WORDS OPERATION The Reuters Style Guide A
Journalistic WritingWORDS OPERATION The Reuters Style Guide A
a, an – Use a before a word starting with a consonant, or a diphthong that sounds like y or u. A cat, a euro, a eunuch. Use an before a word starting with a vowel, or a consonant that sounds like a vowel. An elephant, an hour. Where there is confusion about the sounding of h, prefer a to an, as with a hotel or a historian. a – Do not hyphenate as a prefix, e.g. asexual and asymmetric. Abattoir – Not abbatoir. Abbreviations – Avoid inventing acronyms or abbreviations and never invent new spellings of proper company names. We may use some abbreviations for the sake of brevity but never at the expense of clarity. A reader should never have to check back to find out what an abbreviation means. It is better to use a generic term, e.g. the company or the organization, than to stud a story with abbreviations, especially where more than one or two sets of initials are involved. Abbreviations in common Reuters use are given under their alphabetical entries in the quick-reference section. Abbreviations that may be used in alerts and headlines are listed in Julius at http://www .ime.r euters.com/ julius_learning/sections/styleguide/Abbr eviations.asp . This also contains a second list of abbreviations that are less well known and that should be used only in text. Space constraints on alerts and headlines make it tempting to invent new short forms for words and create unique company names, but a better and more accurate headline is almost always possible with a little more thought. It is not acceptable to change the spelling of a proper company name. An abbreviation, if widely known, should be used instead, e.g. IBM not Intl Bus. Mach.. Some very common abbreviations, e.g. AIDS, NATO, may be used alone at first reference with the full name given subsequently. These are listed in the relevant quick reference entries. Abbreviations consisting of two initials take full stops, e.g. U.S. and U.N. The exceptions are EU (European Union) and UK (United Kingdom). The full stops may be omitted in alerts and headlines if there are space constraints.
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! Abbreviations consisting of three or more initials and acronyms (words composed of initials or initial syllables) do not take full stops, e.g. IBM, UNICEF, and WEU. If initials are ell known, e.g. PLO, you need not bracket the initials after the first full reference. You may write The Palestine Liberation Organization has sent two envoys … and then A PLO statement said the two men would … But if the institution is little known, and especially if the second reference does not follow soon after the first, bracket the initials after the first reference, e.g. The Western European Union (WEU) decided on Tuesday. In the case of foreign groups, where the word order changes in English translation, you must bracket the initials, e.g. the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Do not bracket initials after a first full reference if you are not going to use the initials again lower in the story. Form the plural of abbreviations by adding a lower-case s without an apostrophe, e.g. ICBMs not ICBM’s or ICBMS. Do not use full stops when abbreviating the names of months in datelines. The style is Jan, Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec. In tabulated lists use only the first three letters for all months, e.g. Jan, Jun, Jul. Abbreviate the names of months in text when they are used with a specific date, e.g. Jun. 19, Dec. 25. Use full stops when abbreviating terms like Co., Inc., Ltd. GmbH. Use capital letters when abbreviating capitalised words, lower case for uncapitalised phrases, e.g. ASEAN but mph, bpd. See the Julius for lists of acceptable abbreviations for headlines and alerts at http://www .ime.r euters.com/julius_learning/sections/styleguide/Abbr eviations.asp -able – Words ending in a silent -e normally drop it before the -able, e.g. arguable. But words ending in -ce or -ge do not, e.g. changeable, ageing. ABM – Anti-ballistic missile. See military . A-bomb – Use atomic bomb unless directly quoting someone. abortion – Choose your words with care on this highly emotive subject. Unless quoting someone, refer to aborted foetuses rather than unborn babies. Describe those campaigning for a woman’s right to have an abortion as abortion rights
campaigners and those campaigning against abortion rights as anti-abortion campaigners. Terms such as pro-choice, pro-life and pro-abortion are open to dispute and should be avoided. abscess – Not abcess or absess. Academic titles – See capitalisation accept, except – Accept is to take or receive; except is to leave out. Access – Do not use as a verb. Accessible – Not accesable. Accidentally – Not accidently.
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! Accolade – Not acolade. Accommodate – Not accomodate. Achilles’ heel, tendon – Note apostrophe and capitalisation. acknowledgment – Not acknowledgement. Acolyte – Not acolite. acre – To convert to hectares roughly multiply by 2 and divide by 5. To convert precisely multiply by 0.405. acre-foot – A measure of water volume. The amount of water needed to cover one acre (0.405 hectares) to a depth of one foot (0.305 metres). Equivalent to 325,851 U.S. gallons (277,433 Imperial gallons) or 1.23 million litres (1.23 tonnes) It takes about two acre-feet to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool. acronyms – Avoid if at all possible. Very few are understandable at first reference. Most are only of use to a specialised or regional audience that has seen them several times before. Where possible replace with a noun such as the committee, the organisation, the inquiry. See capitalisation . Acting – Do not capitalise before a title, acting Chairman and Chief Executive Paulo Georgio. Activity – The word can often be dropped, as in sporting activity, golfing activity, leisure Activity, political activity. Actor (man), actress (woman). acute, chronic – Acute is coming to a crisis, chronic is lasting a long time or deep-seated. Do not confuse when writing about disease or problems. AD – Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord). Precedes the date, e.g. AD 73. But 234 BC (Before Christ). adage – A proverb or old saying. Old adage is tautologous. adapter, adaptor – An adapter is the person who adapts something. An adaptor is a device for connecting parts of different sizes. ** adapter for both uses. (American style) additional/in addition to – Use more or and.
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! Adjectives – Use sparingly. If you use more than two adjectives before a single noun then it is time to rewrite the sentence. A reader struggles with The one-eyed poverty-stricken Greek house painter. Adjectives tend to be the crutch of a lazy correspondent seeking to inject drama into a story. Avoid adjectives that imply a Reuters judgment, e.g. a hard-line speech, a glowing tribute, a staunch conservative. Depending on where they stand, some people might consider the speech moderate, the tribute fulsome or the conservative a die-hard reactionary. When using an adjective and a noun together as an adjective, hyphenate them, e.g. a blue-chip share, high-caste Hindus. When using an adjective and the past participle of a verb together adjectivally, hyphenate them, e.g. old-fashioned morality, rose-tinted spectacles. Do not hyphenate an adverb and adjective when they stand alone, e.g. the artist was well known. If the adverb and adjective are paired to form a new adjective, they are hyphenated, e.g. a well-known artist. Do not do so however if the adverb ends in -ly, e.g. a poorly planned operation. ad-lib – Hyphenated for verb, noun and adjective. administration – Always lower case, e.g. the Bush administration. See also capitalisation . admiral – See capitalisation . admissible, inadmissible – Not admissable admit – Use with care. If you say someone admitted something you imply that it had previously been concealed or that there is an element of guilt. Plain said is usually better. ad nauseam – Not ad nauseum. adrenaline – Not adrenalin. advance, advancement – Advance is progress; advancement is promotion. advance planning – A tautology. adverbs – Like adjectives they should be used sparingly. Avoid adverbs that imply a Reuters judgment, e.g. generously, harshly, and sternly. Put the adverb between the auxiliary verb and the past participle, e.g.
France has already refused… not France already has refused … See also writing . adverse, averse
– Adverse is contrary, opposed or unfavourable. Averse is disinclined to or reluctant. I am averse to go camping in adverse weather. advice, advise – Advice is the noun, advise is the verb. adviser – Not advisor. advisory aeroplane – Use aircraft. Do not use the U.S. term airplane.
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! Affect, effect – affect is a verb meaning to influence, effect is usually a noun meaning outcome or consequence, e.g. The effect of the decision will be to affect the company’s decision. Effect as verb means to accomplish, e.g. He effected his escape with the aid of his wife. Affect is a vague word; seek a more precise one. Effect is usually word-spinning. He escaped… is simpler. AFL-CIO – American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. Afrikaner – A white South African, usually of Dutch descent. Afrikaans – The language spoken by Afrikaners. aftermath – Prefer results. Use after rather than in the aftermath of. Afterwards **afterward (American style) Aggravate, annoy – Aggravate makes worse. Do not use in the sense of to irritate. Annoy is to trouble or to vex. age – Use numerals for all ages, e.g. the 6-year-old girl, the 9-year-old boy. The 66-yearold president or an 18-year-old youth are fine. But avoid the usage the 66-year-old Smith which suggests he is being distinguished from another, 65-year-old Smith. Smith, who is 66, or just Smith, 66, is simpler. ageing **aging (American style) Aged, elderly – Avoid, because the terms are always relative. In some societies a 50-year-old is already aged. In others a sprightly 90-year-old who has just written a novel or run a marathon would object to being called aged or elderly. agenda – Agenda singular, agendas plural. ages – Always try to be specific. Someone who is 60 may think someone who is 40 is young but someone who is 15 may think 40 is old. AGM – Use annual meeting. agree – You agree on a proposal not agree a proposal. You agree with a person and agree to a course of action. ahead of – Use before. aid, aide – Aid is help and aide is a person who helps. aide-de-camp, aides-de-camp – Best replaced by assistant or secretary.
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! AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The term AIDS applies to the most advanced stages of HIV infection. The initials AIDS and HIV may be used by themselves at first reference with the full name given lower in the story. Do not write HIV virus, which is redundant. See medical stories on the need for caution in handling stories about reputed cures for AIDS. air base – Two words. Airbus – One word, capitalized, unhyphenated. Aircraft – Prefer to plane. Most airliners and military aircraft are jets so there is normally no need to specify that an aircraft is a jet. Warplane – is one word, by analogy with warship. Do not use the American term airplane or the term fighter jet. ** Airplane – (American style) Capitalize but do not put in quotation marks the names of aircraft, e.g. Concorde, Flogger, Tomcat. When the number designating an aircraft is preceded by a letter or letters, hyphenate, e.g. Boeing 747 but DC10, F-111. Be specific when giving aircraft models in economic stories, e.g. Boeing 747-400 not just Boeing 747 because there are cost differences.
Use makers’ names in the form given in Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft, e.g. MiG-21. Give numerals for aircraft speeds, e.g. Mach 1 not Mach one. See also military . air fare
– Two words. air force – Two words. Air Force One – This is the radio call sign of any fixed-wing aircraft used by the president of the United States. The U.S. Marine Corps is responsible for presidential helicopter support, and Marine One is the radio call sign of any helicopter used by the president. airlift – Do not use as a synonym for fly, e.g. The injured man was airlifted to hospital. Reserve it for shuttle services, e.g. The United States airlifted 50,000 troops to the Gulf. Airlines – Airlines vary widely in their use of air line(s), airline(s) or airways as part of their name. Check the spelling in the ABC World Airways Guide or on the company’s website. Airplane – Use aircraft. Air raid – Two words. air strike – Two words. Akimbo – Applies only to arms, not legs. alibi – Not a synonym for an excuse. It means a claim to have been elsewhere at the time of an offence.
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! Al Jazeera – Qatar television station. Use upper case A and no hyphen since this is how the broadcaster describes itself in English. Refer to as an Arab news channel. albino, albinos Alfresco – Use in the open air, or outdoors. Alias – Refers only to assumption of a false name, not an entire false identity or Profession. all right – Not alright. all rounder – Two words, e.g. a cricketer who bats and bowls. All Saints’ Day – November 1. Note apostrophe. All-time, all time – The greatest singer of all time, but an all-time low. Do not write an all-time record. It is simply a record. See also superlatives. Allahu akbar – God is Greatest (not, as often written, God is Great), a common Muslim rallying cry. Also chanted when Muslims perform their five daily prayers. allege – Avoid. Do not report allegations without saying who made them. Use of the word alleged before a defamatory statement does not provide immunity against an action for libel. Do not use allegedly. allot, allotting, allotted allude, refer – Allude means to refer to in passing without making an explicit mention. Refer means to mention directly. He alluded to the sins of his past and referred to his criminal record. Allusion, illusion – Allusion is a reference in passing. Illusion is a false impression or a delusion. Almaty – Not Alma-Ata for capital of Kazakhstan. Alpine – lower case, except for Alpine skiing. Altar, alter – Altar is a table used for religious services. Alter is to change. They altered the altar to make it fit the church. Altercation – An altercation is an argument or heated exchange of words, not a fight. Alternate, alternative – Alternate means that A and B take turns, alternative that you have a choice between A and B. There can only be two alternatives. Any more and you face choices, options or possibilities. altitudes – Convert metres to feet not yards when giving altitudes. The height of mountains should be converted precisely.
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! Aluminum **aluminum (American style) Alumnus (man) alumna (woman) alumni (plural) Alzheimer’s disease – A progressive, incurable and disabling disease leading to severe dementia. Although it usually occurs in elderly people it is not synonymous with dementia or senility. a.m. – Time,
e.g. 6 a.m., 6:45 a.m. AM – The amplitude modulation method of radio transmission. Ambassador – Use for a man or a woman. ambience – Not ambiance. American – As a noun this may be used to describe a U.S. citizen. America’s Cup – The sailing trophy, named after the yacht America, takes an Apostrophe.
Amid – Not amidst – avoid. Using amid is a sure sign of sloppy writing. There is always a better way to express the thought. Amok – Not amock or amuck. Among, between – Between is restricted to two choices or two parties. Among is for several options or parties. Use between in referring to bilateral contacts e.g. relations between France and Germany. Use among for a collective linkage, e.g. relations among the NATO states. Be careful to use between if there are just two groups to choose from, even though it looks like several. It was hard to decide between a touring holiday in France, Belgium and Spain or in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It was hard to decide among a holiday in France, in Belgium or in Spain. anaemia, anaemic **anemia, anemic (American style). Analogue ** analog (American style). Ancestor – One from whom someone is descended. Do not misuse to mean predecessor. Annex – Not annexe, for both verb and noun. Annual meeting – Lower case. For companies use annual meeting rather than annual general meeting.
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Another – Avoid when you are trying to say additional or extra. It should be used only when referring to things of the same type, size and number. Two teams were at full strength; another two were short of players. In most instances it can simply be omitted. Three men died in the crash and three were injured. Antarctic, Antarctica
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Not Antartic. antennae, antennas – Antennae are insect feelers. Antennas are aerials. Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty – ABM Treaty on second reference. Anticipate, expect – These are not synonyms. If you anticipate something, you not only expect it but take precautionary action to deal with it. Antitrust – One word. Largely an American term that refers to government policy or law that restrains monopolistic or anti-competitive behaviour by businesses. The term originated in late 19th century United States where businesses were often merged into large industry wide holding companies or trusts. Aneurysm – Not aneurism. Anxious, eager – Anxious means uneasy with fear or desire. Prefer eager if the promised experience is desirable. I am anxious about going to the dentist but eager to go the party. Any more – Two words. anything – One word. anywhere – One word. anyone, any One – Anyone can do that, but any one among them is guilty. When it is two words the emphasis is on the second word. Similarly with anybody and any body. apostolic Delegate – See Roman Catholic Chur ch . apostrophes – See punctuation . appeal – The verb takes a preposition. You appeal against a decision, not appeal a decision. Appraise, apprise – Appraise is to set a value on or to price, apprise is to inform. Appreciation – Increase in value of an asset, as opposed to depr eciation approximately
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About is shorter and simpler. So is almost or nearly. April Fool’s Day – One fool and one day, but All Fools’ Day.
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Arab names – Transliteration of Arab names will always lead to anomalies. Reuters style is to end Arab names in i rather than y (Ali not Aly, Gaddafi not Gaddafy). The words al and el both mean the. They should be in lower case and followed by a hyphen. We prefer al- to el- but should use el- if that is how the person spells his or her name in English. In personal names starting al-or el-include the particle only at first reference, e.g. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at first reference, thereafter Assad. In place and other names the particle is retained at second reference, e.g. al-Arish, (the newspaper) al-Akhbar. Particles that go in lower case are ait (Mohamed ait Atta) bin and bint (Aziza bint Ahmed), ben (Ahmed ben Bella), bar, bou and ould (Moktar ould Daddah). See also sheikh . Aran sweater – Not Arran. From the Aran Islands, in Galway Bay, Ireland. arbitrator, arbiter, mediator – An arbitrator or arbiter is appointed to make a decision and hand down a ruling. A mediator tries to produce a compromise agreed by both parties in a dispute. It is an important distinction. archaeology
** archeology (American style) Arctic Sea, Arctic Circle – But arctic wind, arctic cold. Argentina, Argentine – Not the Argentine as a noun or Argentinian as an adjective. aroma – Do not use for unpleasant smells. It means a spicy fragrance or something with particular charm. It makes no sense to write the aroma of defeat. armada – A fleet of armed ships. Do not use for a collection of pleasure boats. army – Never capitalised when referring to the service as a whole, e.g. the U.S. army,the French army. Exceptions are armies that have a unique name, e.g. the Palestine Liberation Army, the Red Army. Capitalise army when referring to a specific formation, e.g. the U.S. 1st Army, the British 8th Army. Use figures for military units: 1st Army not First Army. ** Capitalise all references to U.S. forces
– U.S. Army, the Army, Army regulations (Americas style). artefact ** artifact (American style) arrest – to avoid prejudging the issue, do not say arrested for murder, say arrested on a charge of murder; see also allege . as – An overused conjunction, especially in leads, to link two developments that may have only a distant connection and may occur in different time frames, e.g. Jones issued new threats against Ruritania as Brown considered his options in the region. Use with restraint, preferably when actions are both contemporaneous and closely linked, e.g. Smith leaped out of the window as Jones kicked down the door. As substitutes use and or two sentences. Using as also risks confusion between the meanings because and when/while. Sometimes plain after is what the writer means
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As, like – See grammar . ASEAN – Association of South East Asian Nations, which aims to enhance economic progress and increase stability in the region. Members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. assassin, assassination – Restrict to the killing of a prominent person for political motives. assert – It can mean to vindicate, so use with care. Plain said may be better. Asiatic – Use Asian. at the present time, at this time – Use now. athlete’s foot attempt – Try is shorter, better. audiovisual – One word, no hyphen. augur, auger – Augur is a soothsayer, or to foretell by signs. It augurs success. Auger is a carpenter’s tool for boring. Australian Labor Party – (not Labour). autarchy, autarky – Autarchy means absolute power and autarky is self-sufficiency. Using plain words as substitutes removes the confusion. author – Man or woman. As a verb use write. auxiliary – Not auxilliary. averages – Place the word average where it correctly qualifies the item or quantity intended, e.g. Reporters drink an average of six cups of coffee a day. (Not: the average reporter drinks six cups of coffee a day). There are three types: Mean average – (most often used) is calculated by adding all the constituent parts together and dividing by the number of parts. Median – The middle value, meaning the number of values above it is the same as the number below it. Mode – The most commonly occurring value. Average takes a singular or plural verb according to what it refers. The average age is 24, but an average of three men die each day.
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AU – African Union (Addis Ababa) averse – See adverse, averse . awakened – Prefer this form to awoken or awaked or awoke. awhile, a while – I will rest awhile, or I will rest for a while.
axe, axed, axeing ** ax, axed, axing (American style)
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Baath – Arab Baath Socialist Party in Iraq and Syria. The short form Baath Party is acceptable. Baath means renaissance. baby boomer baby sitter, baby-sit backhand – One word when used to describe a tennis or badminton stroke. backup, back up – One word as a noun or adjective. Two as a verb. backlash – Avoid. It is much more effective to describe exactly what happened and why. backwards. ** backward (American style) bacterium, bacteria – One bacterium, several bacteria. Do not confuse with a virus. Antibiotics are not used to treat viruses. Baha’i – An adherent of a religion founded by the 19th-century Persian prophet Bahaullah. Note apostrophe. Bahamas – A native of the Bahamas is a Bahamian not a Bahaman. Bahrain – Use MANAMA, Bahrain, as the dateline. bail, bale – You bail out a boat or a company in difficulties but bale out of an aircraft. You post bail in a court. ** bail for both bailing out a boat and bailing out of an aircraft. (American style) bait, bate – You use bait on your hook and wait with bated breath to catch a fish. Bakhtaran – Not Kermanshah, Iran. balk – Not baulk. ballot, balloted ballroom, ballpark, ballplayer banister – Not bannister.
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Bankruptcy – A company becomes formally bankrupt or insolvent when a court rules it is unable to meet its debts. The ruling may be sought either by the company concerned (voluntary) or by creditors. In England the court appoints an official receiver to manage and eventually realise the debtor’s assets on behalf of the creditors. Terms like bankruptcy, insolvency and liquidation have different legal meanings in different countries. Be as precise as possible in reporting what a company or court says, especially if a translation is involved. For example, in France the normal form of bankruptcy is faillite; the term banqueroute refers to fraudulent bankruptcy. The danger if they areconfused is obvious. Similarly in Germany a collapse known as Bankrott is more serious than a normal liquidation. A company or individual the United States is typically designated bankrupt when a court enters an order for relief in either a Chapter 11 (q.v.) reorganisation or Chapter 7 (q.v.) liquidation case. They may become bankrupt by virtue of a voluntary filing on their own behalf, or an involuntary filing by a required number of creditors. Applications made under bankruptcy rules may be technical manoeuvres and could lead to libel actions if misinterpreted. Business collapses are often progressive rather than sudden. Over-colourful reporting that implies the situation is hopeless may lead to legal trouble if the company recovers and claims the reports were false and damaging.
Baptist, baptist – A baptist is someone who baptises. A Baptist is a member of the Protestant denomination that claims 38 million members worldwide, 20 million in the United States alone. With more than 20 separate Baptist church groups in the United States, 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, which with 15 million members, is the largest in the United States. barbecue – Not barbeque or bar-b-q. bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah – Lower case. Use bar for males and bat for females. barrel, barrelled, barrelling ** barrel, barreled, barreling (American style)
barrel-chested, barrel-house, barrel-organ Basel – Not Basle, Bale, Switzerland. basically – Adds nothing to the meaning or strength of your writing. Expunge. basis – On the basis of, on a voluntary basis etc. There is always a shorter and stronger way of expressing such ideas. basis point – The movement of interest rates or yields expressed in hundredths of a percent. For example,
0.50 percent equals 50 basis points. Basra – Not Basrah, Iraq. battalion – Not batallion. See military .
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Battle – They battled against poverty, or battled with poverty, not battled poverty. They fought is shorter. battledress – One word. See military . bayonet, bayoneted BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation. The initials alone may be used at first reference if under a London dateline. There is no need to say which channel. BBC radio or BBC television is enough. From other datelines give the full name, although it is not necessary to bracket the initials afterwards. BC – Before Christ. Write 55 BC but AD 73. be with a present participle – There is always a stronger form of the verb. He will be coming/he will come, she will be sewing/she will sew. because – Do not replace with since. Bedouin – A desert Arab. Same in singular and plural. beg the question – A misused cliche. It does not mean to prompt an inquiry, but to assume what needs to be proved, or more loosely to evade the question. Beijing – Not Peking, China. beleaguered – Not beleagered. Try to use another word that is shorter, stronger and less frayed. Believed– All beliefs must be sourced. Do not write, “John Smith was believed to have been killed in an ambush.” Say who believes and why. bellwether – The lead sheep in a flock. Not bellweather. Belorussia – Use Belarus. Its people are Belarussians. Benares – Use Varanasi, India. benefit, benefited Benelux – The Benelux countries are Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. bereft – Bereft comes from bereave and means robbed of or deprived. If you are bereft of friends they have all gone away. You are not just lonely because you never had any friends. beriberi – A disease caused by vitamin deficiency. One word.
Bermuda shorts, Bermuda Triangle, Bermuda rig
Bermudian – Not Bermudan for the inhabitant, but prefer Bermuda as the adjective.
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beside, besides – Beside is near or by the side of. Besides is in addition to. Besiege
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Not beseige. berserk – Not beserk. best seller – Not bestseller. ** bettor – Not widely used outside the Americas. Prefer gambler. (American style) between, among – See grammar . bias, biased. biannual, biennial – No hyphen. It’s clearer to write twice-yearly instead of biannual, and every two years rather than biennial. Bible, bible – Upper case when referring to the book itself. Lower case when used as a metaphor. biblical
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Not Biblical. bid, in a bid to – Sloppy and verbose. Can usually be removed by rewriting, or replaced with an active verb such as tried to or attempted. bight, bite – Bight is a wide bay or a coil. You bite with your teeth. billion – In Reuters services billion means one thousand million. The word billion must be spelled out, although it can be abbreviated to bln if necessary in headlines. Always use figures before million and billion, e.g. 2 billion, 3 million. When reporting a range of figures, use the style 1.2 billion to 1.4 billion not 1.2-1.4 billion. See also figur es , trillion . bimonthly, semimonthly – Avoid. Write every other month for bimonthly and twice a month for semimonthly.
Bird – A bird is an animal, so birds and mammals or birds and reptiles, not birds and animals. birdie, birdies – One stroke under par in golf. Biweekly – This can mean twice a week or once every two weeks. So avoid it. Black box – Popular term for aircraft recording equipment. Although they are not in fact black, the term can be used if it is made clear that the reference is to a plane’s flight recorder or its flight-deck voice recorder.
Blast off, blastoff – One word for the noun and two words for the verb.
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! Blazon, blaze – You blazon, or ostentatiously display, your wealth, and blaze a trail. Blind – Describe people as blind only if they are totally without sight. Otherwise write that their sight is impaired or that they have only partial vision. blitzkrieg – German for lightning war or violent attack. Use the short form blitz only for heavy air attacks. Bloc, block – A bloc is a combination of units, parties or nations to achieve a common purpose. A block is a lump. Blond, blonde – blond for a man, blonde for a woman. But the adjective is always blond. blueprint – Tired cliche. Use plan or proposal. B’nai B’rith – A Jewish service and community organization. Note apostrophes. Bogey, bogie, bogy – bogey is a golf term, meaning one stroke above par for a hole. A bogie is a trolley. A bogy is a bugbear or a special object of dread, hence bogyman. Bombay – Use Mumbai unless it is a proper name e.g. The Bombay Stock Exchange. Similarly we use Chennai (not Madras) and Kolkata (not Calcutta). bored with – Not bored of. born, borne – He was born on Tuesday (passive). She has borne 10 children (active) and borne the burden of raising them. book titles – See capitalisation . both – Both sides agreed is tautology. Write The two sides agreed. So is They both went to the same play. Write They went to the same play. boss – This word has pejorative or slang connotations and should not be used in serious contexts, e.g. A Presidential aide said his boss… However, Mafia bosses would be permissible and the word can be used in an informal context, e.g. Bill Smith said he was sick of correcting his boss’s spelling. It is also acceptable in sports stories as an alternative to manager or coach, to avoid repetition. boy – Any male over 18 is a man. boycott, embargo – A boycott is the refusal of a group to deal with a person or use a commodity. An embargo is a legal ban on trade. brackets – See punctuation . Braille – Capitalised. brand names – See trademarks .
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Breach, breech – Breach is a break, breech is the lower part. A breach in the wall, but a breech birth. Break in, break-in – Two words for the verb, one word for the noun. break point – Two words in tennis scoring. Break up, breakup – Two words for the verb, one word for the noun. Similarly with breakdown and breakout. Britain – Do not use England as a synonym for Britain or the United Kingdom. Britain comprises England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom comprises Britain and Northern Ireland. Normally use Britain unless the Irish context is important. British Isles – A geographical, not political term. They comprise the United Kingdom, islands under the British Crown such as the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and the Republic of Ireland. See also Britain , UK . broach, brooch – Broach is to pierce or open up. Brooch is an ornamental clasp. broken quotes – Do not use if the words quoted are not contentious e.g. He said she was a great soldier. Use if the language is inflammatory or colourful e.g. She said he was a “stinking, rotten coward”. BSE – bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. budget, budgeted. buffalo – buffaloes. buildup – One word as a noun, two as a verb. The adjective is built-up. bungee jump – Two words. buoyant – Not boyant, bouyant. bureau – bureaux. burgeoning – An overused (and often incorrectly used) adjective. Burgeoning means putting forth shoots or beginning to grow rapidly. If you just mean growing then say so. Burglary – Legal definitions vary but usually burglary involves entering a building unlawfully for the purpose of committing a crime Burma – Do not use. Use Myanmar. In copy, refer to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Burmese names – Keep the full name at second reference. U means Mr and Daw means Mrs. When U is followed by a single name it should be retained, e.g. U Nu, despite the rule about dropping honorifics.
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Burnt – Not burned. burqa – Not burka. bus, buses, busing – Passenger bus is tautologous. bushel – A unit of measure of dry goods, such as corn, wheat or soybeans equal to 32 dry quarts or 4 pecks or 35.2 litres in metric measurement. buss – Use kiss. by – As a prefix needs no hyphen, except in by-election, by-law, by-product. Byelorussia – Use Belarus. Byzantine – Capitalize.
!153 C
cactus, cactuses caddy – Not caddie Caesarean section – Not Caesarian. caffeine – Not caffein. calibre – See military . **caliber (American style) Calcutta – Use Kolkata call up, call-up – Two words for the verb, one for the noun and adjective. camaraderie – Not cameraderie. Cambodia – Use this official name rather than the Khmer-Rouge-era Kampuchea unless directly quoting. Full names should be used at all references except in the case of royalty. Cameroon – Not Cameroun or the Cameroons, West Africa. can – See may , can Canada goose – Not Canadian. cancer – See medical stories on the need for caution in handling stories about reputed cures for cancer. cancel, cancelled, cancellation – Events that are called off but will be held later are postponed. Report the new date if possible. Only those events scrapped completely are cancelled. **cancel,canceled, canceling but cancellation. (American style) cannon, canon – A cannon is a weapon (same singular and plural), a canon is a law or a church dignitary. canvas, canvass – You paint on a canvas but canvass for votes. capable, capability – Use with restraint. Write The aircraft can carry 300 passengers not The aircraft is capable of carrying 300 passengers. Likewise The United States can launch… not The United States has the capability to launch. capital, capitol – Capital for all uses, apart from capitol for the building where Congress or state legislatures meet, usually capitalised. capitalisation ** capitalize, capitalization (American style)
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! Capitalisation – Consistency is a hallmark of a professional. A Reuters service studded with variations in capitalisation, grammar and punctuation smacks of amateurism. The following entry sets out general guidelines for bureaux and production desks. Putting the first letter of a word in capitals makes it more limited and specific, e.g. He was a Communist with conservative instincts. In general, use capitals as explained below or in individual entries elsewhere. When in doubt it is better to avoid the capital.
Abbreviations: They normally follow the capitalisation of the unabbreviated form. e.g. European currency unit, Ecu; miles per hour, mph; Western European Union, WEU. See also abbr eviatio ns . Academic, aristocratic, corporate, official, military and religious titles: Capitalise when they immediately precede a personal name, otherwise use lower case, e.g. Professor John Smith, Admiral Horatio Nelson
but the history professor, the admiral. Capitalise titles like Ruritanian President Tamsin Noble or Global Corp. Chief Executive Jane Dimitriou. See also aristocratic titles and nobility. Acronyms: Words formed from the initial letters or syllables of other words, e.g. radar – radio detection and ranging. When an acronym is made up of initial letters that are themselves capitalised, then capitalise each letter,
e.g. NATO for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. But if the acronym is formed from initial syllables rather than letters, then capitalise only the first letter. Armed forces: Capitalise such specific names as
U.S. Marine Corps, Royal Air Force, the Canadian Forces and the (German) Bundeswehr, Luftwaffe and in a historical context Wehrmacht. Use lower case when referring generically to the various armed services in cases where nations do not use the word as a proper noun e.g. the French army, the Indonesian navy, the Brazilian air force. Astronomical: Capitalise the names of heavenly bodies, e.g. Betelgeuse, the Great Bear, Jupiter, but not the sun, moon, and earth (except in a phrase like Mother Earth or Planet Earth or when listing Earth among the planets). Drugs: Capitalise Ecstasy and the names of other synthetic drugs. Geographical and geological names: Capitalise these, apart from particles, articles, and compass references not forming part of the proper name, e.g. the River Plate but the river; North Korea but north London; the Nile Delta but the delta of the Nile, the Upper Pleistocene, the Lower East Side of New York but the lower east bank of the river. However, the Bermuda Triangle, the Triangle. Geopolitical . Capitalise nouns and adjectives that have a geographic origin but are used politically, e.g. Western influence, the North-South divide, the West, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia.
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Government ministers: Capitalise the title when it immediately precedes the person’s name. When the title follows the name or is used alone, use lower case, e.g.: French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas; Roland Dumas, the French foreign minister, the foreign minister, President George Bush but The president said: “I would like to welcome the British prime minister, Tony Blair.” Government bodies: Treat government bodies as proper names, capitalizing them when an integral part of a specific name but not when unspecific as in plurals or standing alone, e.g. the Israeli Foreign Ministry or The Foreign Ministry said Israel would… But The ministry added; the Australian Parliament but the Australian and New Zealand parliaments. Hyphenated titles: When a hyphenated title is capitalised, capitalise both parts,
e.g. Lieutenant-General John Smith, Vice-Admiral Tom Brown, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar. Legislative bodies: Capitalise the official names of legislatives bodies (Parliament, Senate, the Diet,) at all references. The one exception is when they are used in the plural, e.g. The Norwegian and Danish parliaments.
