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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

P

pace
Latin tag meaning “by the leave of”, as a courteous nod to the views of a dissenting author, or “even acknowledging the existence of”, not “such as”

paean
song of praise paeon metrical foot of one long and three short syllables

Pandora's box

paralleled

parentheses
see brackets

Parkinson's law
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”

party
lc in name of organisation, eg Labour party

passerby
plural passersby

pedaller
cyclist peddler drug dealer pedlar hawker

pensioners
do not call them “old age pensioners” or “OAPs”; take similar care with the word “elderly”, which should never be used to describe someone under 70

per cent
% in headlines and copy

percentage rises
probably our most common lapse into “mythematics”: an increase from 3% to 5% is a 2 percentage point increase or a 2-point increase, not a 2% increase; any sentence saying “such and such rose or fell by X%” should be considered and checked carefully

phenomenon
plural phenomena

pin
or pin number not Pin or PIN number

pipeline

plateglass

play-off

plc
not PLC

postcode

Post Office
cap up the organisation, but you buy stamps in a post office or sub-post office

practice
noun practise verb

prepositions
appeal against, protest against/over/at, not “appealed the sentence", “protested the verdict", etc

presently
means soon, not at present

press, the
singular: the British press is a shining example to the rest of the world

pressurised
use pressured, put pressure on or pressed to mean apply pressure, ie not “they pressurised the Wolves defence”

prevaricate
“to speak or act falsely with intent to deceive” (Collins); often confused with procrastinate, to put something off

preventive
not preventative

prewar

PricewaterhouseCoopers
one word

prima donna
plural prima donnas

prima facie
not italicised

primary care trusts
lc, eg Southwark primary care trust

prime minister

principal
first in importance principle standard of conduct

procrastinate
to delay or defer; often confused with prevaricate

program
(computer); otherwise programme

prophecy
noun prophesy verb

protester
not protestor

proved/proven
beware the creeping “proven”, featuring (mispronounced) in every other TV ad; proven is not the normal past tense of prove, but a term in Scottish law (“not proven”) and in certain English idioms, eg “proven record”

proviso
plural provisos

publicly
not publically

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