Maastricht
treaty (lower case treaty)
But Treaty of Maastricht; for an unofficial name for the updated version
of the treaty, write Maastricht II (not 2 or Two).
Mac, Mc
Always check spelling of these prefixes.
McDonald's,
the hamburger chain
Macedonia
The correct (and politically sensitive) title of the new republic is the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (capitals as shown).
Machiavelli(an)
machinegun, but sub-machinegun
mackintosh
(raincoat)
macroeconomic,
microeconomic
(no hyphen)
Madame Tussaud's
maestros (plural of maestro; not maestri)
Mafia
Capitalise
only in Italian or US context.
Lower case mafia in countries such as Russia when used as a synonym of
gangsters.
Magna Carta
mailshot
major
Do not use as a lazy alternative for big, chief, important or main.
majority of
Do not use as alternative for most of
makeover (one word as noun; but try to avoid this cliché
- say remodelling instead)
make-up (cosmetics or typography), not makeup
manifestos (not -oes)
manoeuvre, manoeuvring, manoeuvrable
marathon avoid in clichéd sense of a long time as in
“a marathon session”
march past (noun; two words in military context)
Mardi Gras for the Shrove Tuesday festival, but note the
self-styled Mardi Gra bomber
Marines
Capitalise in both Royal Marines and US Marines; also, a Marine
marketplace (one word), but market-maker
marquess, not marquis, except in foreign titles.
Marxist,
Marxism
Derived from Karl Marx, so cap. Do not use as loose variant of communism.
Mary Celeste (not Marie Celeste)
Mass (capital in its religious context)
Also Holy Mass and Requiem Mass.
massive
Avoid as a synonym of big.
materialise
Avoid as a synonym of appear, come about or happen.
may/might
Do not confuse.
Use might in sentences referring to past possibilities that did not
happen, e.g., “If that had happened ten days ago, my whole life might
have been different”.
A clear distinction is evident in the following example: “He might have
been captured by the Iraqis - but he wasn't”, compared with “He may
have been captured by the Iraqis - it is possible but we don't know”.
mayday (as in SOS)
But May Day (holiday)
means to an end is singular; but “his means are
modest”
Médecins sans Frontières
media, plural as in mass media, but mediums
(spiritualists)
medical terms
Never use these metaphorically or as terms of abuse (geriatric, paralytic,
schizophrenic).
In words ending in -tomy (appendectomy, hysterectomy etc.), the word
“operation” is tautologous and must not be used.
medieval (not mediaeval)
Mediterranean
meet
Never say meet with.
mega-
Be very sparing with this as a colloquial prefix meaning big.
megawatts
The capacity of a power station is measured in megawatts; the output is
measured in megawatt hours. The correct abbreviation of megawatt is MW
(not mW, which means milliwatt).
mêlée
Member of Parliament (capital Member), but MP almost
always preferable
mementoes (not -os)
memoirs (not memoires)
memorandum, plural memorandums (not -a)
Merchant Navy (capitals)
Messerschmitt (not -schmidt)
mete
out
(not meet out), in context of punishment
metres, as in distance, poetry, etc.
meters, as in gas, electricity or parking, etc.
metric
In general non-scientific contexts continue to use
the non-metric forms (miles rather than kilometres, pounds rather
than kilograms, pints rather than litres).
In sporting, foreign, engineering and scientific
stories it will often be better to use the metric.
However, with petrol and fuel now sold in litres rather
than gallons, it will be essential to give both measurements,
e.g., 55p a litre (£2.50 per gallon). For the foreseeable future,
continue to give fuel consumption in miles per gallon, but also metric
conversion in brackets at first mention.
With foodstuffs, such as cheese, prefer the metric
first with the imperial conversion where practicable,
though a conversion every time in a long list (e.g., Weekend Shopping) is
unnecessary.
