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
C
cabinet, shadow cabinet
capitals (deep breath)
Times have changed since the days of medieval manuscripts with elaborate hand-illuminated capital letters, or Victorian documents in which not just proper names, but virtually all nouns, were given initial caps (a Tradition valiantly maintained to this day by Estate Agents). A glance at the Guardian of, say, 1990, 1970 and 1950 would greater use of capitals the further back you went. The tendency towards lower case, which in part reflects a less formal, less deferential society, has been accelerated by the explosion of the internet: some net companies, and many email users, have dispensed with capitals altogether.
Our style reflects these developments. We aim for coherence and consistency, but not at the expense of clarity. As with any aspect of style, it is impossible to be wholly consistent — there are almost always exceptions, so if you are unsure check for an individual entry in this guide. But here are the main principles:
jobs
all lc, eg prime minister, US secretary of state, editor of the Guardian, readers' editor
titles
differentiate between title and job description, eg the Archbishop of Canterbury, (the Right Rev) Rowan Williams, at first mention, thereafter Dr Williams or the archbishop; President Bush (but the US president, George Bush, and Mr Bush on subsequent mention); the Duke of Westminster (the duke at second mention); the Pope; the Queen
British government departments of state
initial caps, eg Home Office, Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence (MoD on second mention).
See departments of state for a full list
other countries
lc, eg US state department, Russian foreign ministry
government agencies, commissions, public bodies, quangos, etc
initial caps, eg Benefits Agency, Crown Prosecution Service, Customs and Excise, Equal Opportunities Commission, Heritage Lottery Fund, Parole Board
acts of parliament
initial caps (but bills lc), eg Official Secrets Act, Criminal Justice Act 1992
parliamentary committees, reports and inquiries
all lc, eg trade and industry select committee, Lawrence report, royal commission on electoral reform
artistic and cultural
initial caps for names of institutions, etc, eg British Museum, Tate Modern, Royal Court, Leeds Castle, National Theatre, Blenheim Palace
churches, hospitals and schools
cap up the proper or placename, lc the rest
eg St Peter's church, Pembury, Great Ormond Street children's hospital, Ripon grammar school, Vernon county primary school
universities and colleges of further and higher education
caps for institution, lc for departments, eg Sheffield University department of medieval and modern history, Oregon State University, Free University of Berlin, University of Queensland school of journalism, London College of Printing
geographical features, bridges
lc, eg river Thames, the Wash, Sydney harbour, Golden Gate bridge, Monterey peninsula, Bondi beach, Solsbury hill (but Mount Everest)
words and phrases based on proper names
that have lost connection with their origins (alsatian, cardigan, champagne, french windows, yorkshire pudding and numerous others) are usually lc; many are listed individually in this guide, as are the few exceptions (eg Long Island iced tea)
cards
scratchcard, smartcard, swipecard, but fuel card, credit card, debit card
car maker two words
celsius
scale of temperature invented by a man named Celsius; write with fahrenheit equivalent in brackets: 23C (73F), -3C (27F), etc (avoid “centigrade” because of its possible confusion with the 100th part of a grade, and never try to convert a temperature change.