!156 Proper nouns: Capitalise words that uniquely identify a particular person or thing, e.g. John Smith, General Motors, Mount Everest, the Sixteenth Century as a noun but 16th-century art, the 1st Infantry Division, the 7th Fleet. Exceptions here are for articles and particles used as auxiliaries in names like Robert the Bruce, Charles de Gaulle. Keep the capital on words that still derive their meaning from a proper noun, e.g. Americanise, Christian, Marxist, Shakespearian, Stalinist. Do not keep it when the connection with the proper noun is remote, e.g. Arabic numerals, boycott, chauvinistic, French polish, herculean, pasteurise. Publications: No quotation marks around the title. Whatever the masthead says, do not capitalise articles and particles in the names of English-language newspapers and magazines, e.g. the New York Times, the News of the World. The names of some non-English language newspapers begin with a word meaning the. In such cases write the newspaper O Globo/Le Monde/Die Welt not the O Globo/Le Monde/Die Welt newspaper Books, films, plays, poems, operas, songs and works of art: capitalize every word in the title apart from conjunctions, articles, particles and short prepositions, e.g. “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “Gone with the Wind”. The same is true of radio and television programs other than news and current affairs, e.g. “The Benny Hill Show” but Meet the Press. Quotes: A statement that follows a colon quote begins with a capital, e.g. Guzhenko said: “The conference has ignored the principle of equality.” Software: Capitalise, without quotation marks, e.g. Windows, Internet Explorer. Use quotation marks for computer games, e.g. “Bust a Move: Dance Summit”. Sports events: Use lower case for sport names, junior, men’s, women’s, championship, tournament, meeting, match, test, race, game etc. Use upper case for title of the event e.g. French Open tennis championships, Dutch Open golf tournament.
Religion: Names of divinities are capitalised but unspecific plurals are lower case, e.g. Allah, the Almighty, Christ, God, Jehovah, the Deity, the Holy Trinity, but the gods, the lords of the universe. Capitalise religious titles when they immediately precede a personal name, otherwise use lower case, e.g. Bishop Thaddeus Smith, Dean Robert Jones, but the bishop, the dean. Use only the simplest and bestknown titles at first reference, e.g. the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Dr John Smith rather than the Right Rev. John Smith. Capitalise names of denominations and religious movements, e.g. Baptist, Buddhist, Christian, Church of England, Islamic, Jew, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox. But non-denominational references are lower case, e.g. adult baptism, orthodox beliefs, built a temple. The Pope is head of the Roman Catholic Church or of the Church (that is, the whole body of Roman Catholics) but he would celebrate mass in a Roman Catholic church (that is, a building). See also Baptist . Sentences: The first word of a sentence is always capitalised, unless it is contained within brackets as part of another sentence (this is an example).
!157 Sports: Treat specific events as proper names, general references as common nouns, e.g. the Olympic Games, the Belgian Grand Prix, but an athletics meeting, a motor racing championship. Transport: Names of aircraft, cars, railway trains and ships, are capitalised, e.g. the Cutty Sark, USS Forrestal, a Nimrod, a Ford Escort, the Orient Express. Capitol – Capitalise the U.S. Capitol for the Washington building. Similarly for U.S. state capitols, e.g. the Arkansas Capitol, the Capitol capsize Carat, caret – Carat is a measurement of weight in precious stones and of purity in gold. Caret is a proofreader’s mark to show an insertion of something missing. ** karat for the measurement of purity in gold (American style). carcass – Not carcase. It can be used only disparagingly of human bodies. careen, career – You careen a ship by turning it on its side to clean the hull. It can be used to mean keeling over. To career is to move rapidly. cargo – cargoes carrier – Use only in reference to aircraft carriers, i.e. ships from which fixed-wing aircraft can take off. Helicopter carriers should be referred to by the full name. carry out – A very weak synonym for do. Use a much stronger verb to describe the action.
Casino – casinos. castor – For all uses – the wheel on a furniture leg, a beaver, bean or oil. ** caster, castor – Caster is a wheel on a furniture leg. Castor is a beaver or a bean or oil. (American style) catalogue,catalogued, catalogue, cataloguing **catalog, cataloged, cataloger, cataloging (American style) Catch-22 – Capitalised and hyphenated. An absurd no-win situation. From the title of the Joseph Heller novel. Cave in, cave-in – Two words for verb. One word for noun. caution – As a verb prefer warn. Do not write, for instance, He cautioned that war was imminent. Cawnpore – Use Kanpur, India. ceasefire, ceasefires – One word as a noun. The verb is to cease fire.
!158 Celebrant, celebrator – A celebrant takes part in a religious ceremony and a celebrator takes part in a revel. celibacy, chastity – Celibacy is unmarried, particularly under the force of a vow. Chastity is sexual purity or virginity. You can be chaste but not celibate, and celibate but not chaste. cement, concrete – Cement is just one constituent of concrete. It is a concrete block not a cement block. cemetery – Not cemetary. cello – cellos. censer, censor, censure – A censer is used to burn incense. A censor removes content he finds offensive. Censure is disapproval. Centigrade – Use Celsius. cents – Spell out U.S. cents in text. centimetre – Abbreviation cm (no full stop, same singular and plural), acceptable at all references. To convert to inches roughly multiply by two and divide by five, precisely multiply by 0.394.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – U.S. Public Health Service national agencies based in Atlanta. Note the plural. Not Centres. Use the proper name of the organization as it appears on its own signposts and business cards. centre – You centre on something, not around it. You circle around something. CEO – Use chief executive officer on first reference. Ceylon – Use Sri Lanka. chairman, chairwoman – not chair.
Champions League – Capitalized and no apostrophe. Changeable channel – channelled. Charisma – A tired and worn out word. Avoid. Very few people have a divinely conferred gift or influence over large numbers of people. Chat room – Two words. Cheap, low – Prices are low not cheap. !159
! check, cheque, chequebook – A restaurant bill is a check, a money order a cheque. **check for both uses. (American style) Chennai – Not Madras. chequered flag – not checkered. **checkered flag (American style). children’s – The possessive is children’s, similar to men’s and women’s. chilly – moderately cold. Chinese names There should be no exception to the Pinyin transliteration of Chinese names from China. Thus Guangdong (not Canton), Beijing (not Peking), Mao Zedong (not Mao Tsetung), Zhou Enlai (not Chou Enlai) However, where there are traditional alternatives that are not Chinese e.g., Kashgar, Khotan, Tibet (and its cities of Lhasa and Shigatse), Urumqi, use these. Mainland Chinese do not hyphenate the given name, e.g. Deng Xiaoping. Taiwan Chinese do, with the second part in lower case, e.g. Chiang Kaishek. In both cases use only the surname at second reference, e.g. Deng, Chiang. Chips – Use French fries – unambiguous and universally understood. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – Use Mormon church unless the story is specifically about the Church’s affairs Christie’s – With an apostrophe. Chronic – See acute. CIA – The United States Central Intelligence Agency. The initials may be used alone as an adjective in a lead paragraph if it is clear from the context what is meant. Cigarette –Not cigaret. Circle, centre – You circle around something but centre on something. City-state – must be hyphenated claimed – Use of this word suggests the writer does not believe the statement in question. Prefer plain said. However, it is acceptable to say that a guerrilla organisation claimed responsibility for carrying out an attack. Do not say that it claimed credit. clamour, clamouring, clamorous** clamor, clamoring, clamorous (American style) claycourt – one word as an adjective, e.g. claycourt tournament, but two words as an adjective and noun,
e.g. clay courts at the stadium.
!160 Clean up – The verb is clean up, the noun and adjective cleanup. Clear-cut – Adjective. Clichés – George Orwell advised never using a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. If it sounds too familiar then discard it. Climb up – In almost all cases just climb will do. Close proximity – Replace with close to or near. Coastguard – One word except when referring to the
U.S. Coast Guard. Cognoscente (singular). Cognoscenti (plural) – Prefer connoisseur and connoisseurs. They possess not just knowledge, but critical knowledge of a subject. collapsible – Not collapsable. Collectibles – Not collectables. Collective nouns – See grammar. Collision – Beware of the legal danger of imputing blame in a collision. Avoid clumsy phraseology like The Danish freighter was in collision with the German tanker. Better to write The Danish freighter and the German tanker collided. Only two moving objects can collide. It is wrong therefore to write The ferry collided with the jetty. Plain hit is enough. Colloquial contractions – Use words like isn’t, aren’t, can’t only when quoting someone or in an informal context. You should not write President Brown can’t make up his mind whether to raise taxes or cut government spending. But you could write For Georgia peanut farmer Fred Jenkins it isn’t a question of whether, but when, he will go bankrupt. Use ain’t only when quoting someone. Collusion, collaboration – Collusion is to act together to deceive. Do not use it when you mean collaboration or cooperation. Colombia, Columbia – Colombia is the country, but Columbia Records. colons – See punctuation . !161 Colour – There is no conflict between the need for impartiality and concise writing and the need in many stories for colour, description and atmosphere. Correspondents filing witness reports should think visual and write copy that reflects that they have been on the scene of an event rather than picked up the information at second hand. If writing a story from the office they should not hesitate to take descriptive from television ensuring that they distinguish clearly between what television shows (which need not be sourced if the facts are indisputable) and what a television commentator says. The first person should not normally intrude into Reuters copy. If you have to source a contentious statement based on direct observation write …
This correspondent saw…
The vivid quotes and lively background details that can breathe life into a dry story should be woven in, not inserted in slabs. Colourful stories do not need a string of gaudy adjectives or overdramatic verbs. They require a fresh vision of the subject, selection of the right noun to convey a shade of meaning, and vigorous, active verbs. ** Color (American style) coloured – Use for people only in the context of South Africa for a person of mixed race. The story should make this clear. Lower case. **combat, combated (American usage as a verb). Comedian – Use for a man or a woman. Not comedienne. Commander-in-chief ** commander in chief – No hyphens in U.S. titles. (American style) commando – commandos. commas – See punctuation . commence – Begin or start is better. comment – Journalists should not comment but interpret events by reporting the action of others. commit – Past tense committed, noun commitment. committee communique – A communique is an official announcement. It is tautological to write an official communique. Plain statement is usually better. Communist – Lower case except when referring to a specific party e.g. Communist Party of Great Britain. See conservative , liberal ,socialist . Comoro Islands – Or simply the Comoros for the Indian Ocean group.
!162 Company names – When writing about a company, provide the full legal company name (including Inc., Ltd., Plc. etc.) at first reference. Where this would be clumsy, e.g. if several companies are named together in a lead paragraph, the full legal name can be given at second reference. Give the name in its original language if that language uses Latin characters unless the company has a preference for its English name. Many companies in the same group often have similar names. It is only by giving the full names that a specialist can distinguish between them. When giving the company’s full name observe the spelling, capitalisation and punctuation used by the company, including ampersands (&), apostrophes, hyphens and slashes (e.g. A/S), but use standard abbreviations to indicate what type of company it is. Put full points after Co., Corp., Plc., Ltd. etc. Use the name that the company itself uses. The exception is companies that render their names all in capitals, in which case we make it upper/lower (CIGNA Corp. becomes Cigna Corp.). Eliminate exclamation points from company names, such as Yahoo! and Yum!. Keep lower case in company names except at the start of a sentence, where eBay becomes Ebay. Do not use the colloquial practice of pluralising company names. It is Ford not Fords; Rothschild not Rothschilds. Similarly do not pluralise the pronouns. Companies are singular, not plural. It is Siemens said its plant… not …their plant…The following abbreviations show the kind of registered company. When such abbreviations come at the end of a company name they are not preceded by a comma. AB Aktiebolaget AG Aktiengesellschaft A/S Aktieselskabet Cie Compagnie Co Company Cos. Companies Corp. Corporation GmbH. Gesellschaft mit beschaenkter Haftung Inc. Incorporated KK. Kabushiki Kaisha (joint stock company)
Ltd. Limited Plc. Public limited company Pty. Proprietary SpA. Societa per Azioni YK. Yugen Kaisha (Ltd.)
!163 Company titles – Do not capitalise corporate titles, e.g. Company chairman John Smith, not Company Chairman John Smith. compare – When in doubt use compare with, which is used for a comparison to Highlight either differences or similarities. Compare to is used when simply stating that two things are similar, e.g. His playing compares to that of Mozart. See contrast . comparisons – Compare like with like. It is wrong to write The food shortage was not as bad as near-famine years or the weapon’s range was twice as great as the Kalashnikov. You cannot compare a shortage with years or a distance with a weapon. Write The food shortage was not so bad as that in the near-famine years or The weapon’s range was twice as great as the Kalashnikov’s. Special care is needed with statistical comparisons. One month may not be comparable with another because of its length or the number of national holidays it contains. December figures for one country may not be comparable with another’s because the countries are in different hemispheres. comparatively – Only use the word if you are actually comparing something with another thing. Even in those cases you can leave it out and directly say something is bigger than, or smaller than. Do not use comparatively small to mean not very big. compass points – Capitalise compass points only when they form part of a proper name – North Korea, but north London; the Lower East Side of New York, but the lower east bank of the river. Omit hyphens in the four basic compounds northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast. Use a hyphen in the minor compounds such as north-northeast. You do not write northern Connecticut or southern Kent when you mean to say that Connecticut is a northern state or Kent a southern county. So do not say northern Chiang Mai or eastern Kivu province. It’s the northern town of Chiang Mai or the eastern province of Kivu.
Compatriot – But expatriate, not expatriot. Complacent, complaisant – Complacent is smug and self-satisfied. Complaisant is willing and affable. Complement, compliment – To complement is to complete or to provide a matching component to something, e.g. The British submarines complemented the U.S. surface ships. To compliment is to praise. Comprise – Use only when listing all the component parts of a whole: Benelux comprises Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Do not write comprised of. If listing only some components use include: The European Union includes Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Compound – If you mean to make worse, say so. Compound adjectives – Require hyphens, e.g. the first-leg score. If an adverb and an adjective are used together in an adjectival phrase then there is no hyphen
e.g. a closely followed competition.
!164 Compunction – Use pity or remorse in preference. Do not confuse with compulsion. Concerning – Prefer about. Confectionery – Not confectionary. Confidant (male) confidante (female) Confrontation – Modish but vague word. Use more specific terms if possible, e.g. war, clash, dispute, test of wills. Congo – Take care to distinguish between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), formerly known as Zaire, and the neighbouring Congo Republic. In most stories, only one Congo is involved and so subsequent references can be made simply to Congo or Congolese. In stories about the Democratic Republic of Congo, the acronym DRC may be used in brackets at first mention, and on its own at later references. Congress, congressional – Capitalise Congress when it is part of the name of an official body. Keep congressional lower case unless it is part of the formal title of an official body. Connote, denote – Connote is to imply attributes. Marriage connotes short-term bliss. Denote is to indicate or mark by a sign. A wedding ring denoted his married status. Both words are probably best avoided. Contagious – Not contagious. Consensus – Not consensus. General consensus is tautological, as is consensus of opinion because consensus means either unanimity or a general trend of opinion. Consequence – Use because rather than as a consequence of. Conservative – Lower case unless referring to a specific political organization. See communist, liberal , socialist . Considerable – Avoid. Is it big or very big, important or noteworthy? Consortium, consortiums – Not consortia. Consul-general – Note hyphen. Likewise consulate-general. consult – Not consult with. contemptible, contemptuous – Contemptible is despicable and contemptuous is haughty or scornful. The contemptuous scorn the contemptible. Continual, continuous Continual means frequent and repeated, continuous means uninterrupted.
!165 Contractions – Avoid contractions such as isn’t, won’t, wasn’t, can’t except in direct quotations. Spell out the phrase in full, is not, will not etc. contrast – Use contrast to for comparisons of dissimilar things, or to underline the difference. His scowl contrasted to her smile. Use contrast with when you want to compare the differences of two similar things. He contrasted the performance of the England cricket team with that of Australia. See compare, control, controlled, controlling controversial – Avoid. Spell out what is controversial and let the reader decide. Conurbation – Not a synonym for an urban area. It means an aggregation of towns, like the New York-Boston or Tokyo-Osaka corridors. Convener – Not convenor. Conversions – Convert currencies into U.S. dollars and turn imperial weights and measures into metric equivalents and vice versa. Give the local unit in the country of origin first and then the conversion in brackets. Never give the dollar equivalent without first giving the local currency figure. If a figure for speed, distance, weight, etc., is approximate, the conversion should also be approximate. Write a 2,000-lb (900-kg) bomb not a 2,000lb (907-kg) bomb. Do not give a conversion to more decimal places than are given in the original figure. When abbreviating metric units use the singular form without a full stop, e.g. kg or km not kgs or kms. If no specific figure is being given, do not go through the motions of converting. Write, for instance, The bomb exploded only yards from the palace entrance not The bomb exploded only yards (metres) from the palace entrance. Conversions are a fertile source of error. Double-check them all. If you make a conversion precisely using a calculator, make a rough backward check to make sure that you have not added or lost a zero. conversions in sports writing – Use only metric measurements, except for golf where yards and feet are used, and sailing where nautical miles are used. In sports writing there is no need to use conversions in brackets, apart from currencies. Conveyor – Use for conveyor belt and for a person who conveys. Not conveyer. Convince, persuade – You convince people of something, persuade them to do something. You do not convince someone to do something. cooperate, cooperation – An exception to the rule that prefixes are usually hyphenated when the same vowel ends the prefix and starts the main word. But co-op to distinguish from chicken coop. coordinates, coordination – An exception to the prefix hyphenation rules. See cooperate. Copter – Use helicopter.
!166 Co-respondent, correspondent – A co-respondent appears in a divorce case. A correspondent writes letters. corporate America – Not Corporate America. Council, councillor – Not councilor, councilman, councilwoman. ** council, councilor, councilman, councilwoman (American style). counsel, counselling, counsellor – Consultation and advice, and one who gives it. **counsel, counseling, counselor (American style) Court of St. James’s – The place to which ambassadors are posted in Great Britain. It is St. not St and James’s not James. Court-martial – courts-martial, to court-martial courtesy titles – Do not use courtesy titles such as Mr, Mrs, Ms or Miss or their foreign equivalents. An exception would be in a story about two people with the same family name when we might refer for instance to Mr Smith and Mrs Smith to avoid confusion. Use at first reference only titles of nobility and military, medical and religious titles, e.g. Lord Ferrars, Dr Christiaan Barnard, the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Except for obvious cases e.g. a king or queen, avoid foreign honorifics; it is difficult to be consistent through various cultures. In general it is better to describe people by job title or position. Cover up, coverup – Two words for verb, one word for noun. Cracow – Use Krakow, Poland. credible, credulous, creditworthy – If you are credible you can be believed. If you are credulous you will believe anything. If you are creditworthy you are likely to get a loan. Crescendo – A gradual increase in loudness. It is wrong to write that something reached a crescendo, which is a probable confusion with reached a climax. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – Can be abbreviated to CJD, but needs explanation. There is also variant CJD. Abbreviate to vCJD. crisis, crises – Try to avoid. It means a turning point or the stage in events at which the trend of all future events is determined. Very overused. A crisis cannot grow or deepen. It just is, and is best avoided. Criterion – Plural criteria. Crop year – Take care with crop-year dates as the old crop can be harvested and the new crop planted in the same year. To refer to the 2002 crop can be dangerously ambiguous. Commodity producers sometimes also have marketing years for their produce which differ from the crop year. In these cases be careful to spell out which year you are referring to and when each starts and ends.
!167 Cross country – Two words, no hyphen, for the athletics event.
Cross fire – Two words. Crown – Use this for the Nordic currencies, not kroner, kronor or kronur. Crowd estimates – If the number of people involved in an event such as a demonstration or strike is at all controversial, the source should be given for the number quoted. Crucial – A cliché best avoided. Try instead to show the reader why something is crucial and to whom. Cruise missile – Lower case. crunch – A tired cliché. Avoid. Cupful, cupfuls Currently – Unless we are comparing the present with the past the word is usually redundant, as in The United States currently has 20,000 troops in Ruritania. Curriculum vitae (singular) curricula vitae (plural) cutback – Use cut for both verb and noun. Cut off, cutoff – The verb is cut off, the noun is cutoff. czar – Use tsar.
!168 D Daimler-Benz – Note hyphen. dais, lectern, podium, pulpit, rostrum – A speaker stands behind a lectern (a stand for notes) on a podium and in a pulpit. Several speakers can fit on a dais or rostrum or platform. Dalai Lama – Tibet’s most revered spiritual leader, seen by Tibetans as the reincarnation of a long line of Buddhist god-kings. The Panchen Lama is the second highest figure in Tibet’s spiritual hierarchy. dashes – Dashes (–) are followed by lower case unless they are used to label sections of a list, e.g. The study concluded: Four out of five people said they· preferred watching television to playing sport. Only one in 10 respondents had· played sport in the past month. Six out of 10 had watched sport on· television in the past month. See punctuation . data – Strictly a plural noun, but treat as if it were singular, e.g. The data was corrupted. Database – One word. dates – In text use the sequence month/day/year, e.g. Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2., 1990, led to… or the August 2 invasion or the August 1990 invasion. If the – date is given in full put the year inside commas. Spell out months in text, but abbreviate them followed by a full stop when they are used with a specific date – Jan.1, Feb. 14, Aug. 5, Sept. 11, Oct. 24, Nov. 5, Dec. 25. In datelines use Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec with no full stop. If you need to abbreviate for a table use the first three letters of each month: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. There is no full stop. When spelling out duration write the tournament runs from May 22 to 24 not runs from May 22-24. Write arrived on Monday not arrived Monday and on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday rather than yesterday, today, tomorrow. An exception is made for copy in the Americas, where because of subscriber preferences our style is to drop the “on” before days of the week. ** arrived Monday arrived Tuesday, not arrived on Monday, on Tuesday. (American style) Write the 1939-45 war but from 1939 to 1945 not from 1939-45. Similarly between 1939 and 1945 and not between 1939-45 Write 9-11 not 9/11. daughter-in-law, daughters-in-law
!169 Days of the week – Capitalise them and do not abbreviate. If necessary in tabulation abbreviate to without a full stop, Mon, Tues etc. day to day – Hyphenate if used as an adjective. We live from day to day and find our food on a day-to-day basis.de rigueur – Not de rigeur. Best avoided. DEA – Drug Enforcement Administration (U.S.). Deaf – Describe people as deaf only if they are totally without hearing. Otherwise write that their hearing is impaired or that they have only partial hearing. Never use deaf and dumb. Deathbed – Both noun and adjective. Decades – 1960s not 1960’s. The early forties, sixties, seventies. Decided, decisive – If you have decided views which are clear and resolute it is easier to make a decision and be decisive. Decimals – See figur es . Decimate – Literally to reduce by one-tenth, loosely to reduce very heavily. Not, however, to virtually wipe out. Default – See loans.
Defeat – You are defeated by something not to something. Do not write West Bromwich Albion’s defeat to Wolver Hampton Wanderers. Defence ** defense (American style) defendant Definite, definitive – Definite means fixed, exact or clear. Definitive in addition conveys elements of limiting or final. The board made a definite decision about its definitive offer. Definitely – Usually adds little as either an adverb or an adjective. Avoid. defunct – No need to use now defunct. defuse, diffuse – To defuse is to make something harmless, to diffuse is to disperse. Degree-day – A measurement used in the consumption and trading of energy. It is a difference of one degree for one day compared with a standard average temperature for that day. delapidated – Correct spelling is dilapidated.
!170 Deletion – Indicate the omission of words from a quoted passage (also known as ellipsis) by using three full stops with a space before and after, e.g. “We will fight … and we will win.” The word after the dots is capitalized if it is part of a new sentence, e.g. “We will fight and we will win … We will never surrender”. You may drop words in this way only if the deletion does not alter the sense of the quote. Delight – To delight is a transitive verb which requires an object. Jane Bloggs delighted her fans with an easy victory not Jane Bloggs delighted with an easy victory. Delight is a strong verb. Use sparingly and to good effect. demagogue – Not demagog. demise – Means death or to transfer on death, not just decline or decay. demolished, destroyed – Do not write totally demolished, totally destroyed. Both words imply complete destruction. demonstrator denials – Never qualify a denial, e.g. flatly denied, categorically denied, unless quoting someone. A no comment is not a denial. Write declined to comment rather than refused to comment, which suggests that the person you spoke to was under an obligation to comment. See r ebut , r efute . denote – See connote , denote . Dependant, dependent – The person in a state of dependency is a dependant. He is dependent. ** Dependent – Noun and adjective (American style). Depreciation – See devaluation . Depression – A period of low economic activity with high unemployment and numerous business failures. Capitalise when referring to the one that began with the collapse of the New York stock market in October, 1929: the Great Depression. See also r ecession , slump . depths – Convert metres to feet not yards. One metre equals 3.28 feet. desiccate despatch – Use dispatch for noun and verb (although send is better for the verb). Desperate – Not desparate. despite the fact that – Use although. Detente – The easing or end of strained relations between countries. Designate – Hyphenate. Capitalise the first word, but only if used as a formal title before a name, Presidentdesignate Joan Brown but chairman-designate.
!171 Devaluation – A downwards change in the value of a currency, the opposite of revaluation, and usually imposed by government order. Do not confuse with depreciation which is a more gradual change usually brought about by market forces. Device, devise – Device is the noun, devise is the verb. Dexterous – Not dextrous. diagnosis, prognosis – You diagnose a disease not a person. Prognosis is forecasting, or a forecast, especially of a disease. diarrhoea** diarrhea (American style). Dictator – Use of the word dictator, like terrorist, implies a value judgment by Reuters. So avoid it unless quoting someone. Dictionary – Chambers 20th Century Dictionary. Use the first spelling listed. ** America uses Webster’s New World College Dictionary. die-hard. Hyphenated. Dietitian – Not dietician. differ from, differ with – If you differ from someone you are unlike each other. If you differ with someone then you disagree. Differ from can be used in both senses. Different – Can often be excised, as in Yorkshire produces six different types of cheese. different from, different to – Prefer different from, which is acceptable in all contexts, rather than different to or different than. Diffuse, defuse – To diffuse is to disperse, to defuse is to make something harmless. Dike – Not dyke ik not yk Dilapidated – Not delapidated. Dilemma – Do not use simply to mean a problem. A dilemma is a situation in which you are faced with two (or more) undesirable alternatives. diphtheria – Note the h after the p. disabled people – As with a person’s race or sex, we should mention physical disabilities only if they are relevant to the story. Report
disabilities without sentimentality or condescension. Disassemble, dissemble – Disassemble is to take apart, dissemble is to conceal or disguise, or play the hypocrite. Disassociate – Use dissociate.
!172 Disaster – Do not devalue this word by overuse. Avoid in sports reporting. disc, disk – Use disk when writing about computers, disc in all other contexts. Compact disc but computer hard disk. Discernible – Not discernable. Discomfit, discomfort – Discomfit is to rout, defeat, balk or disconcert. It is much stronger than discomfort which is to make uneasy or deprive of comfort. Discover – Find is shorter and better. Discreet, discrete – discreet is prudent or modest while discrete is separate. Discriminatory language – Reuters must not use language that perpetuates sexual, racial, religious or other stereotypes. Such language is offensive, out of date and often simply inaccurate. A person’s gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or marital status should not be cited unless it is relevant to the story. Even then, consideration must be given to where in the story such information needs to be placed. It is wrong to assume that police, firefighters or soldiers are men. Police is shorter than policemen anyway. Do not describe a woman’s dress or hairstyle where you would not describe a man’s. Where possible use the same term for men and women, e.g. mayor or poet, not mayoress or poetess. Use chairman, chairwoman not chair; spokesman, spokeswoman not spokesperson. Disinterested, uninterested – Disinterested means impartial while uninterested means the opposite of interested. You can be both interested in an issue and disinterested. Disk – See disc. Disorientate – Use disorient. Disorient – Shorter than disorientate. Dispatch – Not despatch. Including dispatch rider, mentioned in dispatches, and dispatch box. Dispatch – Not despatch. In most cases send is better, as of troops, aid, etc. Dispel – Dispelled, dispelling. Dispensable – Not dispensible. Think of dispensation. Disposal, disposition – Disposal is getting rid of, disposition is arranging or distributing. Distinct, distinctive – Distinct means separate, clear, well-defined. Distinctive is a distinguishing quality. A distinct mark on his forehead made him distinctive from his twin brother.
!173 Dissociate – Shorter than disassociate. Dive, dived – Not dove for past tense. Doctor – When used as title for a physician, abbreviate to Dr without a full stop. Do not use Dr for doctors of philosophy, etc., but it can be used for archbishops and the like in preference to honorifics like the Very Rev. or the Most Rev. DOD – Department of Defense, the Pentagon (U.S.). dollar sign – Use the dollar sign $ before numbers. Use upper-case abbreviations A, C, HK etc. immediately before the dollar sign (no space in between) to indicate Australian, Canadian, Hong Kong and other non-U.S. dollars, e.g. C$6.4 billion. The following non-U.S. dollars can be abbreviated after first reference: Australia (A), Brunei (B), Canada (C), Fiji (F), Hong Kong (HK), Jamaica (J), New Zealand (NZ), Singapore (S), Taiwan (T) and Zimbabwe (Z). Domino, dominoes do’s and don’ts DOT – Department of Transportation (U.S.). Double fault – Two words in tennis. Doughnut – Not donut, unless it is part of a formal company name. Douse, dowse –Douse is to plunge into water, to splash or to extinguish. Dowse is to search for underground water using a divining rod. Downhill – One word in Alpine skiing. Downplay – Write play down. Down’s syndrome – Do not use mongol or mongoloid. **Down syndrome (American style) downtown – Americanism. Write central Paris not downtown Paris. draft, draught – Use draft for a sketch, a detachment of men, a money order, draught for a drink or the depth to which a ship sinks in water. ** Draft in all cases. (American style) dramatic – A much overworked word. If an event is dramatic this should be clear from the story and it should not be necessary to say so. Draught – See draft. Drop out, dropout – The verb is drop out, the noun dropout.
!174 Drop shot – Two words in tennis. drown – I drowned, or I drowned my cat, but not I was drowned, unless someone did it to me. drunk, drunken – I am drunk, he is drunk, but drunken behavior, drunken driver. Not drunk driver. Drunkenness – Not drunkeness. Druze – Not Druse. A secretive sect of Islam whose adherents live mainly in the mountains of Lebanon, Syria and Israel. dual, duel – Dual is twofold, e.g. dual-purpose. A duel is a fight between two people. due
– Due is an adjective and must modify a noun or a pronoun. It cannot modify a verb. When in doubt replace it with because of, owing to or caused by. It is correct to write The drop in temperature was due to a broken window but not The temperature dropped due to a broken window. The simple rule is if in doubt always use because of. Duesseldorf – Not Dusseldorf, Germany. Duffel – Not duffle. From the town of Duffel, near Antwerp. Dunkirk – Not Dunkerque. dwarf, dwarfs – Not dwarves. Dyeing, dying – Dyeing changes the colour of your clothes. Dying is destined for death. Dyke – Use dike. Dynamo – dynamos Dysentery – Not dysentry.
!175 Each – Each takes a singular verb. Each of us is guilty. Be careful when it follows a noun that is the real subject of the sentence. We each are guilty of theft, which is equivalent to We are all guilty of theft, each one of us. each and every – Plain each will do, or plain every. Earthquakes – You can usually use plain “magnitude” to describe earthquakes. Most seismic stations use methods derived from the system worked out in 1935 by U.S. scientist Charles Richter to measure quakes, but the “Richter scale” is unreliable for measuring larger earthquakes and has been heavily modified. The U.S. Geological Survey, often our source of information about earthquakes, favours describing quakes merely by “magnitude” – the measurement is more exactly known as the “moment magnitude” and gives readings consistent with the Richter scale. The strongest quake ever measured, for instance, was a 9.5 magnitude earthquake in Chile in May 1960, while there are more than one million very minor tremors of 2-2.9 magnitude a year. Magnitude is not an automatic guide to likely damage from an earthquake, however, because it depends on other factors like the depth of the quake below the earth’s surface. If you’re local seismic station uses the Richter scale or another scale, then spell it out. There are other ways to measure earthquakes including the Mercalli scale or the Japanese Shindo scale: the drawback is that they only measure the intensity of an earthquake at particular places on the earth’s surface without giving an overall reading. Eastern Rite Churches – Generally speaking, Eastern Rite Churches are those that returned to communion with Rome after the 1054 East-West split between Rome and Orthodoxy but worship in an Eastern, usually Orthodox rite. The history of Eastern Churches is very complicated. Each returned to unity with Rome at a different time in the past 900 years or so. See also Roman Catholic Chur ch . Ecuadorean – Not Ecuadoran or Ecuadorian. effete – Means exhausted or sterile, not just weak or foppish. Eid alAdha – A Muslim holiday marking the climax of the annual pilgrimage (haj) on the tenth day of the twelfth month of the Muslim calendar. Eid al-Fitr – A Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. Eire – Use Republic of Ireland.
