use the English spelling even with offices or institutions such
as Secretary of Defense (change to Defence), American Federation of Labor
(change to Labour), or with buildings, e.g., the Lincoln Center (change to
Centre).
Labor Day (which has no UK equivalent) is an exception; so is Pearl Harbor.
amid, not amidst
Similarly among, not
amongst
amok not amock or amuck
amphitheatres
In classical context are oval or circular (e.g., the Colosseum in Rome);
do not confuse with theatres, which are semi-circular or horseshoe-shaped.
ancestor
Means a person from whom another is directly descended, especially someone
more distant than a grandparent. Do not use in the looser sense of
predecessor; e.g., Queen Elizabeth I is not the ancestor of the present
Queen.
Ancient
Briton/Britain, Ancient
Greek/Greece, Ancient Egyptian/Egypt, Ancient Roman/Rome
Andersen, Hans
Christian (NOT Anderson)
aneurysm not aneurism
Anglicise, Anglophile
(capitals), anglophone (lower case)
anoint not annoint
Antarctic, Arctic (never Antartic, etc.)
Antichrist
anticipate
Not
to be used for expect. It means to deal with, or use, in advance
of, or before, the due time. To anticipate marriage is different from
expecting to marry.
Antipodes, Antipodean
Capital A when referring to Australia and New Zealand.
anti-Semitic, anti-Semitism
antisocial, anticlimax, antitrust
Anti-Terrorist Branch, Special Branch (capitals)
But
police squads in most cases lower case, except Flying Squad
and Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Squad
any more always two words
apostrophes
With proper names/nouns ending in s that are singular, follow the rule of
writing what is voiced, e.g., Keats's poetry, Sobers's batting;
and with names where the final “s” is soft, use the “s”
apostrophe, e.g., Rabelais' writings, Delors' presidency;
plurals follow normal form, as Lehman Brothers' loss, etc.
Note that with Greek names of more than one syllable that end in
"s", do not use the apostrophe "s", e.g.,
Aristophanes' plays, Achilles' heel, Socrates' life, Archimedes' principle.
Beware of organisations that have variations as their house style, e.g., St
Thomas' Hospital, where we must respect their whim.
Also, take care with apostrophes with plural nouns, e.g., women's,
not womens'; children's, not childrens'; people's,
not peoples'.
Use the apostrophe in expressions such as two years' time, several
hours' delay, etc.
An apostrophe should be used to indicate the plural of single letters - p's
and q's.
appendix
plural appendices, but appendixes in anatomy
appraise means evaluate; apprise means inform.
April
Fool's Day, April fool, but
All Fools' Day
aqueduct (not aquaduct)
archbishops
armada
Means a fleet of armed ships, so strictly should not be applied
to any collection of boats or ships.
Armageddon
Armed
Forces, the (capitals); also the Services
Armistice Day is not the same as Remembrance Sunday
(unless November 11 falls on a Sunday).
Army
Capital in context of the British Army (thereafter the Army, capped), and
foreign armies, as in the Belgian Army, the Zairean Army (but thereafter
the army, lower case); and always lower case when used adjectivally, e.g.,
an army helicopter.
artefact
do not use artifact
Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations)
Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei,
Vietnam, Burma and Laos. Cambodia became the latest member in April 1999.
assassin
Only to be used in the murder of a statesman or politician from a
political motive (same applies to assassination); not to be used for the
killing of general celebrities or others.
assure you assure your life
ensure
means to make certain
you insure against risk
asylum-seekers (hyphenate)
Atlantic (Ocean), North Atlantic, South Atlantic, but transatlantic
Attorney-General, Solicitor-General (both are hyphenated)
They are law officers, not legal officers.