censor
prevent publication censure criticise severely
centre stage
two words
century
sixth century, 21st century, etc
chablis
wines are lc, whether named after a place (as in this case) or a grape variety
champagne
chancellor of the exchequer
Channel 4, Channel Five
chassis
singular and plural
checkout
noun, adjective check out verb
chief constable
a job, not a title — John Smith, chief constable of Greater Manchester; Mr Smith at second mention
chock-a-block
chords
musical cords vocal
Christian name
use first name or forename
chronic
means lasting for a long time or constantly recurring, too often misused when acute (short but severe) is meant
civil servant, civil service
clearcut
cliches
overused words and phrases to be avoided include: back burner, boost (massive or otherwise), bouquets and brickbats, but hey … , drop-dead gorgeous, insisted, luvvies, major, massive, political correctness, politically correct, PC, raft of measures, special, to die for, upsurge (surge will do); verbs overused in headlines include: bid, boost, fuel, hike, signal, target, set to
A survey by the Plain English Campaign in 2004 found that the most irritating phrase in the language was at the end of the day, followed by (in order of annoyance): at this moment in time, like (as in, like, this), with all due respect, to be perfectly honest with you, touch base, I hear what you’re saying, going forward, absolutely, and blue sky thinking; other words and phrases that upset people included 24/7, ballpark figure, bottom line, diamond geezer, it’s not rocket science, ongoing, prioritise, pushing the envelope, singing from the same hymn sheet, and thinking outside the box
climbdown
noun climb down verb
commas
“The editor, Martyn Moore, is a man of great vision” — correct (commas) if there is only one
“The writer Phill Tromans is all style and no substance” — correct (no commas) if there are more than one
commented
avoid, prefer “she said”
Commons, House of Commons
but the house, not the House
Commons committees
lc, home affairs select committee, public accounts committee, etc
common sense
noun commonsense adjective: “William Hague's ‘commonsense revolution' showed little common sense”
communique
no accent
communism, communist
lc, except in name of party: Communist party
company names
A tricky area, as so many companies these days have adopted unconventional typography and other devices that, in some cases, turn their names into logos. In general, use the names that the companies use themselves: easyJet, eBay, ebookers, iSoft Group, Yahoo! are fine; but Adidas (not adidas), BhS (no italicised h), Toys R Us (do not attempt to turn the R backwards). Many of these look odd, particularly when used as first word in a headline, although some are becoming more familiar with time
compare to/with
The former means liken to, the latter means make a comparison: so unless you are specifically likening someone or something to someone or something else, use compare with.
‘The lord chancellor compared himself to Cardinal Wolsey because he believed he was like Wolsey; I might compare him with Wolsey to assess their relative merits’
compass points
lc for regions: the north, the south of England, the south-west, north-east England; the same applies to geopolitical areas: the west, western Europe, the far east, south-east Asia, central America, etc; cap up, however, when part of the name of a county (West Sussex, East Riding of Yorkshire) or province (East Java, North Sulawesi, etc); note the following: East End, West End (London), Middle East, Latin America, North America, South America
complement/compliment/complimentary
to complement is to make complete: the two strikers complemented each other; to compliment is to praise; a complimentary copy is free
complete
or finish is better than finalise
comprise
to consist of; “comprise of”is wrong
Conservative party
consortium
plural consortiums
consult
not consult with
contemporary
of the same period, though often wrongly used to mean modern; a performance of Shakespeare in contemporary dress would involve Elizabethan costume, not 21st-century clothes
Continent, the
mainland Europe
continual
refers to things that happen repeatedly but not constantly continuous indicates an unbroken sequence
contractions
Do not overuse contractions such as aren't, can't, couldn't, hasn't, don't, I'm, it's, there's and what's (even the horrific “there've” has appeared in the paper); while they might make a piece more colloquial or easier to read, they can be an irritant and a distraction, and make a serious article sound frivolous. They also look horrible
convince/persuade
having convinced someone of the facts, you might persuade them to do something
convener
not convenor
conversions
We give metric measures and convert on first mention only to imperial in brackets (exceptions: miles and pints); if a rough figure is given in metric, do not convert it into an exact figure in imperial, and vice versa, eg if someone says the towns are about 50km apart, convert to 30 miles, not “31.07 miles”; the same goes for rough amounts of currencies, though don’t round up £3.6bn to £4bn
coordinate
coupe
no accent
criterion
plural criteria
currencies
When the whole word is used it is lc: euro, pound, sterling, dong, etc
currently
“now” is usually preferable, if needed at all
Customs, Customs and Excise, HM Customs
(all singular) but customs officers
cutbacks
avoid; cuts will suffice
capitals (deep breath)
Times have changed since the days of medieval manuscripts with elaborate hand-illuminated capital letters, or Victorian documents in which not just proper names, but virtually all nouns, were given initial caps (a Tradition valiantly maintained to this day by Estate Agents). A glance at the Guardian of, say, 1990, 1970 and 1950 would greater use of capitals the further back you went. The tendency towards lower case, which in part reflects a less formal, less deferential society, has been accelerated by the explosion of the internet: some net companies, and many email users, have dispensed with capitals altogether.