!176 Either – Either is a choice of two things. You can either come or go. The word can often simply be excised. You can come or go. It cannot be used with a choice of more than two things. You can have ice cream, cake or pudding. Not You can have either ice cream, cake or pudding. Do not use either when you mean each. He had a beautiful girl on each arm, not on either arm. Elderly – See aged, elderly . Elect – Hyphenated and lower case. President-elect Frederick Green. Elicit, illicit– Elicit is to draw forth or to evoke, illicit is not permitted or illegal. A dalliance may elicit an illicit relationship.
Ellipsis – See deletions. Elusive – Usually superfluous and shown by context. Police are hunting an elusive killer. e-mail, e-commerce embarrass, embarrassed, embarrassing – Double r and double s. embargo, boycott – An embargo is a legal ban on trade. A boycott is the refusal of a group to deal with a person or use a commodity. Embattled – A tired cliché. Do not use. Emerge – News does not just emerge, so it is nonsense to write It has emerged that. Give the reader a clear source for all your information. Emigrate, immigrate – You emigrate when you leave a country and you immigrate when you come to a country. Similarly emigrant, immigrant. emotive words – Some words have emotional significance and must be used with special care in the interest of objectivity. Examples of such words are terrorist (see separate entry on terr orism ), extremist and mob. Avoid using contentious labels as far as possible. If we describe a violent act as terrorist we could imply the journalist is judging the action and taking sides. It is not the role of a Reuter’s journalist to adjudicate. We can, of course, use such words when we directly quote sources that are named or individually identified. When giving background in a running story on a specific act of violence, one can refer in general terms to terrorism without attribution to particular groups or making judgment. There are alternatives to terrorist which are more factual, e.g. gunmen, bombers, bomb attacks, assassinations. The word guerrilla can be more readily used when describing forces fighting governments for control of territory, most usually in the countryside. Relatively small groups are usually best described by their ideologies or politics. The basic rule should be to describe what a movement wants or is aiming for rather than apply a label.
!177 Employee – Not employe. Enormity – Does not mean just very big, but an outrage, iniquity or great crime. Encyclopedia – Not encyclopaedia England – Do not use England when you mean Britain or the United Kingdom. See Britain , United Kingdom .en route – Two words. Not on route. Enquire, enquiry – Use inquire, inquiry. Enroll – enrolled, enrolling, enrolment. ** enroll, enrolling, enrollment (American style) ensure, insure, assure – Ensure means to make sure, insure to guarantee against loss. You assure your life. Envelop, envelope – The verb is envelop, enveloping, enveloped. The noun is envelope. Envision – Use envisage. equal, equalling, equalled – Do not write more equal or less equal because things are either equal or not. Use more or less equitable. ** Equal, equaling, equaled (American style) equable, equitable – Equable is even and without great variation or extremes. Equitable is just or fair. Equally as – Do not use together. Either she was equally bright or she was as bright. Escalate, escalation – In most cases rise or increase would be simpler and as effective for both verb and noun. Escalate may be used where we are talking of a step-by-step increase. escapers – Not escapees. Esfahan – Not Isfahan, Iran. Eskimo – Prefer Inuit, although Eskimo may be needed to provide context. The aboriginal cultural groups in northern coastal areas of Canada, Greenland, Alaska, and northeastern Siberia call themselves Inuit meaning “the people”. The name Eskimo has negative connotations, derived from the Algonquin name for “the eaters of raw flesh in the north”.
!178 Espresso – Not expresso. Estimate – When referring to economic trends and business performance, use estimate to refer to an approximate calculation of performance up to the present (or a date in the past). Use forecast when referring to expected future performance based on available data. Use projection to refer to probable future performance based on current trends or assumptions of likely developments. Estimated at about – Tautology. Plain estimated at will do. et cetera – Use the abbreviation etc. (with full stop), but try to avoid. It implies you are too lazy to make a full list or to give strong examples, or that you simply do not have the full information. Ethiopian names – The word ato means Mr and should not be used. Use only the first name at second reference, e.g. Mengistu Haile Mariam – Mengistu said … euphemism – Euphemism, beloved of bureaucrats, social scientists and the military, seeks to cloak reality, sometimes unpleasant, in innocuous words. Shun it e.g: kill not terminate with extreme prejudice, poor not disadvantaged.
EU/EC – Use European Union (EU) instead of European Community (EC). The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, came into effect on November 1, 1993 and formally created a new entity, the EU, with responsibilities expanded beyond the EC’s focus on economic and trade issues. Euro – No capital letter Eurobonds – capitalized. Bonds issued in a currency that is not that of the country of the borrower. European – Do not use as a synonym for white in a racial context. European names – Use lower case for particles within a personal name, e.g. F. W. deKlerk, Maurice de la Haye, Richard von Weizsaecker, Miguel de la Madrid, Ramon da Silva, Jaime Aragon y Galicia, Hendrik van den Berg. The particles are usually retained at second reference, but in German usage the von is dropped. Upper case is used when such particles occur at the beginning of a geographical name,
e.g. Las Palmas, El Salvador, La Raya del Palancar or at the start of a sentence, e.g. De Klerk said … See also Spanish and Portuguese names. Eventuate – Prefer result. Ever – tautology when it follows a superlative (as in biggest, best, strongest etc). In such cases, drop it unless it is in direct quotes.
!179 Every day, everyday – Two words for the adverb and one word for the adjective. Every day we remind him not to wear his everyday clothes to his wedding. everyone, every one – Everyone is all the people; every one is every single person. If you can add without exception then you need every one. Everyone in the village loves a party and every one wore fancy dress. Evoke, invoke – evoke means to bring to mind, invoke to call upon solemnly, e.g. In a speech evoking memories of the civil war he invoked God’s help in preventing fresh bloodshed. Ex-– Make sure this prefix is hyphenated to the word it limits. Note the difference between a Conservative ex-minister and an ex-Conservative minister. User former in text , e.g. Former Brazilian finance minister Jorge Braga was killed on Tuesday when…although ex-may be used for brevity in headlines, e.g. “Ex-minister killed in Brazil air crash”. Exacerbate – A clumsy word devalued by overuse. It means to make bitter or more violent. Usually writers mean simply to make worse. Exaggerate execution – Use only for lawful killings after due judicial process. Except, accept – Except is to leave out. Accept is to take or receive. Exchange rates – Normally quote only a single rate for the value of one currency against another, usually the middle rate between the bid and offer quotations. For example, if the bid and offer rates of a particular currency against the dollar were 2.6050 and 2.6150 we would take the difference between the two (0.0100), halve it (0.0050) and add to 2.6050. This gives a rate of 2.61. If the difference is an odd number, quote as near to the mid-point as possible. In specialized foreign exchange market reports give both the bid and offer rates. Rates are generally carried to four places right of the decimal, except for yen, which goes to two places. However, if both bid and offer are round numbers at fewer decimal places, leave off the extra zeros. Do not repeat recurring numbers when giving the second rate in the sequence, e.g. 1.4845/65 not 1.4845/4865, except when it moves to a new higher digit: The dollar rose to 1.4895/4905 marks from 1.4850/60 at yesterdays close. Money market rates and yields are generally quoted in decimals, so if trader talks of a 6-1/4 percent yield this is best written in copy as 6.25 percent. Exorbitant – Not exhorbitant. Exorcise – Not exorcize. Expatriate – Not expatriot. But compatriot !180 Expect, anticipate – These are not synonyms. If you anticipate something, you not only expect it but take precautionary action to deal with it. expel, expelling, expelled explicit, implicit – Explicit is stated plainly; implicit is implied or suggested. Exports overseas – A tautology. Just exports will do. Extra cover – Two words for the field position in cricket. Extramarital – One word. eyewitness – prefer witness.
!181 F FAA – Federal Aviation Administration (US). face to face – Redundant when used to describe a meeting. Facility – A word that, especially in American usage, can mean almost anything. Be specific, even in second reference, if possible, e.g. a base, a factory, a depot. Fahrenheit – See temperatur es .
Falklands – This is the internationally accepted name of the Falkland Islands but from an Argentine dateline they may also be called by the Argentine name – the Malvinas (Falkland Islands). fallacy, fallibility – Fallacy is something regarded as true but actually false. Fallibility is a capacity or tendency to make mistakes. Fallopian tubes – Capitalise Fallopian. FAO – Food and Agriculture Organisation (U.N. – Rome). Faroes – Not Faeroes. Farther, farthest – Use further, furthest except when referring to physical distance. Fast bowler – Two words in cricket. Faze, phase – Faze is to worry or disturb. Phase is a stage in growth or development. FBI – The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the premier law enforcement agency in the United States. It is part of the U.S. Department of Justice. The FBI investigates violations of federal law, including high- profile cases on espionage, drug cartels, organized violence and crime. FBI may be used alone at first reference. If the full name is used alone at first reference the initials need not be bracketed in. FCC – Federal Communications Commission (U.S.). FDA – Food and Drug Administration (U.S.). Fears, hopes – Beware of hopes and fears. Unattributed, they represent opinions. We cannot refer to hopes for a settlement of Middle East problems or fears of another oil price increase without saying who is doing the hoping or fearing. But we can refer unsourced to the common hopes and fears of humanity, e.g. Hopes of reaching the trapped miners rose… or Fears that a new epidemic of cholera might sweep… See also emotive words.
!182
Fedayeen – Arab or Islamic guerrillas. The singular is feda’i so use guerrilla for simplicity’s sake when referring to one person. Feet, foot – One foot, several feet. Use foot singular as the adjective, e.g. a 12-foot-high wall. Fellah – Egyptian peasant. Plural fellahin. Ferris wheel Fewer, less than – Use fewer when referring to numbers of individuals or individual items, less for quantities, e.g. Fewer than 10 rescuers were hurt but Less than 1,000 tons of coal was lost. Fiance, fiancee – fiance is the man, fiancee the woman. Fiasco – fiascos. Field marshal – Note only one l FIFA – International Football Federation, based in Zurich (soccer). Fighter jets – Write fighter planes (since modern fighters are almost invariably jets). Figures – Spell out the digits one to nine in text except for dates and times, when figures should always be used, e.g. the four foreign ministers will meet at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) on March 3. The same applies to ordinal numbers: first, second, third etc up to ninth, then 10th 100th 144th etc. Use numerals in ages, 4year-old, and before millions and billions, 2 million, 5 billion. Use numerals before percent, 6 percent. Use numerals for dimensions, He lost 4 cm from the end of his finger. Write 10 and above as figures except at the start of a sentence, e.g. Fourteen people were killed when 20 tons of ice crashed through the roof. Do not however start a sentence with a complex figure, e.g. Two hundred and forty-three runners finished the Boston marathon …Where possible rewrite the sentence to avoid starting with a number if it is long and clumsy, such as one hundred and thirty seven. Repeat figures in stories when they are unexpected and err on the side of caution. Place repeated figures in brackets to remove any doubt. Write … raised bank rate to 6.5 percent (repeat 6.5 percent). Figures in brackets are generally used only for comparisons. In comparisons always put new figures before old ones, e.g. The U.S. dollar closed at 0.9782 euros compared with 0.9804 at mid-morning. Do not run two sets of figures together. This can lead to errors. Separate them by a word or spell out one of the two, e.g. 20,000 new 50-cent shares or 20,000 shares with a nominal value of 50 cents each, not 20,000 50-cent shares.
!183 Write fractions as 4-1/2, 8-3/4 etc Round off unwieldy figures, e.g. 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 interest rates. Give them to the full number of decimal places as given by the source of the information. Round foreign exchange quotations to four decimal places, e.g. the dollar rose to 0.9784 euros. If a country adjusts its currency, any rate given must not be rounded off, e.g. Manchukistan announced a rate of 5.79831 thaler to the dollar. Do not round company dividends, e.g. the company announced a dividend of 0.123456 pence per share. Where totals do not add up because of rounding, this should be explained. When reporting decimalised figures always use a full stop, e.g. 42.5. Do not follow the practice in continental Europe of using a comma instead of a decimal point. When reporting thousands, use a comma, not a full stop, e.g. 10,000. When reporting a range of figures use the style 1.2 billion to 1.4 billion not 1.2-1.4 billion or between 400 and 500 miles not between 400-500 miles. Always spell out billion, except in headlines when it can be abbreviated to bln. Use decimals before million and billion. Write 2.5 million not two and a half million. Twice – not two time or two times. Bigger numbers should be in the plural, e.g. seven times champion. Ranges – Repeat the denominator when describing a range of figures, e.g. $22 million to $30 million not $22 to $33 million. See also billion , fractions , trillion . Figures – checking – Always check any numbers in a story, and then recheck them. Are they internally consistent? If a number rises to a new number then is the second number larger than the first? Check that the units of measurement are not out by a factor of 10, or a 100, or a 1,000. Try to appreciate the underlying logic of the numbers rather than accepting them at face value. Ask yourself if the numbers are feasible and realistic. Remember that a journalist plus a calculator equals mistake. Filibuster – Not fillibuster To delay parliamentary proceedings by making long speeches. Filipino – A native of the Philippines. Feminine Filipina. Plural Filipinos, Filipinas. The adjective is Philippine.
!184 Film titles – See capitalization Finalize – Use complete, finish. Firefighter – Not fire man. Firm – Use firm only for business partnerships. Use company for publicly quoted corporations. First Lady – See capitalisation first quarter, first-quarter – Two words for the noun, one word for the adjective. First-quarter results will be released shortly after the first quarter. First slip – Two words for cricket fielding position. First World War – Use World War One. Not WWI Fiscal year – The one-year bookkeeping period or financial year used by a government. It varies from country to country. In the United States it is October 1 to September 30 and is named as the year in which it ends, so the year ending in September 2005 is fiscal 2005. In Japan the year is April 1 to March 31 and is named as the year in which it starts, so the year ending in March 2005 is fiscal 2004. In text write out,
e.g. fiscal 2003/04 but in alerts and headlines ¾ may be used for space reasons. Do not shorten to ¾. The term fiscal year may also be used for accounting periods used by companies, though it is preferable to say financial or business year. Flack, flak – Flack is an American slang term for a public relations person, to be used only if explained. Flak is anti-aircraft fire or heavy criticism. Flair, flare – A flair is a talent, a flare is an illuminating device. Flaunt, flout – To flaunt is to display ostentatiously (not just to display), to flout is to defy, e. g. By flaunting your wealth you flout convention. Flay, flail – Flay is to flog or subject to savage criticism. Flail is to strike or swing. Flight numbers – When scheduled flights come into the news – crashes, hijackings, bomb scares. etc. – give the flight number together with other identification such as type of aircraft, airline, destination and route. Flounder, founder – Flounder is a fish or to struggle violently or stumble helplessly. Founder is to subside, sink or collapse in ruins.
!185 Flout – See flaunt. Flushing – Not Vissingen, the Netherlands. Flyer – Not flier.** flier – For both aviator and handbill, not flyer, although some trains and buses use flyer as part of their proper name. (American style) Flyhalf – One word for rugby position focus, focused
Following – Prefer after as a preposition, e.g. After the crash… not Following the crash… follow up, follow-up – Two words for the verb, one word for the noun and adjective. Foodstuffs, supplies – In most cases food is enough. Foot – To convert to metres roughly multiply by 3 and divide by 10. To convert precisely multiply by 0.305. foot-and-mouth disease – Retain the hyphenation even if foot-and-mouth is used alone without the noun it qualifies. Not hoof-and-mouth. Forbear, forebear – Forbear means to abstain or keep oneself in check, a forebear is an ancestor. Forbid, forbidding, forbade forecast – Past tense is forecast not forecasted forego, forgo – forego is to precede, forgo to do without. Forehand – One word in racket sports. Foreign language phrases – Use such phrases or quotes only in exceptional cases, for instance where no generally recognized English equivalent exists. They must always be explained,
e.g. Dismissing the libel action, the judge said, “De minimis non curat lex “ (a Latin phrase meaning “The law does not concern itself with very small matters’). Forensic – Of or used in courts of law. Do not use forensic examination when you mean examination by forensic scientists. foreseeable Forever – Not for ever
!186 Forex – A widely used abbreviation for foreign exchange. It can be used in headlines if there are space constraints. Elsewhere it is better to use the full description. Forex is also a club grouping foreign exchange dealers. Each major foreign exchange dealing centre has its own forex club. Format – formatted. Formula, formulas – Not formulae. Formula One – Capitalized in motor sport. Forsake, forsaken, forsook forswear Fortnight – Prefer two weeks. Fortuitous, fortunate – Fortuitous means by chance and fortunate means lucky. Forward – Not forwards. Foul, fowl – Foul is dirty, disfigured or an infraction in sport. Fowl is a bird. Four-wheel drive – Not 4×4 unless it is part of a proper name. Fractions– In everyday life people think in fractions not decimals. So in stories for the general reader, and where mathematical precision is not essential, use a quarter, a third, a half rather than 25, 33, 50 percent. In a lead on an opinion poll, for instance, it is better to write Two Germans in three prefer.. than Sixty-nine per cent of Germans prefer.. The precise figure should be given lower in the story. Do not mix decimals and fractions in the same sentence, e.g. do not write 25 per cent of Germans prefer this while two-thirds prefer that… Hyphenate fractions like two-thirds, three-quarters. See also figur es . Free kick – Two words. French fries – Lower case. Fresco, frescoes – Not frescos. front line – Two words as noun. But front-line positions. front-runner, front-running FTC – Federal Trade Commission (U.S.). fuchsia !187 Fuel, fuelled **fuel, fueling, fueled (American style) Fulfill, fulfilling, fulfilled – But fulfilment Full – Hyphenate when used to form compound words, e.g. full-length, full-service. Fulsome – Not fullsome. It is not a synonym for lavish. Fulsome praise is excessive and fawning. Fundamentalist – One who believes in the literal truth of a sacred religious text such as the Bible or the Koran. Now more commonly used to describe extreme political and religious views. It has disparaging overtones. Use with care. furlough – Not furlow. Future plans – Tautology. Just plans will do. Similarly excise it from future prospects and future hopes. !188 G G3 – The world’s leading capitalist economies – Germany, Japan and the USA. G5 – The five largest capitalist economies: the United States, Japan, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Their governments meet informally to discuss general economic questions and specific issues like exchange rates and foreign debt. Their currencies constitute the IMF’s SDR. G7 – G5 plus Italy and Canada G7 heads of state or government meet annually and their meetings are also attended by the president of the European Commission and the president of the EU Council of Ministers. G7 members also hold more frequent meetings between their finance ministers and central bank governors. Senior officials who prepare for the meetings of the G7 leaders are called sherpas. G8 – The G7 plus Russia G10 – The G7 leading capitalist countries plus Belgium, The Netherlands and Sweden. Subsequently joined by Switzerland to make 11 but still referred to as the G10. It works within the framework of the IMF (q.v.) to coordinate members’ fiscal and monetary policies. G24 – A group of developing countries formed to represent their interests in negotiations on international monetary matters. Eight members each from Africa, Asia and Latin America G30 – A private, non-profit group of industry leaders, bankers, central bankers and academics that discusses and studies international economic and financial market issues G77 – Originally established with 77 developing countries, but now considerably expanded, to help promote the views of developing countries on international trade and development within the United Nations system, and to promote economic and technical co-operation. Gaborone – Not Gabarone, Botswana. Gaff, gaffe – Gaff is a hook, gaffe is a mistake. Gage, gauge –A gage is a pledge or to offer as a guarantee. Gauge is a standard or means of measurement. Gales – Use gales rather than gale-force winds. A gale is less powerful than a storm (q.v.) in nautical parlance.
!189 Gallon – To convert Imperial gallons to liters roughly multiply by 9 and divide by 2. To convert precisely multiply by 4.546 To convert US gallons to liters roughly multiply by 4. To convert precisely multiply by 3.785 To convert Imperial gallons to U.S. gallons roughly multiply by 6 and divide by 5. To convert precisely multiply by 1.201 To convert U.S. gallons to Imperial gallons roughly multiply by 5 and divide by 6. To convert precisely multiply by 0.833. See measures Gallup Poll Gambia – Not the Gambia, West Africa Gambit – Not simply an opening move (in chess or metaphorically) but one that involves a sacrifice or concession. Opening gambit is tautological. Gandhi – Not Ghandi. Gantlet – Prefer gauntlet for both an iron glove and the military punishment. gaol – Use jail. Gas – gases, gassing, gassed. Use petrol rather than the American gasoline when referring to the fuel. **gas – Use gasoline (American style) gay – The word is now universally used as a synonym for homosexual. Do not use it in other senses. Gender – See discriminatory language. General – Hyphenate brigadier-general, lieutenant-general, major-general. At second reference just the general. In the U.S. army a brigadier-general has one star, a major-general two, a lieutenant-general three and a general four. The British army has the rank of brigadier but not of brigadier-general. Gentile – Anyone not a Jew, or not a Mormon. Capitalize. Geographical and geological names – See capitalization geriatrics – Medical care of the elderly, The noun is geriatrics, the adjective geriatric. It does not mean just elderly.
!190 Germany – The united Germany, like the former West Germany, is formally called the Federal Republic of Germany. Write East Germany when referring to the former Communist state but eastern or western Germany when referring to the eastern and western parts of the unified Germany. get, got – There is always a stronger verb. Find it and use it. Ghetto – ghettos. GI, GIs – A U.S. soldier (from the term government issue). Use only in informal contexts. Giant – Do not use when describing companies. In general avoid this cliche. Gibe, gybe, jibe – A gibe is a taunt or sneer, to gybe is to swing a sail over or alter course, to jibe is American usage for to agree or accord with. The spellings are often used interchangeably but observe the distinctions. **gibe, jibe – A gibe is a taunt or sneer, a jibe is to swing a sail over or alter course, or to be in accord or agree with. (American style) Gibraltar, Strait of – Not Straits. Gipsy – See Gypsy . girl – Any female older than 18 is a woman not a girl. Use woman not lady. A male older than 18 is a man. See discriminatory language . glamour, glamorous, glamorise – Not glamourise. Global – Beware of excessive use. Global is correct for the threat of global warming, i.e. something that affects the whole globe.
However companies sometimes talk of their global network, an exaggeration unless they are represented in all the business centres on the globe. Try using world instead. GMT –Greenwich Mean Time – As the international standard it is not spelled out but should be capitalised. Western military forces use Zulu to mean GMT. It is only necessary to Convert a local time into GMT, e.g. 8:30 a. m. (1330 GMT) when the Greenwich time is relevant to the rest of the world, such as the moment when an earthquake struck. The conversion should also be given when previewing important events or statements by major figures, e.g. Smith to hold news conference at 0800 EST (1300 GMT). goalkeeper – One word in sports reporting. Keeper may be used, without an apostrophe. God – Capitalise when referring to the God of any monotheistic religion. Lower case any pronoun references. Lower case gods and goddesses for polytheistic religions.
!191 Godchild, goddaughter, godfather, godmother, godparents – Lower case, no hyphen. Similarly with godsend and godspeed. Godthaab – Use Nuuk, Greenland. Golden Week – A series of Japanese national holidays from late April to early May. Starts with Greenery Day on April 29 and ends with Children’s Day on May 5. Avoid calling it holiday-studded. Write in quotes as “Golden Week” in headlines and at first reference in the text and then without the quotes. good, bad – For financial and commodity markets good news and bad news depends on who you are and what your position is in the market. Avoid them. Goodbye – Not good bye or goodby. Goodwill – Noun and adjective. gorilla – See guerrilla , gorilla gourmand, gourmet – A gourmand is a glutton, a gourmet an epicure. Gospel – Capitalise for a specific reference to the books of the New Testament, the Gospels, the Gospel of St Luke. Lower case for gospel music. Governor-general, governors-general – Note hyphen Government ministers – See capitalisation Governmental bodies – See capitalisation Graffiti – Scribbling on a wall. This is a plural noun. The singular is graffito. Gram – Not gramme. For kilogram use kg (no full stop, same singular and plural) at all references. Convert to ounces for weights up to 400 grams, to pounds for larger weights. To convert to ounces roughly divide grams by 30, precisely multiply by 0.035. To convert grams to pounds roughly multiply by two and divide by 900, precisely multiply by 0.0022. See measur es . Grammar – These are some grammatical points that frequently cause difficulty. a, an: Use a before a word that begins with the sound of a consonant, e.g. a gun, a historian, a hotel, a hysterectomy, a NATO member, a one-armed man, a
U.N. member. Use an before a word that begins with the sound of a vowel, e.g. an heir, an honour, an OPEC member.
!192 Adjectives: Use them sparingly. Avoid adjectives that imply a Reuters judgment, e.g. a hard-line speech, a glowing tribute, a staunch conservative. Some people might consider the speech moderate, the tribute fulsome or the conservative a die-hard reactionary. When using an adjective and a noun together as an adjective, hyphenate them, e.g. a blue-chip share, high-caste Hindus. When using an adjective and the past participle of a verb together adjectivally, hyphenate them, e.g. old-fashioned morality, rose-tinted spectacles. Do not hyphenate an adverb and adjective when they stand alone, e.g. The artist was well known. If the adverb and adjective are paired to form a new adjective, they are hyphenated, e.g. a well-known artist. Do not do this if the adverb ends in -ly, e.g. a poorly planned operation. Adverbs: Put the adverb between the auxiliary verb and the past participle, e.g. France has already refused… not France already has refused … as, like: as compares verbs, like compares nouns. He fought as a hero should. But: He acted like a hero. Collective nouns: Most collective nouns and names of countries, governments, organisations and companies are followed by singular verbs and singular neuter pronouns, e.g. The government, which is studying the problem said it… not The government, who are studying the problem, said they.. Exceptions are the police (police are), the couple (the couple are) and Reuters sports stories, where teams take plural verbs and pronouns. neither: Used on its own it always takes a singular verb. Neither is available. neither … nor: Can govern only two elements e.g. Neither Norway nor Sweden voted. Do not write Neither Norway, Sweden nor Denmark voted. If both elements are singular use a singular
verb, e.g. Neither France nor Germany welcomes the prospect. If one element is singular and one plural then the verb agrees with the noun nearest to it. E.g. Neither the players nor the referee is fit. Neither Joe or his parents were able to come. Always use neither … nor… Do not use neither…or. Always use not … or. Do not use not…nor. participles: The unattached participle is a frequent trap for the unwary. There are cases in which an unattached participle is acceptable, e.g. considering the risks involved, you were right to cancel the trip. Although it is not you who is considering the risks but the writer of the sentence, the sense is clear. But avoid the unattached participle when it makes the sentence absurd, e.g.: Having disarmed, Ruritania’s allies guaranteed its defence. Here the participle having disarmed is wrongly attached to the allies when in fact it is Ruritania that has disarmed. Fetching anything between $16,000 and $40,000, onIy about 2,500 women around the world can afford to buy haute couture dresses. The juxtaposition of fetching and women suggests it is the women not the dresses who are worth $16,000.
!193 Split infinitive: Avoid splitting infinitives unless the alternative is an unnatural word order. The president vowed to ruthlessly crush all armed opposition reads better than ruthlessly to crush or to crush ruthlessly. that, which: Use that in defining clauses, e.g. the cup that cheers. Reserve which for informative clauses,
e.g.
the cup, which was blue, was full of water. Avoid the unnecessary use of that as in He said that he was going to … who, whom: who is the subject, whom the object of a verb. As a rough guide as to which word to use, substitute he or him for the who or whom and see which makes sense. But we should follow common usage and be ready to use who as the object where this sounds and looks more natural, e.g. Who she met at the midnight rendezvous was not yet known. Granddad granddaughter – Not granddaughter. Similarly grandmother, grandfather, grandson. Grand Prix – Capitalize in the title of a race or event, e.g. Monaco Grand Prix, but lower case generally,
e.g.
Michael Schumacher won his first grand prix. The plural is grands prix. Grand slam – Lower case in description of tennis tournaments. Grass court – Two words as an adjective plus noun, e.g. Wimbledon’s grass courts are famous, but one word as an adjective, grasscourt tournament. Great Britain – Comprises England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom comprises Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In sports reporting use Britain.
See also United Kingdom Great- Hyphenate great-grandfather, great-grandmother, great-great-grandson etc. Grey** gray (American style) Grievous – Not grievious. Grisly, grizzly – grisly means ghastly, grizzly means grey-haired. A grizzly is also a kind of North American bear. grovel – grovelled. grow – Farmers grow crops. Companies do not grow revenues. gruelling – A cliché best avoided. Guerrilla, gorilla – Guerrilla, not guerilla, is a member of a small band of independent fighters which harasses an army. Gorilla is the animal. See emotive words, terrorism
!194 Guest – Do not use as a verb. Gulf – Use for the Middle East Gulf. Do not use Arabian or Persian Gulf. Write the Gulf of Mexico in full at first reference. Gully – Not gulley, for cricket fielding position. Guns – See weapons in section on military. gunwale – Not gunwhale. Gurkha – Not Ghurka. guttural – Not gutteral. Gypsy – Not Gipsy. Capitalise when referring to the nomadic people found mainly in Europe and North America. Members of the ethnic group call themselves Roma. Do not capitalise when used generically to describe someone who is constantly on the move, e.g. She led the life of a gypsy.
!195 H
Haarlem, Harlem – Haarlem is in the Netherlands, HarIem in New York City. Habeas corpus – Not habeus. A writ to produce a prisoner before a court. Habsburg – Not Hapsburg. Haiti – Not an island. It shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. hale, hail – Hale is free from disease, or to pull or haul by force. Hail is to salute or call out, or an ice shower. Hail a cab. A person is hale and hearty. Half-mast – Hyphenate. Strict military protocol distinguishes between half- mast for ships and naval stations and half-staff for uses on land. Haj – Not hadj, hajj. A Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. haji – One who has performed the haj. Halftime – One word Halo, halos Handgun – See military . Hang – A person is hanged, a picture is hung. Hangar, hanger – hangar is a shelter for aircraft, a hanger for clothes hara-kiri – Japanese ritual suicide. Not hari-kari. Harass, harassment – Not harrass. But Embarrass. Hard court – The hard courts were designed for big servers, but one word as an adjective, e.g. hardcourt tournament. hard fought – Avoid this cliché in sports reporting. Most competitive matches are hard fought and it is a story if they are not. hardline, hardliner – Spell as one word, without hyphen. See also emotive words. Hat-trick – Hyphenated. H-bomb – Use hydrogen bomb in text unless directly quoting someone. May be used in Headlines. Headroom – One word. !196 Health care – Two words, but hyphenated if used as an adjective. Hectare – To convert to acres roughly multiply by five and divide by two, precisely multiply by 2.471. heights – Convert the heights of mountains, buildings, etc. to feet not yards from meters. Hemorrhage – Not haemorrhage. Prefer bleeding. hemorrhoid – Not haemorrhoid Here – Avoid using here as a device to locate the action of a story. It can lead to confusion, ambiguity and sometimes error. It is often not necessary to give a locator in a lead paragraph. For instance, in a Budapest-datelined story on a meeting between the Hungarian and French presidents one would assume that they met in the capital unless the story explicitly said otherwise. In that case the reference to the talks being in Budapest could come in the second or third paragraph. hertz – A unit of frequency of one cycle per second. It usually requires explanation. e.g. 16,000 hertz (cycles per second). Hiccup – Not hiccough. hi-fi high-tech – Not hi-tech. Use as adjective only. As a noun write high- technology. hike – Use rise or increase when referring to pay, prices, etc. Hint – Do not use. A hopelessly inadequate word, which risks making a value judgment. Who said what and where and when? Hippie – Not hippy. A rebel against conventional standards and values. Hispanic names – People in Spanish-speaking countries usually include in their full names the family name of their father followed by that of their mother, sometimes linked by y (and), e.g. Ferdinand Maradona Lopez, Pedro Ardiles y Portillo. Give the full name at first reference, but only the father’s family name (Maradona, Ardiles) at second reference, unless the person is normally known by the combination of two names. Portuguese, Spanish and Brazilian soccer players may be known by several names, one name, or a nickname. Follow commonly accepted usage e.g. Pele, Joao Pinto, Edu. Historic, historical – A historic event is a major and dramatic one, a historical event is one which, even if in itself quite minor, is part of history. Historic is nearly always the word needed in Reuters copy but use it with care to avoid writing a cliché.
