Process
Status Items Highlights Done See section below Claims None Questions None Output None
Highlights
Location 148
Write words in their full form on first appearance: Trades Union Congress (not TUC), Troubled Asset Relief Programme (not TARP) unless an abbreviation or acronym is so familiar that it is used more often in full: AIDS BBC CIA EU FBI HIV IMF NASA NATO NGO OECD UNESCO or unless the full form would provide little illumination–AWACS, DNA. If in doubt about its familiarity, explain what the organisation is or does. After the first mention, try not to repeat the abbreviation too often; so write the agency rather than the IAEA, the party rather than the KMT, to avoid spattering the page with capital letters. And prefer chief executive, boss or manager to CEO. There is no need to give the initials
Location 409
biannual, biennial Biannual can mean twice a year or once every two years. Avoid. Since biennial also means once every two years, that is best avoided too. So are bimonthly and biweekly, which also have two meanings. Luckily, fortnightly is unambiguous.
Location 414
blond, blonde Blond is an adjective and, unusually, in its adjectival use it retains its two genders (see grammar and syntax, masculine or feminine). Use blonde as a noun, referring to a woman with blond hair: the blonde in the corner of the room. Use blond for everything else, including the hair of a blonde.
Location 435
capitals A balance has to be struck between so many capitals that the eyes dance and so few that the reader is diverted more by our style than by our substance. The general rule is to dignify with capital letters organisations and institutions, but not people; and full names, but not informal ones. More exact rules are laid out below. Even these, however, leave some decisions to individual judgment. If in doubt use lower case unless it looks absurd. And remember that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). avoiding confusion Use capitals to avoid confusion, especially with no (and therefore yes). In Bergen no votes predominated suggests a stalemate, whereas In Bergen No votes predominated suggests a triumph of noes over yeses. In most contexts, though, yes and no should be lower case: “The answer is no.”
Location 444
cities City with a capital, even though City is not an integral part of their names: Guatemala City Ho Chi Minh City Kuwait City Mexico City
Location 446
New York City Panama City Quebec City City also takes a capital when it is part of the name: Dodge City Kansas City Oklahoma…
Location 449
compass points Lower case for: east west north south except when part of a name (North Korea, South Africa, West End) or part of a thinking group: the South, the Midwest, the West (but lower case for vaguer areas such as the American north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west). Lower-case too for the adjectives: midwestern, western, southern. The regions of Africa are southern, east, west and north Africa. But South Africa is the name of the country. Europe Europe’s divisions are no longer neatly political, and are now geographically imprecise, so use lower case for central, eastern and western Europe. Use West Germany (West Berlin) and East Germany (East Berlin) only in historical references. They are now west or western Germany (Berlin) and east or…
Location 462
finance In finance there are particular exceptions to the general rule of initial capitals for full names, lower case for informal ones. There are also rules about what to do on second mention. Deutschmarks are still known just as D-marks, even though all references are historical. Special drawing rights are lower case but are abbreviated as SDRs, except when used with a figure as a currency (SDR500m). The Bank of England and its foreign equivalents have initial caps when named formally and separately, but collectively they are central banks in lower case, except those like Brazil’s, Ireland’s and Venezuela’s, which are actually named the Central Bank. The Bank of England becomes the bank on second mention. The IMF may become the fund on second mention. The…
Location 483
historical terms Allies (in the second world war) Black Death Cultural Revolution D-Day the Depression (1930s) Enlightenment Holocaust (second world war) Industrial Revolution Middle Ages New Deal Prohibition Reconstruction Reformation Renaissance Restoration Six-Day War Stone Age (etc) Thirty Years War Year of the Dog, Horse, Rat Note that all other revolutions are lower case, but upper-case for the qualifier: Orange revolution, Green revolution, French revolution.