Our style reflects these developments. We aim for coherence and consistency, but not at the expense of clarity. As with any aspect of style, it is impossible to be wholly consistent — there are almost always exceptions, so if you are unsure check for an individual entry in this guide. But here are the main principles:
jobs
all lc, eg prime minister, US secretary of state, editor of the Guardian, readers' editor
titles
differentiate between title and job description, eg the Archbishop of Canterbury, (the Right Rev) Rowan Williams, at first mention, thereafter Dr Williams or the archbishop; President Bush (but the US president, George Bush, and Mr Bush on subsequent mention); the Duke of Westminster (the duke at second mention); the Pope; the Queen
British government departments of state
initial caps, eg Home Office, Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence (MoD on second mention).
See departments of state for a full list
other countries
lc, eg US state department, Russian foreign ministry
government agencies, commissions, public bodies, quangos, etc
initial caps, eg Benefits Agency, Crown Prosecution Service, Customs and Excise, Equal Opportunities Commission, Heritage Lottery Fund, Parole Board
acts of parliament
initial caps (but bills lc), eg Official Secrets Act, Criminal Justice Act 1992
parliamentary committees, reports and inquiries
all lc, eg trade and industry select committee, Lawrence report, royal commission on electoral reform
artistic and cultural
initial caps for names of institutions, etc, eg British Museum, Tate Modern, Royal Court, Leeds Castle, National Theatre, Blenheim Palace
churches, hospitals and schools
cap up the proper or placename, lc the rest
eg St Peter's church, Pembury, Great Ormond Street children's hospital, Ripon grammar school, Vernon county primary school
universities and colleges of further and higher education
caps for institution, lc for departments, eg Sheffield University department of medieval and modern history, Oregon State University, Free University of Berlin, University of Queensland school of journalism, London College of Printing
geographical features, bridges
lc, eg river Thames, the Wash, Sydney harbour, Golden Gate bridge, Monterey peninsula, Bondi beach, Solsbury hill (but Mount Everest)
words and phrases based on proper names
that have lost connection with their origins (alsatian, cardigan, champagne, french windows, yorkshire pudding and numerous others) are usually lc; many are listed individually in this guide, as are the few exceptions (eg Long Island iced tea)
cards
scratchcard, smartcard, swipecard, but fuel card, credit card, debit card
car maker two words
celsius
scale of temperature invented by a man named Celsius; write with fahrenheit equivalent in brackets: 23C (73F), -3C (27F), etc (avoid “centigrade” because of its possible confusion with the 100th part of a grade, and never try to convert a temperature change.