!197 Hit by – Do not use when you mean affected by. Hitler – First name was Adolf not Adolph. His title was Fuehrer (leader) not Fuhrer. HIV – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The term AIDS applies to the most advanced stages of HIV infection. The initials AIDS and HIV may be used by themselves at first reference with the full name given lower in the story. Do not write HIV virus, which is redundant. hoard, horde – A hoard is a hidden stock or treasure, a horde a multitude. Hoary –Not hoarey, for something ancient or white with age, hoi polloi – Not the hoi polloi Prefer the masses, or the common people. Holland – Use the Netherlands except in datelines, where it is just Netherlands, e.g. ARNHEM, Netherlands, May 16 …
Holocaust – Wholesale slaughter or destruction by fire. Capitalise when referring to the Nazi massacre of European Jewry in 1939-45. Holy Places – The Holy Places of Islam are Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, in that order. In Mecca the great mosque containing the Kaaba is venerated especially in the annual haj or pilgrimage. In Medina it is the Prophet Mohammed’s mosque where the founder of the Islamic religion is buried. Non-believers are not allowed to enter Mecca or Medina. In Jerusalem it is al-Haram al-Sharif, which Jews call the Temple Mount (q.v.) Homeopathy – Not homoeopathy. homosexual – The word applies to both men and women, not just to men. Therefore do not write homosexuals and lesbians, although you can refer to homosexual men and women. Honorifics – See courtesy titles, nobility, religious titles, and royalty. Hoof-and-mouth – Use foot-and-mouth. Hopefully – Except in quotation do not use to mean it is hoped that … horde, hoard – A horde is a multitude, and a hoard is a hidden stock or treasure. Hospitalize, hospitalization – Do not use. Prefer taken to hospital or treated in hospital. On most occasions you can simply drop the reference because seriously ill or injured people are usually treated in hospital. See also injuries, wounds. Host –A noun. Best avoided as a verb.
!198 House of Representatives – Capitalize when referring to a specific body e.g. the U.S. House of Representatives. Housing unit – Jargon. Use home or household. howitzer – See military . HUD – Department of Housing and Urban Development (U.S.). Human being – Just human will do. Humorist – Not humourist. Hundredweight – UK/U.S. long = 112 pounds/50.8 kilograms. U.S. short 100 pounds/45.4 kilograms. See also measur es . Hung – A person is hanged, a picture is hung. hurricanes – See storms . Hyphenation – See punctuation . hyperthermia – Too hot – er as in very. Hypothermia – Too cold. Think that o rhymes with low.
!199 I IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna). IATA – International Air Transport Association (Geneva). ibn – Use bin in Arab names to mean son of. ICAO – International Civil Aviation Organisation (Montreal). ice age – Lower case. ICBM – See military . ICO – See OIC . icon – Best used only to describe a religious image. ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross (Geneva). See Red Cross. Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncrasies – Not idiosyncracy. IISS – International Institute for Strategic Studies (London). illicit – See elicit . Illusion – See allusion, illusion ILO – International Labour Organisation (Geneva). Imam – Lower case when describing the official who leads devotions in a mosque. Upper case when part of an official title. IMCO – Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (London). IMF – International Monetary Fund (Washington). A specialised agency of the U.N. which has a wide-ranging brief to oversee the international monetary system. The IMF provides funds to member countries with balance of payments problems, to support policies of adjustment and reform. Its main units are the policy-making Interim Committee and the Development Committee which usually meet twice a year. Its funds come from subscriptions from member states and there are differential quota subscriptions representing differential drawing rights and voting powers. Immigrate – See emigrate, immigrate.
!200 Impacted by – Ugly and imprecise. Use affected by, or better helped by or hurt by. Similarly, avoid impacted on and replace with affected, helped, hurt etc. imply, infer – A speaker or writer implies by insinuating or suggesting indirectly. A listener or reader infers by drawing a conclusion from what is said. Imports from abroad – A tautology. Just imports will do. Impostor – Not imposter. impresario – Not impressario impress – A transitive verb which requires an object. Jim Smith impressed selectors, not
Smith impressed during his two-hour innings. The passive, was impressive /unimpressive, is permissible but weaker and less informative. In addition to – Just and will often suffice, or as well as or besides. In, into – In shows place, into shows movement. He was in the square when the soldiers marched into the town. Into is one word, on to is two. Inadmissible – Not inadmissable. Inasmuch as in connection with – Clumsy and inexact. Did something happen because of something else? Insofar as in the past – Often redundant when used with the past tense. An exception might be a reference to the very distant past.
Inch – To convert to centimetres roughly multiply by 5 and divide by 2, precisely multiply by 2.54 Include, comprise – Use include only when listing some component parts of a whole: The European Union includes Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. If listing all the components use comprise: Benelux comprises Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Incredible, incredulous – Incredible is unbelievable, incredulous is sceptical. incur, Incurring, incurred Index, indexes – Use indexes as the plural for all senses, including measurements of economic activity. Do not use indices. Indicated – Best avoided as it implies subjective interpretation by the correspondent. indirect speech – See writing (reported speech) .
!201 Indiscriminate, indiscriminately Indispensable – Not indispensible. Indoor, indoors – Indoor is the adjective, indoors is the adverb. He stayed indoors to let off the indoor firework. Industrial action – Avoid this euphemism. If you mean a strike, say so. If you do not mean a strike, then be specific. In fact – Can almost always be excised. infer – See imply . Injuries, wounds – Wounds are suffered in combat or are inflicted by weapons or war, injuries by accident or criminal attack. Be as specific as possible, e.g. His right leg was broken not His leg was broken. Write His left arm was broken not He suffered an arm fracture. Use suffered rather than sustained or received. Avoid hospitalise. Innocent – Report a plea or a verdict as it was made in court. If it was not guilty, do not report it as innocent. Inquire inquiry – Not enquire, enquiry. Insignia – Strictly a plural noun but can be treated as singular as well. Each of the guilds had an insignia. Insolvency – See bankruptcy. Install – Not instal. Installation but instalment. instil, instilled – Instillation but instilment. Instinctive, instinctual – Instinctive is prompted by instinct, instinctual is belonging to or related to instincts. in spite of – Use despite. Insure – See ensure
!202 International Court of Justice – This is the proper title of the World Court in The Hague, which is the main U. N. judicial body. Always use the term World Court at second reference. The Court has a dual role: to settle in accordance with international law the legal disputes submitted to it by States, and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized international organs and agencies. International Criminal Court – The court set up in The Hague under the auspices of the United Nations to try crimes such as genocide. Internecine – Internecine means deadly or murderous as well as conflict within a group. Internecine warfare is tautologous. Internet – Capitalize. Interpol – The International Criminal Police Organization (Lyon). Interpol can be used at all references. Interpretative – Not interpretive. Interval – An interval is the time between two events. Do not use it to mean simply elapsed time. He studied for an interval of three years is wrong. For an interval can be excised. There was an interval of a year between his two degrees is right. Intifada – Arabic for “uprising”. It is used to describe two Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. The first began in December 1987 and ran roughly until September 1993 when leaders signed an interim accord under which Israel handed over parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Palestinian self-rule. A second Intifada began in September 2000. Capitalize the word. Into – one word. On to, two words. Intranet – Lower case. Invariably – Means fixed and without exception, not usual or frequent or commonly. Invariably the children catch colds is wrong. Invariably spring follows winter.
Inveigh, inveigle – Inveigh is to revile or to attack with words. Inveigle is to entice, cajole or wheedle. Invoke – See evoke IOC – International Olympic Committee (Lausanne). IOM – International Organization for Migration (Geneva). This is a non-U.N. intergovernmental agency whose main task is to arrange the movement of refugees and migrants to new homes. IRA – Irish Republican Army. May be used alone at first reference from a dateline in the British Isles. If the full name is used at first reference, the initials need not be bracketed in. See also Northern Ireland
!203 Irascible – Not irrascible. Ireland – Do not use Eire for the Republic of Ireland. See also Northern Ireland . IrianJaya – Indonesian province now known as Papua. It borders Papua New Guinea ironically – Use only rarely and with the greatest care. The word has several meanings and most are misunderstood and misapplied. Irregardless – This is a double negative. Use regardless. IRS – Internal Revenue Service (U.S.). isation, -zation – For services outside the Americas when there is a choice between – isation and –ization for a noun ending use -isation. **-ization, -isation – For services in the Americas when there is a choice between – ization and –isation for a noun ending use –ization. (American style) ise, -ize – For services outside the Americas when there is a choice between -ise and -ize for a verb ending use -ise. ** For services in the Americas when there is a choice between-ize and –ise for a verb ending use –ize. (American style) Islam – Religion practiced by Muslims. Islamic – Similar to Muslim as an adjective; often used more widely to describe architecture, art, banking, culture, law etc. An Islamic state is a country ruled by Islamic law (sharia). A Muslim country is one whose population is predominantly Muslim. Islamist – A person or organisation advocating a political ideology based on Islam. Islamist is not a pejorative term. Only some Islamists advocate violence to achieve their goals. Describe these as jihadi or jihadist groups or militant Islamists. Islamisation – Not Islamicisation. The word should be explained with a phrase, depending on context, like the imposition of Islamic law (sharia). Israeli names – Use ch rather than h in transliterating Israeli names into English, e.g. Chaim not Haim. Use the h form only if we know it is the individual’s personal preference. It – Use the pronoun it rather than she when referring to ships. Its, it’s – The possessive pronoun has no apostrophe, unlike the contraction it’s meaning it is. Avoid the contraction unless quoting someone. Its as a possessive pronoun is often superfluous, e.g. The company is trying to reduce its debt and plans to sell its less-profitable assets.
!204 J Jail, jailer – Not gaol, gaoler. Jap – Do not use as an abbreviation for Japanese, except in quotation. Japanese legal system – Libel and slander laws in Japan are vague. Police confirmation of criminal investigations is rare, except for leaks to an exclusive police agency press club from which foreign media are excluded. Reuters pickups of Japanese media reports would probably not be actionable in Japan but they could be the subject of action in other countries with stricter rules if the plaintiff had a reputation that could be damaged abroad. Suspects in Japan can be held for as long as 48 hours before a formal arrest warrant is issued. The suspect can then be held for a further 72 hours until a prosecutor decides whether there is enough evidence to lay charges. It can then take up to 20 more days before an indictment is obtained. Jargon – The general principles stated by H.W. and F.G. Fowler 80 years ago hold good: Prefer the familiar word to the farfetched. Prefer the short word to the long and the single word to the circumlocution. Prefer the concrete word to the abstract. Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance. To expand on Fowler, avoid pompous words like ongoing, escalating, prestigious, meaningful, facility. More often than not we can also do without special, key, dramatic, major, giant, large-scale, and massive and crisis. Modish words like confrontation substitute polysyllabic vagueness for the crisp precision of (in this case) clash, dispute or even war. If you have to convert into better English a word like confrontation,
use the most conservative of its various meanings. Political and military jargon is riddled with euphemism and serves as much to conceal as to express meaning. Unless you are directly quoting someone turn jargon into clear English. While we use professional jargon in discussing our work – skeds, obits, stringers, paras, rejigs and the like – we should not use it on the file. Words like obituary and schedule should be written in full. Important groups of our clients are not in the media and of those who are, most work in a language other than English. Do not use words that are ambiguous. Avoid stilted expressions like at this moment … in respect to … in receipt of … with a view to … in connection with … are availing themselves … have made available … remuneration … (de)escalation … methodology … in the wake of … apprehension as to the outcome. See also writing, clichés, long words. Jeddah – Not Jedda or jiddah, Saudi Arabia.
!205 Jeep, Jeep – Lower case for a military vehicle. Upper case for the brand of civilian vehicle. Jerusalem – Israelis and Arabs dispute the status of the city. Do not use it as a synonym for Israel, as in the Jerusalem government. Jets – Most modern airliners and military aircraft have jet engines. Do not use such terms as jet airliner or jetliner unless the fact that the aircraft is jet-powered is relevant. It would be more helpful to specify if an airliner or military aircraft is propeller driven. Jew – Use for both men and women. Do not use Jewess. jibe – See gibe , gybe , jibe . jihad – An Islamic holy war or struggle. Jihadi, jihadist – Muslim holy warrior; a person or group using violence to advance a political-religious cause. jittery – Use anxious or nervous or frightened. jodhpurs – Not jodpurs. Join together – Just join will do. Judgment – Not judgement. Judo, jujitsu – judo is a modern form of ju-jitsu, Japanese wrestling. jumbo jet – Loosely a large wide-bodied airliner, specifically the Boeing 747. Junta – A political clique or a government formed by such a clique, usually after a revolution or coup. Jury – Singular. The jury has reached its decision. Just deserts – What you deserve, not desserts which you have for pudding.
!206 K Kaaba – Islam’s most sacred shrine at the centre of the great mosque in Mecca. It is a mass of stone 38 feet high, 40 long and 30 wide (11 x 12 x 9 metres). See Holy Places. Kampuchea – See Cambodia . Kathmandu – Not Katmandu, Nepal. keenness – Not keeness. Kermanshah – Use Bakhtaran for both the city of Kermanshah and the province of Kermanshah, Iran. kerosene – Not kerosine. Medium-light distillate used for lighting and heating and to provide fuel for jet and turbo-prop aircraft engines. Called paraffin or paraffin oil in Britain. ketchup – Not catchup or catsup. Key – Overused as an adjective and usually superfluous. keynote – One word as in keynote speech or keynote address, but it is a tired cliché and best expressed in another way. Explain why the speech is keynote. KGB – Initials of the former Soviet Committee for State Security (Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti), split up and renamed in 1991. Since then Russian internal and foreign security agencies have been reorganised several times but can still be referred to as successors to the KGB. This does not include the Interior Ministry in charge of the police, which was separate from the KGB in the post-Stalin Soviet Union. Khmer Rouge – Cambodian Communists – See Cambodia. kibbutz – Plural kibbutzim. An Israeli collective settlement. kick-off, kick off – Hyphenated for the noun and two words for the verb. Kidnap, kidnapping, kidnapped, kidnapper kids – Use children Kilogram – Use kg (no full stop, same singular and plural) at all references. Convert kilograms to pounds for small weights (below 1,000 kg), to tons for larger weights. To convert to pounds roughly multiply by 22 and divide by 10, precisely multiply by 2.205. To convert to tons roughly divide by 1,000, precisely multiply by 0.000984.
!207 kilometre – Use km (no full stop, same singular and plural) at all references, except in a phrase like hundreds of kilometres. To convert to miles roughly multiply by 5 and divide by 8, precisely multiply by
0.621. km per hour – First reference, kph on second and subsequent references. kiloton – A measure of explosive force, equal to that of 1,000 tons of TNT. The atomic bomb dropped at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, was a 12.5 kiloton weapon. kindergarten – Not kindergarden. king – At second reference either the king or the full name, e.g. King Baudouin. Also capitalise the titles of deposed monarchs, e.g. ex -King Zahir Shah. Kiribati – Formerly Gilbert Islands, West Pacific. Kmart – No hyphen and no space. knowledgeable knot – A measurement of speed, not distance. It tells you how many nautical miles (1.15 statute miles) a vessel or aircraft has travelled in one hour. Do not convert to miles per hour. Do not write knots per hour. Kolkata – Not Calcutta, India. Koran – Capitalised, the Koran. Korean names – Koreans put their surname first. The given name follows, hyphenated, and with the initial letter of the first part in upper case and the initial letter of the second part in lower case. Examples: Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Ahn Jung-hwan. Use the surname only at second reference, e.g. Kim, Roh, Ahn. There are some rare cases where there is just one monosyllabic given name, for example Park Seung, where Seung is the given name. Kosher – Lower case. kowtow – No hyphen. kph – Use km per hour on first reference, kph on subsequent references. Ku Klux Klan – A loose-knit organization of about 40 U.S. groups which claim the supremacy of the white or Aryan race. Members of the KKK sometimes wear hooded white sheets to shield their identities during public protests or cross-burnings. kudos – Fame, credit or renown. Always singular
!208 Laager, lager – A laager Is a defensive encampment, literally or metaphorically, while lager is a beer. Labour Party, Labor Day – Follow the convention used for proper names. If proper names are in English use the style and spelling used locally or as it appears on the organisation’s own nameplate and business cards, e.g. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Scottish Labour Party, Australian Labor Party,
U.S. Department of Defense. If proper names are translated into English use the spelling convention of that region. lady – Use woman. Permissible in a team title such as Fulham Ladies’ football club. Where organizers use the title Ladies’ Championship, as at Wimbledon, substitute women’s championship. Laissez faire – Not laisser faire. lambast – Not lambaste. lame duck, lame-duck – Two words for the noun, one word for the adjective. Land – The generic term for a federal state in Germany or Austria. Land Rover – Trade mark. Capitalised. No hyphen. Languid, limpid – Languid means flagging, inert or listless. Limpid is clear or transparent. languor, languorous – Not langour. Laos – Use Lao for the language. Otherwise the adjective is Laotian, although there is a Lao ethnic group. Large-scale – Big is shorter and usually better. Laser – Acronym for a device using light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, used in microsurgery and high-technology industry. Last/past/latest – Last refers to times up to the present. Past is vaguer. The striker has been injured for the last (not past) three games but the star relived past glories. Use latest if last might confuse the most recent with the final occasion. His latest attempt my not be his last. Last Supper – Capitalised.
!209 lathi – Heavy stick carried by Indian police. Explain if used. Laudable, laudatory – Laudable is praiseworthy. Laudatory is giving or expressing praise. launderette – Not laundrette. Lay, lie – Lay in the present tense takes an object. I lay down my arms, or I am laying down my arms. He laid down his arms. He has laid down his arms. Lie in the present tense does not take a direct object. I lie down to sleep, or I am lying down. I lay down yesterday. I have lain down for two hours. Lay waste – You lay waste a city, not lay waste to a city. Lead, leading, led – The past participle is led. Leave – As a verb, weak and imprecise. Use a more accurate and active verb. The attack killed three and wounded more than 20, not The attack left three killed. Duffy suffered torn ligaments after two clumsy tackles not Two clumsy tackles left Duffy with torn ligaments. Lebanon – Not The Lebanon Lectern – See dais
Left wing – A left-winger, a left-wing politician, but the left wing of the political spectrum. left-arm spinner – The adjective is hyphenated. leg slip – Two words for cricket fielding position. Leg spinner – Two words for bowler in cricket. Legendary – Do not use except for legends. No sports person is a legend. Legionnaires’ disease – Plural possessive and capitalised. Legislature – Lower case in all uses. Less – See fewer , less than . level, levelling, levelled. ** Level, leveling, leveled (American style) leukaemia** leukemia – (American style) Levi’s – Trademark for a brand of jeans. Note the apostrophe. Liaison – Note the second
!210 Liberal – Capitalise only when part of a proper name. licence, license – Licence is the noun, license the verb. ** license – Both noun and verb. (American style) Lie, lying, lied – To tell untruths. lieutenant – Hyphenate lieutenant-colonel and lieutenant-commander. At second reference just the colonel, the commander. Second lieutenant is not hyphenated but sub-lieutenant is. In the U.S. navy it is Lieutenant (j.g.) John Smith, j.g. meaning junior grade. Lifelong – It is wrong to call someone a lifelong alcoholic unless they started drinking in infancy. Make sure the activity or attribute really is lifelong. life-size lifestyle, lifetime Lift – Do not use as a synonym for raise, as in The Federal Reserve lifts discount rate. Light, lighting, lit – Use lit for the past participle. Lightning, lightening – Thunder follows lightning. After the storm the sky is lightening. Light-year – A measure of distance not time. It is the distance light will travel in one year, about six million million miles (six trillion miles) or 9.6 million million km (9.6 trillion km). Like, as – As compares verbs, like compares nouns and pronouns. He acted as a hero should. But: He acted like a hero. like, such as – Like means similar to. Such is used when offering an example. Politicians like Brown have short tempers and long memories, but Players such as Smith, Patel and Jones are essential in the team. Do not use like as a synonym for as if. He looks as if he is reviving, not like he is reviving. Like-– Hyphenate the prefix when it means similar to, e.g. like-spirited. No hyphen when it is part of a single word, e.g. likeliness, likelihood. Likeable – Not likable. Linage, lineage – Linage is measurement or payment by the line and lineage is ancestry. Linchpin – Not lynchpin. But lynch law. Liquefy liquefaction – Not liquify. But liquidate. Liquidation – See bankruptcy.
!211 Lists – Lists should be in alphabetical order unless there is some other point being emphasized in the text that calls for a different order. So when referring to the G7, for example, say it “comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy Japan and the United States.” literally – Use only in quotation since it almost always in fact means metaphorically, e.g. He was literally shattered. Liter – To convert to Imperial gallons roughly multiply by two and divide by nine, precisely multiply by
0.22. To convert to U.S. gallons roughly divide by 4, precisely multiply by 0.264. ** Liter (American style) livable – Not livable. Livid, vivid – Livid can be used colloquially for extremely angry, but it means black and blue or pale and ashen. Do not confuse with vivid, which means full of life or very bright. Lloyd’s – Lloyd’s of London association of underwriters and Lloyd’s Register of Shipping both have apostrophes. Lloyds TSB Bank has no apostrophe. Loans – Do not use the verb give when referring to loans; they are paid for through interest. To avoid confusion, do not say someone is raising a loan when it is being arranged. Use the word raise only when the amount of a loan already arranged is being increased. We need the exact name of the borrower, whether the loan is being guaranteed by a parent company or another body, the amount, the maturity and the interest rate. If the interest rate is variable or “floating”, then we need the specific reference or base rate of interest, e.g. the three-month or six-month London interbank offered rate (Libor), and the margin of interest paid above, or even below it, e.g. ¼ percentage points. Abbreviations like Libor, Sibor, etc., are acceptable on second reference or in headlines. The interest payment might vary with the maturity. A five-year loan could pay 1/8 over Libor for three years, rising to
¼ over Libor for the last two years. The loan might have a grace period – the period during which only interest and no principal is paid. We should also report the fees paid to the banks, to discover the true cost to the borrower. For loans, there are likely to be a commitment fee – payment on any unused funds – and a facility fee, which is a payment for arranging the loan. Before a loan is fully repaid, borrowers can change the terms of a loan or replace it altogether. Sometimes a financially healthy borrower will take advantage of an improving market or credit rating to do so; often requests for changed terms are signs of financial desperation. Of the definitions below, for example, a refinancing or refinancing in it does not indicate financial health or desperation. More details would be required. The other terms, however, signal trouble.
!212 Refinancing – Borrower pays off one loan with the proceeds from another provided by other lenders. If the lenders are effectively the same, bankers might call it a refinancing to disguise a rescheduling. Restructuring – Borrower arranges to replace debt of one maturity with the debt of another. Rescheduling – Borrower delays repayment of principal according to a new schedule. Interest continues to flow, but the rate of interest might be raised or lowered. Moratorium – Borrower declares it needs time to sort out its economic affairs and suspends payments of principal and possibly of interest due. It is vital that you determine whether interest will be paid. If so, banks can continue to classify the loan as a “performing” asset. Repudiation – Borrower declares that it does not intend to service or repay existing debts. Default – A loose term best avoided unless technically correct. (It is often used to mean anything from failure to make an interest payment up to intent never to pay off a debt at all.) Technically, the borrower does not default. The lender declares the borrower in default, e.g. if the borrower does not repay either the interest or principal according to conditions governing the loan. The borrower may also be in breach of certain agreements concerning its overall financial health. In either case, an “event of default” may then have occurred, but the lender can refrain from calling a default, preferring to help the borrower sort things out. Given the imprecision of the phrase, make clear the nature of any default declared. To avoid using the word default, bankers often prefer to call loans sub-standard, nonperforming or value-impaired, so we need to know precisely why the loans are shaky.
Loath, loathe – Loath (not loth) is the adjective meaning reluctant or unwilling and loathe is the verb to dislike intensely. local – Do not use. Local to what and to where? Say exactly where something is if you need to locate it. For example, the phrase local officials can confuse. Say officials in Tokyo, in Montevideo or wherever. See also her e . London Club – An informal group of commercial creditors which meets on an ad hoc basis to discuss debt problems with a particular country. They will normally set up an advisory committee of banks headed by a major creditor to look into ways to reschedule or write off debt arrears. Meetings are nowadays rarely held in London. However, the term is often used by bankers as shorthand to differentiate commercial creditors from the official ones which make up the Paris Club (q.v.). Write an informal group of commercial creditors, called the London Club among bankers… Long-off, long-on – Hyphenated for cricket fielding positions.
!213 Long term, long-term – Two words for the noun, one word hyphenated for the adjective. They had a long-term relationship which endured for the long term. long time, longtime – Two words for the noun, one word for the adjective. Theirs was a longtime friendship which lasted a long time. long ton – See ton , tonne . Looking to – Japan was looking to Washington for support is all right. Japan was looking to restore good relations with Moscow is not. Lord’s – The London cricket ground. Note apostrophe. lord-lieutenant, lordlieutenants – Hyphenated. Note the plural. lorry – Use truck. Low-income – If you mean poor, say so. LNG – liquefied natural gas.
LPG – liquefied petroleum gas (mainly propane and butane). Lumbar, lumber – Lumbar is of the lower back and lumber is timber, stored furniture or to move heavily.
Luxembourg – Not Luxemburg Luxuriant, luxorious – Luxuriant is growth in rich abundance or excess. Luxurious is given to luxury or furnished with luxuries. Lyon – Not Lyons, France.
!214 M
Maastricht Treaty Macao – Use Macau. Mach number – Mach 1, Mach 2 etc. The Mach number is the ratio of an aircraft’s speed through the air compared with the speed of sound in the same conditions. Machinegun – One word. See military. Macroeconomic – No hyphen. Madagascar – Use Malagasy for the people and the language. Madonna – Use this title or the Virgin Mary not Our Lady except in titles such as Our Lady of Czestochowa or in the names of churches. Madras – Use Chennai, India. madrasa – Arabic word for school. Used to describe an Islamic religious school in some Muslim countries. Not madrassa or madrassah. mafia – Lower case unless referring to a specific branch. magazine titles – See capitalization . Maghreb – Loosely North Africa, less Egypt, and literally the western part of the Middle East. Maghreb is also the official name in Arabic of the Moroccan state. Maintain – Use this word with care. As a verb of saying it can like claim suggest that Reuters is skeptical about the statement quoted. Major – Avoid as an adjective. If it is not superfluous find a precise alternative. One exception is golf, where the four biggest tournaments are known as the majors. Majority of, vast majority of – Replace with most. majority, plurality – In election results a majority is more than half the votes, or more votes than all others combined. A plurality is more than the next highest number of votes. It may be less than 50 percent. An absolute majority is more than half the votes and a relative majority is more votes than anyone else. Malagasy – The people or language of Madagascar. Maldive Islands – Adjective Maldivian, South Asia.
!215 Mali – Adjective Malian, West Africa. Mammon – Lower case. Manifesto, manifestos Manila – Capital of the Philippines. Lower case for paper and envelopes. manoeuvre – Not maneuvre or maneuver.**maneuver (American style) mantel, mantle – Mantel is a frame around a fireplace. Mantle is a cloak or covering. manufacture, manufacturer – Make or maker is shorter. maps – Always check distances and directions given in a story by using a map. Marines – Capitalise when referring to the U.S. Marine Corps or when referring to its members. e.g. Six U.S. Marines, the U.S. Marines, Marine operations. See capitalisation Marquis – Not marquess. Marseille – Not Marseilles, France. marshal, marshalling, marshalled – The noun is an official in charge of ceremonies or military affairs, as in field marshal. The verb is to arrange in order. It is the Marshall Plan and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. Do not confuse with martial, belonging to war or to the army or navy. ** marshal, marshaling, marshalled (American style) martial – See marshal . Massawa – Not Massoua, Ethiopia. Masters Series – Leading tournaments in men’s tennis. Capitalised and with no apostrophe. E.g. Rome Masters Series tournament. Masters Tournament – Golf tournament. No apostrophe, the Masters on second reference. masterful/masterly – Masterly means very skilful and worthy of a master or champion. Masterful is imperious and domineering. The champion put on a masterly display of putting but The CEO had a masterful way with his executives. Match point – Two words in tennis and other racket sports’ scoring. materiel – Use the English term military equipment.
!216
! Materialize – Unless you mean take bodily form it is simpler to write happen or occur or take place. may, can – May is about asking permission and can is about the ability to act. If we may borrow your car we can drive to the beach. May can also be about uncertainty. War may start tomorrow, or may not. War can start tomorrow because all the weapons are in place. may, might – In the past tense may implies continued uncertainty, while might implies a possibility which did not happen. Wolves may have signed a new striker (but they may have not). Wolves might have won the cup (but they did not, because they failed to sign the striker). May Day, mayday – May Day, capitalised, is the holiday, and mayday is the international distress call for ships and aircraft. mayoress – The wife of a mayor, not a woman mayor. McDonnell Douglas Corp – Not MacDonnell or McDonnell-Douglas for the U.S. aircraft company.
M.D. – Use doctor, physician or surgeon. Meager **meager (American style) Mecca – One of Islam’s Holy Places (q.v.) Do not use in a colloquial sense since it is disparaging e.g. tourist mecca. mean – See averages . Measures – When abbreviating metric units use the singular form without a full stop, e.g. kg or km not kgs or kms. The following need not be spelled out on first mention: kg, km, lb, cm, mm. See also conversions , pound and ton/tonne . Medecins sans Frontieres – Literally Doctors without Borders, a group of volunteer doctors and other medical staff of various nationalities who operate with the agreement of the local government in any situation where they are needed, e.g. war, epidemics, famine. It has no political line. Spell out in first reference. At second reference abbreviate it to MSF and translate it. Take care when saying where MSF is based. There are different branches which act independently of each other. Media – A plural noun. Medieval – Not the alternative mediaeval, or the incorrect medievil. Median – See averages .
!217 Mediator – See arbitrator , arbiter , mediator . medical stories – Handle stories about new threats to health or reputed cures for AIDS, cancer and other scourges with great care and often should be filed ATTENTION EDITOR. They play on the hopes and fears of millions of people. If you have any doubts about such a story or are unfamiliar with the subject, bring it to the attention of a senior editor and explain how you got the story, the strength of your source and the checks you have made. If a story making dramatic claims for a cure for AIDS or cancer does not come from a reputable named source it must be checked with recognized medical experts before being issued (or rejected). If such a story is issued it should include whatever balancing or interpretative material is available from such authorities. Meet, mete – He met party leaders, not He met with party leaders. Mete is distributed or apportion, and meet is fitting. You mete out meet punishment. The adjectival use should be avoided unless in direct quotation. Mega- –Avoid as a prefix meaning very large. Use only when it means one million. Megaton – A measure of explosive force. A megaton is equivalent to the explosive force of one million tons of TNT (trinitrotoluene). Megawatt – The capacity of a power station is measured in megawatts and its output in megawatt hours. Do not confuse megawatt MW (a million watts) with a milliwatt mW (a thousandth of a watt). Melanesia – An island group in the Southwest Pacific. Micronesia is a group north of Melanesia and Polynesia is in the central Pacific. Memento, mementos memorandum, memorandums men’s, women’s – But menswear and women swear. Mercalli scale – See earthquakes . Mercedes-Benz – Note hyphen. Messerschmitt – Not Messerschmidt for the German aircraft or in the aerospace and armaments group Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Bloehm. metal, mettle – Metal is copper or steel. Mettle is spirit, temperament or courage. metaphors – See writing . mete – See meet , mete .
!218 Meters – Not metres for gas, electricity and parking meters. metre – Spell out in full, 100 metres. Convert metres to feet for short distances (up to 10 metres), to yards for longer distances. To convert to feet roughly add a zero and divide by three, precisely multiply by 3.28. To convert to yards roughly add a zero and divide by nine, precisely multiply by 1.094.
In athletics and swimming results metre, kilometre and centimetre are no longer specified. The figure is enough. In sports reporting do not convert to feet or yards except for golf and U.S. sport. ** meter (American style) metric ton – See ton , tonne . Micronesia – See Melanesia . mid-– No hyphen unless the following word starts with a capital letter,
e.g. mid-Pacific, mid-Atlantic. Cricket terms are an exception. Middle initials in names – Do not use them unless they are an essential distinguisher. Mideast– Use only in a headline if space is tight, but never in text. Prefer Middle East. Mid-off, mid-on, mid-wicket – Hyphenated for cricket fielding positions. Midterm – No hyphen. MiG – Note the lower case middle I. Use this abbreviation for the aircraft, e.g. MiG-25. See also military . Mileage – Not milage. mile – To convert to kilometres roughly multiply by 8 and divide by 5, precisely multiply by 1.609. One nautical or sea mile equals 1.853 km. miles per gallon – Use the abbreviation mpg only for second and subsequent references. Miles per hour – Use the abbreviation mph only for second and subsequent references. Military – The world is full of people with military experience who can tell a battleship from a destroyer, an AFV from an APC, cannon from a gun. When reporters get it wrong they lose credibility. If in doubt, use the generic or leave it out. This is a basic guide.
