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The Guardian
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Guardian style guide: A
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z a or an before H? Use an before a silent H: an heir, an hour, an honest politician, an honorary consul; use a before an aspirated H: a hero, a hotel, a historian (but don't change a direct quote if the speaker says, for example, 'an historic'). With abbreviations, be guided by pronunciation: eg an LSE student A* (A-level and GCSE) not A-star A&E accident and emergency; in the US, it's ER (emergency room) abattoir Abbas, Mahmoud president of the Palestinian Authority abbeys take initial cap, eg Westminster Abbey Abbottabad city in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden lived and died abbreviations and acronyms Do not use full points in abbreviations, or spaces between initials, including those in proper names: IMF, mph, eg, 4am, M&S, No 10, AN Wilson, WH Smith, etc. Use all capitals if an abbreviation is pronounced as the individual letters (an initialism): BBC, CEO, US, VAT, etc; if it is an acronym (pronounced as a word) spell out with initial capital, eg Nasa, Nato, Unicef, unless it can be considered to have entered the language as an everyday word, such as awol, laser and, more recently, asbo, pin number and sim card. Note that pdf and plc are lowercase. If an abbreviation or acronym is to be used more than once in a piece, put it in brackets at first mention: so Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), seasonal affective disorder (Sad); alternatively, use the abbreviation with a brief description, eg the conservation charity the RSPB. Remember that our international online readership will not necessarily be aware of even well-known UK abbreviations. If an organisation is mentioned only once, it is not necessary to give its abbreviation or acronym. Cap up single letters in such expressions as C-list, F-word, 'the word assassin contains four Ss', etc Abd el-Fattah, AlaaBritish-Egyptian democracy activist jailed in Egypt abdicate renounce high officeabnegate renounce privileges, deny oneselfabrogate repeal, abolisharrogate take or claim (something) for oneself without justification abjure renounceadjure urge Aboriginal Australiansshould be identified by their country or language groups at first mention if known, eg a Wiradjuri-Yorta Yorta man, a Noongar-Badimaya woman – or take your cue from how they identify themselves. The term 'Aborigine' is outdated and offensive; Aboriginal should only be used as an adjective. Indigenous Australians is an umbrella term that covers both Aboriginal people from the Australian mainland and Torres Strait Islanders abortionUse pro-choice, not pro-abortion; and use anti-abortion, not pro-life. Anti-choice can be used when talking about opposition to all reproductive rights, including abortion, birth control, family planning etc. In reference to US legislation, six-week abortion ban is preferable to foetal heartbeat bill, unless quoting someone talking about the 'heartbeat bill' Ábrego García, Kilmar abscess absorb but absorption Abu Akleh, Shireena journalist for Al Jazeera who was shot and killed in the West Bank abusesee individual entries on child sexual abuse, domestic abuse/family abuse and sexual abuse abysmal abyss Academy Awards or Oscars individual awards are lowercase, eg best actor award, Oscar for best picture After first mention, abbreviate the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to the Academy a cappella Italian for 'in the style of the church', ie unaccompanied singing Acas the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, at first mention; thereafter just Acas accents include the accents and other diacritics, where possible, on words written in Latin-script languages such as French, German, Portuguese, Polish, Spanish, Turkish, Irish and Welsh, especially the names of people and places. But do not use them in anglicised words and names such as cafe, smorgasbord and Zurich (exceptions to this are exposé, lamé, résumé, roué). For a list of anglicised placenames we use, see foreign placenames Accenture formerly Andersen Consulting; the new name was devised by an employee from 'accent on the future' access has been known as contact since the 1989 Children Act accession council at which a new king or queen is formally proclaimed accidentTake care in using this term in relation to traffic incidents; crash or collision may be better if the full circumstances are not known accommodate, accommodation accordion not accordian achilles heel, achilles tendon acknowledgment not acknowledgement acres Use hectares, with acres in brackets, rounded up or down, eg the field measured 25 hectares (62 acres). You multiply hectares by 2.47 to convert to acres, or acres by 0.4 to convert to hectares acronyms See Abbreviations and acronyms act uppercase when using the full name, eg Criminal Justice Act 1998, Official Secrets Act; but lowercase on second reference, eg 'the act', and when speaking in more general terms, eg 'we need a radical freedom of information act'; bills remain lowercase until passed into law actor Use for both male and female actors; do not use actress except when in the name of an award, eg Oscar for best actress. The Guardian's view is that actress comes into the same category as authoress, comedienne, manageress, 'lady doctor', 'male nurse' and similar obsolete terms that date from a time when professions were largely the preserve of one sex (usually men). As Whoopi Goldberg put it in an interview with the paper: 'An actress can only play a woman. I'm an actor – I can play anything.' There is normally no need to differentiate between the sexes – and if there is, the words male and female are perfectly adequate: Lady Gaga won a Brit in 2010 for best international female artist, not artiste, chanteuse, or songstress. As always, use common sense: a piece about the late film director Carlo Ponti was edited to say that in his early career he was 'already a man with a good eye for pretty actors ...' As the readers' editor pointed out in the subsequent clarification: 'This was one of those occasions when the word 'actresses' might have been used' AD, BC AD goes before the date (AD64), BC goes after (300BC); both go after the century, eg second century AD, fourth century BC adaptation not adaption adapter someone who adapts; adaptor plug adblocker, adblocking addendum plural addendums Latinate -um neuter endings that are a part of the language (eg stadium) take an -s plural. Exceptions: bacteria, which retain the Latin plural and take a plural verb, as do media, but note that spiritualists are mediums addresses like this: 90 York Way, London N1 9GU Adidas initial cap, although adidas is lc in the company logo administration the Obama administration, etc admissible, inadmissible not -able admit Take care – as a reader put it when we referred to Tory MPs who 'admitted' being gay: 'Admit in modern English is almost exclusively used when conceding or confessing something negative and/or of which one is or should be ashamed. Please be more careful. Language can offend.' Quite. The former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee urged reporters not to 'hide their biases and emotions behind subtly pejorative words' such as admit ad nauseamnot ad nauseum adoption Mention that children are adopted only when relevant to the story: a reader points out that 'explicitly calling attention to adoptions in this way suggests that adoption is not as good, and not as real a relationship, as having a child normally'. So say biological father, biological family rather than 'real father', 'real family', etc Adrenalin TM; a brand of adrenaline adrenaline hormone that increases heart rate and blood pressure, extracted from animals or synthesised for medical uses advance bookings rather than 'advanced bookings'. Or you could just say 'bookings' Advent calendar adverse unfavourable; averse reluctant 'He was averse to crossing the Irish Sea in such adverse conditions' adviser not advisor Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) advocate member of the Scottish bar (not a barrister) aeroplane in UK; airplane in US; plane works well anywhere affect/effect exhortations in the style guide had no effect (noun) on the number of mistakes; the level of mistakes was not affected (verb) by exhortations in the style guide; we hope to effect (verb) a change in this affidavit a written declaration made on oath, so 'sworn affidavit' is tautologous affinity with or between, not to or for Afghans the people of Afghanistan afghani the currency of Afghanistan aficionado plural aficionados Africais a continent made up of more than 50 countries. When writing about people from those countries be sure to locate them precisely in their town, city, country etc. Avoid simply saying they are African or from Africa African American African-Caribbean not Afro-Caribbean Afrikaans language Afrikaner person Afrikander cattle breed afro hairstyle Afrobeat or Afrobeats? These are distinct music genres which often get mixed up. The first was pioneered by Fela Kuti in the 1960s and is a mix of west African musical styles, such as fuji music and highlife, with American funk and jazz; the second is a style of danceable 21st-century west African pop. The term 'Afrobeats' has come to be used too widely and reductively in the media and it is preferable to refer to contemporary African artists' particular genre (pop, dance music, etc) afterlife, aftermath ageing ages Kamala Harris, 56 (not 'aged 56'); Freddie Bawden Marsh, nine. a 62-year-old man; a 62-year-old; 62 years old. the woman was in her 20s (but twentysomething, thirtysomething, etc) Be clear when referring to age groups, such as the over-80s or under-16s, as sometimes these groupings don't include the people who are actually 80 or 16; if the group does include them, a formulation such as 80 or over, or 16 and above can be clearer for readers. In headlines it is OK to use the shorter description when necessary agenda plural in origin, but singular in use: 'agendum' is simply not on anyone's agenda Age UK charity formed by the merger of Age Concern and Help the Aged in 2009 aggravate Using this word to mean annoy, rather than make worse, really aggravates some people. Good. Both meanings have been around for more than 400 years, and there is no good reason why both should not be acceptable now. She only wanted to threaten him and aggravate him ... Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (1860) AggregateIQ aggro abbreviation of aggravation, and spelt thus despite the once popular terrace chant 'A, G, A-G-R, A-G-R-O: agro!' AGM a-ha band from Norway; A-ha! Alan Partridge catchphrase, quoting Abba's Knowing Me, Knowing You ahead of overused, and often jars ('Why else would they hurriedly concoct their own 'Confucius peace prize', a day ahead of the ceremony in Oslo?' appeared in a leading article); before (which should have been used in this case) or in advance of are among the alternatives. The Press Association reported: 'Hundreds gathered outside Lichfield Cathedral to witness the arrival of a horse-drawn carriage ahead of Stephen's body ahead of his funeral' aide-de-camp plural aides-de-camp (aide is a noun) aide-memoire plural aide-memoires (aide is a verb) Aids acquired immune deficiency syndrome, but normally no need to spell out. Do not use such terms as 'Aids victims' or someone 'suffering from Aids', language that in the words of one reader is 'crass, inaccurate and reinforces stigma', implying helplessness and inviting pity; 'people with Aids' or 'living with Aids' are preferable. Do not use the term 'full-blown Aids'. Unesco guidelines state: 'This term implies that there are varying stages of Aids ... People have Aids only when they present with an Aids-defining illness' airbase, aircraft, aircrew, airdrop, airfield, airlift, airmail, airshow, airspace, airstrike, airstrip, airtime air fare, air force, air raid aircraft carrier aircraft designations usually with hyphens after initials, eg B-52, MiG-23 Air Force One US president's jet air hostess cabin attendant or flight attendant, please airports Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted (normally no need to say airport); Liverpool John Lennon airport, Schiphol airport, etc air vice-marshal AKA also known as akimbo See arms akimbo al- (note lc and hyphen) before an Arabic name means 'the' so try to avoid writing 'the al- ...' where possible See Arabic names