Location 490
organisations, institutions, acts, etc 1 Organisations, ministries, departments, institutions, treaties, acts, etc, generally take upper case when their full name (or something pretty close to it, eg, State Department) is used. Amnesty International Arab League Bank of England (the bank) Central Committee Court of Appeal the Crown (Britain) Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Department of State (the department) European Commission Forestry Commission Health and Safety at Work Act High Court House of Commons House of Lords House of Representatives Household Cavalry Metropolitan Police Ministry of Defence New York Stock Exchange Oxford University Politburo Scottish Parliament (the parliament) Senate
Location 500
St Paul’s Cathedral (the cathedral) Supreme Court Treasury Treaty of Rome Welsh Assembly (the assembly) World Bank (the bank) 2 Organisations with unusual or misleading names, such as the African National Congress and Civic Forum, may become the Congress and the Forum on second and subsequent mentions. 3 But most other organisations–agencies, banks, commissions (including the European Commission and the European Union), etc–take lower case when referred to incompletely on second mention. 4 Informal names Organisations, committees, commissions, special groups, etc, that are impermanent, ad hoc, local or relatively insignificant should be lower case: international economic subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Market Blandings rural district council; Oxford University bowls club; subcommittee on journalists’ rights of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party. 5 Artistic movements Artistic movements (Impressionism, Cubism, etc) should be upper case. So should their practitioners (Romantics). 6 Rough descriptions or translations Use lower case for rough descriptions (the safety act, the American health department, the French parliament, as distinct from its National Assembly). If you are not sure whether the English translation of a foreign name is exact or not, assume it is rough and use lower case. 7 Congress and Parliament Congress and Parliament are upper case, unless parliament is used not to describe the institution but the period of time for which it sits: This bill will not be brought forward until the next parliament. But congressional and parliamentary are lower case, as…
Location 522
people 1 Ranks and titles Use upper case when written in conjunction with a name, but lower case when on their own: Colonel Qaddafi, but the colonel Pope Benedict, but the pope President Obama, but the president Queen Elizabeth, but the queen Vice-President Ansari, but the vice-president Do not write Prime Minister Brown or Defence Secretary Cannon; they are the prime minister, Mr Brown, and the defence secretary, Mr Cannon. You might, however, write Chancellor Merkel. 2 Office-holders When referred to merely by their office, not by their name, office-holders are lower case: the chairman of Marks & Spencer the chancellor of the exchequer the foreign secretary the president of the United States the prime minister the treasury secretary The only exceptions are a few titles that would look unduly peculiar without capitals: Black Rod Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster First Lady Lord Chancellor Lord Privy Seal Master of the Rolls Speaker (in a parliament) and a few exalted people, such as: the Dalai Lama, the Aga Khan. Also God and the Prophet. 3 Some titles serve as names, and…
Location 538
places Use upper case for definite geographical places, regions, areas and countries (The Hague, Transylvania, Germany), and for vague but recognised political or geographical areas (but see Europe above): Central, South and…
Location 544
North, Central and South America South Atlantic the West (as in the decline of the West), Western, Westerns (as in novels, films, etc), Wild West West Country Use capitals for particular buildings even if the name is not strictly accurate, eg, the Foreign Office. And if in doubt use lower case (the sunbelt). The third world (an unsatisfactory term now that the communist second world has disappeared) is lower case. Avoid the western hemisphere. Unlike the southern hemisphere and the…
Location 552
political terms 1 The full name of political parties is upper case, including the word party: Communist (if a particular party) Labour Party Peasants’ Party Republican Party Tea Party (though not strictly a party, it looks too odd in lower case) 2 But note that some parties do not have party as part of their names, so this should therefore be lower case: Greece’s New Democracy party India’s Congress party Indonesia’s Golkar party Turkey’s Justice and Development party 3 Note that usually only people are: Democrats Liberal Democrats Christian Democrats Social Democrats Their parties, policies, candidates, committees, etc, are: Democratic Liberal Democratic Christian Democratic Social Democratic They also vote Democratic, etc; but a committee may be Democrat-controlled. The exceptions are Britain’s Liberal Democrat Party and Thailand’s Democrat Party. 4 When…
Location 567
proper names When forming nouns, adjectives and verbs from proper names, retain the initial capital: Buddhism Leninist Christian Luddite Finlandisation Maronite Gaullism Marxist Hindu Napoleonic Hobbesian Paisleyite Islamic Russify Jacobite Thatcherism Exceptions are: platonic, pyrrhic, draconian. Indian castes are upper case and roman. Eg Brahmin, Dalit. province, river, state are lower case when not strictly part of the name: Cabanas province New York state Limpopo river Washington state Exceptions are: River Nile, River Thames, Red River (USA), Yellow River (China). American counties are part of the name; hence Orange County, Madison County. trade names Use capitals: BlackBerry eBay Google Hoover Teflon Valium Jeep Stetson miscellaneous (lower case) 19th amendment (but Article 19) aborigines, aboriginal administration amazon (female warrior) angst blacks (and whites)…
Location 584
gentile government Gulf war gypsy heaven (and hell) internet junior (as in George Bush junior) Kyoto protocol the left mafia (any old group of criminals) mecca (when used loosely, as a mecca for tourists) new year (but New Year’s Day) Olympic games (and Asian, Commonwealth, European) opposition philistine platonic the pope the press pyrrhic the queen quisling realpolitik republican (unless a party) revolution (everyone’s) the right second world war senior (as in Douglas Fairbanks senior) state-of-the-union message sun titanic (not the ship) titans (unless the original Titans) white paper world wide web young turk miscellaneous (upper case) Anglophone (but prefer (English-speaking) Antichrist anti-Semitism Atlanticist the Bar the Bible (but biblical) Catholics CD-ROM Chapter 9, etc Christ Christmas Day Christmas Eve Coloureds (in South Africa) Communist (if a particular party) Congress the Crown the Cup Final the Davis Cup D-Day Earth (when, and only when, it is being discussed as a planet like Mars or Venus) Empire (everyone’s) First Lady Founding Fathers Francophone General Assembly (UN) Hispanics Koran Labour Day Mafia (the genuine article) May Day Mecca (in Saudi Arabia, California and Liberia) Memorial Day Moon (when it is Earth’s) Nature (the general entity) New Year’s Eve etc (but new year) Parliament (the…
Location 607
Tory Tube (London Underground) Utopia (-n) Warsaw Pact See…
Location 620
challenge Although duels and gauntlets have largely disappeared into history, modern life seems to consist of little else but challenges. At every turn, every president, every government, every business, everyone everywhere is faced with challenges. No one nowadays has to face a change, difficulty, task or job. Next time you grab the word challenge, drop it at once and think again.