!219
! Aircraft warplane – One word. It is a useful one for the lead paragraph but it is better in most cases to be specific (fighter, bomber) although some aircraft can carry out a variety of missions, such as the F16. The Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt is a groundattack aircraft designed to support ground forces. The Panavia Tornado is a multirole combat aircraft. The B-52 is a long-range bomber. In financial stories and when dealing with contracts, sales and development, put the manufacturer’s name (and company) before the aircraft type. AWACS – Airborne Warning And Control System. Aircraft equipped with search radar, height-finding radar and communications equipment for controlling weapons, generally other aircraft, surveillance and early warning. The United States uses modified Boeing 707s with rotating radar domes above the fuselage. The U.S. Navy uses a smaller AWACS, the twin-engine turboprop E2C Hawkeye with a revolving dome. It flies from aircraft carriers and is built by Northrop Grumman Corp. helicopters – Helicopters are also aircraft. A spokesman who mentions aircraft could be referring to fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters or both. stealth – U.S. stealth aircraft are the F-117A Nighthawk fighter which is in fact a small bomber flown by a single crew member and designed for night attack on ground targets, not aerial warfare, and the larger B-2 “flying-wing” bomber manned by two or three crew and able to carry 16 2,000-pound (900 kg) satellite-guided bombs. Both aircraft are subsonic. They depend for their safety on carbon-based composite building materials and an unusual shape that absorbs radar signals or reflects them at angles which make the aircraft difficult to detect for useful periods of time. Do not capitalise stealth. STOL – short take-off and landing. (See also VTOL ) strafe – to machinegun or rocket from the air. Do not use in referring to aerial bombing or ground-to-ground attacks. UAV – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The Predator is a U.S.-built UAV costing $3 million that is primarily used to collect intelligence but can act as an offensive weapon, sometimes equipped with two Hellfire missiles. One was use to hunt down and kill six alleged Al Qaeda members in Yemen in 2002. The Global Hawk with a wingspan wider than a Boeing 737’s can loiter high above the area it is monitoring for more than 24 hours while the Dragoneye is a tiny unmanned scout aircraft for reconnaissance by ground troops. VTOL – vertical take-off and landing. The British-designed AV-8B Harrier ‘jump jet’ developed in the 1960s is unique among jet fighters in being able to take off vertically.
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Armoured Vehicles
(Note – If in doubt about the name of any of these just call it an armoured vehicle. See also guns . An artillery piece such as a gun or howitzer may be mounted on tracks or wheels and be self-propelled. Journalists have mistaken self-propelled guns for tanks.) armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) – neither a tank nor an armoured personnel carrier, but a hybrid evolved in an era of fast-paced warfare in which infantry must keep up with tanks. An AFV like the Bradley Fighting Vehicle used by the U.S. military carries a squad of infantry and has the punch to qualify as a fighting machine in its own right. The Soviet-designed BMP-1 carries infantry and is armed with an anti-tank missile launcher and a 73mm gun. The British GKN Warrior is a 25-tonne tracked armoured vehicle with a 30mm cannon. armoured personnel carrier (APC) – A tracked or wheeled vehicle that carries small groups of infantry into battle. It provides protection against small-arms fire and shell splinters, and may be armed with machineguns. The Soviet designed BTR-60 has gunports down the side for soldiers to fire their rifles. Tank – The main battlefield weapon, combining firepower, mobility and protection. Used in large numbers to break through a defensive line, to encircle an enemy formation or to cover a withdrawal. They are tracked, and usually armed with a large gun of perhaps 105mm, 120mm or 130mm calibre firing with the help of computerized target selection and fire control. Shells hardened with depleted uranium may be used to pierce armour. The secondary armament consists of one or more machineguns. The M1-A1 and M1-A2 Abrams used by the U.S. army have top speeds of 40 mph (60 kph). The British Challenger tank is designed to survive nuclear, chemical and biological attack. Battle fighting – This is relative. It ranges from hand-to-hand combat to the risk of an exchange of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Whatever it is, it is fierce and heavy to those involved. Avoid ‘fierce’ fighting and ‘heavy’ fighting unless casualties are known to be heavy or the fire intense. Spell out what is meant. Avoid using ‘infantry fighting’ simply because combatants are on foot. It implies a set-piece engagement not, for instance, a few militiamen jumping garden walls and blasting away with rifles for the camera. Offensive – An offensive is more specific than an attack. It is an extensive attack over days, weeks or months often on a wide front or an entire theatre of a campaign or war by air, sea or ground forces and sometimes all three. Raid – Use only when a force attacks and then leaves an objective, as opposed to occupying it.
!221 Ships warship – A naval vessel, though not necessarily an armed one. The term does imply the ship in question is a combatant but a fleet auxiliary – a navy ship carrying stores, fuel and ammunition – is a warship. Warships vary in armament and in size, from a few hundred tonnes to tens of thousands. It is preferable to identify the type – e.g. fast patrol-boat, corvette, frigate, destroyer, cruiser. Never use battleship (see below) as a synonym for warship. Aircraft carrier – A class of warship identified by its large, flat flight deck. A floating airfield, it carries fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters. It should not be confused with other classes of warship, such as frigate, destroyer or cruiser. These may also carry helicopters but they are not aircraft carriers. Assault ship – A warship designed to support amphibious and air operations against a land-based enemy. They carry helicopters, landing craft, commandos or marines, and may carry amphibious armoured vehicles. Battleship – A specific class of warship, the battleship is obsolete. It is not to be confused with other classes like corvette, minesweeper, patrol boat, frigate, destroyer. Do not use as a synonym for warship. Submarine – In naval parlance a boat rather than a ship. A submarine may fight submerged or on the surface, using torpedoes or missiles – the missiles being tactical or strategic. There are two main submarine types depending on the method of propulsion: nuclear and diesel electric. Units, Formations army – Structure of: (Note – Use capitals when you write the title of a specific unit e.g. the 1st Infantry Division but otherwise say division. Also note that there are many national exceptions to the broad definitions given here.) Squad – Usually refers to the basic building block of the U.S. army, equivalent to the British section of eight soldiers. Three squads or sections form a platoon. Platoon – The essential tactical unit in any army, capable of patrolling, attacking and defending independently. Usually about 30-strong, an infantry platoon typically has three sections or squads. The platoon may be led by a sergeant or a junior commissioned officer. It may have its own light machinegun and mortar units of two or three men each as well as anti-tank weapons and possibly shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. In a cavalry (armoured) unit the platoon is often called a troop of three or four vehicles. Some armies use troop instead of platoon in their artillery units. Company – usually three platoons commanded by a major or captain. In a cavalry unit the term squadron (see below) may be used instead. Artillery may be organized in batteries of six to a dozen guns, rocket-launchers or mortars.
!222 Battalion – the basic building block of any big military formation, a battalion comprises about 500 to 1,000 soldiers, broken down into companies, platoons, squads or sections. It is usually commanded by a lieutenant-colonel. It is the highest single-arm unit in many armies i.e. infantry, armoured or engineer battalion. Higher formations tend to be mixed and comprise, for instance, infantry and tank battalions. Some armies use the term regiment (see below) for a tank or artillery battalion. Brigade – Several battalions or regiments grouped together. Commanded by a brigadier, as in the British army, or brigadier-general. Some armies confuse reporters by using regiment (see below) to mean a brigade. Division –A group of brigades. Usually commanded by a major-general, it can contain all elements needed to operate independently and is then effectively a small self-contained army. Corps – Usually at least two divisions. Often commanded by a lieutenant-general. Army – At least two corps. Tends to be the command of a full fivestar general or, a marshal or field marshal. The army group – of several armies – was a feature of the big land battles of World War Two. Infantry – Soldiers who fight on foot. Traditionally, infantry would march into battle. Mechanised infantry refers to foot soldiers carried to the battlefield in trucks. In modern armies, infantry is carried into battle in armoured vehicles, supported by tanks and artillery. Regiment – Journalists should be careful with this term. Use varies. Find out precisely what is meant in any particular case. It can be used as a synonym for either a battalion or a brigade. Also, a regiment in the British army may have one or more battalions but these rarely serve together as or in a brigade. The 1st battalion of the Royal Halberdiers may be part of an armoured brigade formed for service in the Middle East while the 2nd battalion of the same regiment is in Scotland. Special Forces – Anything from the highly-trained
U.S. Rangers, Russia’s Spetsnaz and Britain’s Special Air Service Regiment to thugs with weapons. So-called special forces have been known to carry out such “special tasks” as ethnic cleansing, i.e. killing civilians. Use with care. Also avoid using the subjective terms crack and elite. Squadron – As with regiment (q.v.) journalists should be careful. Many but not all cavalry (armoured) regiments are broken down into squadrons and troops. Some air forces are organized on the basis of squadrons – each with several flights – and grouped as wings. The term squadron may also refer to a group of ships, a small fleet usually put together for some particular task. task force – A force organised for a special operation.
!223 Troops – Use in the plural for large, round numbers – scores, hundreds, thousands – of soldiers, not for small specific numbers. France sent 5,000 troops to the Gulf is right. Guerrillas killed three government troops is wrong. A troop (q.v.) may also be a small unit of armour or guns. Weapons artillery – A class of weapon that provides indirect fire over long distances. It comprises guns, howitzers, large mortars, multiple-rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and missiles. Avoid saying “big guns” or “heavy artillery” to dramatise events. Some armies use heavy artillery only for guns of a calibre of 203mm and up. An automatic weapon reloads itself and keeps firing as long as the trigger i s pressed. A semi-automatic reloads itself but the trigger has to be pressed for each shot. Many types of rifle offer the option of automatic fire and semi-automatic. A pistol is not an automatic weapon, but a machine-pistol is. Ballistic missile – A missile that is initially powered and may be guided but falls under gravity on to its target. It is fired upwards and then comes down. Care is needed because some missiles, although not many, fly on a flat trajectory and are therefore not ballistic missiles, e.g. a cruise missile (see below). Bullet – the projectile fired from a pistol, rifle or machinegun. It is distinguished from the spent cartridge case ejected from the weapon. The entire cartridge comprises cartridge case, priming charge, propellant and bullet. Bunker buster – an air-launched, laserguided U.S. bomb of around 5,000 lb (2,270 kg) used to penetrate hardened concrete structures, often underground. calibre – the calibre of a weapon that fires bullets, or rounds, is the internal diameter of its barrel. It is expressed in millimetres or decimal fractions of an inch,
e.g. a 12.7mm machinegun is equivalent to the U.S.-designed .50 calibre machinegun. Other examples: a 155mm howitzer, a 105mm field gun, an eightinch gun, a.22 pistol, a Colt.45, a.38 revolver. Cannon – A light, fast-firing weapon used to engage aircraft, ground or seaborne targets. It can be mounted in aircraft or on a truck, a tank chassis, a fast patrol boat or as the main armament on an armoured vehicle. It often has more than one barrel, and typically varies in calibre from 20mm up to 40mm. Cannon as a synonym for artillery is archaic and should be avoided. Cluster bomb – Released from the air and contains around 200 “bomblets” that can penetrate armour or kill anyone stepping on them. Cruise missile – A missile like the U.S. Tomahawk that is guided to its target using terrain-mapping radar. It can be a ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM) or air-launched (ALCM). They can also be launched from ships and submarines. Do not capitalize cruise. Daisy Cutter – a large 6,800 kg (15,000 lb) U.S. bomb
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E-bomb – energy pulse bomb. This emits high-power microwave signals intended to cripple enemy electronics. Gun – A long-range artillery weapon that fires shells through a rifled barrel over a considerable distance. A gun may be towed or self-propelled, when it moves under its own power on tracks or wheels, with the crew provided with some degree of armoured protection. Howitzer – An artillery piece with a relatively short barrel designed to fire at a high angle over hills or fortifications. Like other artillery weapons, a howitzer may be towed or it may be self-propelled. ICBM – Intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of about 3,500 miles. IRBM – Intermediate range ballistic missile. machinegun – A fully automatic weapon. A light machinegun typically provides a squad or section of soldiers with fire support. Although it is called light it may be heavier than a rifle. An example is the U.S. 5.56mm M-60. A heavy machinegun is “heavy” in terms of its calibre, not its weight. It may be used to provide the main armament on a troop carrier or the secondary armament on a tank. The U.S. .50 Browning machinegun is an example. Do not confuse with a submachinegun (q.v) which is lighter and designed for individual rather than group use. Machine pistol – An archaic term for a weapon superseded by the submachinegun. Machine pistol is to be used only when a weapon is specifically designated as such by the manufacturer or armed forces using it. MIRV – Multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle. Each of the warheads carried by this ICBM can be aimed at a different target. MOAB – Massive Ordnance Air Blast. A 9,750 kg (21,500 lb) bomb known as the “Mother of All Bombs”. Mortar –a mortar fires a bomb, not a shell, from a tube. It is therefore wrong to say mortars exploded at the airport. It is correct to say mortar bombs or mortar rounds did so. The mortar bomb has fins to stabilise it in flight. It is lobbed at the target, describing a steep parabola and falling almost vertically. It can strike behind a hill, house or wall, or hit troops in trenches. Small mortars are carried by infantry; larger ones may be mounted or towed. Multiple-rocket launcher – A number of tubes or racks, usually mounted on a vehicle and capable of firing rockets singly or in salvos. Rifle – It has a rifled barrel, imparting spin to the bullet to help give range and stability. The trend is towards lighter, shorter and smaller calibre rifles. Typically, the automatic rifle is the infantry’s standard weapon with an effective range of 300 to 1,200 yards. It may be semi-automatic, automatic or both. Bolt-action rifles, in which each cartridge is manually placed in the breech using a bolt mechanism, are still used by snipers because of their accuracy, range and reliability.
!225 RPG – Rocket-propelled grenade. Sub machinegun – An automatic weapon with many of the characteristics of a machinegun – fully automatic, a high rate of fire – but it is lighter, shorter, of smaller calibre and is designed for the individual rather than the group. It can be easily concealed. Its small size and light weight make it ideal for combat in built-up areas, for guerrilla warfare and for airborne forces. It has a short range, and is less accurate than a rifle or machinegun. Definitions are blurred: a Kalashnikov AK-47 was designated a sub-machinegun by the former Soviet armed forces but is known as an assault rifle in the West. Recoilless rifle – An anti-tank weapon. Although largely ineffective against most modern tanks, it is still widely used by guerrillas or militias in many countries. It looks like a tube, slightly flared at the rear end, is often mounted on wheels and is recoilless in the sense that gases from the weapon’s discharge are allowed to escape from the rear of the weapon. It fires an anti-tank round. Do not confuse it with a mortar or a howitzer. SAM – Surface-to-air missile, launched from the surface against an aircraft or another missile. SLBM – Ship-or submarine-launched ballistic missile. Unconventional weapon – Avoid. It is often used by “conventional” military forces to refer to effective methods or weapons they do not have, do not understand and generally disapprove of. Using a bamboo spike smeared with excrement may have been unconventional to the U.S. soldier impaled on it, but it came naturally to a Vietnamese irregular. Depending on who is speaking, the term “unconventional weapons” might also mean nuclear, germ or chemical weapons. Be specific. WMD – The abbreviation for weapons of mass destruction. Spell out on first reference. Usually taken to mean biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. Miscellaneous air base – two words. So also air raid but airspace and airstrike. airto-ground – hyphenate. Also anti-aircraft. Battledress – A loose, drab uniform, comprising a single overall or jacket and trousers, that blends in with the environment, provides protection against extreme weather and allows plenty of movement. Write soldiers in battle gear to refer to soldiers wearing the harness known as webbing that supports ammunition clips, grenades, water bottles, entrenching tools, ground sheet and rations. Battlefield – one word. Also battlefront and battleground. biological warfare – The use in warfare of micro-organisms to cause death or disease.
!226 BDA – Military shorthand for Bomb Damage Assessment. Avoid both unless in quotes. Spell out BDA in brackets if used in a quote. Ceasefire – one word chemical warfare – The use of chemicals other than explosives, e.g. gas. Collateral damage – Militaryspeak for striking unintended targets, whether people or buildings. Do not use unless in quotes. Prefer plain English. Friendly fire – Military-speak for attacking your own side by mistake in combat. Do not use unless in quotes. Prefer plain English. gunbattle – one word. So also gunfire as well as gunman and gunpoint. Military jargon – Avoid. Jargon is particularly impenetrable when used by the military. An attempt should be made to understand it. Jargon is encouraged in the armed forces to reduce the emotional element in the business of killing people, to encourage secrecy and to reduce the number of words in issuing orders. Faced by an inquisitive civilian, the military may deliberately obfuscate or evade admissions of defeat or error with an avalanche of esoteric terms and acronyms. Know them, but do not use them. military titles – Ranks should be never be abbreviated and should be capitalised when referring to a specific individual and hyphenated if two words, e.g. Major-General John Brown. At subsequent reference he is either Brown or the general (not the major general). One exception to the hyphenation rule is second lieutenant. No man’s land – no hyphens militate, mitigate – Militate means to have force or influence and is often used in the phrase to militate against. Do not confuse with mitigate which means to alleviate or to moderate. Millennium, millennia – Not milennium or millenium. From the Latin mille, a thousand, and annus, a year. milligram millimetre – Use mm with no space, e.g. 30mm cannon. ** Millimeter if spelled out in full (American style). million – The word is spelled out but the abbreviation mln can be used for the sake of brevity in headlines. Use numerals before million, 6 million. See also billion , trillion . milquetoast – A character easily dominated, not milk toast. Minimal – The least possible size or amount. Do not confuse with small or even tiny. Minuscule – Not miniscule. Prefer very small or unimportant.
!227 Miracles – Keep miracles for religious stories. In disaster reports we can do without the cliché: “It was a miracle no one was killed,” said a rescue worker. mischievous, mischievously – Not mischevious. Mob – Use this word with care and never of a political protest. The neutral crowd is usually better unless there is an outbreak of unorganized violence. Modalities – Use means, procedures. Mode – See averages. Mohammad – Use this form for the Prophet and for anyone else of this name unless we know that he prefers an alternative spelling or an alternative appears in an official title or name for an organization. Monaco – Not Monte Carlo as dateline. Money – Not monies. Moneyed – Not monied, but prefer rich or wealthy. Mont Blanc – At 15,771 feet/4,807 metres, this French mountain is the highest in western Europe. But the highest mountain in Europe is Elbrus (18,481 feet/5,633 metres) in the Caucasus. months
– Abbreviate to Jan. Feb. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. and Dec. with a full stop when used with a specific date, Feb. 12, but spell out in full when used alone or with only the year, February 2002. In datelines months are given as follows: Jan, Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, without full stop. See dates . Moot – Little understood outside the United States. If you use the phrase a moot point in a quote, explain it – a debatable point. More than – Use more than with numbers and over with less specific quantities. More than 100 or over half. Moribund – About to die or in a dying state. It does not mean something is weak or stagnant or not growing. Mormon – A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormon Church. Only the “L” is capitalised in “Latter-day.” The church claims eight million members worldwide. Morse code mortar – See military . Moslem – Use Muslim in all cases. !228 Mosquito – mosquitoes. Mother-in-law, mothers-in-law Mother’s Day – Not Mothers’ Day. Mount – give the full name, whether of mountains or communities, e.g. Mount Everest, Mount Vernon.
Move to – This phrase is often used to give a spurious sense of physical action when in fact the only action has been verbal, e.g. Clinton moved to head off congressional opposition to his budget plans when he said…. Avoid it. Mpg, mph – miles per gallon, miles per hour – both acceptable at second and subsequent references, both lower case and without full stops. Spell out miles per gallon and miles per hour in full on first reference. Muhammad – Use Mohammad. mujahideen – A term for Islamic guerrilla groups, meaning holy warriors. Mullah – A Muslim scholar. Most often used pejoratively to refer to clerics in Iran, although it is a neutral term for Muslim prayer leaders in Afghanistan. Avoid in Iranian context and never use as shorthand for Tehran’s religious-political leadership unless quoting somebody. Multi – Words starting with multi are not hyphenated – multilateral, multinational, multicultural, multilingual. Mumbai – Not Bombay, India unless in a proper name. Murder – Use this word only of violent deaths that have no political overtones and generally avoid unless there has been a conviction. Otherwise stick to killing unless the word murder is used in a criminal charge or trial. Muslim – Not Moslem. Myanmar – Formerly Burma.
!229 N NAACP – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (U.S.). NAB, New Arrangements to Borrow – A credit line to the International Monetary Fund arranged by 25 members and institutions following the Mexican financial crisis in 1994, to provide supplementary resources to protect the international monetary system. The NAB will be called on first before resort to the General Arrangements to Borrow (GAB), a credit line with the G10 group of countries. NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement. A trade pact between the United States, Mexico and Canada, in effect from 1994. Names – See personal names , pr oper names , courtesy titles , nobility , religious titles , royalty . Nanjing – Not Nanking, China. naphtha – Not naptha. NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration (U.S.). At first reference a form like the U.S. space agency NASA is acceptable. Nation – Do not write the nation’s when you are referring to a specific country. Be specific – Britain’s largest airport or Germany’s largest airport. The nation’s capital is an American cliché for Washington. We should use the U.S. capital. National Guard – Stories from the United States filed to the rest of the world should explain that this is a militia force. ** National Guard – Capitalize for U.S. or state forces, the National Guard, Kansas National Guard. Lower case for other countries’ National Guard (American style). National names – You need not specify a minister’s nationality in the first paragraph of a story that names the nation and comes from a dateline of that nation. Under a Washington dateline, for example, write: Secretary of State Joan Smith said on Friday the United States would… not U.S. Secretary of State Joan Smith said on Friday the United States would… There is likewise no need to specify the nationality of groups that obviously are of the nationality of the country datelined. Under an Athens dateline it is Police arrested not Greek police arrested. Nationalist – Lower case unless a member of a formal party with Nationalist as part of its name.
!230 Nationalities – Nationalities are written out in full and not abbreviated in stories and in sports results. The only exception is U.S. for United States. Use Britain and British (not United Kingdom or Great Britain). Use The Netherlands (not Holland) and Taiwan (not Chinese Taipei). Distinguish between North and South Korea. Nationwide – Rarely necessary in the phrase nationwide broadcast. If a head of state or government goes on television or radio we can assume the broadcast is nationwide. Specify if it is not. NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Brussels), the Western military alliance founded in 1949. The initials may be used by themselves at first reference with the full name given lower in the story. Naught, nought – You come to naught, or set a naught. Nought is the number zero. Nauseous, nauseated
– Nauseous is the same as nauseant, producing nausea. Nauseated is sickened. Only very objectionable people are nauseous. Ordinary people are much more likely to be nauseated. Nautical mile – 1,852 metres or 1.1515 statute miles. Do not convert the nautical mile used for fishing limits, by ships when reporting distances at sea and by NASA and others reporting space shots. If using nautical miles in space stories, make this clear in text. See also knot. Naval, navel – Naval is pertaining to warships or a navy. Navel belongs to the centre of the abdomen. A navel orange has a similar depression containing a smaller orange. Nave, knave – Nave is the main part of a church. A knave is a false, deceitful fellow. ** Navy – Capitalize for U.S. Navy. Lower case for other navies. (American style) International style is to capitalise if the word appears in the formal title, the British Navy or the Royal Navy, otherwise lower case. Nearby, near by – Nearby is an adjective, the nearby town. Near by is an adverb. We stayed near by. Negatives – These can be troublesome, for instance if the word not is dropped in transmission or mutilated to now. Try to avoid using not where other forms can be found, e.g.: decided against rather than decided not to … unnecessary rather than not necessary … declined to comment rather than would not comment. Neither, nor – See grammar . NEPAD – New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Midrand, South Africa). An agency reporting to African Union leaders with the mission to strengthen Africa’s political and economic governance and thus mobilize external and African financial resources for the continent’s development
!231 Nepali – Not Nepalese as adjective. Netherlands – In text write the Netherlands, in datelines omit the article, e.g. ARNHEM, Netherlands (May 16) … nevertheless nerve-racking – See rack, wrack. New – Can often be omitted. Companies often announce that they will build a new plant. New is superfluous since, by definition, any plant being built must be new. New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day – But good luck in the new year. Newspaper titles – See capitalisation . Nicknames – See capitalisation . Use a nickname instead of a given name if that is the preference of the individual concerned, e.g. Tiger Woods. nighttime Nissan, Nissen – Nissan cars, Nissen hut. Noisome, noisy – Noisome is disgusting to the sight or smell. Do not confuse with noisy, which offends the hearing. No man’s land – Not no-man’s-land. No one – Not noone or no-one. nobility – The hereditary British nobility consists, in descending order of precedence, of dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts and barons. A few women are hereditary countesses or baronesses in their own right. Life peers, whose titles die with them, are also barons. If a well-known person is made a life peer or peeress, you may, for the sake of clarity use their given names at first reference: Lord David Owen and Owen in subsequent references. The nobility are known collectively as peers (and peeresses), not lords, although the upper house of Parliament is the House of Lords. Dukes get their full title at first reference, e.g. the Duke of Norfolk; second reference Norfolk or the duke. Never Lord Norfolk. His wife is the Duchess of Norfolk, the duchess, never Lady Norfolk. We may refer to all other peers simply as Lord So-and-So, whatever their precise title, and to their wives as Lady So-and-So. But more formal titles may also be used if desired,
e.g. the Marquis of Zetland, Earl Cawdor, Viscount Boyd. Barons, whether hereditary or life peers, are always Lord So-and-So. At second reference simply So-and-So, Zetland, Cawdor, Boyd.
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The wife of an earl is a countess, of a viscount a viscountess and of a marquis a marchioness. The children of dukes and marquises and the daughters of earls have the courtesy title of lord or lady before their first names. Do not use the Honorable or the Hon. before the names of the untitled sons of peers. Baronets (whose titles are hereditary) and knights (whose titles die with them) are known as Sir, e.g. Sir Reginald Barnett. At second reference Barnett. However if you had to distinguish between him and his wife, use Sir Reginald and Lady Barnett respectively. If he is a government minister the preferred style is Sir Reginald Barnett, British health minister, not British Health Minister Sir Reginald Barnett. His wife would be Lady Barnett, whether he was a baronet or a knight. A dame, equivalent to a knight, is a woman honored in her own right. At first reference Dame Iris Murdoch, then Murdoch. See also royalty. Non-– If the first element of a word is the negative non-, hyphenate, e.g. anon-aggression pact. But nonconformist. non-conventional weapons – See unconventional in military . None – This may take either a singular or plural verb. nonetheless Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Scandinavia comprises only Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Because of the danger of confusion, list the countries even if you use Nordic or Scandinavia in a lead for the sake of brevity. Normalcy – Use normality. Northern Ireland – Northern is always upper case. Ulster should never be
used except when quoting someone. The Irish Republican Army, which fought for years to oust Britain from Northern Ireland with an ultimate aim of reunifying the island of Ireland, may be referred to by its initials alone at first reference. It should not be described as a Catholic group. Describe Sinn Fein as the political ally of the IRA. Avoid the word paramilitary and use guerrillas, gunmen or bombers, depending on context. Do not use the word loyalists for Protestant guerrillas unless quoting someone. Notable – Not noteable. Noted – You can note only established facts, not claims or opinions. Avoid the word. Now –A strong and simple word that should always replace flabby phrases such as at the present time and at this time. Nowadays – Not nowdays.
!233 Nuclear power – Some frequently used terms: becquerel. Unit of radiation. Because a becquerel is very small, measurements may be in trillions of becquerels. If the term tera becquerel is used, say it means trillions. Criticality. Point at which a nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining, producing a steady power output. Curie. Unit measuring the rate at which substances lose radioactivity, or the number of disintegrations per second. Fission. Process in which the nucleus of an atom is split in the core of a nuclear reactor. Other atoms are split in a chain reaction, releasing large amounts of energy. (The same process as in atomic bombs.) The rate of fission is controlled in a power plant by rods pushed into the core of the reactor, avoiding a runaway chain reaction. Fission increases when the control rods are raised, and the reactor shuts down when they are pushed in fully. The fuel is uranium. Heat created by fission is used to produce steam which drives turbo-generators. Fusion. Brings atoms together and fuses their nuclei at high temperature to form a single large nucleus, releasing large amounts of energy. The process used in the H-bomb. Half-life. The time it takes for half of a radioactive material to decay, or lose its radioactivity. Meltdown ___a nuclear reactor’s core gets so overheated that the fuel melts, raising the possibility of a leakage of radiation. Plutonium-An artificial metallic element formed from uranium and used as fuel in fast-breeder reactors. It forms as the isotope plutonium-239 but disintegrates to become uranium-235. rad. Unit that measures absorbed radiation. Radiation, radioactivity-radiation is energy emitted in the form of waves or particles when atomic nuclei disintegrate. Radioactivity is emitted in alpha, beta or gamma rays (the most dangerous) and neutrons. Measured by a Geiger counter. Rem (roentgen equivalent man). Measurement of radiation absorbed by humans. An X-ray produces six or seven millirems. roentgen. Measurement of the radiation from X-rays or gamma rays. sievert. Measures dose of radiation absorbed by humans. One sievert is 100 rems. uranium. A radioactive metal. It is enriched by rapid spinning that separates uranium-235, the fuel for nuclear reactors, from uranium-238 (used to make plutonium).
!234 Numbers – See figures, fractions. Numerous – many is shorter, better. Numskull – Not numbskull.
!235 O OAPEC – Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (Kuwait). Note the z in organization. Set up in 1968. Aims to improve economic co-operation in the petroleum ndustry. Members are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. The group does not as a rule make decisions on oil output or pricing. OAS – Organization of American States (Washington). It has 35 active members representing all countries in the Americas except Cuba, which was effectively expelled in 962 but is still listed as a non- active member. Oasis, oases OAU – Organization of African Unity (Addis Ababa). Superseded by African Union (q.v.) obscenities – Use hem only if they are in direct quotes and if the story would be seriously weakened by heir omission. Obscenities, if retained, must not be euphemized or emasculated by the se of dots. In general we should not quote mindless obscenities from the person in the street or, say, an athlete or soldier but should consider using them if people prominent in public life use them in a context that gives their remarks great emphasis or throws in question their fitness to hold office. When a story
contains one or more strong expletives, ring this to the attention of customers in brackets as the top of the story e.g. (Note strong language in paragraph 6) obsolescent, obsolete – If something is obsolescent it is on he way to becoming obsolete. Occur, occurring, occurred – Not occurred or occured. Ocean – Lower case when used alone or in plurals, e.g. Indian and Pacific oceans. pper case in Antarctic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific ocean. Octopuses – Not octopi. OECD – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (NB: OECD itself uses a hyphen in its formal name) in Paris. Established in 1961 as the successor to Marshall Plan which brought aid to Europe after World War Two. Took on a global role promoting growth and trade in wealthy member states. It gives economic advice to members and non-members. Offensive language – See obscenities . Off-spinner – Hyphenated for bowler in cricket.
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Official titles – Be restrained in using idiomatic phrases to describe officials or official bodies rather than their official titles, e.g. planning overlord, watchdog commission. Such terms are often necessary in lead paragraphs where use of the full title would be clumsy, but the official title must be given in the body of the story. Do not use idioms with pejorative overtones like trade union boss. officials – Do not describe government ministers as officials. OIC – Organization of Islamic Conferences, the principal world organisation of Muslim states, with 56 members. It is funded mainly by Saudi Arabia and based in Jeddah. Among OIC institutions is the Islamic Development Bank which provides soft loans for development projects in Islamic countries. Oil barrels – A barrel of oil is equivalent to 35 Imperial or 42 U.S. gallons or 159 litres or 0.159 cubic metres. To convert cubic metres or kilolitres (1,000 litres) to barrels multiply by 6.29. Japan often quotes oil statistics in terms of kilolitres. The conversion from barrels (volume) to metric tonnes (weight) depends on the specific gravity, or density, of the oil. The lighter the oil, the more barrels per tonne. To convert Brent crude from barrels to tonnes multiply by 7.57, to convert tonnes to barrels multiply by
0.132. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has 7.62 barrels per tonne. For Russian Urals crude, usually expressed in tonnes, multiply by 7.33. Refined petroleum product conversions also vary according to specific gravity. As a rule use 8.6 barrels to a tonne of gasoline, 7.9 barrels per tonne of jet/kerosene, 7.59 barrels per tonne of heating oil, 7.4 barrels per tonne of diesel and 6.4 barrels per tonne of residual fuel oil. oil statistics – Oil production and export figures are usually expressed in terms of barrels per day (bpd) although they are sometimes quoted also in tonnes per year. To avoid confusing readers, standardise on bpd figures, normally giving them as a bracketed conversion after any figure expressed in tonnes per year. (See oil barrels for conversion ratios.) However, if a tonnes-per-year figure has to be given in an u rgent story, this should not be delayed while the conversion is being worked out. The tonnes per year figure should be used in the alert or newsbreak and the bpd conversion given in the update. When converting from tonnes per year to bpd don’t forget to divide the barrel figure by 365 for the daily rate. As with all conversions, give an approximate conversion of an approximate figure and do not convert to more decimal places than are given in the original figure. See also conversions, ton/tonnes . Oil strikes – It is not correct to report the discovery of a new oil well. Nature does not provide ready-made oil wells awaiting discovery. OK – Not okay. Try to avoid in alerts and headlines. Do not use in text of stories unless you are quoting someone. Old – See ages . Old-time, old-timer, old times Olympiad – Use only to mean the period of four years between two Olympic Games.