al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade al-Aqsa mosque not the Aqsa mosque, or the al-Aqsa mosque. Not to be confused in pictures with the nearby Dome of the Rock. The mosque's dome is silver-grey, whereas the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine, has a large golden dome. Both buildings are located in occupied East Jerusalem, at the holy site known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and to Jews as the Temple Mount, also sometimes referred to as al-Aqsa mosque compound al-Assad, Bashar became president of Syria in 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad. Was deposed in 2024 Alastair or Alistair? Alastair Campbell (spin doctor) Alastair Cook (cricketer) Alastair Hetherington (late Guardian editor) Alastair Stewart (broadcaster) Alistair Cooke (late BBC and Guardian journalist) Alistair Darling (politician) Alistair MacLean (late novelist) Alistair McGowan (impressionist) Aleister Crowley (late satanist) albinismAvoid referring to people with albinism as albinos, instead say 'a man with albinism' or 'Jane Doe, who has albinism' Albright, Madeleine former US secretary of state Alcott, Louisa May (1832-88) American author of Little Women Aléshé, Babátúndé standup comedian A-levels Al Fayed, Mohamed former owner of Harrods and Fulham FC (Fayed after first mention); the son who died in Paris in 1997 was Dodi Fayed Alfonsín, Raúl (1927-2009) president of Argentina from 1983-89 alfresco algae plural of alga al-Hawl not al-Hol for the camp in northern Syria al-Houthi, Abdulmalik leader of the Houthi movement in Yemen. Call him Houthi at second mention Ali, Muhammad was Cassius Clay until 1964 alibi being somewhere else; not synonymous with excuse alice band as worn by Alice in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) and more recently David Beckham Alice books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), was published in 1865; its sequel, which followed six years later, is called Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Note that they are not called 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Alice Through the Looking-Glass' A-list etc, but to refer to 'C-list celebrities' and its variations has become tedious. An edition of G2 referred to 'D-list celebrities' and, less than hilariously, in a separate piece about the same reality TV show, 'Z-list celebrities' Al Jazeera alkyl nitrite not nitrate; commonly known as poppers Allah Arabic for 'the God'. Both words refer to the same concept: there is no major difference between God in the Old Testament and Allah in Islam. Therefore it makes sense to talk about 'God' in an Islamic context and to use 'Allah' in quotations or for literary effect Allahu Akbar 'God is greatest' Allawi, Ayad Iraqi politician Allende, Isabel Chilean author; her father was a cousin of Salvador Allende Allende, Salvador Chilean president, overthrown and killed in 1973 allies second world war allies, the allied invasion, etc all mouth and trousers not 'all mouth and no trousers' all right has traditionally been regarded as right, and alright as not all right (although the 1965 Who song, much loved by generations of headline writers and still widely quoted today, was The Kids are Alright). Kingsley Amis in The King's English said alright was 'gross, crass, coarse and to be avoided' but admitted this was 'a rule without a reason'. Note, however, the difference between 'she got the answers all right' and 'she got the answers, alright!' All Souls College Oxford, no apostrophe all together as one united body: 'We are all in it together' altogether completely, totally: 'That's an altogether different matter' al-Maliki, Nouri (not Nuri) became prime minister of Iraq in 2006 Almo arm's-length management organisation Almodóvar, Pedro Spanish film-maker alpha male al-Qaida it means 'the base' al-Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps; not Quds, Qods al-Sadr, Moqtada creator of the Mahdi army, or as the magazine Red Pepper described it: 'Moqtada al-Sadr's not-so-barmy army' alsatian dog Alsatian person from Alsace al-Shabaab Islamist insurgency group in Somalia; it means 'the youth'. Singular, not plural al-Sharaa, Ahmed the leader of the Syrian group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. You can – and probably should for the time being – say he was 'previously known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani'. Sharaa on subsequent mentions also often redundant 'alt-right'use once and in quotes at first mention; use far right at any subsequent mentions. Note: far right (noun) and far-right (adjective). More specific descriptions can be used where relevant when mentioning individuals associated with the movement, but such descriptions should be evidence-based. alter ego not 'altar ego', as we have been known to spell it alternative normally a choice between two courses of action; if there are more than two, option or choice may be preferred; beware the trend to use 'alternate' instead of alternative: in a piece about French politics we wrote 'in this juddering alternate reality …' alumna (female), alumnus (male) plural alumni, or alumnae for all-female institutions; in the UK graduate is preferable al-Zaidi, Muntazer Iraqi journalist who served a jail sentence for throwing his shoes at the then US president, George Bush Alzheimer's disease Amazon normally no need for com or Amazon Prime Amazon Prime Videofor the TV package, although these days it prefers to call itself simply Prime Video ambassador lc, eg the British ambassador to Washington; 'ambassador, you are spoiling us' has become a headline cliche ambience not ambiance ambiguity a common problem in headlines when the subject is omitted from the past tense of a verb, as in this example from the paper: Westworld extras allegedly asked to participate in 'graphic sexual situations' Did they allegedly ask, or were they allegedly asked? A simple 'were' before 'asked' would have fixed this. Similarly: Labour warned of financial crash (did someone warn Labour of an impending crash, or did Labour warn someone else?) Tories paid millions to avoid tax Here not only does the reader have to ask whether the Tories paid millions or were paid millions, but also whether they paid millions of pounds or millions of people, and