Location 635
clichés weren’t always clichéd. The first person to use window of opportunity or level playing-field or accident waiting to happen was justly pleased with himself. Each is a strong, vivid expression–or was. The trouble is that such expressions have been copied so often that they have lost their vividness. Mass printing made constant repetition easy, which explains how the word cliché came into being: it is the French term for a stereotype printing plate. Careful writers since Flaubert, who was so obsessive in his search for freshness that he insisted on anything approaching a cliché being printed in italics, have tried to avoid hackneyed phrases. In “A Dictionary of Clichés” (1940), Eric Partridge wrote: “Clichés range from fly-blown phrases (much of a muchness; to all intents and purposes), metaphors that are now pointless (lock, stock and barrel), formulas that have become mere counters (far be it from me to…)–through sobriquets that have lost all their freshness and most of their significance (the Iron Duke)–to quotations that are nauseating (cups that cheer but not inebriate), and foreign phrases that are tags (longo intervallo, bête noire).” Many of yesterday’s clichés have become so much a part of the language that they pass unnoticed; they are like Orwell’s dead metaphors. The ones most to be avoided are the latest, the trendiest. Since they usually appeal to people who do not have the energy to pick their own words, they are often found in the wooden prose of bureaucrats, academics and businessmen, though journalese is far from immune. Clichés numb, rather than stimulate, the reader’s brain. Many of the clichés in The Economist are phrases like bite the bullet, confirmed bachelor, eye-watering sums, grinding to a halt, high-profile, honeymoon period, incurable optimist, road maps, tax packages, too close to call, toxic debt, whopping bills. They serve merely to bore. Far worse are some of those placed in its pages by its managers, which probably induce terminal despair. The following appeared in an advertisement in May 2009: world-class analysis, key industries, proven track record, strategic, transformative thinking, decisive goal-driven leader, consummate collaborator within a team framework, impactful programmes, strategic and consultative approach, professional in all internal and external interactions, results-driven, relationship-building and communication skills. Many of these expressions are meaningless. All are ugly. All are borrowed unthinkingly from the language of other advertisers, and since they appear so often they fail to make an impact. Bureaucrats are inveterate offenders. Here is part of a letter from a large London think-tank, explaining that it might be
Location 657
slow in updating members’ details because it was improving its computer system. This simple message was conveyed in 125 words, of which these are some: The organisation is upgrading its IT infrastructure by introducing a new database which will enable us to store and share information more effectively internally. We embarked upon this major project when it became clear that the current system no longer adequately supported our requirements. When the new system is fully implemented in the autumn it will enable us to more effectively manage our relationship with members and other stakeholders… We kindly ask for your patience while we resolve any issues over the next two weeks. Language such as this is so common that its authors have stopped asking themselves whether it means anything, whether the message might make more impact if it were expressed in 20 words rather than 125 or whether anyone will even bother to read it. Do not add to such tosh. Banish from your mind and prose bridges too far; empires striking back; kinder, gentler; F-words; flavours of the month; Generation X; hearts and minds; $64,000 questions; southern discomfort; back to the future; shaken, not stirred; thirty-somethings; and where’s the beef? Be especially careful not to borrow the empty phrases of politicians who constantly invoke paradigm shifts, wake-up calls, supply-side solutions, blue-sky thinking and social inclusion, while asserting their desire to go the extra mile, push the envelope and kick-start the economy. Making a difference is one of the most fatuous favourites. Thus a former director of communications for the Labour Party could assert that the prime minister, Gordon Brown, was being criticised only because he wanted to make a difference, as though the same plea could not have been made for A. Hitler or J. Stalin. Not all clichés, however, are used unthinkingly. Politicians often resort to hackneyed language to give the impression that they are saying something when they are doing their best to avoid it. Treat all such stuff as a caution. (“Political language is designed to… give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” George Orwell)
Location 682
colons see punctuation
Location 683
come up with Try suggest, originate or produce
Location 684
commas see punctuation
Location 686
community is a useful word in the context of religious or ethnic groups. But in many others it jars. Not only is it often unnecessary, it also purports to convey a sense of togetherness that may well not exist: The black community means blacks (or African-Americans, etc). The business community means businessmen (who are supposed to be competing, not colluding). The intelligence community means spies. The online community means geeks, nerds and netizens. The migration and development communities means NGOs. The international community, if it means anything, means other countries, aid agencies or, just occasionally, the family of nations. What the global community (Financial Times, July 12th 2005) means is a mystery.