!237 On behalf of – Use by unless you really do mean acting as a representative of or in the interests of. on to – Two words. Into – one word. ongoing – Usually tautological as in the ongoing crisis. If you need such a word use continuing. online – One word for computer connections and the Internet. only – As a rule only should go immediately before the word or phrase it qualifies. Only SAS flies to the Faeroes on Sunday means that on a Sunday SAS is the only airline operating to the islands. SAS flies only to the Faeroes on Sunday means that on Sunday the only SAS flight operating is to the islands. SAS flies to the Faeroes only on Sunday means that the airline has only one flight a week to the islands.
OPEC – Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (note definite article and z in Organization). The acronym OPEC can be used at first reference if desired, preferably with a descriptive tag. The title should be given in full at the second reference. Do not use the acronym in brackets immediately after the full reference because it is self-explanatory. It is permissible to refer to OPEC as a cartel because it controls more than 50 percent of world crude trade. OPEC’s self-imposed output limit is made up of individual member country supply quotas. Do not say “the OPEC quota” (singular) to describe the cartel’s overall output limit. Use output (or supply or production) ceiling or limit. OPEC members are Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Opera titles – See capitalisation . Optimum – Optimum is not a simple superlative which can replace biggest, best or largest. It means the best for the achievement of an aim or result, or the point when any condition is most favorable. Ordnance, ordinance – ordnance is artillery, ordinance a decree. Orient – Prefer to orientate. Oscars – The statuettes presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Also known as the Academy Awards. others – Beware of this word when reporting such things as casualties. It is usually unnecessary, as in 50 people were killed and 200 others injured. Ottawa – Not Ottowa, Canada.
!238 Ounce – To convert to grams roughly multiply by 30, precisely multiply by 28.35. Dry ounce = 28.35 grams, ounce troy = 31.10 grams. Liquid or fluid ounce: UK = 28.4millilitres (20 fluid ounces = 1 pint); US = 29.6 millilitres (16 liquid ounces = 1 liquid pint). See also measur es . Ouster – Except in a legal context the word is ousting. Dismissal or overthrow is better. out of court, out-of-court – They reached an out-of-court settlement and she was paid out of court. Outside – Never outside of. over – Use more than with numbers. More than 100 rather than over 100. Overall – One word for the adjective and adverb. The protective garments are overalls. Overweening – Not overweaning.
!239 P
paedophile, pederast – A paedophile sexually desires children. A pederast has sexual relations with a boy. Pail, pale – Pail is a small bucket. Pale is wan or light in colour. palate, pallete, pallet – Palate is a sense of taste or part of the mouth. An artist mixes his paints on a pallete, and a pallet is a mattress or small bed. Palestine Liberation Organisaton – Not Palestinian. PLO is acceptable on first reference. Spell out in a subsequent reference. Pan – The prefix does not take a hyphen. For example – panacea, panoply, pantheism. Pan-American – Hyphenated when referring to the North, Central and South America region, but not in the official title of the Pan America Games. Panjsher – Not Panjshar or Panjshir, Afghanistan. Paparazzo singular, paparazzi plural. Pap smear – Capitalise Pap. A smear test for cancer devised by George Papanicolaou. papal nuncio – See Roman Catholic Chur ch . paragraph – See writing . Parallel, paralleling, paralleled paraplegia – The total or partial paralysis of both legs. Quadriplegia is the paralysis of all four limbs. Paris Club – An informal body of 19 creditor nations plus occasional others. It has met in Paris under the chairmanship of the French Treasury since 1956 to reorganize debts of struggling countries. It treats debt only for those countries with support agreements with the IMF and does so on the condition that other lenders give comparable terms. See also loans , London Club .
!240 Parliament – As a general rule refer to legislative assemblies initially as parliaments, regardless of their formal names. These can be given lower in the story, e.g. Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament … Replying to questions in the House of Commons, he said… In the United States one can refer first either to Congress or, as appropriate, to the Senate or the House of Representatives. A member of the House may be described as a representative or as a
congressman/congresswoman. ** Parliament – Capitalise when the name of a formal body, e.g. The British Parliament. (American style) parliamentarian – Use member of parliament. part time, part-time – Two words for the verb, one word for the adjective. Participate – Use take part. Participles – See grammar Pashtun – Not Pushtun, Pushtoon, Pathan. This tribe in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province and areas of Afghanistan speaks Pashto, also one of the main languages of Afghanistan. passerby, passers-by Past – Check for redundancy in phrases such as past history, past record, past achievements. Past, last – Usually we mean last when we write past. Last refers to the time up to the present. Past is vaguer. Joe Smith has been injured for the last three games not for the past three games, but Eva Petite relived past glories. Passive – Avoid the passive voice. It is longer and clumsier than the active voice and often confuses the reader. Write Police arrested five armed men rather than Five armed men were arrested by police. The active voice allows you to push on with the rest of the story. Police arrested five armed men who had stormed a bank in central Paris. If you write Five armed men, who had taken over a bank in central Paris, were arrested by police… you ask readers to retain a great deal of information before they know fully who did what to whom. The passive voice is unavoidable when the subject of an action is the main point of the story. President Jane Flow was shot and killed by… is better than a gunman shot and killed President Jane Flow. Patrol, patrolling, patrolled peal, peel – Peal of bells, orange peel.
!241 Pedal, peddle – You pedal a bicycle but peddle your wares. A pedaller rides a bicycle; a pedlar sells goods, or peddles door to door. But use the form drug peddler. Pejorative – Not pejorative. Peninsular – This is the adjective. The noun is peninsula. The Peninsular War was fought on the peninsula. percent – One word, but the abbreviation pct is acceptable in alerts and headlines.
Use numerals before percent, 4 percent, 6 percent etc
Use percent after both numbers when writing about a change, rose to 5 percent from 4 percent, not rose to 5 from 4 percent. Do not confuse percentage with percentage points. If a bank rate rises from one percent to two percent it is a rise of one percentage point and an increase of 100 percent not one percent. Note that a 100 percent increase is twice the original figure, 200 percent three times, 300 percent four times, etc. It is a common error to write, for instance, that a 400 percent rise means a quadrupling; in fact it means a fivefold increase. To calculate percentages divide the first figure by the second and multiply by 100. For example 70 as a percentage of 350 is: 70/350 x 100 = 20 percent Use a calculator for complicated figures and express the result to the nearest two decimal places, e.g. 75 expressed as a percentage of 350 is 21.42857142 or 21.43 percent. Always use decimals not fractions in percentages. percentage – Write many or most rather than a large percentage of. perceptible – Not perceptable. perfect – Do not write more perfect or less perfect because things are either perfect or they are not. You can use less than perfect. period close quote – Periods always go inside quotation marks. See quotation Period of time – Use one or the other, but not both together. Persian Gulf – Use Gulf (q.v.). Person, people – Person singular and people plural. Do not use persons. personal, personally, personnel – Personal or personally, meaning private or individual, is almost always unnecessary, e.g. He personally took his personal belongings. For personnel use people, staff or workers.
!242 Personal names – Check names, and then check them again, and then check them again. Never presume you know how to spell a name, no matter how common and how familiar it may seem. Is it Smith, or Smyth or Smythe or Smif? Use a given name and surname when first identifying people, and the surname alone on second reference. Only if a given name is not available or if it is known that an individual prefers to be identified by his initials (e.g. Former South African President F.W. de Klerk) should you use initials. First names that look unfamiliar or odd to English-speaking readers need no special treatment but first names that look like misprints of familiar names, such as Joh or Jame or Arturk may call for repetition at first reference, e.g. Joh (repeat Joh) Bjelke-Petersen. Do not write Joh (ed:correct) Bjelke-Petersen. To help translators and readers not familiar with names, use a he/she or his/her at second reference to make clear quickly the gender of someone whose name could be of either sex or whose name is not readily known to a non-native, e.g. Clare, Hilary. Sports stories and results follow the same rule. Use given name and surname at first reference and the surname alone for subsequent references. If you see a story with the same name spelled in different ways, do not assume that the first use is right, or the most frequent use is right, or any or all of them are right. Check with the author. Write declined to be identified not declined to be named. The source already has a name but does not wish to publicise his identity. See also Chinese , Ethiopian , Eur opean , Hispanic , Kor ean , Portuguese , Thai , Vietnamese names and capitalisation . persuade, convince – You persuade people to do something, convince them of something or that something is the case. Never write convince to. Personnel – Use people or workers. petrol bomb – A bottle of petrol with a petrol-soaked rag stuffed into the mouth of the bottle. The rag is set alight and the bottle thrown, resulting in a fiery explosion on impact. PGA – Professional Golfers’ Association phase, faze – Phase is a stage in growth or development. Faze is to worry or disturb. phenomenon – Phenomena is the plural form. Do not use phenomenal if you mean extraordinary or remarkable or just big. phoney – Not phony. phosphorus – Not phosphorous. Picnic, picnicking, picknicked, picknicker
!243 Pidgin English – Not pigeon. pilots – Military aircraft other than strategic bombers and transports normally carry only one pilot. Write the two crew not the two pilots when reporting incidents involving fighter-bombers and the like. PIN – Personal identification number. PIN number is tautologous. pistol – See military Plan ahead – Just plan will do. plane – Use aircraft, but higher plane, not higher Plain. play titles – See capitalisation . Plead, pleading, pleaded Pled – Legalese. Use pleaded. PLO – Palestine (not Palestinian) Liberation Organization. PLO is acceptable on first reference. Spell out in a subsequent reference. Plough ** plow (American style) Plurality – See majority , plurality .
P.M. – Time, e.g. 3 p.m. or 3:45 p.m. Podium – See dais . Poems – See capitalisation . Pointed out – Avoid this term if the statement is in any way contentious since it suggests that Reuters accepts that what the speaker is saying is a fact. Plain said is better. Police – Use police officers, not policemen. political parties – See capitalization . politicking Polynesia – See Melanesia . Poona – Use Pune, India. Pope – Capitalize all references. See Roman Catholic Chur ch . pore – See pour , pore
!244 Portuguese names – Portuguese and Brazilians, like the Spanish, include the family names both of their father and their mother in their full names. Unlike the Spanish, they put the mother’s name before the father’s and they normally retain both names at second reference. Where they use one it would always be the patronymic, i.e. the last name. Thus Jose Cabral Nettim could be either Cabral Nettim or Nettim at second reference. Portuguese, Spanish and Brazilian soccer players may be known by several names, one name, or a nickname. Follow commonly accepted usage e.g.Pele, Joao Pinto. Posh – Slang. Avoid. postpone – See cancel . Postwar – No hyphen. potato, potatoes pound – The abbreviation lb (with no full stop and the same in the singular and the plural) is acceptable at all references. To convert to grams roughly multiply by 900 and divide by 2, precisely multiply by 454. To convert to kilograms roughly multiply by 9 and divide by 20, precisely multiply by 0.454. See also measure es . Pound sign – Use pounds rather than the £ sign to denote sums in pounds sterling, thus 420 million pounds rather than £420 million. pour, pore – You pour a liquid and pore over maps and documents. Practice, practise – practice is the noun, practise the verb. ** practice – Both noun and verb. (American style) pre-– If the second element of a word beginning with pre-starts with an e, hyphenate, e.g. pre-empt. precautionary measure – Precaution alone will do. Precondition – Tautological. Condition is enough. Pre-dawn – If something happened shortly before dawn, pre-dawn may be technically correct, but it is both an ugly word and a cliché. It should be avoided. It should never be used to mean merely that something happened during the night predominant, predominantly – Not predominate, predominately. predilection – Not predelection.
!245 Prefixes – As a general rule do not hyphenate. The exceptions are: If the prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows starts with the same vowel, e.g. pre-eminence and pre-establish, but cooperate and coordinate are exceptions. If the word that follows a prefix is capitalized then use a hyphen, e.g. trans-Panamanian, but transatlantic and transpacific are exceptions. Premier – As a general rule use premier for the heads of government of states that are part of a larger political entity, e.g. the Australian and German states and the Canadian provinces. Reserve prime minister for the heads of government of sovereign states, although premier may be used for brevity in a headline. Premier league – The English premier league is not capitalized. premise, premises – Always plural when referring to property, but legalistic and best avoided. Prefer an exact description – the house, the factory etc. A premise is a proposition supporting an argument. Preplanned – Tautological. Planned is enough. prescribe – See pr oscribe , pr escribe . present, presently – Usually redundant when used to mean what is happening now. presently – Use to mean in a short time or soon, rather than now or at present. Presidency – Lower case. press conference – Use news conference unless broadcast journalists, photographer and camera operators have been excluded. Press reports – When picking up newspaper, radio or television reports, name your source. Do not refer just to press reports. The fact that we are quoting a news report does not exonerate Reuters from responsibility for providing a file that is accurate, balanced and not defamatory. We should make every effort to check a pick-up – even … not available to comment… shows we tried to check. We should help our subscribers assess the likely accuracy of reports picked up in this way by inserting relevant background and by giving some indication of the political stance, reliability and potential for bias of the source we quote. Such phrases as state-run radio, left-wing newspaper, and mass-circulation tabloid, columnist usually well-informed on defence matters or Communist Party daily enable readers to make their own judgment of the likely truth of the report. pressurise – Use press or pressure unless speaking of industrial processes. Prestigious – Avoid this pompous and often tautological word. If something is prestigious, or famous, then we need hardly say so.
!246 Pretax – One word, no hyphen. pretence, pretext – A pretence is a false show, a sham or a false allegation. A pretext is an ostensible motive put forward to conceal the real one. ** pretense (American style) pretension, pretentious prevaricate, procrastinate – Prevaricate is to mislead or lie. Procrastinate is to delay or defer. Prime minister – See capitalization . Prime rate – In the United States prime rate is a benchmark reference for determining interest rates on short-term loans to high-quality large borrowers. The actual rate could be lower but more often it is higher than the benchmark. Sometimes used erroneously to imply it is the bank’s lowest rate. Revolving home equity loans and some small-business loans are still tied to the U.S. prime rate but corporate loans and mortgages are often linked to indices set by the markets, like certificates of deposit or Treasury bill rates. When a major bank changes its prime rate, the new rate tends to become the standard in the industry. Primeval principal, principle – Principle is always a noun, meaning a fundamental basis or truth. Principal can be an adjective, meaning chief, or a noun meaning chief person, as in principal of a school or capital sum, as in debt principal. prior to – Prefer before. Prise apart – Not prize. Pristine – Pristine means belonging to the earliest period or in its original state. It does not mean just clean. prize money – Two words. Privilege, privileged – Not priviledged. procrastinate – See pr evaricate , pr ocrastinate . Procter and Gamble – Not Proctor and Gamble. profanity – See obscenities . Proffer, proffered – Not profer. profit – Not profits.
!247 Profit-sharing – Both noun and adjective. Prognosis – See diagnosis, prognosis Program – Use this spelling only in stories about computers and for stock market program trading, Otherwise program. ** Program for all uses. (American style) pro-life – Use anti-abortion. Prone, supine
– Prone, like prostrate, means lying face down. Supine is face up. Pronouns – Use neuter pronouns for countries, ships, cars, aircraft, animals, etc., e.g. Portugal and its territories, Aboard the liner when it sailed. The occasional bright story may be enhanced by the use of a feminine or masculine pronoun to personalize a machine or animal, but these should be rare exceptions. Pronunciation – When a difficult personal or place name appears on the file for the first time, we should help radio and television subscribers by giving a guide to pronunciation. We should do so also in features, profiles and other background material. We can assume familiarity with the principles guiding pronunciation of European languages like English, French, German, Italian and Spanish and need not provide guides to pronunciation of most names phonetically transcribed from another script, e.g. Arabic or Japanese. Give guidance in brackets after the name, hyphenating the syllables and capitalizing the syllable stressed, e.g. General Michel Aoun (pronounced OW-oon), a rail strike in Bydgoszcz (pronounced BID-gosh). Propeller – Not propellor. Proper names – If proper names are in English use the style and spelling as it appears on the organization’s own nameplate and business cards, e.g. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Scottish Labor Party, U.S. Department of Defense. If proper names are translated into English use the spelling convention of that region. Prophecy, prophesy – I make a prophecy when I prophesy. The noun is prophecy, the verb is prophesied. Proscribe, prescribe – Proscribe is to prohibit, prescribe to set down as an order. Prostate, prostrate – Prostate is a gland, prostrate is lying face down. Protagonist – The leading actor in a drama. A leading protagonist is tautological. A drama has only one protagonist. The word is a favorite of journalists who think long words enhance their copy. Phrases such as chief figure or rival leaders are better.
!248 Protest – You protest against a government or protest about a policy. If it is a solemn declaration rather than an act of disapproval then you protest your faith or protest your innocence. Do not write a protest when you are describing a demonstration. ** American style drops the adverb for the verb of disapproval, protest the policy. (American style) Protester – Not protestor. But demonstrator Prototype – The original model. Do not qualify, as in the first prototype or an early prototype. Proven – Use proved except in two cases: in writing of oil reserves or of the Scottish legal verdict not proven (neither guilty nor not guilty). Proverbial – Best excised. If you are using or describing a proverb then there is no need to say so. Provost marshal, provost marshals public school – In some countries this term refers to a private or fee-paying school as opposed to a state or government school. Use only when quoting someone and then explain it. Publications – No quotation marks around the title. Whatever the masthead says, do not capitalize articles and particles in the names of English-language newspapers and magazines, e.g. the New York Times, the News of the World. The names of some non-English language newspapers begin with a word meaning the. In such cases write the O Globo/Le Monde/Die Welt not the OGlobo/Le Monde/Die Welt newspaper publicly – Not publically Pull back, pullback – Two words for the verb, one for the noun. Pull out, pullout – Two words for the verb, one for the noun. Pulpit – See dais
!249 Punctuation apostrophes: Use the apostrophe according to the following rules, unless to do so would lead to a word that looked or sounded very strange. Singular words and plural words not ending in s form the possessive by adding‘s, e.g. Boeing’s new airliner, the children’s books. Plural words already ending in s form the possessive by adding the apostrophe alone, e.g. the soldiers’ weapons. There is usually no problem about using the apostrophe with words ending in s. the class’s performance, the princesses’ return, Shultz’s car are all acceptable because they can be pronounced easily. Some words would look or sound so odd, e.g. the Dukakises’s son, Paris’s reputation, Tunis’s main prison or Woolworths’s results that it best to write your way out of trouble. Recast such phrases, e.g. the son of the Dukasises, the reputation of Paris, the main prison in Tunis and results from Woolworths. Companies which end in s like Qantas or Optus might also appear ugly with the‘s possessive. The best option is to avoid if possible. Reuters does not take an apostrophe, the only exception being in connection with the founder’s name, e.g. Reuter’s birthplace in Kassel. Note that it’s a contraction of it is. The possessive form of it is its. Do not use an apostrophe in words like the 1990s or abbreviations like NCOs. Brackets: If an entire sentence is in brackets, put the full stop (period) inside the closing bracket, e.g. (…reported earlier.) If a sentence has a bracketed section at the end, the full stop goes outside the closing bracket, e.g. -reported earlier). If a bracketed section in the middle of a sentence is followed by a comma, it also goes outside the bracket. Colons: Use a colon before directly quoting a complete sentence and as a signal that you are about to list things advertised in the preceding words, e.g. … these were: three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. Put the word following a colon in lower case unless the next word is a proper name, a direct quotation or the beginning of a sentence. Commas: Do not over-punctuate, especially with commas. Any sentence studded with commas could probably benefit from a rewrite. Use commas as a guide to sense, to break a sentence into logically discrete parts, but do not use them to the extent that they break the flow of a sentence. Use commas to mark off words and phrases that are in apposition to, or define other words or phrases in the sentence e.g. Herve de Charette, French foreign minister, said … Rudolf Nureyev, most prominent of the defectors from the Bolshoi, has danced…
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Use commas to mark off a clause that is not essential to the meaning of a sentence, e.g. the airliner, which was seven years old, crashed … But a clause that cannot be removed from the sentence without affecting its meaning is not marked off by commas, e.g. The airliner that crashed on Thursday was seven years old but the plane lost the previous day was brand new. Use commas to separate items in a list, e.g. cheese, fruit, wine and coffee or Smith despised ballet hated the theatre and was bored by opera. Note that there is normally no comma before the final and. However, a comma should be used in this position if to leave it out would risk ambiguity, e.g. He admired Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, and Leonard Bernstein. As in the sentence above, a comma follows an initial however. But as long as there is no risk of ambiguity there is no need for the comma after opening phrases like On Wednesday the committee decided … In the first four months of 2002 Britain exported.. Dashes: Use dashes sparingly, never to set off relative clauses in a sentence. For the sake of clarity, dashes should be double (–) and hyphens single (-). A single dash may be used as a separator in alerts and headlines where space is tight, but not in text. Dashes are followed by lower case unless they are used to label sections of a list The study concluded: Almost half had more exports this year than last. In 1995, a third had less imports than in 1994.
One in five expects better terms of trade in 1996. Hyphenation: Use the hyphen if its omission might lead to ambiguity, e.g. three year-old horses is quite different from three-year-old horses. Use caution in headlines: False jailing claim delayed. What was meant was False-jailing claim delayed. Hyphens tend to erode with time and many words once hyphenated are now generally written unhyphenated e.g. ceasefire, cooperation, gunrunner, machine gun. Use a hyphenate to show that two or more words are to be read together as a single word with its own meaning, different from that of the individual words, e.g. extra-judicial duties (duties other than judicial ones) as opposed to extra judicial duties (additional judicial duties). Do not hyphenate an adjective and a noun when they stand alone, e.g. the left wing of the party. If the adjective and noun are paired to form a new adjective, they are hyphenated, e.g. a first-class result, the left-wing party. Hyphenate numbers and nouns or adjectives when they are paired to form a new adjective, e.g. a six-cylinder car, a one-armed man. Do not hyphenate adjectives used to form comparatives or superlatives, e.g. the most desirable outcome, the least likely result, the more obvious solution.
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Do not hyphenate an adverb and adjective when they stand alone, e.g. the artist was well known. If the adverb and adjective are paired to form a new adjective, they are hyphenated, e.g. a well-known artist. Do not do so however if the adverb ends in -ly, e.g. a poorly planned operation. Hyphenate two adjectives or an adjective and a present or past participle when they are paired to form a new adjective, e.g. a dark-blue dress, a good-looking man, a well-tailored suit. Do not hyphenate very with an adjective. He is a very good man. If the second element in a word is capitalized, hyphenate, e.g. anti-Semitism, although transatlantic is an exception. If pre- or re- is followed by an element beginning with e, hyphenate e.g. pre-empt, re-employ. If the first element of a word is the negative non-, hyphenate, e.g. a non-aggression pact (but nonconformist). Where two nouns are paired to form another noun, hyphenate if their original distinct meanings are still clearly retained, e.g. actor-manager. Otherwise do not hyphenate, e.g. housekeeper. Where a verb and adverb are paired to form a noun, hyphenate if the verb ends and the adverb begins with a vowel, e.g. cave-in, flare-up. Hyphenate titles when the first word is a preposition, e.g. under-secretary, vice-admiral, or when a noun is followed by an adjective, e.g. attorney-general. (However official U.S. titles are not hyphenated, e.g. the US. Attorney General) Do not hyphenate when the noun follows the adjective, e.g. second lieutenant. Hyphenate fractions, e.g. three-quarter, two-thirds. Hyphenate secondary compass points, e.g. south-southwest but not main ones
e.g.
southwest. Hyphenate compound words when not to do so would result in an ugly sound or confusion of meaning,
e.g.
cross-section, sea-eagle. Hyphenate both terms in phrases such as short-and medium-range missiles. If a figure being converted is hyphenated make sure that the figure in the conversion is also, e.g. within a 10-mile (six-km) radius. Pune – Not Poona, India. punter – Prefer gambler, not bettor which is unfamiliar outside the Americas. Do not use in financial stories as a synonym for investors or speculators unless it is in quotes, in which case explain.
!252 Purchase – buy is shorter, better. push up, push-up – Two words for the verb, one word for the noun. pygmy – Lower case if you mean small, as in pygmy hippopotamus, but upper case for members of specific human groups in Asia and Africa. pyramid construction – Also known as inverted pyramid construction, this is the method of writing that arranges information in descending order of significance and interest. A story can then be cut from the bottom upwards, always leaving a self-contained version. Pyrrhic victory – At great cost to the victor.
!253 QE2 – The only acceptable abbreviation for the liner Queen Elizabeth 2. It may be used at first reference. Quadriplegia – Not quadraplegia. The paralysis of all four limbs as opposed to paraplegia, the total or partial paralysis of both legs. Quadruped – Not quadriped or quadraped. Quakers – Permissible in stories about the Religious Society of Friends. Spell out the full name if the story is about the religious movement or its activities. Quandary – Not quandry. Quantum leap – Avoid. It means a sudden and spectacular advance, which is clearer than quantum leap. Strictly quantum simply means a quantity or a specified portion, and in physics the smallest amount of a physical quantity that can exist independently. Quarter-final – Hyphenated. Queen – Queen Elizabeth at first reference and the queen or Queen Elizabeth at second reference. 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. Quip The president/prime minister quipped… is a phrase almost invariably followed by something that is not funny. Avoid both quip and third-rate humor. Quite – Avoid. It can be expressed more clearly and it is ambiguous. In American usage it means very and in European usage it can mean just a little or only moderately. Quotations – Quotes are sacred. Do not alter anything put in quotation marks other than to delete words, and then only if the deletion does not alter the sense of the quote. Quotes personalize stories and give them immediacy. Try to get a quote into the first three paragraphs of any story where it is appropriate.
Delete routine obscenities. Show deletions from a quoted text with three full stops with a space before and after, e.g. He said: “We will win by fair means or foul … and the devil take the hindmost.” If the words omitted are at the end of a sentence and are followed by another sentence in quotation marks, then the next word is capitalized to show the start of a new sentence. “We will fight and we will win … We will never surrender.” You may drop words in this way only if the deletion does not alter the sense of the quote.
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If you need to background or explain a quote, do so in a separate paragraph or by bracketing a phrase into the quoted remarks, e.g. He said: “They (the Khmer Rouge) are bound to fail.” Where you are quoting the same source for a lengthy statement you need not repeat the source paragraph by paragraph as long as there is no doubt who is speaking. Do not run one person’s quote into another’s. Use a bridging sentence or phrase to make the transition from one source to the next clear to the reader e.g. “The world is round,” said Smith Jones disagreed: “It is round,” Jones said. Avoid quotes in colloquial or parochial language not easily translated or understood in other countries. If you do give such quotes, explain what they mean,
e.g. He said: “Clinton is behind the eight ball (in a difficult situation).” In a quote spell out what is actually spoken rather than using customary style abbreviations. It is better to write “The president does not think that Doctor Williams needs to resign,” he said, rather than “The president does not think that Dr Williams needs to resign,” he said. When translating quotes from another language into English you should normally do so in an idiomatic way rather than with pedantic literalness. However, if a statement is tendentious and likely to be the subject of close analysis give a literal translation. When quoting someone speaking in a language in which Reuters transmits a news service try to give key quotes or highly idiomatic phrases in the original language for the translation desk concerned to obviate the risks inherent in double translation. This can be done by bracketing the original language after the English translation. Avoid excessive use of direct quotes in English when a speaker has spoken in another language. The full stop goes inside the quotation marks when the quotation is a complete sentence. It goes outside the quotation marks when the quotation is the final part of the sentence. When the quotation proceeds the source put the comma inside the quotation marks. “We have no choice but to increase taxes,” the finance minister said. Quote the titles of films, plays and books but not of ships, aircraft, newspapers or magazines. See also deletion and capitalisation .
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R Raccoon – Not racoon. Race – Mention a person’s race, colour or ethnic or religious affiliation only if it is relevant to the story. If race is relevant, black, white and of mixed race are acceptable adjectives. Avoid words like African, Asian or European unless an individual’s nationality is not known. Use the term colored only for South Africans of mixed race. Do not use Negro as an indicator of racial origin unless making a special historical or similar point. Rack, wrack – Use wrack only for seaweed and in the phrase wrack and ruin. Otherwise use rack e.g. racked with pain. Racket – Not racquet. 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. Ranges – $22 million to $26 million, not $22 to $26 million. Rapt, wrapped – Rapt is entranced or wholly engrossed, wrapped is folded together or Enfolded. Rarefied – Not rarified. 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. Re- – If the second element of a word beginning with re- starts with an e, hyphenate,
e.g. re-employ, re-elected. Reassure – Use this word with caution. It means to give a new assurance. It does not mean (e.g. Hitler reassured Czechoslovakia that he had no designs on its territory) that the person to whom the assurance is given is necessarily reassured. 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. We should avoid – except in quotes – unless we are really sure we are using them correctly. Deny or reject may be preferred.
!256 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. See also depr ession , slump . Reckless – Not wreckless. Reconnaissance record – Do not write a new world record. By definition any record just set is new. recur, recurring, recurred – Not reoccur. Red Cross – The Red Cross movement comprises: the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (formerly the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies); and more than 160 national societies around the world. Both the ICRC (founded in 1863 and still almost exclusively composed of Swiss citizens) and the federation (1919) are based in Geneva. The ICRC helps victims of war and internal conflicts. The federation, which groups the 160-plus national societies, brings relief to victims of natural disasters and helps care for refugees outside areas of conflict. The ICRC’s work in protecting wounded and sick servicemen, prisoners of war and civilians in times of armed conflict is based on international humanitarian law enshrined in the four Geneva conventions of 1949 and two protocols signed in 1977. Give the ICRC title in full at first reference; do not abbreviate to the ‘International Red Cross’ since such a body does not exist. For the sake of brevity in a lead paragraph you can refer to a Red Cross official or spokesman as long as you make clear lower in the story which organization he belongs to. Re-elect, re-election Refer – See allude , r efer Referendum, referendums Refute – See r ebut , r efute Regime – A word with negative overtones in a political context. Use government. Register office – Not registry office. reins, reigns – Reins control a horse. A monarch Reigns. reiterate again – A tautology. Just reiterate will do. relatively – Do not use Unless in a comparison. Do not write He is relatively young. Compared to whom? He is younger than the rest of the team.
!257 Religions – See capitalisation . Religious titles – See capitalisation . Reluctant, reticent – Reluctant is unwilling or resisting. Reticent is sparing in communication. A gossip is reluctant to be reticent. Remainder – Use the rest. Rendezvous – Singular and plural. Prefer meeting or appointment. Repeat, repetition – The noun is repetition, the verb is repeat. 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). Repellent – Not repellant. Replica – An 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. reported speech – See writing . Reporting figures – See figures . Reports – Do not refer to stories already on the Reuters file with implied skepticism as reports from x, y or z dateline. If we put a story out we give it the Reuters hallmark and it rises above the status of a mere report to that of news. If filing reaction to a colleague’s story, make it commenting on news from … If the reaction is to a non-Reuters story; refer to it as a report from. Requirements – needs is shorter and better. Resistible, irresistible – Not resistable, irrisistable. 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? Not restaurateur. Result in – Use a stronger, more direct verb, such as cause.
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Reuters name – Reuters is used as the title of the company, e.g. Reuters Limited and Reuters Holdings Plc and also as an adjective, e.g. a Reuters correspondent. If we need to describe the company in copy we should write Reuters, the international news and information organisation. We should refer to Reuters news agency only if this is made necessary by the context of the story, e.g. one mentioning the activities of AP, AFP and Reuters in covering a war. Company style permits use of an apostrophe only in connection with the name of its founder, e.g. Reuter’s birthplace in Kassel … Where failure to use an apostrophe in the company’s name would clearly conflict with grammatical usage, write round the problem, e.g. The decision by Reuters to … rather than Reuters decision to … Editorial policy is to use Reuters for all references to the company in the text of stories. Revaluation – See devaluation . reveal – Use with caution. Use of the word implies (a) that Reuters accepts 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 – See capitalization . Revert back – Just revert will do. Revolver – See military. Rhinoceros, rhinoceroses Richter scale – See earthquakes . Rifle, riffle – Rifle is a weapon, or to plunder or ransack. Riffle is to stir lightly and rapidly. 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 – Not rigamarole. rock’n’roll rocks – Americans throw rocks. Others throw stones. Rolls-Royce – Note hyphen.