whether the Tories' aim was to avoid tax or to enable the millions to avoid tax. This is very poor editing ambulance services These are NHS trusts, so lc for everything that is generic, eg London ambulance service, East of England ambulance service, South East Coast ambulance service amendments to the US constitution like this: fifth amendment, 18th amendment, etc America, Americans the country is generally the United States or US, although its citizens are Americans; we should remember that America includes all of North, Central and South America 'America first' A phrase denounced by the Anti-Defamation League for its links to 1940s Nazi sympathisers American Civil Liberties Union not American Civil Rights Union American English Follow US spellings for proper nouns, eg Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Defense, Labor Day, One World Trade Center, Ann Arbor, Pearl Harbor, World Health Organization American universities Take care: 'University of X' is not the same as 'X University'; most states have two large public universities, eg University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University, University of Illinois and Illinois State University, etc. Do not call Johns Hopkins University 'John Hopkins' or Stanford University 'Stamford' America's Cup sailing trophy named after the schooner America, its first winner Amhrán na bhFiann Irish national anthem Amicus trade union formed by a merger between the AEEU and MSF, now part of Unite after a further merger with the TGWU amid not amidst. 'James warned, however, that the second half of the year was likely to prove more challenging overall amid a weak consumer backdrop.' Things fall against a backdrop, not amid one. If something is amid the backdrop, it's part of it, and thus completely unremarkable. Some cliches make the news sound tired; this one makes the news sound as if it's not news at all amok not amuck among not amongst among or between? Whatever you may have been told, between is not limited to two parties. It is appropriate when the relationship is essentially reciprocal: fighting between the many peoples of Yugoslavia, treaties between European countries, etc; among belongs to distributive relationships: shared among, etc amount or number? amount refers to a quantity, number to something that can be counted, eg an enormous amount of energy was exerted by a small number of people ampersand Use in company names when the company does: Johnson & Johnson, Marks & Spencer, P&O, etc, but use 'and' in the names of government departments and agencies: Department of Work and Pensions, Advanced Research and Invention Agency etc anaesthetic analysis plural analyses anarchism a political philosophy that advocates stateless societies, holding the state to be undesirable, unnecessary and harmful. The term 'anarchist' is bandied about carelessly, often used by politicians and the media to denigrate opponents of the status quo, and should be used with care; 'self-styled anarchist' should be avoided altogether ancestors precede descendants; we frequently manage to get them the wrong way round and/or This is horrible. Make your mind up and say either 'and' or 'or' – whichever is more appropriate. The same applies to the phrase 'if and when' Andalucía Anderson shelter not Andersen … And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead Angkor Wat Angkor Wat is only one of the 100 or so temples of Angkor, albeit the best known ('wat' means temple) AngleseyAlways also include its Welsh name, Ynys Môn, possibly in brackets at first mention. Anglesey is the name of the island; Isle of Anglesey is the name of its county, which also includes nearby Holy Island, and Ynys Môn is the name of the UK parliament and Senedd constituency that covers the same area. Ynys Môn is the Welsh name for both the island and the county anglicise, anglophile, anglophone animals pronoun 'it' unless sex established Animal breeds are usually lowercase, eg gloucestershire old spot, friesian, belted galloway, shetland pony, but note English longhorn, Welsh cob, British saddleback annex verb; annexe noun; I am going to annex the annexe for the afternoon anniversaries first anniversary, 10th anniversary etc; not one-year anniversary, 10-year anniversary. There is no such thing as a six-month anniversary anorexic is not a superlative of thin. Anorexia is an illness. Like schizophrenia, it should not be used as a cheap and lazy metaphor. Anyone who thinks of using a phrase such as 'positively anorexic' should think again Ansaphone TM; use answering machine or answerphone antenatal antenna (insect) plural antennae; (radio) plural antennas anti-ballistic missile treaty antichrist anticipate Purists say this should not be used to mean expect, but expressions like 'they did not anticipate any trouble' are now normal usage anticlimax antidepressants antidisestablishmentarianism position adopted by those opposed to the disestablishment of the Church of England. Not a good headline word antihero antimalarial antipodean, antipodes terms Australians themselves rarely use; avoid antisemitic, antisemitism no hyphen: it does not mean 'anti-Semitic' antislavery antisocial anti-vaxxer a person who is opposed to vaccinations anti-war any more Please do not say 'anymore' any more ap Iorwerth, Rhunleader of Plaid Cymru. Lowercase a, whether you include his first name or not. So: 'Speaking in Cardiff, ap Iorwerth said …' apex plural apexes apostrofly 'an insect that lands at random on the printed page, depositing an apostrophe wherever it lands' according to the Guardian's former readers' editor apostrophes used to indicate a missing letter or letters (can't, we'd) or a possessive (David's book). Don't let anyone tell you that apostrophes don't matter and we would be better off without them. Consider these four phrases, each of which means something different: my sister's friend's books (refers to one sister and her friend). my sister's friends' books (one sister with lots of friends). my sisters' friend's books (more than one sister, and their friend). my sisters' friends' books (more than one sister, and their friends). The possessive in words and names ending in S normally takes an apostrophe followed by a second S (Jones's, James's), but be guided by pronunciation