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
M
McDonald's
hamburgers
magistrates court
no apostrophe
major
overused; avoid except in military context
makeover, makeup
no hyphens
manifesto
plural manifestos
mankind
avoid: use humankind or humanity
manoeuvre, manoeuvring
massive
massively overused; avoid
may or might?
may implies that the possibility remains open: “The Mies van der Rohe tower may have changed the face of British architecture forever” (it has been built); might suggests that the possibility remains open no longer: “The Mies tower might have changed the face of architecture forever”(if only they had built it). Similarly, “they may have played tennis, or they may have gone boating” suggests I don’t know what they did; “they might have played tennis if the weather had been dry” means they didn’t, because it wasn’t.
may
also has the meaning of “having permission”, so be careful: does “Megawatt Corp may bid for TransElectric Inc” mean that it is considering a bid, or that the competition authorities have allowed it to bid?
mayor of London
or anywhere else, lc
meanwhile
almost always misused to mean “here’s a slight change of subject”
media
plural of medium: “the media are sex-obsessed”, etc; but a convention of spiritualists would be attended by mediums
medieval
not mediaeval
meet, met
not meet with, met with someone
mega
do not use
memento
plural mementoes
memorandum
plural memorandums
mental handicap, mentally handicapped, mentally retarded
do not use: say person with learning difficulties
metres
write metres out in full, to avoid confusion with million (an obvious exception would be in an article about athletics, eg she won the 400m)
metric system
Use the metric system for weights and measures; exceptions are the mile and the pint. Since understanding of the two systems is a matter of generations, conversions (in brackets) to imperial units should be provided wherever this seems useful, though usually one conversion — the first — will suffice.
It is not necessary to convert moderate distances between metres and yards, which are close enough for rough and ready purposes (though it is preferable to use metres), or small domestic quantities: two litres of wine, a kilogram of sugar, a couple of pounds of apples, a few inches of string. Small units should be converted when precision is required: 44mm (1.7in) of rain fell in two hours. Tons and tonnes (metric) are also close enough for most purposes to do without conversion; again use tonnes.
Body weights and heights should always be converted in brackets: metres to feet and inches, kilograms to stones/pounds. Geographical heights and depths, of people, buildings, monuments, etc, should be converted, metres to feet. In square measurement, land is given in sq metres, hectares and sq km, with sq yards, acres or sq miles in brackets where there is space to provide a conversion. The floor areas of buildings are conventionally expressed in sq metres (or sq ft).
Metropolitan police
the Met at second mention; commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Met commissioner is acceptable
mid-90s, mid-60s, etc
mid-Atlantic but transatlantic
Midlands, east Midlands (but East Midlands airport), West Midlands
mileage
millenary, millennium, millennia
million
use full word in copy: £10 million, 45 million tonnes of coal, 30 million doses of vaccine, 1 million people, 23 million rabbits, etc; use m in headlines
minibus, minicab, miniskirt, minivan
mistakable, unmistakable
misuse, misused
no hyphen
motorcar, motorcycle
motorways
write M1, not M1 motorway
movable
mph
no points
MPs
members of parliament, an MP
MSP
member of the Scottish parliament, eg Sir David Steel MSP
hamburgers
magistrates court
no apostrophe
major
overused; avoid except in military context
makeover, makeup
no hyphens
manifesto
plural manifestos
mankind
avoid: use humankind or humanity
manoeuvre, manoeuvring
massive
massively overused; avoid
may or might?
may implies that the possibility remains open: “The Mies van der Rohe tower may have changed the face of British architecture forever” (it has been built); might suggests that the possibility remains open no longer: “The Mies tower might have changed the face of architecture forever”(if only they had built it). Similarly, “they may have played tennis, or they may have gone boating” suggests I don’t know what they did; “they might have played tennis if the weather had been dry” means they didn’t, because it wasn’t.
may
also has the meaning of “having permission”, so be careful: does “Megawatt Corp may bid for TransElectric Inc” mean that it is considering a bid, or that the competition authorities have allowed it to bid?
mayor of London
or anywhere else, lc
meanwhile
almost always misused to mean “here’s a slight change of subject”
media
plural of medium: “the media are sex-obsessed”, etc; but a convention of spiritualists would be attended by mediums
medieval
not mediaeval
meet, met
not meet with, met with someone
mega
do not use
memento
plural mementoes
memorandum
plural memorandums
mental handicap, mentally handicapped, mentally retarded
do not use: say person with learning difficulties
metres
write metres out in full, to avoid confusion with million (an obvious exception would be in an article about athletics, eg she won the 400m)
metric system
Use the metric system for weights and measures; exceptions are the mile and the pint. Since understanding of the two systems is a matter of generations, conversions (in brackets) to imperial units should be provided wherever this seems useful, though usually one conversion — the first — will suffice.
It is not necessary to convert moderate distances between metres and yards, which are close enough for rough and ready purposes (though it is preferable to use metres), or small domestic quantities: two litres of wine, a kilogram of sugar, a couple of pounds of apples, a few inches of string. Small units should be converted when precision is required: 44mm (1.7in) of rain fell in two hours. Tons and tonnes (metric) are also close enough for most purposes to do without conversion; again use tonnes.
Body weights and heights should always be converted in brackets: metres to feet and inches, kilograms to stones/pounds. Geographical heights and depths, of people, buildings, monuments, etc, should be converted, metres to feet. In square measurement, land is given in sq metres, hectares and sq km, with sq yards, acres or sq miles in brackets where there is space to provide a conversion. The floor areas of buildings are conventionally expressed in sq metres (or sq ft).
Metropolitan police
the Met at second mention; commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Met commissioner is acceptable
mid-90s, mid-60s, etc
mid-Atlantic but transatlantic
Midlands, east Midlands (but East Midlands airport), West Midlands
mileage
millenary, millennium, millennia
million
use full word in copy: £10 million, 45 million tonnes of coal, 30 million doses of vaccine, 1 million people, 23 million rabbits, etc; use m in headlines
minibus, minicab, miniskirt, minivan
mistakable, unmistakable
misuse, misused
no hyphen
motorcar, motorcycle
motorways
write M1, not M1 motorway
movable
mph
no points
MPs
members of parliament, an MP
MSP
member of the Scottish parliament, eg Sir David Steel MSP