!259 Roman Catholic Church – 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 in Reuters copy unless to omit them would cause confusion. Past Church leaders should take Roman numerals after their name on first reference e.g. Pope Pius XII and may be referred to simply by their name e.g. Pius, on subsequent references unless to omit the numerals would cause confusion. The Pope’s 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. Monsignor is someone who has a rank between priest and bishop,
e.g. Monsignor Martin Smith. In some countries, such as Italy, France and Spain and in Latin America, monsignor is a catchall title used for monsignors, bishops, archbishops and cardinals, e.g. the Archbishop of Bogota, Monsignor Enrique Perez. Avoid this usage. Use Boston Archbishop Charles Dust. For priests, use Father John Doe. Do not use the Rev., Reverend or Most Reverend. The Church hierarchy is: priest, monsignor, bishop, archbishop, cardinal, Pope. The Church government working in the Vatican is known as the Curia. Avoid using it as it needs to be explained. The Vatican technically refers to the city-state in Rome and the Holy See to the Church’s central administration, but the terms have become interchangeable in common use. The Holy See’s ambassadors around the world are known as papal nuncios and its embassies as enunciators. If the Holy See does not have formal diplomatic relations with a country the Pope’s envoy to the church in that country is an apostolic delegate. In some countries, such as Poland and Hungary, the highest-ranking Church official has the title primate for historical reasons. The Pope is also head of Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome. They worship in a different rite and have their own patriarchs or primates. Some of them allow married men to become priests. Romania – Not Rumania. Roofs – Not rooves. roro – roll on/roll off vehicle ferry. Rosh Hashanah – The Jewish New Year festival. Rostrum – See dais. Round up, roundup – 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.
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Rounding figures – Round off unwieldy figures, e.g. 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 15.5 7. Do not round interest rates. Give them to the full number of decimal places supplied by the source of the information. Round foreign exchange quotations to four decimal places, e.g. the dollar rose to 0.9784 euros. If a country adjusts its currency, any rate given must not be rounded off, e.g. Manchukistan announced a rate of 5.79831 manchuks to the dollar. Do not round company dividends, e.g. the company announced a dividend of 0.123456 pence per share. Where totals do not add up because of rounding, this should be explained. See also figure es , fractions . Row – Do not use for argument or dispute. Royalty – Retain the titles of rulers and their consorts at second reference, e.g. 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 Elizabeth’s 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, e.g. Charles I, Louis XIV not Charles 1st or Charles the First. Rubber stamp, rubber-stamp – Two words as a noun, hyphenated as a verb or adjective rule – A word with negative overtones in a political context. Use govern as a verb. Rundown, run down – Rundown is the noun (but prefer review or summary). The verb is run down and the adjective is run-down. Runner-up, runners-up rush hour, rush-hour – Two words for the noun, hyphenated for the adjective. Rushed to hospital – A cliché. Use taken to hospital or treated in hospital
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S Saccharin, saccharine – The noun is saccharin, the adjective is saccharine. Sahara – Not Sahara Desert – sahara means desert in Arabic. Sahel – A belt of countries across Africa south of the Sahara, prone to repeated drought and famine Reuters regards the Sahel as comprising Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Sudan. Also see Sahara Saigon – Now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Saint – Use St. with full point. Sahrawi – The people of the Western Saharan republic proclaimed by Polisario guerrillas fighting for independence from Morocco. Its full name is the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Salable, salably salutary – Not salutory, for promoting health or safety, or wholesome. But salutatory, the adjective for a greeting. Salvadorean – Not Salvadoran. salvo, salvos SAM – Surface-to-air missile Also see military Sanction – Avoid sanction as a verb. It has conflicting meanings, to approve and to punish. SARS – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. A flu-like and potentially fatal viral disease; Use SARS at first reference and spell out the full name lower in the story, sat – Sat, or was seated, or was sitting, but not was sat. Saviour ** savior (American style). Scandinavia – This 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 ** skeptic (American style) scheme – Use the noun with caution and prefer “plan” or “initiative”. The noun has a neutral meaning in British English but can be pejorative in American English.
!262 Screen saver – Two words. SDRs – Special drawing rights. SDRs are international reserve assets created by the IMF (q.v.) and its member countries to supplement existing reserves. They are based on a currency basket of the major traded currencies and serve as the unit of account of the IMF and a number of international organisations. The reference currency basket has specific weightings of major traded currencies – the U.S. dollar, sterling, euro, and yen.
Seasons – Be careful in writing of summer and winter, spring and autumn (fall), since the seasons are reversed north and south of the equator. Do not impose northern norms on the south. Seasons are not capitalised unless part of the formal name of an event. Be specific about when something happened rather than use the season. e.g. The transport strike last August … rather than … The transport strike last summer Second lieutenant – Two words Second World War – Use World War Two. Not WWII. Secretary-general – Hyphenated. Capitalise if part of a formal title. Security Council – The 15-member United Nations Security Council in New York is the body that takes many of the decisions on U.N. action around the world, often through resolutions which are numbered, e.g. 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 U.N. countries which serve in rotation, representing different areas of the world. The presidency of the Security Council rotates monthly, according to the English alphabetical listing of its member states. The U.N. Security Council becomes the council (lower case) at second reference. See, saw – Inanimate objects do not have the power of sight. Do not write the game saw several violent incidents; the club’s 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. Semiannual – Prefer twice yearly or twice a year. See biannual, biennial. Semi-final – Hyphenated. Sentence length – Sentences should generally be short but, to avoid a staccato effect, vary their length. Avoid complex constructions. A sentence with more than one subordinate clause can be hard to follow and difficult to translate. See also writing
!263 Separate – Not seperate Sephardim – Jews of Spanish or Portuguese descent as opposed to Ashkenazim who are Jews of East or Central European descent. Adjectives Sephardic, Ashkenazic. Sept. 11 – The date can stand alone without reference to the year 2001, as can the alternative reference 9-11. septuagenarian – Not septagenarian. Serbia and Montenegro – Not Yugoslavia. Serie A – Italian first division soccer. Capitalised. serried – Close-pressed, packed, not just organized or in neat rows. serviceable Set point – Two words in tennis scoring. Sevastopol – Not Sebastepol, Crimea Sewage, sewarage – Sewage is waste and sewarage is the system that removes it. sexist language – Reuters must not use language that perpetuates the stereotype of women as the weaker, inferior sex. Such language is offensive, out of date and often simply inaccurate. Sexist references should be avoided, as should such linguistic absurdities as creating the crime of people slaughter. Do not refer to gender, a woman’s looks, hairstyle or clothing unless they are details relevant to the story. Also see discriminatory language . Shake-up, shake up – The noun is a shake-up, the verb is to shake up. 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, is eroding fast and can probably be ignored. SHAPE – Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. Based in Mons, Belgium, it is the military headquarters of NATO and works closely with the political headquarters in Brussels. Sharia – Islamic religious law (note lower case s). Sharia law is tautologous. Write sharia, Islamic law.
!264 Sheikh – Not sheik or shaikh. A courtesy title in Saudis Arabia and should be avoided 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. See also Arab names . sherpas – Senior officials from G7/G8 countries who meet three or four times before each summit to agree topics to be discussed and to draft the final communiqué; Named after the porters on mountain-climbing expeditions. Best avoided as jargon or explained if you
need to use it. (q.v. G7 , G8 ) Shimla – Not Simla, India. Ships’ names – Do not use HMS or USS to designate British or American warships if the nationality of the ship is already clear. Write the British frigate Battleaxe not the British frigate HMS Battleaxe. But in datelines write, for instance, ABOARD HMS BATTLEAXE. Routinely check the names of ships in Jane’s Fighting Ships, Lloyd’s Register or the weekly Lloyd’s Shipping Index. Do not put quotation marks round the names of ships. Always use neuter pronouns. Shoeshine, shoestring shoo-in – Not shoe-in. Short ton – See ton , tonne short-lived, short-sighted – Hyphenated. Side effect – Two words, no hyphen siege – Not seige Silicon, silicone – Silicon chips but silicone implants. Since – Do not use to mean because. Single out – By definition, this phrase should be used only for single examples. Do not write, for instance, He singled out Britain, France and Italy for blame. Sinhalese – The major ethnic group in Sri Lanka. siphon – Not syphon.
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sister-in-law, sisters-in-law Situation – The word can usually be dispensed with, as in a crisis situation, a debt situation, a flood situation. Sizable – Not sizeable ski, skiing, skied, skier skilful Skipper – Use only of fishing vessels. Otherwise captain. Slang – Avoid slang that would not be readily understood outside the English speaking world or your own country. It creates problems for translators. If a vivid quote contains slang either explain it in brackets or give a paraphrased version as well, e.g. He’s in the cat-bird seat (in a favoured position) “ or Saying Smith was in a favored position, he added: He’s in the cat-bird seat.” Slew – It is colloquial and a cliché. If you are trying to say a large number or amount then express it more precisely. Slump – A sudden or serious fall in economic activity or prices. See also depression, recession Smithsonian Institution – Not Institute. Sneaked – Not snuck. So as to – Use to. Socialist – Capitalise only when part of a proper name. Software – See capitalisation . 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 – See capitalization sophisticated – A modish word when applied to weapons. Most weapon systems are sophisticated nowadays. If you just mean modern, say so. Sorcerer – Not sorceror. SOS – An appeal for rescue. No spaces, no points.
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Spaceship space shuttle – Lower case unless part of a proper name. Spanish names – See Hispanic names 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. Spill, spilling, spilled – Not spilt. Spin off, spinoff – Spin off is the noun, spinoff the verb. spokesman, spokeswoman – not spokesperson. If the sex of the person is not known then use representative. spoonful, spoonfuls – Not spoonsful or spoons full. Sports events titles – Use lower case for sport names, junior, men’s, women’s, championship, tournament, meeting, match, test, race, game etc. Use upper case for title of the event e.g. French Open tennis championships, Dutch Open golf
tournament. Use singular championship when one title is at stake and plural championships for more than one, U.S. Open tennis championships (men’s, women’s, doubles). Use the name of the sport before championship, tournament etc. sports metaphors – Think twice before using a metaphor drawn from sport. They are often particular to a single sport or culture and are difficult to translate. Not everyone knows what you mean by bowling a googly, a full court press or standing up to the plate. Sprang, sprung – Sprang is the past tense. The crew sprang to attention. Sprung is the past participle. Rebellion has sprung up. Square leg, square-leg – Two words for the fielding position in cricket, at square leg, but hyphenated as an adjective, square-leg umpire. Stadiums – Not stadia. Stanch, staunch – Use stanch for the verb, staunch for the adjective. The staunch supporter stanched the flow of blood. Startup – One word for a new business. Star/superstar – Avoid where possible. Do not use in sports reporting.
!267 State names – Abbreviate the names of states in the United States only in datelines. In text, spell out the names in full. Stationary, stationery – Stationary is fixed or still. Stationery is writing material. Stretcher
– Do not use as a verb. Bill Bloggs was carried off, not stretchered off. Stealth – Do not capitalize when describing aircraft or weapons. See military. Storey, storeys – The third storey of a building; But tell me a Different story ** Story for both uses; (American style) 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 called 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 recognized as typhoon, a tropical storm has to have winds of 17 meters (56 feet) per second or stronger. The Beaufort scale measures wind speed. Strait, straight – a strait is a narrow channel joining two larger bodies of water; in dire straits or in desperate straits is a cliché for someone in distress. The home straight is the final part of a racecourse between the last bend and the finishing post. Straitjacket – Not straightjacket strait-laced – Narrow in principles, or prudish. Not straight-laced. Strategic – The distinction between strategy – the conduct of a military campaign – and tactics – maneuvering in the presence of the enemy – is worth preserving. Do not abuse strategic by making it mean simply important. A mountain pass, a bridge or even a building is of strategic importance if its possession could affect the conduct of a campaign as a whole. If it is only of local importance its value is tactical. Stratum, strata – One stratum, several strata. 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 – Use strike. Stupefy, stupefying, stupefaction – Not stupify. Stupor – Not stupour. submachinegun – See also military .
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! Subpoena, subpoenaing, subpoenaed Subsequent to, subsequently – Use after or later. Substitute for – The verb substitute takes the preposition for. Do not confuse with replace with or replace by. Successive – Preferable to straight. Successfully – Can often be excised, as in They successfully sailed round the world. such as, like – Such is used when offering an example. Like means similar to Politicians like Brown have short tempers and long memories, but Players such as Smith, Patel and Jones are essential in the team. Sudan – Not the Sudan. Sufficient – Generally prefer enough. Sue, suing, sued – Not sueing. Suit, suite
– You have a suit of clothes and follow suit in cards. You have a suite of followers, rooms or furniture or play a suite of tunes. Summit – Use this term 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 men can make a summit as Bush and Gorbachev regularly showed. Summon, summons – The verb is to summon. The noun is a summons. Sunni – Muslims are split into two main groups, Sunni and Shia. Sunnis, the orthodox majority, are estimated at about 80 per cent of all Muslims and include the vast majority of Arabs. As well as adhering to the revelations of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, they follow the Prophet Muhammad’s rule of life (the Sunna) and traditions based on his sayings. Shias (also known as Shi’ites) give weight mostly to the Koran and the interpretations of their theologians. They hold that the headship of Islam should remain always in the Prophet’s own family. Since the direct line was broken not long after the death of Muhammad, Shias believe there is a Hidden Imam who will reappear one day. In Iran, where Shias are predominant, the late Ayatollah Khomeini was considered the Imam’s deputy on earth. His successor as Supreme Leader holds the same authority. The two groups draw from the same ultimate source but Shia theologians have much greater freedom of interpretation.
!269 Superlatives – Avoid superlatives if they constitute value judgments. It is not our business to make them. Do not call a company giant, as many of the companies reported in our services are giants in one way or another. In any case we cannot judge when a company becomes a giant. Be careful with such descriptions as first, largest, biggest, highest and oldest as such descriptions are often challenged. It is best to have more than one source for them. Be particularly sceptical about press releases claiming records, especially auction records. Supersede – Not supercede. Supervisor – Not superviser. supremo – Do not use this term for a supreme commander, which is not widely understood outside Britain. Surinam – Not Suriname, former Dutch colony in South America. Surrounded – Completely surrounded is tautologous, as is surrounded on all sides. You cannot be surrounded on two or three sides. Swath, swathe – A swath is a strip cut by a scythe or mowing machine. Swathe is to wrap, or a binding or bandage. You cut a swath, but swathe someone in love. swat, swot – You swat a wasp and swot for your exams. swop – Not swap. Syllabus, syllabuses sync – Prefer to synch as a shortening of synchronization, as in out of sync. synthesise, synthesizer ** synthesize, synthesizer (American style) Szczecin – Not Stettin, Poland.
!270 T Table – Do not use as a verb. It has conflicting meanings – to put a bill forward for discussion and to postpone discussion of it. tablespoon, tablespoonfuls Tactical – See strategic . Tangier – Not Tangiers, Morocco tankan – A report on sentiment among Japanese companies by the Bank of Japan, based on a quarterly survey covering some 10,000 companies. The bank regards it as an important economic indicator when deciding monetary policy. tanks – See military . targeted – Not targetted. Do not use as a verb except in a military context. Prefer aimed at or directed at, or describe exactly what is being done to whom. Tatar – Soviet ethnic group. Not Tartar. tattoos, tattoing, tattoed Tbilisi – Not Tiflis, Georgia. Teammate – One word. Teams – Teams and clubs are used as plural nouns, except in American sport. Fulham buy new Dutch striker. Manchester United said they would not rush into the transfer market. Teenage, teenager Terminate – Use stop or end. Teargas – one word. Tehran – Not Teheran, Iran. Tel Aviv – Tel Aviv is not the capital of Israel and the status of Jerusalem is contentious. Do not use the name of either city as a synonym for Israel, as in the Jerusalem government, or refer to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
!271
Temblor – An American word for earthquake, not trembler. temperatures – Express in Celsius (which is the same scale as Centigrade) and Fahrenheit, using first the scale of the country involved, with conversion in brackets. Spell in full at first reference, abbreviating to C and F subsequently, 25 Celsius, 40C. Freezing point in Celsius is 0 degrees, in Fahrenheit 32 degrees. Convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit for temperatures above zero by multiplying by 9, dividing by 5 and adding 32, e.g. 20 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit). For temperatures below zero multiply by nine, divide by five and subtract from 32, e.g. minus 15C (5F), minus 20C (minus 4F). Convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius for temperatures above 32 by subtracting 32, multiplying by five and dividing by nine. For temperatures below freezing take the total number of degrees by which the temperature is below 32, multiply by five and divide by nine, e.g. minus 8F is 40 below freezing, 40 x 5/9 gives you 22, therefore minus 22C. Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif – A 14-hectare (34-acre) area of the Old City of Jerusalem sacred to Jews and Muslims. It is the site of the biblical Jewish templedestroyed in AD 70. Many Jews believe the Wailing (Western) Wall below the Mount, Judaism’s holiest place is a remnant of the retaining wall of the ancient temple site. Muslims believe the prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven from this place. They built the al-Aqsa mosque and the gilded Dome of the Rock on the site and called it al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). It is the third holiest Islamic shrine after Mecca and Medina. See also Holy Places Temporary respite – Tautological. A respite is by definition temporary. Tenses – See writing. Terrorism – We may refer without attribution to terrorism and counter-terrorism in general but do not refer to specific events as terrorism. Nor do we use the adjective word terrorist without attribution to qualify specific individuals, groups or events. Terrorism and terrorist must be retained when quoting someone in direct speech. When quoting someone in indirect speech, care must be taken with sentence structure to ensure it is entirely clear that they are the source’s words and not a Reuters label. Terrorism and terrorist should not be used as single words in inverted commas (e.g. “terrorist”) or preceded by so-called (e.g. a so-called terrorist attack) since that can be taken to imply that Reuters is making a value judgment. Use a fuller quote if necessary. Terror as in terror attack or terror cell should be avoided on stylistic grounds.
!272
This is part of a wider and long-standing policy of avoiding the use of emotive terms. Reuters does not label or characterize the subjects of news stories. We aim to report objectively their actions, identity and background. We aim for a dispassionate use of language so that individuals, organizations and governments can make their own judgment on the basis of facts. Seek to use more specific terms like “bomber”, or “bombing”, “hijacker” or “hijacking”, “attacker” or “attacks”, “gunman” or “gunmen” etc. It is particularly important not to make un-attributed use of the words terrorism and terrorist in national and territorial conflicts and to avoid using those terms in indirect speech in such a context. See also emotive words. Thai names – The first name is used alone at second reference, e.g. Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan said … Chatichai added … thalweg – A boundary between states along the lowest part of a river bed. that, which – Use that in defining clauses, e.g. the cup that cheers. Reserve which for informative clauses, e.g. the cup, which was blue, was full of water. Avoid the unnecessary use of that as in He said that he was going to … See grammar . theatre ** theater, unless theatre is part of a proper name. (American style) Thimphu – Not Thimpu, Bhutan. Third World – A term to be avoided. The idea of ranking is offensive to many developing countries. The Second World (the communist bloc) has collapsed and the balance of economic power in the world is changing. Use developing countries or poor countries instead. Therefore – Use so. Third man – Two words for fielding position in cricket. Thrash, thresh – Thrash means to beat soundly, thresh to beat out, e.g. grain, corn. Threshold – Not threshhold. But withhold not withold. Tiananmen Square – Not Tienanmen (Beijing) tiebreak – One word in tennis. Tigray – Not Tigre, Ethiopia. Adjective is Tigrayan. Timbuktu – Not Timbuktou or Timbuctoo, Mali
!273 Time – Abbreviations of time zones are acceptable providing the GMT equivalent is given. BST (British Summer Time) = GMT+1 CET (Central European Time) = GMT+1 EST (Eastern Standard Time) = GMT-5 PST (Pacific Standard Time) = GMT-8 When referring to times in copy first give the local time by the 12-hour clock (but without using the words local time) and follow it with a bracketed conversion to a 24-hour clock time for a specified time zone, e.g. … will meet at 10 a.m. (1600 GMT). Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate hours and minutes, 3:15 p.m. Use the style on Friday, on Saturday, on Sunday rather than the looser today, yesterday, tomorrow. ** He came Friday, not on Friday (American style). Do not use phrases like several months ago or recently which suggest either that we do not know exactly when something happened or have been too lazy to find out. Be precise – last August, on Feb. 2. A threemonth-old revolt began three months ago and is still going on. A three-month revolt lasted for three months but is over. titbit** tidbit (American style) Titles – Capitalize an official’s title when it immediately precedes the person’s name. When the title follows the name or is used alone, use lower case, e.g.: President Tom Smith but The president said: “I would like to welcome the British prime minister, Janet Courage.” See courtesy titles, nobility, religious titles , royalty . Titles of sports events – Use lower case for sport names, junior, men’s, women’s, championship, tournament, meeting, match, test, race, game etc, Use upper case for title of the event e.g. French Open tennis championships, Dutch Open golf tournament. Use singular championship when one title is at stake and plural championships for more than one, U.S. Open tennis championships (men’s, women’s, doubles). Use the name of the sport before championship, tournament etc. Together – The word can often be dropped, as in meet together, join together and together with. Told reporters – Use this only when the source is speaking informally to a group of reporters. If he or she is addressing a news conference, say so. Told Reuters – Use this phrase only when we are being given significant information or an interview on an exclusive basis. Otherwise it is told reporters or told a news conference. If we get information on the basis of a telephone call to an official spokesman/spokeswoman who would make the same information available to anyone who called, we need simply say the spokesman/ spokeswoman said.
!274
Tomato, tomatoes Topspin – One word in tennis. Total, totalling, totaled ** total, totaling, totaled (American style) ton, tonne – We use both tons and tonnes, without having to give a conversion, but you must make clear what kind of ton(ne) is meant, using the terms long and short where appropriate. The three measures are: tonne – 2,204.6 pounds (1,000 kg), formerly called metric ton long ton – 2,240 pounds (or 20 hundredweights, 20 x 112 pounds). Short ton – 2,000 pounds, American ton (We use lb for pounds in copy) See also measures. Tonnage of ships – There are several different ways of expressing the size of ships. For passenger liners, cruise ships and other vessels, other than warships, tankers and dry bulk cargo ships, give it in gross registered tonnage (grt). This is a measurement of volume, expressed in tons, and is the first bold-type figure in Lloyd’s Register of Shipping. For tankers and dry bulk cargo vessels the measurement is in deadweight tonnes (dwt,), the actual weight in tonnes of maximum cargo, stores, fuel and people carried, which can be at least twice the gross tonnage. For warships the measurement is displacement tons. We need to distinguish deadweight tonnes (dwt) from gross registered tons (grt), especially when reporting marine mishaps. For new ship orders use grt for all kinds of vessels, because it reflects production volume better than dwt. A tonnage scale called compensated gross tons (cgt) is used in statistics to show a country’s shipbuilding capacity. Cgt factors in manpower and added values. For instance, a very large crude carrier is bigger and may need more steel than a smaller liquefied gas carrier, but the number of hours needed to complete the gas carrier, and its value in the market, may be higher than for the supertanker. In some cases other means of measuring the ship’s capacity are used. For liquefied gas carriers, we use cubic meters (feet) more often than dwt to show the capacity of the ship. For container ships teu (twenty-foot equivalent unit) or feu (forty-foot equivalent unit) are often used. Shipping officials prefer these to dwt because they show how many containers the ship can carry.
Top – Use sparingly because it is often tautological, e.g. Bush met his top aides … He would hardly consult junior aides. Tornado, tornadoes – See storms. However the plural of the fighter-bomber in service with some West European air forces is Tornados. Torpedo – torpedoes but torpedoing.
!275 Tortuous, torturous – Tortuous is full of windings or far from straightforward. Torturous is causing torture or violent distortion. Negotiations are often tortuous, rarely torturous. Tory, Tories – Acceptable alternative for second reference to Conservative Party members in Britain. Total, totalling, totalled – A total of is usually redundant. Just give the figure. **total, totaling, totaled. (American style) total annihilation – Redundant. Annihilation is total. Towards – Not toward. But untoward ** toward (American style). Trademark – A trademark is a brand, symbol or word registered by a manufacturer and protected by law to prevent others from using it. Use a generic equivalent unless the trademark is important to the story. When used, follow the owner’s capitalization, e.g. Aspro not aspro but aspirin. Trade union, trade unions
– Not trades unions. Traffic – trafficked, trafficker tragedy – Do not devalue this word by overuse. Avoid in sports reporting. trans-– When the second element of a word beginning with trans-starts with a capital, hyphenate, e.g. trans-Siberian. Exceptions are transatlantic, transpacific, transarctic, transalpine. Transfer, transferring, transferred transpired – Use it in the sense of came to be known not of happened. Transportation – Use transport except where part of a title, e.g. U.S. Department of Transportation. Travel – travelled, travelling, traveller. ** traveled, traveling, traveler. (American style) travelogue – Not travelog. Treasury bill – use lower case treasury bill, not Treasury bill trembler – See temblor
!276 Trillion – In Reuters services trillion means one thousand billion. The word must be spelled out, although it can be abbreviated to trln when necessary in headlines. Always use numerals before trillion, e.g. 2 trillion, 4 trillion. See also billion, figures. Triplets – Be careful when linking triple ideas that you have a proper complement of verbs. The following sentence is wrong: Three Iraqis were killed, 22 captured and the crew of the minesweeper tried to scuttle their ship. It should read … Three Iraqis were killed, 22 were captured and the crew of the minesweeper tried… i.e. one complete verb for each element. Trojan horse, Trojan Wars Troops – See military . Troop, troupe – A troop is a body of soldiers or a group of people. Use troupe only for performers. Truck – Not lorry. True facts – Tautological. If a fact is not true it is not a fact. try and – Use try to. Tsar – Not Czar. T-shirt – Not teeshirt. tsunami – Japanese for a tidal wave. Tuberculosis – The adjective is tuberculous not tubercular. TUC – Trades Union Congress (UK). Note plural Trades. Turgid, turbid – Turgid is swollen, pompous or bombastic. Turbid is muddy or thick. Tuvalu – Formerly Ellice Islands, West Pacific Twice – Not two time or two times. Bigger numbers should be in the plural, e.g. seven times champion. Typhoon – See storms . tyre – Not tire (of a wheel). **tire (American style) Tyrol – Not Tirol, Austria
!277 U UAE – United Arab Emirates. UAW – United Auto Workers (U.S.) UEFA – A singular noun, all in capitals Explain as European soccer’s governing body. UFO – unidentified flying object UHF – ultra high frequency UK – United Kingdom, no full stops UKAEA – UK Atomic Energy Authority Ukraine – Not the Ukraine. ULCC – ultra-large crude carrier Ulster – See Northern Ireland Ultimatum, ultimatums Umlaut – Indicate the presence of an umlaut in German words by adding an e after the inflected vowel,
e.g. von Weizsaecker not von Weizsacker, Fuehrer not Fuhrer U.N. – See United Nations.
U.N.
Resolutions – See Security Council. Unconventional weapons – See military. Under way – Two words. Write began or started rather than got under way unless referring to ships. Undersecretary – One word. UNEP – U.N. Environment Program UNESCO – U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Unexceptionable, unexceptional – Unexceptionable will not cause problems because no one raises objections. Unexceptional is ordinary or commonplace. UNHCR – U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. If you wish to avoid using this cumbersome title at first reference, use a form of words like a U.N. agency said or the main U.N refugee agency said, giving the full name lower in the story. Note that there is no U.N. High Commission for Refugees, the correct title of the institution being the Office of the UNHCR.
!278 UNICEF – The acronym can be used for all references to the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNIDO – U.N. Industrial Development Organization. Uninterested, disinterested – Uninterested means the opposite of interested. If you are disinterested you are impartial. Unique – You cannot qualify uniqueness. Never write almost unique, more unique, rather unique. United Kingdom – The United Kingdom comprises Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain comprises England, Wales and Scotland. Use the full or abbreviated form (UK) only when it is necessary to emphasize the inclusion of Northern Ireland with England, Scotland and Wales or if you are hard-pressed for space in a headline. United Nations – Spell it out at first reference when used as a noun. It may be abbreviated to U.N. in a headline. As an adjective it can be also be abbreviated at first reference, e.g. the U.N. General Assembly,
U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees. See Security Council. United States – Spell it out at all references in text when used as a noun. It may be abbreviated to U.S. in a headline. As an adjective it can also be abbreviated at first reference, e.g. the U.S. State Department. Do not use USA except in quoted passages. Do not use the noun America as a synonym for the United States, although you may use American instead of U.S. as an adjective. Unparalleled – Not unparalleled. UNRWA – U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees. Unusual names – If a name is unusual repeat it in brackets, e.g. Aigail (repeat Aigail) Carter. Do not write Aigail (eds: correct) Carter since this provides no check against a keystroke error. Up/down – In economic and financial reporting avoid saying is up or is down. Use higher, lower or increased, decreased, firmer, weaker, etc. You should not use up as a verb, as in ups dividend. Always report … rose/fell to … from, never vice versa. Upsurge – Use surge. upcoming – Do not use in stories. Uppsala – Not Upsala, Sweden. Uranium – A radioactive metal. It is enriched by rapid spinning that separates uranium-235, the fuel for nuclear reactors, from uranium-238 (used to make plutonium). See also nuclear , plutonium .
!279 USDA – U.S. Department of Agriculture. User friendly – Jargon. Prefer easy to use. Utilize – Prefer use. U-turn
!280
Valuable, invaluable – Valuable is of worth and invaluable is priceless and cannot be measured. Valletta – Not Valetta, Malta. Vanuatu – Formerly New Hebrides, Southwest Pacific. Varanasi – Not Benares, India. Various – Prefer many or several, unless you really do mean different, unlike each other or changeable. VAT – Value added tax, a system of taxing products on the amount of value added at each stage of their production and exchange, and effectively a consumption tax for individuals. venal, venial – A venal person is corruptible, a venial sin is pardonable vendor
Ventricle – Not heart ventrical. Very – Use this adjective sparingly. It rarely adds value and a very long-winded phrase is best replaced by a single adjective or adverb. Very light – A signal flare fired from a pistol. Not Verey light. Versus – Spell it out in full in text. It can be abbreviated to vs in tables. ** American style is to use v. in court cases, e.g. Roe v. Wade. Veteran – Overused in sports and general news stories and best avoided. Be more precise. Give the person’s age and the details that show why the person is a veteran. veto, vetoes, vetoing, vetoed VHF – very high frequency. Via – Means by way of not by means of. We came via the main roads, but not we came via the bus. Vice-– Hyphenate titles such as vice-president, vice-admiral, vice-chairman etc, apart from U.S. titles. **vice – Use two words for titles such as vice admiral, vice chairman, vice secretary. (American style)
!281 Vice versa – Not vica versa. No hyphen. Vice-president – Hyphenate unless U.S. usage, e.g. vice president of the United States or of an American company. Capitalise when immediately preceding the name of a person. See also capitalization vie, vying, vied Vietnam – Not Viet Nam. Vietnamese names – Use the last name alone at second reference, e.g. Nguyen Co Thach is Thach and Bui Tin is Tin. The only exception to this rule is the late Ho Chi Minh (a nom de guerre). He is Ho at second reference. 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. vivid – See livid . VOA – Voice of America. Vocal cords – Not chords. volcano, volcanoes Volgograd – Formerly Tsaritsyn and then Stalingrad. volley, volleys. VTOL – vertical take-off and landing. See military .
!282 W Wagon – Not waggon. waiver, waver – A waiver is an act of renunciation, to waver is to vacillate. Wake – Do not use in the wake of. Use after or following. Walkie-talkie – Note hyphen. warn – It is acceptable to leave out the object of the verb warn, e.g. Police warned of possible attacks. The object of the verb, the public or travellers or just people, is implied. However, the verb is often stronger and clearer if you spell out exactly who is being warned. warplane – See military . Wars – World War One/Two. Not First/Second World War. Not WWI/WWII. Washington, Washington, D.C. – Do not specify D.C. unless there is a clear need to distinguish between the western U.S. state and the federal district that serves as the U.S. capital. Weapons – See military . Weather – Write good/poor/stormy weather not good/poor/stormy weather conditions. Weather forecaster – Not weatherman. Web, the World Wide Web – Web site and Web page weekend
– Not week-end. ** Weekend – Use over the weekend not at the weekend. (American style) West – Capitalise it when used in a political sense. See capitalisation . Western – Capitalize for a book or film type. whet, wet – Whet means to sharpen, hence whet your appetite. Whiskey, whisky – whiskey is Irish and American, whisky is Scotch and Canadian. White paper – Government information paper. Two words, lower case. Whiz-kid – Note hyphen, one z. WHO – World Health Organisation (Geneva).
!283 Who, whom – See grammar . Wicketkeeper – One word in cricket. wicketkeeper-batsman – Hyphenated. Cricketer who is a recognized batsman but who also keeps wicket when his side is fielding.