and use the plural apostrophe where it helps: Mephistopheles', Waters', Hedges' rather than Mephistopheles's, Waters's, Hedges's. Plural nouns that do not end in S take an apostrophe and S in the possessive: children's games, old folk's home, people's republic, etc. Phrases such as butcher's knife, collector's item, cow's milk, goat's cheese, pig's blood, hangman's noose, writer's cramp, etc are treated as singular. Use apostrophes in phrases such as two days' time, 12 years' imprisonment and six weeks' holiday, where the time period (two days) modifies a noun (time), but not in nine months pregnant or three weeks old, where the time period is adverbial (modifying an adjective such as pregnant or old) – if in doubt, test with a singular such as one day's time, one month pregnant. Proper names that contain an apostrophe stay the same in the possessive: McDonald's burgers may be delicious but Sainsbury's are just as good. Some shops use an apostrophe, wrongly, to indicate a plural ('pea's'), but will generally omit the apostrophe when one is actually required ('new seasons asparagus'), a phenomenon sometimes referred to as the greengrocer's (or grocer's) apostrophe. Try to avoid this app an application for, typically, a mobile phone appal but as the former Prince of Wales might have said, it really is appalling apparatchik appeal In British English you appeal against a decision, verdict, etc, you do not 'appeal the verdict'. After we reported on 9 June 2010 that a convicted murderer 'successfully appealed the sentence', a despairing reader wrote: 'This usage seems to be occurring more and more, sometimes even in headlines. Do Guardian journalists not read the style guide?' Not all of them, evidently appendix plural appendices Apple no longer Apple Computer apples lc: cox's orange pippin, golden delicious, granny smith, etc appraise to evaluate apprise to inform April Fools' Day also known, less commonly nowadays, as All Fools' Day; an individual prank, or the victim of one, is an April fool, so you might say 'one of the greatest April fools was the Guardian's San Serriffe issue of 1977 – it made April fools of all who were taken in' apropos Used most commonly to mean 'with regard to', it does not need a preposition, so 'apropos your question ... ' But note the idiomatic 'apropos of nothing ...' which means something like 'changing the subject' or 'incidentally'. Used to mean 'pertinent' or 'relevant to', now rather rare, you might say 'the thought was apropos to this' or, even more quaintly, 'the point was apropos'. The French idiom 'à propos de bottes' ('with regard to boots'), meaning without rhyme or reason, was used by, among others, George Orwell aquarium plural aquariums Arab Both a noun and an adjective, and the preferred adjective when referring to Arab things in general, eg Arab history, Arab traditions. Arabic usually refers to the language and literature: 'the Arabic press' means newspapers written in Arabic, while 'the Arab press' would include newspapers produced by Arabs in other languages. There is no simple definition of an Arab. At an international level, the 22 members of the Arab League can safely be described as Arab countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. At a human level, there are substantial groups within those countries – the Berbers of north Africa and the Kurds, for example – who do not regard themselves as Arabs. Arabic names Though Arabic has only three vowels – a, i and u – it has several consonants that have no equivalent in the Roman alphabet. For instance, there are two kinds of s, d and t. There are also two glottal sounds. This means there are dozens of ways of writing the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's name in English, and a reasonable argument can be made for adopting almost any of them. With no standard approach to transliteration agreed by the western media, we must try to balance consistency, comprehensibility and familiarity – which often puts a strain on all three. Typically, Arabs have at least three names. In some cases the first or second name may be the one that is most used, and this does not imply familiarity (Arabs often address foreigners politely as 'Mr John' or 'Dr David'). Often Arabs also have familiar names that have no connection with the names on their identity cards: a man might become known after the birth of his first son as 'Abu Ahmad', and a woman as 'Umm Ahmad', the father or mother of Ahmad (eg the Palestinian leader Ahmed Qureia is commonly known as Abu Ala). Where a particular spelling has become widely accepted through usage we should retain it. Where an individual with links to the west has clearly adopted a particular spelling of his or her own name, we should respect that. For breaking news and stories using names for which we have no established style, we take the lead given by Reuters wire copy. Note also that names in some parts of the Arab world have become gallicised, while others have become anglicised, eg the leading Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine uses a French spelling instead of the English transliteration, Shaheen. Some guidelines (for use particularly where there is no established transliteration) al- Means 'the'. In names it is not capitalised, eg Ahmad al-Saqqaf, and can be dropped after the first mention (Mr Saqqaf). For placenames we drop it altogether. Sometimes it appears as as- or ash- or ad- or ul-: these should be ignored and can be safely rewritten as al-. But some Arabs, including Syrians and Egyptians, prefer to use el- in place of al-. Exceptions: by convention, Allah (al-Lah, literally 'the God') is written as one word and capitalised; and in Saudi royal names, Al Saud is correct (in this case, 'al' is actually 'aal' and does not mean 'the'). abdul, abu and bin These are not self-contained names, but are connected to the name that follows: abdul means 'slave of … ' and so cannot correctly be used on its own. There are standard combinations, 'slave of the merciful one', 'slave of the generous one', etc, which all indicate that the person is a servant of God. In transliteration, 'abd' (slave) is lowercase, eg Ahmad abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf, except when used at the start of a name; abu (father of) and