Michelangelo
microchip
microgram
Do not abbreviate, and certainly not to mcg, meaningless under
international scientific standard abbreviations. The lower case “m”
stands for “milli-” as a prefix. So mg is correct for
milligram.
microlight (prefer to microlite)
mid-air (hyphenate, noun or adjective)
midday, midweek (no hyphens)
Middle Ages, the (capitals)
Middle East
Comprises Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, United Arab
Emirates, Yemen.
In a general sense, it also takes in the countries of the Maghreb:
Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Sahara.
Never abbreviate to the Americanism Mideast.
Middle England (capitals, in political context)
Mideast
Unacceptable as abbreviation of Middle East.
midlife
crisis
but do not overuse this cliché
midnight (not 12 midnight); see noon
midsummer, midwinter
migrant
Do not use in place of emigrant or immigrant. It means one who is in the
process of migrating.
mileage
military ranks
Use hyphens in compounds such as Major-General, Lieutenant-Colonel etc.
(where two ranks are joined), but not with Second Lieutenant, Lance
Corporal, Air Commodore, etc.
militate (against or in favour of)
Do not confuse with mitigate.
millennium
Note also millenarian (only one middle “n”) meaning
of, or related to, the millennium.
millions
Write out millions from one to ten, thereafter 11 million, etc.
With decimal notations, best to restrict to two decimal points in text,
rounded up or down (e.g., £1.53 million).
mind-set
is a cliché; prefer mentality
minimal
Do not use as a synonym of small; it means smallest, or the least possible
in size, duration, etc.
ministers (political)
Capitalise all ministers, whether in the Cabinet or not.
The same applies to ministers in overseas governments: give name and full
title (capped) first time, thereafter name or just “the minister”.
minuscule (not miniscule).
Originally, a medieval script. Use sparingly, as it is heavily overworked
as a synonym of very small or unimportant.
mis-hit (hyphen), mis-sell; but see misspell
Miss, Ms
Ms is nowadays fully acceptable when a woman (married or unmarried) wants
to be called thus, or when it is not known for certain if she is Mrs or
Miss. Ms is increasingly common in American contexts.
missing
Do not say gone/went missing, prefer disappeared or vanished.
misspell
mitigate
Means to make milder, moderating (as in mitigating circumstances in a law
case); not to be confused with militate.
MoD
Acceptable abbreviation for Ministry of Defence.
Mona Lisa (not Monna Lisa)
monarch, the;
Lower case for the British monarch; but the Sovereign, the Crown.
Moon cap in planetary context, otherwise lower case.
more
than
Always use rather than over with numbers, e.g., “more than 2,500 people
attended the rally”, not “over 2,500 ...”
morris dancing/dancers
Morse code
mortar
Do not use by itself when the meaning is mortar bomb; the mortar is the
launcher from which the shell is fired. But mortar attack is perfectly
correct.
mosquitoes (not -os as plural)
Mother Teresa (NOT Theresa)
Mother's Day, or Mothering Sunday (not Mothers')
moveable
(keep middle “e”)
movies
Although an Americanism, is now so common as to be an acceptable
synonym of films; but use films whenever possible.
, MP, QC,
Commas each side when used after name. Plural MPs (never MP's).
Muhammad
Use this spelling for the Prophet, but respect the other spellings of the
name according to individuals' preference; if in doubt, use
Muhammad.
Mujahidin
(capital), the fighters in a jihad or holy war
multi
Incline towards making multi compounds one word wherever possible, whether
used as a noun or as an adjective, e.g., multimillionaire, multinational,
multilateral, multimedia, multiracial, multispeed, multistorey, multitrack.
However, when the compound appears too hideous, such as multi-ethnic, we
should hyphenate.
Muslim, not Moslem or Mohamedan
Myanmar
Continue to call the country Burma.
mynah bird (prefer to mina, myna)
naive,
naivety (no diaeresis)
narcotics
Take care to use this word correctly; see drugs.