Location 695
company names Call companies by the names they call themselves. Therefore check the company’s name against their literature or website. Economist usage is now to ignore all rogue exclamation marks, backward letters, etc in company names.
Location 707
comprise means is composed of. NATO’s force in Afghanistan comprises troops from 42 countries. America’s troops make up (not comprise) nearly half the force. Alternatively, Nearly half NATO’s force in Afghanistan is composed of American troops.
Location 717
convince should be followed by a noun or, in the passive, that or of. Do not convince people to do something. If you want to write to, the verb you need is persuade. The prime minister was persuaded to call a June election; he was convinced of the wisdom of doing so only after he had won.
Location 722
could is sometimes useful as a variant of may or might: His coalition could (or might) collapse. But take care. Does He could call an election in June mean He might call an election in June or He would be allowed to call an election in June?
Location 724
council, counsel A council is a body of people, elected or appointed, that advises, administers, organises, legislates, etc. Counsel (noun) means advice or consultation, or lawyers…
Location 728
crisis A decisive event or turning-point. Many of the economic and political troubles wrongly described as crises are really…
Location 732
currencies Use , will do generally; US4.99 other dollar…
Location 746
Europe euro, plural euros, abbreviated as €, for those countries that have adopted it. cents, spell out, unless part of a larger number. €10 (not 10 euros), €10.75 DM, BFr, drachmas, FFr, Italian lire, IR£ (punts), markkas, Asch, Ptas and other currencies of the euro area have all been replaced by €, but may turn up in historical references. DKr Danish krone (plural kroner) IKr Icelandic krona (plural kronur) NKr Norwegian krone (plural kroner) SFr Swiss franc, SFr1m (not 1m Swiss francs) SKr Swedish krona (plural kronor) sums in all other currencies are written in full, with the number first. Brazil, real, 100m reais China, yuan, 100m yuan (not renminbi)…
Location 759
But Japan, yen ¥, ¥1,000 (not…
Location 760
China Properly, Chinese sums are expressed as, eg, 1 yuan rmb, meaning 1 yuan renminbi. Yuan, which means money, is the Chinese unit of currency. Renminbi, which means the people’s currency, is the description of the yuan…
Location 764
current, contemporary Current and contemporary mean at that time, not necessarily at this time. So a series of current prices from 1960 to 1970 will not be in today’s prices, just as contemporary art in 1800 was not…
Location 767
cusp is a pointed end or a horn of, for example, the Moon, or the point at which two branches of a curve meet. So it is odd to write, say, “Japan is on the cusp of a recovery”…
Location 771
dashes see…
Location 774
dates month, day, year, in that order, with no commas: July 5th 1996–99 Monday July 5th 2005–10 July 5th 2009 1998–2009 July 27th–August 3rd 2010 1990s July 2002 Do not write on June 10th–14th; prefer between June 10th and 14th. If, say, ministers are to meet over two days, write on December 14th and 15th. Do not burden the reader with dates of no significance, but give a date rather than just…
Location 800
disinterested means impartial; uninterested means indifferent. “Disinterested curiosity is the lifeblood of civilisation.” (G.M. Trevelyan)
Location 815
earnings Do not write earnings when you mean profits (try to say if they are operating, gross, pre-tax or net).
Location 820
effect the verb, means to accomplish, so The novel effected a change in his attitude. See also affect.
Location 824
effectively, in effect Effectively means with effect; if you mean in effect, say it. The matter was effectively dealt with on Friday means it was done well on Friday. The matter was, in effect, dealt with on Friday means it was more or less attended to on Friday.
Location 828
elite, elitist Once a neutral word meaning a chosen group or the pick of the bunch, elite is now almost always used pejoratively. Elitist and elitism are even more reprehensible. No matter that the words have their roots in the French verb élire, to elect, and the Latin eligere, to pick out; if you believe in government by a chosen group, or are a member of such a group, you are a reprobate. Only elite forces seem to escape censure. Though scornful of elites in education and politics, most people, when taken hostage, are happy to be rescued by elite troops. Use these words with care.
Location 862
blacks In many countries, including the United States, many black people are happy to be called blacks, although some prefer to be African-Americans. Black is shorter and more straightforward, but use either. Use Native American for indigenous Americans, to avoid confusion with the growing number of Indian-Americans.
Location 872
euphemisms Avoid, where possible, euphemisms and circumlocutions, especially those promoted by interest-groups keen to please their clients or organisations anxious to avoid embarrassment.
Location 913
ex- (and former) Be careful. A Labour Party ex-member has lost his seat; an ex-Labour member has lost his party.
Location 935
fewer than, less than Fewer (not less) than seven speeches, fewer than seven samurai. Use fewer, not less, with numbers of individual items or people. Less than £200, less than 700 tonnes of oil, less than a third, because these are measured quantities or proportions, not individual items. Time, being viewed as a continuum, also takes less; in less than six weeks, after less than five months.