bin (son of) are similar. When they appear in the middle of a name they should be lower case and are used in combination with the following part of the name: Faisal abu Ahmad al-Saqqaf, Faisal bin Ahmad al-Saqqaf. Despite the above, some people are actually known as 'Abdul'. This is more common among non-Arab Muslims. And some Arabs run 'abd' or 'abu' into the following word, eg the writer Abdelrahman Munif. Muhammad Our style for the prophet's name and for most Muhammads living in Arab countries, though where someone's preferred spelling is known we respect it, eg Mohamed Al Fayed, Mohamed ElBaradei Muhandis/Mohandes, Qadi Be wary of names where the first word is Muhandis or Qadi: these are honorary titles, meaning engineer and judge respectively European surnames of Arabic origin The guidelines above do not apply in examples such as the French labour minister, Myriam El Khomri. She is French born and only has one surname, which appears on her birth certificate and passport, written in the Latin alphabet; there is no other spelling. So she should be referred to as Myriam El Khomri at first mention and El Khomri thereafter. Similarly, the two 2016 Brussels airport suicide bombers, Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, were Belgian born. The Belgian legal system and prosecutors refer to them by the surname El Bakraoui, and we should too Arab spring Aran Island is off Co Donegal and the Aran Islands off Co Galway in western Ireland; the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Aran sweaters, whether Irish or Scottish, come with an initial cap A arcane esoteric; archaic antiquated archbishops It is not normally necessary to use their formal title, which for both Anglicans and Catholics is Most Rev: so Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, at first mention, thereafter Welby or the archbishop (except in leading articles, where he is Mr Welby); Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, on first mention, subsequently Nichols or the archbishop archdeacon the Ven Paul Olive, archdeacon of Farringdon, at first mention; thereafter Olive, or the archdeacon archery arrows are shot, rather than fired; and if they hit the centre of the target, it is a gold rather than a bullseye archetype or stereotype? An archetype is a perfect or typical specimen, an original model or pattern, or prototype. A stereotype is based on simplistic generalisations about a particular group. So the matriarch in a typical Woody Allen film might be described as a stereotypical, not archetypal, Jewish mother archipelago plural archipelagos architect or designer? The title of architect is protected under UK law and should only be used to describe someone who is registered as such. If someone works on building design but is not registered as an architect they are most likely to be called a designer, eg Thomas Heatherwickarch-rival an arch rival would mean something different arctic fox but Arctic Monkeys Ardoyne (Belfast), not 'the Ardoyne' area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) Argentina, Argentinian arguably unarguably one of the most overused words in the language argyle sweater Armageddon armed forces, armed services the army, the British army, the navy, but Royal Navy, Royal Air Force or RAF armed forces ranks see military ranks Armistice Daybut the armistice arms akimbo hands on hips, elbows out; it is surprising how often the phrase 'legs akimbo' turns up in the paper, 'suggesting that such a posture exists, but lacks a word to define it', as David McKie wrote. The radical theatre group in the BBC TV comedy series The League of Gentlemen was called Legz Akimbo arm's length army regimentsfor a detailed guide to the organisation of the British army see here around about or approximately are better, eg 'about £1m' or 'approximately 2,000 people' around or round? We were driving around aimlessly all weekend; it nearly drove me round the bend arranged marriages are a traditional and perfectly acceptable form of wedlock across southern Asia and within the Asian community in Britain; they should not be confused with forced marriages, which are arranged without the consent of one or both partners, and have been widely criticised arse British English; ass American English arsing about rather than arseing art and architectural movements are generally lowercase, eg art deco, art nouveau, cubism, dadaism, expressionism, gothic, impressionism, pop art, romanesque, surrealism, etc, but note Bauhaus, Modern (in the sense of Modern British, to distinguish it from 'modern art'), pre-Raphaelite, Romantic (to differentiate between a romantic painting and a Romantic painting) artefact artificial intelligence AI on second mention and in headlines. Be careful not to overuse. An AI system is one able to improve from previous experiences or one created through training and learning rather than human coding or simple algorithms artist not artiste (except, possibly, in a historical context) Arts and Crafts movement Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, Creative Scotland as ... as 'The hawthorn may be as old, if not older, than the stone tower of the windmill,' which appeared in the paper, should have read: 'The hawthorn may be as old as, if not older than, the stone tower of the windmill.' A common error that is quite easy to spot if you try to read it without the phrase inside the commas: as old ... than (wrong); as old ... as (right) as or since?'As' is causal: I cannot check the online style guide as the connection is down; 'since' is temporal: Luckily, I have had the latest edition of Guardian Style on my desk since it was published asbi antisocial behaviour injunction asbo antisocial behaviour order ascendancy, ascendant Asean Association of Southeast (sic) Asian Nations Ash Action on Smoking and Health Ashton, Catherine The former EU foreign minister (strictly 'high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy') is Catherine Ashton at first mention, Lady Ashton at second mention, and thereafter simply Ashton Ashura a day of voluntary fasting for Muslims; Shia Muslims also commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the prophet, so for them it is not a festival but a day of mourning Asio Australian Security and Intelligence Service, the