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NorthLight Media

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

H

The Hague
not “the Hague"

half
no hyphen when used adverbially: you look half dead; it was half wine, half water; hyphen when used adjectivally: a half-eaten sandwich, he got it half-price

half a dozen, half past

halfway, halfwit

handbill, handbook, handout

handicapped
do not use to refer to people with disabilities or learning difficulties

harass, harassment

hardline
adjective, hardliner noun, take a hard line

harebrained
not hairbrained

hat-trick

hazard/risk
scientists use hazard to mean a potential for harm and risk to mean the actual probability of harm occurring; though headline writers may feel more at home with risk than hazard, the distinction is worth bearing in mind

headdress

headlines
Use active verbs where possible, particularly in news headlines: “Editors publish new style guidelines” is much better than “New style guidelines published”. Avoid tabloidese such as bid, brand, dub, and slam, and broadsheet cliches such as insist, signal, and target.
Avoid quotation marks.

headquarters
can be used as a singular (“a large headquarters") or plural (“our headquarters are in London”); HQ, however, takes the singular

headteacher
one word, not headmaster, headmistress; but Association of Head Teachers

Health and Safety Executive
HSE on second mention

healthcare

Heathrow airport
or simply Heathrow; not “London's Heathrow"

hectares
not abbreviated, convert to acres in brackets at first mention

height
in metres with imperial conversion, eg 1.68m (5ft 7in)

Her Majesty
the Queen is HM, never HRH

high flyer

Highways Agency

hike
a walk, not a rise in interest rates

hi-tech

HIV positive
no hyphen

hoard/horde
a hoard of treasure; a horde (or hordes) of tourists

Holland
do not use when you mean the Netherlands, with the exception of the Dutch football team, who are conventionally known as Holland

home counties

homeland
but home town

homepage

homogeneous
uniform, of the same kind homogenous (biology) having a common descent; the latter is often misused for the former

honorifics
Tony Blair or Sir Bobby Charlton at first mention, thereafter Mr Blair, Sir Bobby, etc.
Use surnames only after first mention. Use Dr at second mention for medical and scientific doctors and doctors of divinity.

horrendous
horrific is generally preferable

hospital
use a not an

hospitalised
avoid; use taken (never “rushed") to hospital

hotel
use a not an

housewife
avoid

hummus
you eat it humus you put it on the garden

humour, humorist, humorous

hyphens
Use hyphens to form compound adjectives, eg two-tonne vessel, three-year deal, 19th-century artist

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  • Home
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