Location 941
figures Never start a sentence with a figure; write the number in words instead. Use words for simple numerals from one to ten inclusive, except: in references to pages; in percentages (eg, 4%); and in sets of numerals, some of which are higher than ten. Deaths from this cause in the past three years were 14, 9 and 6. Always use numbers with units of measurement, even for those less than ten: 4 metres, 9 miles, but four cows. It is occasionally permissible to use words rather than numbers when referring to a rough or rhetorical figure (such as a thousand curses, a hundred years of solitude). In all other cases, though, use figures for numerals from 11 upwards. first to tenth centuries, the 11th century 20th century, 21st century 20th-century ideas in 100 years’ time two and a half years later a 29-year-old man a man in his 20s 20th anniversary 40-fold (but fourfold, up to and including ten) 30-something the Sixties (etc)
✏️ Start of a section on figures 🔗 Location 941
Location 953
decimal point Use figures for all numerals that include a decimal point (eg, 4.25).
Location 954
fractions Figures may be appropriate for fractions, if the context is either technical or precise, or both: Though the poll’s figures were supposed to be accurate to within 1%, his lead of 4¼ points turned out on election day to be minus 3½. Where precision is less important but it is nonetheless impossible to shoot off the fraction, words may look better: Though the beast was sold as a two-year-old, it turned out to be two and a half times that. Fractions should be hyphenated (one-half, three-quarters, etc) and, unless they are attached to whole numbers (8½, 29¾), spelled out in words, even when the figures are higher than ten: He gave a tenth of his salary to the church, a twentieth to his mistress and a thirtieth to his wife. fractions and decimals Do not compare a fraction with a decimal. So avoid: The rate fell from 3¼% to 3.1%. Fractions are more precise than decimals (3.33 neglects an infinity of figures that are embraced by 1/3), but your readers probably do not think so. You should therefore use fractions for rough figures: Kenya’s population is growing at 3½% a year. A hectare is 2½ acres. and decimals for more exact ones: The retail price index is rising at an annual rate of 10.6%. But treat all numbers with respect. That usually means resisting the precision of more than one decimal place, and generally favouring rounding off. Beware of phoney over-precision.
Location 970
hyphens and figures Do not use a hyphen in place of to except with figures: He received a sentence of 15–20 years in jail but He promised to escape within three to four weeks.
Location 978
measurements In most non-American contexts use metric units: hectares, not acres kilometres (or km), not miles metres, not yards litres, not gallons kilos (kg), not lb (never lbs) tonnes, not tons
Location 989
million, billion, trillion, quadrillion Use m for million, bn for billion and trn for trillion. 8m 8 bn £8m €8 bn
Location 992
per cent, percentage points Use the sign % instead of per cent. But write percentage, never %age (though in most contexts proportion or share is preferable). A fall from 4% to 2% is a drop of two percentage points, or of 50%, but not of 2%. (See also per cent.)
Location 996
ranges Write: 5,000–6,000 5–6% 5m–6m (not 5–6m) 5 bn–6 bn But: Sales rose from 5m to 6m (not 5m–6m); estimates ranged between 5m and 6m (not 5m–6m).
Location 1000
ratios Where to is being used as part of a ratio, it is usually best to spell it out. They decided, by nine votes to two, to put the matter to the general assembly, which voted, 27 to 19, to insist that the ratio of vodka to tomato juice in a bloody mary should be at least one to three, though the odds of this being so in most bars were put at no better than 11 to 4. Where a ratio is being used adjectivally, figures and dashes may be used, but only if one of the figures is greater than ten: a 50–20 vote a 19–9 vote Otherwise, spell out the figures and use to and hyphens: a two-to-one vote a ten-to-one probability
Location 1014
footnotes, sources, references see footnotes, sources, references in Part 3.
Location 1018
names of foreign companies, institutions, groups, parties, etc should usually be translated. So: the Dutch People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (not the Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie the German Christian Democratic Union (not the Christlich Demokratische Union) the Shining Path (not Sendero Luminoso) the National Assembly (not the Assemblée Nationale) But if an abbreviation is also given, that may be the initials of the foreign name: UMP for France’s Union for a Presidential Majority SPD for the Social Democratic Party of Germany PAN for Mexico’s National Action Party Break this rule when the name is better known untranslated: Forza Italia Médecins Sans Frontières Parti Québécois (Canada)
✏️ Start of a section on foreign languages and translations 🔗 Location 1018
Location 1032
titles of foreign books, films, etc The titles of foreign books, films, plays, operas and TV programmes present difficulties. Some are so well known that they are unlikely to need translation: “Das Kapital” “Mein Kampf” “Le Petit Prince” “Die Fledermaus” And sometimes the meaning of the title may be unimportant in the context, so a translation is not necessary: “Hiroshima, Mon Amour” But often the title will be significant, and you will want to translate it. One solution, easy with classics, is simply to give the English translation: “One Hundred Years of Solitude” “The Leopard” “War and Peace” “The Tin Drum” This is usually the best practice to follow with pamphlets, articles and non-fiction, too. But sometimes, especially with books and films that are little known among English-speakers or unobtainable in English (perhaps you are reviewing one), you may want to give both the original title and a translation, thus: “11 Septembre 2001: l’Effroyable Imposture” (“September 11th 2001: The Appalling Deception”) “La Règle du Jeu” (“The Rules of the Game”) “La Traviata” (“The Sinner”) Foreign titles do not need to be set in italics. Treat them as if they were in English. Note that book publishers follow different rules here. (See italics.)