country's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency (the equivalent of Britain's MI5) Asperger syndrome but it is acceptable to call it Asperger's for short. Some people dislike the name because of the association with Hans Asperger, or consider it outdated, so it is better to use the broader term 'autistic' unless you know a person prefers to say they have Asperger's, in which case you should respect that preference. Do not use such witticisms as 'Asperger-ish men', which had to be removed from our website aspirin assassin, assassination the murder of prominent political figures rather than, say, celebrities assisted dying is preferable to 'assisted suicide' astrologer, astrology horoscopes astronomer, astronomy telescopes astronomer royal currently Lord Rees astronaut someone who is trained for travelling in space Asunción capital of Paraguay asylum seeker Someone seeking refugee status or humanitarian protection; there is no such thing as an 'illegal asylum seeker', a term the Press Complaints Commission ruled in breach of its code of practice. Refugees are people who have fled their home countries in fear for their lives, and may have been granted asylum under the 1951 refugee convention or qualify for humanitarian protection or discretionary leave, or have been granted exceptional leave to remain in Britain. Someone who is refused asylum should be referred to as a refused asylum seeker, not a 'failed asylum seeker'. An asylum seeker can become an illegal immigrant only if he or she remains in Britain after having failed to respond to a removal notice Atacmsfor the missiles, not ATACMS. It's short for army tactical missile system ATCU Associated Train Crew Union; not to be confused with ACTU, the Australian Council of Trade Unions athletics also known (particularly in the US) as track and field. 1500m but 5,000m (the former is the 'fifteen hundred' not 'one thousand five hundred' metres) Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc)a system of ocean currents that brings warm water to the northern Atlantic Atlantic Ocean or just the Atlantic attache no accent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD after first mention Attlee, Clement (1883-1967) Labour prime minister 1945-51, often misspelt as Atlee attorney general lc, no hyphen; plural attorneys general auger used to make holes augur predict or presage Aum Shinrikyo means Supreme Truth sect Aung San Suu Kyi Use her full name (as with other Burmese names), even on second and subsequent mentions, in copy; if absolutely necessary, Suu Kyi is permissible in headlines Auntie not Aunty if you must refer to the BBC in this way au pair Auschwitza Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland, not a Polish death camp (see entry on 'Polish death camps') Australasia Oceania is preferable. See Oceania Australian Labor party not Labour autism Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, not an illness. Use only when referring to the condition, not as a term of abuse or in producing such witticisms as 'mindless moral autism' and 'Star Wars is a form of male autism', both of which have appeared in the paper autistic peoplelargely regard autism as a fundamental part of who they are, so dislike being described as having autism, or being people with autism/living with autism. Whenever possible, ask a person how they prefer to be described. (Further reading: National Autistic Society guidance on writing about autism)autocorrect, autocomplete but auto-predict Autocue TM; teleprompter is a generic alternative Auto-Tune TM; also Auto-Tuned, etc autumn autumn statement AV the alternative vote electoral system avant garde no hyphen average, mean and median Although we loosely refer to the 'average' in many contexts (eg pay), there are two useful averages worth distinguishing. What is commonly known as the average is the mean: everyone's wages are added up and divided by the number of wage earners. The median is described as 'the value below which 50% of employees fall', ie it is the wage earned by the middle person when everyone's wages are lined up from smallest to largest. (For even numbers there are two middle people, but you calculate the mean average of their two wages.) The median is often a more useful guide than the mean, which can be distorted by figures at one extreme or the other awaken Say 'I woke up', 'I was woken up' and so on because the forms starting with A are either considered wrong ('I was awoken') or sound wrong ('I was awakened'). The US grammarian Bryan A Garner says: 'The past-tense and past-participial forms of 'wake' and its various siblings are perhaps the most vexing in the language.' Exception: Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens awards and prizes are generally lc, eg Guardian first book award, Nobel peace prize (but note Academy Awards) lc for categories, eg Colin Firth won the best actor Oscar, Chipmunk was voted best newcomer at the 2008 Mobos, etc awol stands for 'absent without leave' but, having been around since at least the 1920s, has established itself as a word in its own right awopbopaloobop alopbamboom from Little Richard's Tutti Frutti (1955), a recording that has been described as 'the sound of the birth of rock'n'roll' axing not axeing, but cutting jobs is less cliched than axing them axis plural axes Ayers Rock is now Uluru Azerbaijan noun, Azerbaijani adjective; note that there are ethnic Azeris living in, for example, Armenia Aznar, José María former prime minister of Spain A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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24-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why you should think twice before using shorthand like ‘thx' and ‘k' in your texts