Wide-, –wide – Industrywide, nationwide, worldwide have no hyphen. Wide-open, widebodied, wide-eyed, wide-awake are hyphenated. Widespread is an exception. Widow – Either of these is all right: the widow of President John Smith or the wife of the late President John Smith. The widow of the late President John Smith is tautological. Use the late only of those recently dead, not for instance of someone like John Kennedy who has been dead for several decades. Withhold – Not withold. But threshold. Wooded area – Use woods. woes – Acceptable in a headline for the sake of brevity but avoid such journalese as economic woes in text. World War One/Two – Not First/Second World War. Not WWI/WWII. worldwide – No hyphen. worship, worshipper, worshipped. wounds – See injuries . Wrack, rack – Use wrack only for seaweed and wrack and ruin. Otherwise use rack. Wreaked – Not rought. She wreaked vengeance. writing –clichés News stories relying heavily on phrases that have become stale through over use are like paintings done by number. They convey information but lack life or freshness. Avoid clichés, particularly those that exaggerate or over-simplify e.g. the postage-stamp country, the oil-rich sheikhdom.
Some clichés to avoid:
In diplomacy and politics: face-to-face talks, on key issues, top-level meeting, headed into talks on, spearheaded a major initiative, rubber-stamp parliament, lashed out, landmark agreement.
!284 In disasters: mercy mission, airlifted/rushed to hospital, giant C-130 transports, massive aid, an air and sea search was under way, disaster probe, sifted through the wreckage. Of violence: lone gunman, strife-torn province, embattled city, baton-wielding police, stone-throwing demonstrators, steel-helmeted troops braced themselves for, police swoop, pre-dawn raid, staged an attack on, (tautologically) anti-government rebels, (tautologically) armed soldiers. Avoid armed police unless writing about a country where the police are normally unarmed. Then explain. Of industrial trouble: top union leaders, bosses, in a bid to settle, hammer out an agreement. Headlines: Other clichés often stem from importing back into the text the language used as shorthand in headlines. Some examples to avoid: Aimed at … amid reports that… burgeoning (growing)… cutback (cut) … dubbed (called)… due to (when what you mean is because of)… economic/fiscal woes … embattled… giant (large) … global (unless we mean literally that)… hit by fears that… lash out.. long-time foe… looks set to… major (big, large) … massive (big) … meaningful (real, significant) … modalities (means, procedures) … mum (silent)… OKs (approves) … oil-rich… parameters (limits)… probe (inquiry) … reportedly.. rocked by .. the statement came as… war-torn. While bearing in mind that clichés should be avoided, do not delay an alert or a newsbreak to search for a unique phrase. If a cliché that accurately describes the news springs to mind then use it. Your originality can be saved for the subsequent lead. Euphemism: Euphemism, beloved of bureaucrats and social scientists, seeks to cloak reality, sometimes unpleasant, in innocuous words. Shun it. Except in quotation, write elderly people not senior citizens; kill not terminate with extreme prejudice; poor not disadvantaged, died of cancer not passed away after a fight with cancer. Jargon: Technical and professional jargon has no place on the Reuters file unless you are writing for a narrow, specialist audience and are certain that your story is not likely to interest a broader readership. Backwardation might have a place without explanation in a report written uniquely for the gold market on a dull trading day, but if gold hits a high in a time of crisis your story should explain it or convey the meaning in simple terms without using the word itself. Similarly, stories should not contain jargon associated with a specific profession, least of all our own e.g. do not use stringer in a story about a journalist. Use freelance journalist. Think carefully before using quotes laced with jargon. Paraphrase instead.
!285 Long words and clumsy titles: Your story should read smoothly, avoiding unnecessarily long words and clumsy strings of names and titles. Foreign Minister Amr Moussa is fine. Under-Secretary for Military Procurement Major-General Abdul Karim al-Razzak is not. Split up such names and titles; either the Under-Secretary for Military Procurement, Major-General Abdul Karim al-Razzak, or Major-General Abdul Karim al-Razzak, under-secretary for military procurement.
Here are some long words commonly and unnecessarily used when there is an acceptable Shorter and simpler version Additional: more Alternative: other Approximately: about Attempt: try Confrontation: clash, dispute Construct: build Cutback: cut Demonstrate: show Dispatch: send Discover: find Escalation: rise, increase Establish: set up Extinguish: put out Facility: plant, base etc. Finalize: complete, finish Following: after Large-scale: big Manufacture: make Modalities: means Negotiations: talks Numerous: many Participate: take part Permit: let Requirements: needs Sufficient: enough Target (verb): aim at Transportation: transport
!286 Metaphors: A fresh and vivid metaphor can add much to a story. But avoid mixed metaphors, e.g. The Egyptian swimmers walked away with the championships, and metaphors whose literal sense is absurd e.g., a growing bottleneck, which would solve rather than aggravate a problem Repetition Avoid excessive repetition of words and of stereotyped descriptions of people or things, but do not overdo the search for variations. If you are writing about Myanmar call it Myanmar and not the Southeast Asian country. It is better to repeat the United Nations than to avoid repetition by calling it the world body. It is better to repeat the word base than call it a facility. Reported speech: Do not retain the present indicative in reported speech. Change is to was; are to were; will and shall to would; has and have to had. Thus it is: He said it was … not he said it is … There is an exception in the case of lead paragraphs with the source at the end instead of the beginning of the sentence, where to avoid the present indicative would lead to lack of clarity or smack of pedantry. For example, it is acceptable to write in a lead paragraph: Giant Oil Corp will order three supertankers from the Pusan shipyard in Korea next month, the company said. If the source were at the beginning, we would write: Giant Oil Corp said it would order three supertankers from the Pusan shipyard … It is usually unnecessary to follow said with that spin Spin can be insidious and subliminal, conveyed in words and phrases that trip off the tongue or flow easily onto the page but disguise an agenda. “Operation Iraqi Freedom” was the name the United States gave to the military campaign in 2003 that it said was designed to liberate Iraq. We wrote that the United States invaded Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
!287 Verbs: Verbs bring action and life to a story but the wrong verb can indicate bias on our part. The verb to say is usually the best, neutral choice in reporting a speech or statement. Alleged, claimed or maintained could imply that Reuters does not believe a statement and noted, pointed out, recalled or emphasized suggest that we do. Use announced with care. Only competent authorities have the right to make announcements. Avoid concede, which implies an admission of guilt or previous error. Prefer said. Do not write refute (which means disprove) when you mean deny or reject. Other potentially partisan verbs to avoid include admitted, asserted, affirmed, contended, stressed, suggested. Come, leave and give are verbs too often misused in flabby phrases. Go for positive construction. Avoid limp phrases like The demands came when… The fire left six people dead… or The strike left commuters angry… Demands do not come; people make them. Fires do not leave people dead, they kill them. Strikes anger commuters, not leave them angry. Also avoid continued (or worse, ongoing), especially in the lead paragraph. The word gives the impression of monotonous action. WTO – World Trade Organization. Based in Geneva and launched in 1995 to supervise existing international trade accords and provide a forum for negotiation of new agreements as well as to adjudicate in disputes.
!288 X, Y, Z Yard – To convert to metres multiply by 9 and divide by 10, precisely multiply by 0.914. Yardsticks – Some people have difficulty in visualizing scale. Be imaginative in helping them, e.g. Kazakhstan, a republic five times as large as France … 10,000 of them would fit on a pinhead … The cars on Ruritania’s roads, if parked nose to tall, would girdle the earth three times… Year ends – Financial, fiscal (tax), company and crop years rarely coincide with calendar years and for this reason it is vital to explain clearly in the text which year is referred to, e.g. The budget target deficit for the financial year ended March 2002 was… or Cocoa production rose 14 percent to 100,000 tones in the year ended September 2001. Take care with crop-year dates as the old crop can be harvested and the new crop planted in the same year. To refer to the 2002 crop can be dangerously ambiguous. Commodity producers sometimes also have marketing years for their produce which differ from the crop year. In these cases be careful to spell out which year you are referring to and when each starts and ends. Organizations such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the International Coffee Organization can produce statistics, for example on Brazilian coffee production, which are based on different years. yoke, yolk – Yoke for oxen and yolk of an egg. young – See ages . zero, zeros Zuider Zee – Not Zuyder Zee, Netherlands. ZULU – A term used by Western military forces to mean GMT (q.v.).
!289 GENERAL SPORT
Reuter’s sports service needs to be fast, informative, reliable, accurate and entertaining. Sport is big business and growing all the time. It moves markets but it is also entertainment and our coverage should reflect that. We need speed and breadth. Subscribers want news not only of competitions themselves but of the run-up to the competitions and their aftermath. They want to know about the personalities involved in and out of competition, the managers, agents and entrepreneurs who run the sports and the federations who make the rules. In sport there is an insatiable appetite for statistics and historical data as well as a delight in the colourful character or the noble loser. For Reuters to keep its reputation for accuracy, reliability and quality, correspondents and sub-editors need to be consistent and clear in the way they report and handle news and statistics. This guide, set out alphabetically, is intended to help. It is designed to be used alongside the general Reuters style guide. Some items that occur very frequently in sports copy appear in both sections. Achilles – Cap A, no apostrophe, as in Achilles tendon. Ahead of – Use before. All England – No hyphen. The home of Wimbledon tennis is the All England Club. One of badminton’s top events is the All England championships. All rounder – Two words (e.g. cricketer who bats and bowls) Alpine – Takes capital A (Alpine skiing) American English – We use British English in all copy except U.S. sports originating in North America. American Usage – Some of the main differences between British and American usage in sport: All Star – Adj. Game of top players in their field. Also player picked for such a game e.g. The All Star quarterback … Assist – Statistical category used in ice hockey, basketball etc referring to the final pass to
someone who scores a goal/makes a basket. Does not just mean help … Hockey – Ice hockey. Reuters uses ice hockey for the sport on ice and hockey on grass except in North American copy for a North American audience … Game – Never match. Road games or on the road, not away games. Field – Baseball and American football are played on fields not pitches. Inning – Inning singular, innings plural (unlike cricket where both singular and plural are innings).
!290 MVP – Most valuable player i.e. player of the match or season, spelt out at first reference, then abbreviated. Officials – Baseball has umpires. NBA, NHL, NFL use referees. Overtime – Games played beyond regulation time are in overtime (not extra time). Rookie – Noun and adjective meaning new or first year player e.g. “in his rookie season …” Spelling – In American sports use American spelling e.g. center, maneuver, defense, offense, ballclub, postseason, preseason, lineman, line up, halfback, doubleheader. Sports – Used in plural. American sports, not American sport. Teams – Take a singular verb e.g. New York is playing San Francisco, the team is on the road. Teams with plural names take plural verbs e.g. The Chicago Bears are in town, Houston leads the division but the Saints play tonight. America’s Cup – The sailing trophy takes an apostrophe. And – Do not start a sentence with and. Appeal – The verb takes the preposition against e.g. Real Madrid appealed against the UEFA ruling. As – Overused, misused and lazy conjunction especially in sports copy and leads to link two developments that may be only loosely connected or occur at different times. The result is clumsy and sometimes meaningless. e.g. Indian weightlifter Krishnan Madasamy became the first competitor to be stripped of medals for doping at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday as swimmer Ian Thorpe’s historic quest for seven titles failed. The sentence should be split in two or and used in place of as. As also implies a continuing action or state so should not be used for a sudden or one-off action. Goals are sudden events in a game of continuing action. Examples: Champions Arsenal ended their run of four successive defeats in unconvincing fashion on Sunday as an own goal by Andy Cole gave them a 1-0 win at Fulham… would read better as … Champions Arsenal ended their run of four successive defeats in unconvincing fashion on Sunday, earning a 1-0 win at Fulham with an Andy Cole own goal … Backhand – One word (tennis, badminton).
!291 Bated breath – Not baited breath. Batter – Batsman in baseball. Believed – As in: “Owen was believed to have broken his leg” may not be used. All beliefs must be sourced. Biannual, biennial tournaments – Better to write twice yearly, every two years. Bogey – One over par in golf, note ey spelling. Can be used as a verb e.g. Woods bogeyed the seventh … Boss – While this word may have pejorative or slang connotations outside sport it is acceptable in sports copy as an alternative to manager/coach to avoid repetition. Bosnia – Not Bosnia Herzegovina. Bounce back – Banned from sports file as a cliché. Boy – Any male over 18 is a man. Break point – Two words (tennis). Buildup – One word as a noun, two words as a verb. Caddie – spelt with ie (golf). To caddie as a verb. Cameroon – not The Cameroon Cancel – Matches or races that have been called off but are to be held at a later date are postponed. Those that are scrapped completely are cancelled. If an event is postponed we should give the new date if available. Capitals in titles – Capitals are used where the title is attributed directly to a named individual e.g. “FIFA President Sepp Blatter said …” but not when the title only is used e.g. “The president said…” or
when using the title in general e.g. “FIFA presidents have always been drawn from South America or Europe …” Centre – Centre on, not centre around. Champions League – Capital C and L, no apostrophe. Chequered flag – Not checkered flag. Claim – Implies we do not believe the speaker. Use said. Claycourt – One word as an adjective e.g. The Barcelona claycourt tournament … But two words as an adjective and noun e.g. The slow clay courts at the Foro Italico …
!292 Cliché – Sports reporting is vulnerable to cliché, often prompted by less-than-articulate sports figures themselves. The “sick as a parrot” and “over the moon” variety is easily spotted but tired, old and often meaningless phrases sometimes creep into copy almost unnoticed. The main culprits are listed alphabetically in this guide. Particular attention should be paid to overused sporting hyperbole on the lines of … “Soccer icon George Best, major star of the legendary Manchester United side who won the crucial, hard fought European Cup final in 1968 against veteran Eusebio’s Benfica side … Compare – You compare something with not to something else. Compound adjectives – These need hyphens, e.g. The score was 1-0 after the first leg … but … the first- leg score was 1-0. The club was in the top flight but it was a top-flight club. Adverb/adjective compounds do not take a hyphen e.g. He issued a strongly worded statement. Contractions – Avoid contractions such as couldn’t, didn’t, wasn’t, weren’t, can’t, there’s, it’s in copy except in direct speech. Use the two words: could not, was not, were not, it is etc., unless you are quoting someone. Conversions – Sport uses only metric measurements except for American sport and golf where yards and feet are used and sailing where nautical miles are used. In boxing involving U.S. fighters and aimed at a
U.S. market conversions into imperial may be added for height, weight etc. otherwise there is no need to convert in brackets. All currencies must show a conversion into dollars at first reference, however. Convince – The verb is transitive and needs an object. You must convince someone. e.g. Brian Lara failed to convince selectors he was back to his best …(NOT Brian Lara failed to convince on his return from injury). An alternative is to use the adverb e.g. Brian Lara batted convincingly … Coolly – Ronaldinho coolly tapped the ballhome (not cooly which is an unskilled oriental labourer according to the OED) Crashed out – Banned as a cliché. Crowd – Takes a singular verb. Crucial – Avoid this cliché. All competitive matches could be said to be crucial. Current/ly – Usually redundant. The current league leaders are simply the league leaders. Defeat – A team is defeated by another not to it e.g. After Bolton’s 2-0 defeat by Arsenal … (not to Arsenal). Delight – To delight is a transitive verb and needs an object e.g. Marat Safin delighted Russian fans with a neat chip… (not … Marat Safin delighted with a chip).
!293 Different – Different from (not different to). Distances – In athletics, swimming etc we express distances as: 400 metres hurdles/400 metres freestyle (metres in plural). Adjectivally we say: the 400-metre pool, 100-metre track etc. Metres is ALWAYS written out, never abbreviated to m. Kilometres are always abbreviated to km. Dollars – All monetary values must show a conversion to U.S. dollars, the dollar conversion in figures preceded by the $ sign is shown in brackets after the domestic currency. Double fault – Two words (tennis). Drop shot – Two words (tennis). Disaster/tragedy – We do not use disaster or tragedy for sporting contests as this devalues the word. Losing a football match is not a disaster. A stand falling down and crushing fans is. Use only in such contexts. Downhill – One word (Alpine skiing).
Dramatic – Usually unnecessary. A penalty shootout is by its nature dramatic. Similarly last-minute goals, match points, athletes tumbling on the track. Evening – Do not make reference to evening, morning etc as these vary round the world. Use the GMT time or say … “later on Thursday, earlier on Monday” etc. Extra Cover – Two words (fielding position in cricket). Fast bowler – Two words (cricket). Fears, hopes – Unattributed hopes and fears are opinions. All fears and hopes need to be sourced e.g. Fears that Arsenal might lose their Premier League title … We need to say who fears as one United fan’s fear might be an Arsenal or Liverpool fan’s hope. Feet – Feet, inches and yards are used only in golf and in American sport for U.S. audiences, otherwise use metric measurements without conversions. Fewer/less – Use fewer for number, less for quantity. e.g. fewer players, fewer matches, fewer red cards, fewer grammatical errors but less talent, less hope, less joy less pay. First slip – Two words (cricket fielding position). Flaunt/Flout – To flaunt is to display ostentatiously to flout is to defy e.g. By flaunting your wealth you flout convention. Flyhalf – One word (rugby position).
!294 Focused – Not focussed. Overused in sport, especially by sportspeople themselves. Avoid except in quotations. An alternative is concentrate. Football – If soccer use soccer at first reference as several other games around the world are known as football. Similarly with other forms of football e.g. American football or NFL, Aussie Rules (ARF). Forehand – One word (racket sports). Formula One – Capitalise (motor racing). Fractions – Try to use decimals but where fractions are unavoidable they are written 4- 1/2, 6-3/4 etc. Free kick – Two words. Goalkeeper – One word. Keeper may be used without an apostrophe. Girl – Any female over 18 is a woman not a girl. Grand Prix – In capitals in the title of a race or event e.g. The Monaco Grand Prix … but lower case generally e.g. Michael Schumacher won his first grand prix … plural is grands prix Grand slam – Lower case tennis and rugby, e.g. The Australian Open, first grand slam event of the year … and … Ireland are aiming for their first grand slam for 11 years … Grasscourt – One world as an adjective e.g. The grasscourt tournament at the Queen’s club … but two words as adjective/noun e.g. Wimbledon’s grass courts are famous … Great Britain – We use Britain (not Great Britain, GB, United Kingdom, UK). Group – Teams are often divided into groups in competition. We should refer to these in upper case in copy: Group One, Group Two etc. Similarly Group One races in horse racing. Gruelling – Avoid this cliché which is overused especially in cycling. Guineas – Horse race: 2,000 Guineas (not 2000 guineas) Gully – Without an e (cricket fielding position). Halftime – One word. Hardcourt – One word as an adjective e.g. The Boston hardcourt tournament … Two words as adjective/noun e.g. The newly laid hard courts were designed for big servers …
!295 Hard fought – Avoid this cliché. Most competitive matches are hard fought. It is a story if they are not. Hat-trick – Hyphenated. Hiccup – Not Hicough. Honorifics – We do not use titles. Don Bradman and Alex Ferguson (not Sir Don and Sir Alex). Hopefully – Do not use to mean: it is hoped that (except in quotations). Icon – Banned on sports file for describing sporting figures. Use only in religious contexts e.g.decorations in orthodox churches. Impress – To impress is a transitive verb which needs an object. e.g Brian Lara impressed selectors with an innings of 89 off 95 balls … NOT Lara failed to impress during his two-hour innings …
Imply/infer – To infer is to draw a conclusion from what is said. To imply is to suggest. Into – One word, as opposed to on to (two words). Ireland – We use simply Ireland (not Republic of Ireland or Irish Republic). Ironically – Best avoided. What is said or done is rarely ironic, merely coincidental. Jargon – See cliché . Avoid. Just – Often superfluous as in: He has won just one title in 23 years … AND … Capriati was just 14 when she turned professional. Avoid. Key – Overused as an adjective e.g. key players, key positions, key issues. Usually superfluous, so avoid. Kickoff – One word, no hyphen. Kilometres – Use km (no full stop same singular and plural). Lady – Banned, except in the title of teams at first reference e.g. Fulham Ladies (football). Where organisers use the title “Ladies’ Championship” as at Wimbledon, substitute “women’s championship”. Last/past – Usually we mean last when we say past. Last refers to time up to the present, past is vaguer. So … Michael Owen has been on the bench for the last three games … (not Michael Owen has been on the bench for the past three games) … He has been injured for the last year … (not he has been injured for the past year) But … Andre Agassi relived past glories … Leaderboard – Mostly used in golf, one word.
!296 Leave – Using the verb to leave instead of a more accurate and active verb is a sloppy device that creeps into a lot of copy. In sports copy, the device which slows down the story and often means nothing e.g. Two clumsy tackles LEFT Robben suffering from torn ligaments … should read … Robben suffered torn ligaments after two clumsy tackles … And. … Three defeats in a row LEFT Henman wondering whether he should retire … translates as … After three successive defeats Henman wondered whether he should retire ….Left-arm spinner – Slow bowler in cricket (note hyphen). Legend/Legendary – Banned except for real legends e.g. Greek myths, Robin Hood. No sports person is a legend. Leg slip – Fielding position in cricket (two words). Leg spinner – Bowler in cricket (two words). Ligue 1 – French first division (soccer). Like/Such as – Often we mean such as when we say like. Like means similar to; such as is used when we are offering examples, e.g. … Players SUCH AS Deco and Ricardo Carvalho have increased in value following Portugal’s success … (not players like Deco and Ricardo Carvalho) … BUT … Fast bowlers like Darren Gough, who put a lot of pressure on their leading leg, are at particular risk of a stress fracture … means bowlers with a similar action to Gough. Linchpin – The team’s linchpin (not lynchpin). Lineup – One word. Lineout – One word (rugby). Long-off, Long-on – Cricket fielding positions (note hyphen). Major – Avoid as an adjective (Major signing, played a major role, major importance etc) as these are hackneyed phrases. Often the adjective is superfluous or can be substituted by important, expensive, big etc. One exception is golf where the four biggest tournaments are known as the majors. Masterful/masterly – Masterly means very skilful, worthy of a master/champion and is the word we most often mean; masterful means imperious, domineering, and is particularly associated with the hero in cheap romantic fiction. E.g. … Tiger Woods put on a masterly display of putting … (not a masterful display). Masters Series – Leading tournaments in men’s tennis e.g. Rome Masters Series tournament. Note capitals. Match Point – Two words (tennis, racket sports). Medal – Do not use as a verb. Competitors win medals. They do not medal.
!297 Meet – To meet does not require the preposition “with” e.g. FIFA President Sepp Blatter met Lennart Johansson … not “met with”.
Metres – Spell out in copy. Say … the 100 metres backstroke … not … the 100m backstroke … Use English spelling, re not er. If copy, particularly swimming, mentions several races the word metres can be dropped as understood in later references e.g. … Thorpe won the 100 metres freestyle and qualified from the heats of the 400 backstroke … There is no need to convert to feet or yards (except in golf and U.S. sport). Mid-on, mid-off, mid-wicket – Cricket fielding positions, note hyphens. Morning – Avoid morning, evening, afternoon as these change round the globe. Use later on Monday, earlier on Tuesday etc. Names – Always use first and surnames at first reference in results and copy. Surnames at second reference except for Thai names. In Korea and China the surname comes first. Names can be little known, well known or famous but not anonymous which already means without a name or having no known name. News conference – Not press conference as this implies non-print media are excluded. Nationalities – Nationalities are written out rather than abbreviated in results and copy, the only exception being U.S.for United States. We use Britain (not United Kingdom or Great Britain). In some sports such as soccer, cricket and badminton and at the Commonwealth Games, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales compete separately. We use The Netherlands (not Holland) and Taiwan (not Chinese Taipei). We should make a distinction between North and South Korea. Off spinner – Bowler in cricket, two words. OK – not ok or okay. Olympiad – Use only to mean the period of four years between two Olympic Games. Only – Should be placed immediately before the word or phrase it qualifies e.g. …Didier Drogba has been sent off only once in his Premier League career …(not … Didier Drogba has only been sent off once … ) or …Tiger Woods earned only seven billion dollars last year … (not … Tiger Woods only earned seven billion dollars …). On to – Two separate words unlike into. Pace bowler – A fast bowler (cricket). Past – see last . Pari-mutuel – the French tote (not Paris-mutuel).
!298 Percent – One word. Player of the year – Lower case. There are many of these awarded by dozens of different bodies. We storify only the most prestigious and say who is offering the accolade, e.g. FIFA world player of the year Ronaldinho. Playoff – One word. Pointed out – Avoid as it suggests the reporter accepts that what the speaker is saying is fact. Plain said is better. Postpone – see cancel . Portuguese names – See general style guide. In soccer Portuguese and Brazilian players, like Spanish players, may be known by several names, one name or a nickname and this we use in copy e.g. Pele, Joao Pinto, Edu. Practice/practise – Practise is the verb, practice the noun e.g. … Kim Clijsters practised with Lleyton Hewitt … BUT … Clijsters hurt her knee in practice for the French Open … Premier League – The English premier league has upper case P and L. Primera Liga – Spanish first division (soccer). Prior to – Use before. Prize money – Two words. Quarter-final – Hyphenated. Rack/wrack – Nerve racking, racked with pain. Wrack is used only for seaweed. Racket – Not racquet. Record – Not new record which is tautological as any record time, distance etc must be new e.g. Ian Thorpe set a world record for the 400 metres freestyle … (not … Ian Thorpe set a new world record … ) Refute/reject – To refute something is to prove it is false, demonstrate it is erroneous. It does not mean to deny or disagree with something. Thus … Tiger Woods rejected (not refuted) suggestions he was losing
his touch, saying he had just had a bad day … But … Michael Owen refuted suggestions he was moving to Arsenal, showing reporters a new contract he had signed with Real Madrid. Reigning – Redundant. Reigning champions are simply champions. Repeat/repetition – The noun is repetition, the verb is to repeat e.g. … Carlos Moya tried to avoid a repetition of the tiebreak blunder … (not … tried to avoid a repeat … )
!299 Repechage – Contest between runners-up usually for a place in the final (especially rowing). Reporters – Not newsmen which excludes women. Reveal – Better to use said. Revelations are very rare. Rugby positions – Run two words together e.g. flyhalf, scrumhalf, fullback (as opposed to soccer positions which are expressed as separate words). Also tighthead prop, inside centre, loosehead prop, hooker (as opposed to soccer positions which are expressed as separate words) Saint – Use St without full point. Seasons – Avoid using seasons, as this can cause confusion between the northern and southern hemispheres. A European summer transfer could be described as a close-season transfer, for example, or use the month. See – Avoid giving inanimate objects the power of sight in copy. Here are some examples: The game SAW Sven Goran Eriksson take charge of England for the first time…. The bad-tempered match, which SAW two red cards … The club’s progress in that time has SEEN them climb to seventh in the table… This is an absurd and sloppy device used when we cannot think of the right verb or preposition. Better to say, for example … The game was Sven Goran Eriksson’s first as England coach. … The club have climbed in that time to seventh … The device is less absurd but similarly lazy when overused in copy applied to people … Zinedine Zidane saw his shot go wide … Caddick pitched the ball up but saw Atapattu flick it past first slip to the boundary … It would be tighter to say … Zinedine Zidane shot wide … Caddick pitched the ball up but Attapatu flicked it past first slip… Semi-final – Hyphenated. Serie A – Italian first division soccer, Capitals. Set point – Two words (tennis). Set to – Looks set to is a phrase never used naturally. Often you can say will and source it or could, may, might, is preparing etc. Sir – We do not use titles, just plain Alex Ferguson, Don Bradman, Bobby Charlton. Ski/sky – Use the verb to ski for winter sports and to sky for a ball hit high (cricket, baseball etc) … Kostelic skied the Sestriere course … but … Gilchrist skied the ball to long leg …
!300 Slugs – Slugs must carry the world SPORT and the sport name as well as a unique identifying word, e.g BC-SPORT-SOCCER ZIDANE; BC-SPORT-GOLF-WEATHER For big championships, we add a masterslug to the sport name, e.g. BCSPORTSOCCER-CHAMPIONS-BENFICA for Champions league stories or BCSPORTTENNIS-WIMBLEDON-HENIN during Wimbledon fortnight. For long international tours such as cricket test series the masterslug reflects the visiting team so that when, for example, Australia are touring England for the Ashes series we use BC-SPORT-CRICKET-AUSTRALIA and a slug might read BC-SPORT-CRICKETAUSTRALIA-ENGLAND-TEAM. Dashes are used between every element. Soccer positions – Written as two words e.g. wing back, centre half, full back, centre forward except for goalkeeper. Spanish names – See general style guide. In soccer Spanish, and South American players may be known by their full names, one name or a nickname and this name we use in copy. If in doubt check with the bureau. Spokesman/woman – Not spokesperson. Sponsors – Reuters editorial products should not become billboards for a profusion of sponsors though editorial must acknowledge that it is legitimate to use sponsor names within strict criteria. Usage should be related to the way Reuters clients and the media in general use sponsors names while recognizing that what domestic clients do may not be appropriate for a global provider such as Reuters. Sponsors are becoming increasingly aggressive and are more likely to refuse to accredit Reuters to events where the
sponsor’s name is not used. On some occasions it may be counter-productive to refuse to comply with this on principle though it should be resisted as far as possible.
Guidelines: Team names. Sponsors names should not be used in team names when the sponsorship may change on a periodic basis e.g. Austrian soccer club Casino Salzburg (correct usage SV Salzburg). Exceptions should be made for teams which began as works sides e.g. Bayer Leverkusen or for teams where sponsorship provides the only means of identity e.g. Kinder Bologna and cycling teams in general. Events. Most sporting events have a sponsorship name attached. Where it is clear what the event is without the name of the sponsor, we should drop it e.g. world championships, the FA Cup etc. Where we would have to invent a name to describe the event, we should go along with the sponsor name
e.g. Nasdaq-100 tennis tournament in Florida.
!301 Rankings/statistics:. Sponsor names should be used only where it is necessary to distinguish them as a legitimate source e.g. Reuters golf rankings. FIFA world soccer rankings is a source in itself and would not need to have sponsor name attached Soccer leagues. We should avoid sponsor names on domestic soccer leagues which can all be described by their category e.g. English Premier League. N.B. When Reuters sponsors an event or a team e.g. Williams Formula One motor racing, editorial staff covering the event are not required to comply with any demands made of them by Reuters corporate employees. They remain answerable solely to the sports editor. Square leg – Fielding position in cricket (two words) but hyphenated as an adjective e.g. the square-leg umpire. Stadiums – Not stadia. Star/superstar – Do not use for sports people. Straight – Use British English three successive wins, rather than American three straight wins. Stretcher – Do not use as a verb. Gary Neville was carried off … (not stretchered off). Successive – Preferable to straight e.g. Lleyton Hewitt won three successive titles … (not three straight titles). Such as – See like. Superlatives – See general style guide. Team mate – Two words. Teams – Teams and clubs are used as plural nouns, except in American sport e.g. in headlines: Soccer- Fulham buy Dutch keeper; Cricket-Sri Lanka collapse under England seam onslaught, and in copy: Manchester United said they would not rush into the transfer market after the World Cup. Teenage, teenager – One word. Test – Cricket and rugby union test matches, lower case t. Thai names – Use first name at second reference. Third man – Fielding position in cricket (two words). Tiebreak – one word (tennis).
!302 Titles of sports events – Use lower case for: sport names, junior, men’s, women’s, championship, tournament, meeting, match, test, race, game etc. Use upper case for title of the event e.g. French Open tennis championships, Dutch Open golf tournament. Use singular championship when one title is at stake and plural championships for more than one. E.g. U.S. Open tennis championships (men’s, women’s, doubles). U.S. Open golf championship (one winner). The name of the sport should precede the word championship, tournament etc. See also sponsors . Told reporters – Use only when the source is speaking informally to a group of reporters. If he or she is addressing a news conference say so. Topspin – One word (tennis). Tri-nations – Southern hemisphere international rugby union competition. Upper case T, hyphen, lower case n. True facts – Tautological. UEFA – Explain as European soccer’s governing body. Use always in capitals and as singular noun e.g. UEFA said it would … Ukraine – Not The Ukraine.
Under way – Two words but better to say began or started, than got under way.
U.S. – We use U.S. not United States in copy as both adjective and proper noun. V – We use v not versus or vs to describe a fixture. Veteran – Avoid as adjective or noun. Veteran is overused in sports copy. Be more precise, giving the age of competitor or saying how many tournaments he or she has contested. Wake – Avoid “in the wake of”. Use after. Website – One word. West Indies – Not The West Indies (Windies may be used in headlines only). Wicketkeeper – One word. Wicketkeeper-batsman – Hyphenated. A cricketer who is a recognised batsman but also fulfils a wicket keeping role when his side is fielding e.g. Alec Stewart for England. Winter – Avoid using seasons as they are different north and south of the equator. Give the month instead. Wrack – Use wrack only for seaweed. The injured Owen was racked with pain. Yards – Use metres except in golf and American sports.
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