Location 1047
translating words and phrases If you want to translate a foreign word or phrase, even if it is the name of a group or newspaper or party, just put it in brackets without inverted commas, so: Arbeit macht frei (work makes free) Pravda (Truth) zapatero (shoemaker)
Location 1056
former see ex-.
Location 1066
full stops see punctuation.
Location 1075
gender is nowadays used in several ways. One is common in feminist writing, where the term has a technical meaning. “One is not born a woman, one becomes one,” argued Simone de Beauvoir: in other words, one chooses one’s gender. In such a context it would be absurd to use the word sex; the term must be gender. But, in using it thus, try to explain what you mean by it. The primary use of gender is in grammar, where it is applied to words, not people. If someone is female, that is her sex, not her gender. The gender of Mädchen, the German word for girl, is neuter. So do not use gender as a synonym for sex. In recent years, gender terms have become much more complicated. When describing someone’s sexuality, it is best to use the term they use for themselves: gay (adj only; never used as a noun, which is slang or archaic); lesbian or lesbians (adj or n); bisexual (adj or n); straight (adj only). When describing people, prefer gay or gay and lesbian to homosexual, which has become outdated. Gay does not just refer to men–hence gay marriage, gay pride. Reserve homosexual for sexual behaviours and tendencies. Hence a homosexual liaison or homosexual acts (which could be done by people who do not see themselves as gay). When describing someone’s gender identity, it is best to use the term they use for themselves: man; woman; transgender man or woman, which can be shortened to trans man/woman. If you need to state a far less common gender identity, such as non-binary and genderqueer, it is likely to be significant enough in the text you are writing that it is worth explaining.
Location 1089
The LGBT movement When referring to advocates of rights for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and other minority sexual and gender identities, you can use LGBT as an umbrella term to describe the activists. Do not write LGBT community, because activists for one particular issue do not represent all people who are either L, G, B or T. Because the LGBT church is broad, usually it is most accurate to refer to the specific group of people with regard to a specific right or issue. “Transgender activists are fighting the bathroom law in Texas”, “Gay men are calling for the anti-HIV drug PrEP to be available on the NHS”, and so on.
Location 1108
grammar and syntax Take care in the construction of your sentences and paragraphs. A single issue of The Economist contained the following:
✏️ Start of a section on grammar and syntax 🔗 Location 1108
Location 1115
a or the Strictly, Barclays is a British bank, not the British bank, just as Toyota is a car company, not the car company, and Angela Gheorghiu is an opera singer, not the opera singer. If it seems absurd to describe someone or something thus–that is, with the indefinite article–you can probably dispense with the description altogether or insert an extra word or two that may be useful to the reader: Toyota, the world’s biggest car company in 2009; Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. active or passive? Be direct. Use the active tense. A hit B describes the event more concisely than B was hit by A. adjectives and adverbs Adjectives qualify nouns, adverbs modify verbs. If you have a sentence that contains the words firstly, secondly, more importantly, etc, they almost certainly ought to be first, second, more important. adjectives of proper nouns If proper nouns have adjectives, use them. Crimean war (not the Crimea war) Dutch East India Company (not the Holland East India Company) Lebanese (not Lebanon) civil war Pakistani (not Pakistan) government It is permissible to use the noun as an adjective if to do otherwise would cause confusion. An African initiative suggests the proposal came from Africa, whereas an Africa initiative suggests it was about Africa.
Location 1135
collective nouns–singular or plural? There is no firm rule about the number of a verb governed by a singular collective noun. It is best to go by the sense–that is, whether the collective noun stands for a single entity: The council was elected in March. The me generation has run its course. The staff is loyal. or for its constituents: The council are at sixes and sevens. The preceding generation are all dead. The staff are at each other’s throats. Do not, in any event, slavishly give all singular collective nouns singular verbs: The couple are now living apart is preferable to The couple is now living apart.
Location 1144
majority When it is used in an abstract sense, it takes the singular; when it is used to denote the elements making up the majority, it should be plural. A two-thirds majority is needed to amend the constitution but A majority of the Senate were opposed. A majority of can often be replaced by most.
Location 1149
pair and couple Treat both a pair and a couple as plural.
Location 1150
comparisons Take care, too, when making comparisons, to compare like with like: The Belgian economy is bigger than Russia should be Belgium’s economy is bigger than Russia’s.