censor
prevent publication censure criticise severely
centre stage
two words
century
sixth century, 21st century, etc
chablis
wines are lc, whether named after a place (as in this case) or a grape variety
champagne
chancellor of the exchequer
Channel 4, Channel Five
chassis
singular and plural
checkout
noun, adjective check out verb
chief constable
a job, not a title — John Smith, chief constable of Greater Manchester; Mr Smith at second mention
chock-a-block
chords
musical cords vocal
Christian name
use first name or forename
chronic
means lasting for a long time or constantly recurring, too often misused when acute (short but severe) is meant
civil servant, civil service
clearcut
cliches
overused words and phrases to be avoided include: back burner, boost (massive or otherwise), bouquets and brickbats, but hey … , drop-dead gorgeous, insisted, luvvies, major, massive, political correctness, politically correct, PC, raft of measures, special, to die for, upsurge (surge will do); verbs overused in headlines include: bid, boost, fuel, hike, signal, target, set to
A survey by the Plain English Campaign in 2004 found that the most irritating phrase in the language was at the end of the day, followed by (in order of annoyance): at this moment in time, like (as in, like, this), with all due respect, to be perfectly honest with you, touch base, I hear what you’re saying, going forward, absolutely, and blue sky thinking; other words and phrases that upset people included 24/7, ballpark figure, bottom line, diamond geezer, it’s not rocket science, ongoing, prioritise, pushing the envelope, singing from the same hymn sheet, and thinking outside the box
climbdown
noun climb down verb
commas
“The editor, Martyn Moore, is a man of great vision” — correct (commas) if there is only one
“The writer Phill Tromans is all style and no substance” — correct (no commas) if there are more than one
commented
avoid, prefer “she said”
Commons, House of Commons
but the house, not the House
Commons committees
lc, home affairs select committee, public accounts committee, etc
common sense
noun commonsense adjective: “William Hague's ‘commonsense revolution' showed little common sense”
communique
no accent
communism, communist
lc, except in name of party: Communist party
company names
A tricky area, as so many companies these days have adopted unconventional typography and other devices that, in some cases, turn their names into logos. In general, use the names that the companies use themselves: easyJet, eBay, ebookers, iSoft Group, Yahoo! are fine; but Adidas (not adidas), BhS (no italicised h), Toys R Us (do not attempt to turn the R backwards). Many of these look odd, particularly when used as first word in a headline, although some are becoming more familiar with time
compare to/with
The former means liken to, the latter means make a comparison: so unless you are specifically likening someone or something to someone or something else, use compare with.
‘The lord chancellor compared himself to Cardinal Wolsey because he believed he was like Wolsey; I might compare him with Wolsey to assess their relative merits’
compass points
lc for regions: the north, the south of England, the south-west, north-east England; the same applies to geopolitical areas: the west, western Europe, the far east, south-east Asia, central America, etc; cap up, however, when part of the name of a county (West Sussex, East Riding of Yorkshire) or province (East Java, North Sulawesi, etc); note the following: East End, West End (London), Middle East, Latin America, North America, South America
complement/compliment/complimentary
to complement is to make complete: the two strikers complemented each other; to compliment is to praise; a complimentary copy is free
complete
or finish is better than finalise
comprise
to consist of; “comprise of”is wrong
Conservative party
consortium
plural consortiums
consult
not consult with
contemporary
of the same period, though often wrongly used to mean modern; a performance of Shakespeare in contemporary dress would involve Elizabethan costume, not 21st-century clothes
Continent, the
mainland Europe
continual
refers to things that happen repeatedly but not constantly continuous indicates an unbroken sequence
contractions
Do not overuse contractions such as aren't, can't, couldn't, hasn't, don't, I'm, it's, there's and what's (even the horrific “there've” has appeared in the paper); while they might make a piece more colloquial or easier to read, they can be an irritant and a distraction, and make a serious article sound frivolous. They also look horrible
convince/persuade
having convinced someone of the facts, you might persuade them to do something
convener
not convenor
conversions
We give metric measures and convert on first mention only to imperial in brackets (exceptions: miles and pints); if a rough figure is given in metric, do not convert it into an exact figure in imperial, and vice versa, eg if someone says the towns are about 50km apart, convert to 30 miles, not “31.07 miles”; the same goes for rough amounts of currencies, though don’t round up £3.6bn to £4bn
coordinate
coupe
no accent
criterion
plural criteria
currencies
When the whole word is used it is lc: euro, pound, sterling, dong, etc
currently
“now” is usually preferable, if needed at all
Customs, Customs and Excise, HM Customs
(all singular) but customs officers
cutbacks
avoid; cuts will suffice