Auditor-General (with hyphen)
Auntie (not aunty) as colloquialism for the BBC
Awol, absent without leave, not AWOL
ay (yes), aye (ever), Ayes
(debate)
baby-boomer
backache,
backbreaking
But back pain
back benches (parliamentary)
Two words; but backbenchers, backbench (adjectival, as in backbench
revolt).
bacteria and viruses
The terms are not interchangeable. Note that antibiotics are used to
treat bacterial but not viral infections.
bail out
(as in to bail someone out of trouble; also bail water from a boat)
But
bale out of an aircraft by parachute, to escape.
NB, bailout (one
word, as noun)
balk not baulk
balloted
Like benefited, budgeted etc, has only one “t”.
banister not bannister
Bank Holiday
basically
Greatly overworked word which rarely adds anything to a sentence. Always
try to avoid.
battalion
(never batallion). Say the 1st Battalion, the 7th Battalion etc (not
First, Seventh).
BBC
BC
see AD
be-all and end-all note hyphens
Beatles
Becket
St Thomas à Becket (with the à).
Beethoven,
Ludwig van (not von); normally Beethoven will suffice.
bellringer, bellringing, belltower (no hyphens).
bellwether (not bellweather)
benchmark (no hyphen)
benefited
benzene is a substance obtained from coal-tar;
benzine is a spirit obtained from petroleum
-berg, -burg always check spelling of towns with these
endings, and those ending in -burgh, -borough, -brough.
Berkeley Square, in the West End of London
Similarly,
Berkeley, California
berserk not beserk
bestseller (one word)
Likewise bestselling
bête noire, italic and final “e” on noire
bi-
Its correct use is in Latin compounds, where it has the force of two, not
half, such as bicentenary/bicentennial (a two-hundredth anniversary), or
biennial (recurring every two years). Biannual means twice a year; to
avoid confusion, write out twice a year.
biased
Bible (capital), but biblical (lower case)
biblical references style = John vi, 5. See Religion.
Bill
and Act capitals whether fully identified or not
Bill of Rights
billion
One thousand million, not a million million.
birthday
People and animals have birthdays; everything else has anniversaries.
birthrate, birthright, birthplace (no hyphens)
But birth
control, birth certificate, etc.
blackout (noun, one word)
blacks (people)
Lower case; do not use “non-whites” and be sensitive to local usage.
bloc use in context such as the former Soviet
bloc, a power bloc, etc.
But block vote
blond for men, blonde for women
bloodied but unbowed; but red-blooded,
etc.
blood sports (two words; similarly field sports)
blue-collar workers, as white-collar workers
Boadicea
no longer Boudicca
boat
Generally used of a small vessel, including fishing boats up to the size
of a trawler; a ship is a large seagoing vessel big enough to carry
smaller boats. In the Royal Navy, submarines are called boats. All take
the pronoun she and the possessive her.
Boat Race capitals for the annual Oxford-Cambridge race
bombs
Car bomb, fire bomb, nail bomb, petrol bomb etc., but hyphenate verbal or
adjectival use, e.g., to fire-bomb, a nail-bomb attack
bored with,
not of
boyfriend, girlfriend
Boy Scouts
Now simply Scouts in the UK. Cub Scouts have replaced Wolf Cubs;
Scoutleaders have replaced Scoutmasters. Also capital Scouting in the context
of the movement.
braille
breakout,
breakdown (as noun, each one word)
But to break out, etc.
and break-up (hyphen)
breathtaking (no hyphen)
bridges
Capitalise as in Severn Bridge, London Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Golden
Gate Bridge, etc.
Britain or Great Britain
Made up of
England, Wales and Scotland
United Kingdom = Britain and Northern Ireland
British Isles = United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man
and Channel Islands
BSE
bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease
bullion
is gold or silver in unminted form
Burns Night (capitals, no apostrophe) falls on January 25
burnt, not burned
bus, buses (noun)
But in verbal use, busses,
bussed, bussing
buzzword
(one word)
by-election
bylaw
bypass (noun or verb)
by-product
bystander
Byzantine (cap in all contexts)
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