Location 1171
he, she, they To make language gender-neutral would be a forlorn undertaking in most tongues, and even in English, which assigns few genders to nouns, it presents difficulties. It may be no tragedy that policemen are now almost always police officers and firemen firefighters, but to call chairmen chairs serves chiefly to remind everyone that the world of committees and those who make it go round are largely devoid of humour. Avoid also chairpersons (chairwoman is permissible but unnecessary), humankind and the person in the street–ugly expressions all. It is no more demeaning to women to use the words actress, ballerina or seamstress than goddess, princess or queen. (Similarly, you should feel as free to separate Siamese twins or welsh on debts–at your own risk–as you would to go on a Dutch treat, pass through french windows, or play Russian roulette. Note, though, that you risk being dogged by catty language police.) If you believe it is “exclusionary” or insulting to women to use he in a general sense, the best solution is to rephrase some sentences in the plural. Thus Instruct the reader without lecturing him may be put as Instruct readers without lecturing them. The Oxford English Dictionary now accepts the use of “their” in examples like the following: We can’t afford to squander anyone’s talents, whatever colour their skin is. When someone takes their own life, they leave their loved ones with an agonising legacy of guilt. The construction should be avoided where there is an easy fix: Each student should bring their homework can easily become Students should bring their homework. But with someone, everyone or anyone, they is better than either he or she. See also ethnic groups, gender, tribe
✏️ Is this where i put my preference of using they/them/their instead of “he and she” “He/she” etc? 🔗 Location 1171
Location 1350
hyphens There is no firm rule to help you decide which words are run together, hyphenated or left separate. If in doubt, consult a dictionary. Do not overdo the literary device of hyphenating words that are not usually linked: the stringing-together-of-lots-and-lots-of-words-and-ideas tendency can be tiresome.
Location 1531
important If something is important, say why and to whom. Use sparingly, and avoid such unexplained claims as this important house, the most important painter of the 20th century. See also interesting.
Location 1546
interesting Like important and funny, interesting makes assumptions about the word or words it describes that may not be shared by the reader. Facts and stories introduced as interesting often turn out to be something else. “Interestingly, my father-in-law was born in East Kilbride,” for instance. If something really is interesting, you probably do not need to say so.
Location 1575
books, pamphlets, films, plays, operas, ballets, radio and television programmes and video games Titles are roman, not italic, with capital letters for each main word, in quotation marks. Thus: “Pride and Prejudice”, “Much Ado about Nothing”, “Any Questions”, “Crossfire”, “Grand Theft Auto”, etc. But the Bible and its books (Genesis, Ecclesiastes, John, etc), as well as the Koran, are written without inverted commas. These rules apply to footnotes as well as bodymatter. Web magazines and blogs are in italics, as for newspapers, with a lower-case “The” if appropriate.
Location 1582
foreign words and phrases should be set in italics:
Location 1608
newspapers and periodicals Only The Economist has The italicised. Thus the Daily Telegraph, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Spectator (but Le Monde, Die Welt, Die Zeit). The
Location 1664
last The last issue of The Economist implies its extinction; prefer last week’s or the latest issue. Last year, in 2010, means 2009; if you mean the 12 months up to the time of writing, write the past year. The same goes for the past month, past week, past (not last) ten years. Last week is best avoided; anyone reading it several days after publication may be confused. See
Location 1774
names For guidance on spelling people’s names, see the list below. As with all names, spell them the way the person concerned has requested, if a preference has been expressed.
Location 1808
Arabic names and words Al, al- Try to leave out the Al, Al-, al or al- where possible. This is common practice with some well-known figures like Muammar Qaddafi (not al-Qaddafi), but not all: Bashar al-Assad (not Assad), for example. Moreover, many names would look peculiar without al-, so with less well-known people it should be included (lower case, usually followed by a hyphen). On subsequent mentions, it can be dropped. Bin (son of) must be repeated: Osama bin Laden, thereafter Mr bin Laden. But it is often ignored in alphabetisation. The Al-, Al-, al or al- (or Ad-, Ar-, As-, etc) before most Arab towns can be dropped (so Baquba not al-Baquba, Ramadi not ar-Ramadi). But al-Quds because it is the Arab name for Jerusalem and will be important in any context in which it appears. Some common Arabic names are:
Location 1848
Chinese In general, follow the pinyin spelling of Chinese names, which has replaced the old Wade-Giles system, except for people and places outside mainland China. Peking is therefore Beijing and Chou Enlai is now Zhou Enlai. There are no hyphens in pinyin spelling. So: Deng Xiaoping Guangdong (Kwangtung) Guangzhou (Canton) Jiang Qing (Mrs Mao) Mao Zedong (Tse-tung) Qingdao (Tsingtao) Tianjin (Tientsin) Xi Jinping Xinjiang (Sinkiang) Zhao Ziyang
Location 1859
The family name comes first, so Xi Jinping becomes Mr Xi on a later mention.