My brother's text messages can read like fragments of an ancient code: 'hru,' 'wyd,' 'plz' – truncated, cryptic and never quite satisfying to receive. I'll often find myself second-guessing whether 'gr8' means actual excitement or whether it's a perfunctory nod. This oddity has nagged at me for years, so I eventually embarked upon a series of studies with fellow researchers Sam Maglio and Yiran Zhang. I wanted to know whether these clipped missives might undermine genuine dialogue, exploring the unspoken signals behind digital shorthand. As we gathered data, surveyed people and set up experiments, it became clear that those tiny shortcuts – sometimes hailed as a hallmark of efficient communication – undermine relationships instead of simplifying them. Most people type 'ty' and 'brb' – for 'thank you' and 'be right back' – without batting an eye. In a survey we conducted of 150 American texters ages 18 to 65, 90.1% reported regularly using abbreviations in their daily messages, and 84.2% believed these shortcuts had either a positive effect or no meaningful impact on how the messages were perceived by the recipients. But our findings suggest that the mere inclusion of abbreviations, although seemingly benign, start feeling like a brush-off. In other words, whenever a texter chops words down to their bare consonants, recipients sense a lack of effort, which causes them to disengage. It's a subtle but pervasive phenomenon that most people don't intuit. We started with controlled lab tests, presenting 1,170 participants ages 15 to 80 with one of two near-identical text exchanges: one set sprinkled with abbreviations, the other fully spelled out. In every single scenario, participants rated the abbreviating sender as less sincere and far less worthy of a reply. The deeper we dug, the more consistent the pattern became. Whether people were reading messages about weekend plans or major life events, the presence of truncated words and phrases such as 'plz,' 'sry' or 'idk' for 'please,' 'sorry' or 'I don't know' made the recipients feel shortchanged. The phenomenon didn't stop with strangers. In more experiments, we tested whether closeness changed the dynamic. If you're texting a dear friend or a romantic partner, can you abbreviate to your heart's content? Evidently not. Even people imagining themselves chatting with a longtime buddy reported feeling a little put off by half-spelled words, and that sense of disappointment chipped away at how authentic the interaction felt. Still, we had nagging doubts: Might this just be some artificial lab effect? We wondered whether real people on real platforms might behave differently. So we took our questions to Discord, a vibrant online social community where people chat about everything from anime to politics. More importantly, Discord is filled with younger people who use abbreviations like it's second nature. We messaged random users asking them to recommend TV shows to watch. One set of messages fully spelled out our inquiry; the other set was filled with abbreviations. True to our lab results, fewer people responded to the abbreviated ask. Even among digital natives – youthful, tech-savvy users who are well versed in the casual parlance of text messaging – a text plastered with shortcuts still felt undercooked. If a few missing letters can sour casual chats, what happens when love enters the equation? After all, texting has become a cornerstone of modern romance, from coy flirtations to soul-baring confessions. Could 'plz call me' inadvertently jeopardize a budding connection? Or does 'u up?' hint at more apathy than affection? These questions guided our next foray, as we set out to discover whether the swift efficiency of abbreviations might actually short-circuit the delicate dance of courtship and intimacy. Our leap into the realm of romance culminated on Valentine's Day with an online speed dating experiment. We paired participants for timed 'dates' inside a private messaging portal, and offered half of them small incentives to pepper their replies with abbreviations such as 'ty' instead of 'thank you.' When it came time to exchange contact information, the daters receiving abbreviation-heavy notes were notably more reluctant, citing a lack of effort from the other party. Perhaps the most eye-opening evidence came from a separate study running a deep analysis of hundreds of thousands of Tinder conversations. The data showed that messages stuffed with abbreviations such as 'u' and 'rly' scored fewer overall responses and short-circuited conversations. We want to be clear: We're not campaigning to ban 'lol.' Our research suggests that a few scattered abbreviations don't necessarily torpedo a friendship. Nor does every one of the many messages sent to many people every day warrant the full spelling-out treatment. Don't care about coming across as sincere? Don't need the recipient to respond? Then by all means, abbreviate away. Instead, it's the overall reliance on condensed phrases that consistently lowers our impression of the sender's sincerity. When we type 'plz' a dozen times in a conversation, we risk broadcasting that the other person isn't worth the extra letters. The effect may be subtle in a single exchange. But over time, it accumulates. If your ultimate goal is to nurture a deeper connection – be it with a friend, a sibling or a prospective date – taking an extra second to type 'thanks' might be a wise investment. Abbreviations began as a clever workaround for clunky flip phones, with its keypad texting – recall tapping '5' three times to type the letter 'L' – and strict monthly character limits. Yet here we are, long past those days, still trafficking in 'omg' and 'brb,' as though necessity never ended. After all of those studies, I've circled back to my brother's texts with fresh eyes. I've since shared with him our findings about how those tiny shortcuts can come across as half-hearted or indifferent. He still fires off 'brb' in half his texts, and I'll probably never see him type 'I'm sorry' in full. But something's shifting – he typed 'thank you' a few times, even threw in a surprisingly heartfelt 'hope you're well' the other day. It's a modest shift, but maybe that's the point: Sometimes, just a few more letters can let someone know they really matter. Sam Maglio, an Associate Professor of Marketing and Psychology at the University of Toronto, contributed to the writing of this article. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: David Fang, Stanford University Read more: AIM brought instant messaging to the masses, teaching skills for modern communication Why does using a period in a text message make you sound insincere or angry? The lies we tell on dating apps to find love David Fang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