Nasa
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (US); rarely necessary to
spell out nowadays.
national
Avoid as a synonym of citizen, as in a French national.
national anthem
national curriculum
National Health Service
The NHS, or the health service.
national insurance
National
Lottery (capitals)
But usually, lower case, the lottery at subsequent mentions unless context
is unclear.
National
Parks
Should be capped, in both specific names and in general (e.g., Snowdonia
National Park; and “the policy applies particularly to National
Parks”).
National Rivers Authority (not River)
National
Service
(capitals)
National
Theatre
(capitals); generally omit Royal.
nationalist (lower case)
Except when referring to name of a political party. Thus Scottish National
Party (SNP) and Scottish Nationalists.
nationwide
no hyphen, but use sparingly as it borders on being a cliché; prefer
national or nationally.
Native American (cap the "N" when referring to
American Indians)
Nato (never NATO)
naught, come to (not nought, which means the digit 0)
nave is a central space in a church; people who misspell
the word are knaves
Nazi, Nazism (capitals)
Neanderthal (capital, and not -tal)
nearby, near by the first is adjectival, e.g., “the
nearby school was convenient”; the second is adverbial, e.g., “he sat
on a bench near by”.
neither
takes a singular verb, e.g., “neither is ...”, “neither Bert nor
Fred has any idea”.
Do not use the construction neither ... or ... (must use nor).
nerve-racking (not -wracking)
Netherlands, The
No longer interchangeable with Holland, be careful to use in context.
nevertheless (one word, as nonetheless)
new
Frequently redundant. Try the sentence without it and see if it really
adds any meaning; always omit in “setting a new record”.
New Age travellers; see Gypsy
newborn (as in babies, no hyphen)
newspapers
and journals
Make sure to use The in the title whenever appropriate.
New
Year Honours
or New Year's Honours List (capitals)
Also the Queen's Birthday Honours (capitals)
New Year's Day, New Year's Eve
But the new year and Chinese new year
Nietzsche
nightclub
nightmare
Use only in its proper sense of an unpleasant dream, not as a
lazy cliché for something that goes wrong.
night-time (hyphen), but daytime (one word)
Nimby(ism)
Acronym for "not in my backyard".
Nissan
cars
But Nissen hut
No 10, or 10 Downing Street
Not Number 10 or Downing St.
no-fly zone
no man's land
no-no
no one (two words, no hyphen)
“no” vote, “yes” vote
Nobel Prize for Literature, Medicine etc.
Or Nobel Peace/Literature Prize
But Nobel prize (unspecific)
Nobel prizewinner, Nobel laureate (lower case “l”), Nobel
Prize-winning author, etc.
nonagenarian (not nono-)
none
Almost always takes the singular verb, e.g., “none is available at
present”.
However, very occasionally a plural is permissible, e.g., “None of them
are better singers than the Welsh” or “none of them have done their
best” (where the inelegant alternative would be “none of them has done
his or her best”).
nonetheless (one word)
non-existent
non-stop (hyphenate)
noon
(not 12 noon)
Never say 12am or 12pm, see midnight.
normalcy
Avoid; say normality instead.
Northern Ireland see Ireland
notable (no middle “e”)
not only ... to be followed by but
(and usually) also; often better to say simply both
... and
nuclear terms
Should be used with precision. Take special care not to confuse fission
and fusion.
numbers
Write
from one to ten in full, 11 upwards as numerals except when they are
approximations, e.g., “about thirty people turned up”.
Keep consistency within a sentence: say “the number injured rose from
eight to fourteen”, and do not mix fractions and decimals. At the start
of a sentence, write all numbers in full.
ordinals:
Write out up to hundredth, then 101st, 122nd etc., except with names such
as 42nd Street, 38th parallel, etc.
numberplate (on vehicles etc; one word)
Nuremberg (NOT -burg)
NVQ, national vocational qualification (lower case when
spelt out)