Location 1869
Icelandic Most Icelanders do not have family names. They take their last name from the first name of their father, so Leifur Eiriksson, say, is the son of Eirikur, and Freyja Haraldsdottir is the daughter of Harald. If she marries Leifur Eiriksson, she continues to be known as Freyja Haraldsdottir, their son has Leifsson as his last name (patronym) and their daughter Leifsdottir. Both names (or more, if someone has two first names) should be used on first and all subsequent references (when they should be preceded by Mr, Mrs or the appropriate title). A few Icelanders, such as the late President Kristjan Eldjarn, do have family names. These are the only people who can be referred to by one name only.
Location 1897
Japanese Although the Japanese put the family name first in their own language (Koizumi Junichiro), they generally reverse the order in Western contexts. So: Junichiro Koizumi, Heizo Takenaka, Shintaro Ishihara, etc.
Location 1899
Korean South Koreans have changed their convention from Kim Dae Jung to Kim Dae-jung. But North Koreans, at least pending unification, have stuck to Kim Jong Il. Kim is the family name.
Location 1902
Pakistani If the name includes the Islamic definite article ul, it should be lower case and without any hyphens: Zia ul Haq, Mahbub ul Haq (but Sadruddin, Mohieddin and Saladin are single words). The genitive e is hyphenated: Jamaat-e-Islami, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.
Location 1905
Portuguese Portuguese-speakers sometimes have several names, including two surnames. On first mention, if they publicly use the whole name, like José Manuel Durão Barroso, spell out the entire name. After that, use the second family name: Mr Barroso. Note that this is the opposite of the case with Spanish names (qv), where the first surname is used on second mention.
Location 1927
Singaporean names have no hyphens and the family name comes first: Lee Kuan Yew
Location 1928
Spanish Spaniards sometimes have several names, including two surnames.
Location 1993
only Put only as close as you can to the words it qualifies. Thus These animals mate only in June. To say They only mate in June implies that in June they do nothing else.
Location 2026
Remember therefore that Great Britain consists of England, Scotland and Wales, which together with Northern Ireland (which we generally call Ulster, though Ulster strictly includes three counties in Ireland) make up the United Kingdom.
Location 2028
Americans: Remember too that, although it is usually all right to talk about the inhabitants of the United States as Americans, the term also applies to everyone from Canada to Cape Horn. In a context where other North, Central or South American countries are mentioned, you should write United States rather than America or American, and it may even be necessary to write United States citizens.
Location 2036
Holland, though a nice, short, familiar name, is strictly only two of the 12 provinces that make up the Netherlands, and the Dutch do not like the misuse of the shorter name. So use the Netherlands.
Location 2044
Scandinavia is primarily Norway and Sweden, but the term is often used to include Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, which, with Finland, make up the Nordic countries.
Location 2193
punctuation Some guidelines on common problems.
Location 2363
short words Use them. They are often Anglo-Saxon rather than Latin in origin. They are easy to spell and easy to understand. Thus prefer: about to approximately after to following before to prior to but to however enough to sufficient let to permit make to manufacture plant, club, warehouse, etc, to facility set up to establish show to demonstrate spending to expenditure take part to participate use to utilise Underdeveloped countries are often better described as poor. Substantive often means real or big. “Broadly speaking, the short words are the best and the old words, when short, are best of all.” (Winston Churchill)
Location 2387
A heart condition is usually a bad heart. A near miss is probably a near hit. Positive thoughts (held by long-suffering creditors, according to The Economist) presumably means optimism, just as a negative report is probably a critical report. Industrial action is usually industrial inaction, industrial disruption or a strike. A courtesy call is generally a sales offer or an uninvited visit. A substantially finished bridge is an unfinished bridge. Someone with high name-recognition is well known. Something with reliability problems probably does not work. If yours is a live audience, what would a dead one be like? And what is an ethics
Location 2419
s spelling Use -ise, -isation (realise, organisation) throughout.
Location 2421
common problems
Location 2697
unique do not use it unless it is true. Unique means, literally, of which there is only one.
Location 2700
unnecessary words
Location 2700
Use adjectives to make your meaning more precise and be cautious of those you find yourself using to make it more emphatic. The word very is a case in point. If it occurs in a sentence you have written, try leaving it out and see whether the meaning is changed.
Location 2703
Avoid: cutbacks (cuts will do) large-scale (big) the policymaking process (policymaking) sale events (sales) strike action (strike) track record (record) weather conditions (weather) wilderness area (usually either a wilderness or a wild area) This time around means This time, just as any time soon means soon. On a daily/weekly/monthly basis means daily/weekly/monthly. And at this moment in time means now or at present. Currently, actually and really often serve
Location 2761
which and that Which informs, that defines. This is the house that Jack built. But This house, which Jack built, is now falling down. Americans tend to be fussy about making a distinction between which and that. Good writers of British English are less fastidious. (
Location 2801
most British writers and publishers use the serial comma only when necessary to avoid ambiguity: eggs, bacon, potatoes and cheese but The musicals were by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sondheim, and Lerner and Loewe.