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Cc

cabbie (not cabby) as colloquialism for taxi driver

cabinet lower case in both British and foreign use, whether used as a noun or adjectivally, except (rarely) if a cap seems absolutely necessary to avoid confusion. Note Cabinet Office, but cabinet secretary (or secretary of the cabinet), war cabinet. All cabinet committees should be lower case, eg the cabinet committee on science and technology

Caernarfon (town and parliamentary constituency, no longer Caernarvon), but Lord Carnarvon

caesarean section lower case. Babies are delivered, not born, by this surgery

café with accent

caffeine prefer to caffein

cagoule but kaftan

call centre noun, two words; hyphen as adjective, eg call-centre manager

call-up (noun), but to call up

camaraderie not cameraderie

Cambridge, University of colleges and halls are: Christ’s College; Churchill College; Clare College; Clare Hall; Corpus Christi College; Darwin College; Downing College; Emmanuel College; Fitzwilliam College; Girton College; Gonville and Caius College; Homerton College; Hughes Hall; Jesus College; King’s College; Lucy Cavendish College; Magdalene College; Murray Edwards College (formerly known as New Hall); Newnham College; Pembroke College; Peterhouse; Queens’ College; Robinson College; St Catharine’s College; St Edmund’s College; St John’s College; Selwyn College; Sidney Sussex College; Trinity College; Trinity Hall; Wolfson College

came as or comes as overused device that links, or tries to link, two loosely related bits of news within a single story (“The announcement of the rise in interest rates came as demonstrators took to the streets”); often smacks of desperation

camellia not camelia

camomile prefer to chamomile

Canada nationally there is a prime minister; in the provinces there are premiers

Canadians are rightly annoyed when they are designated as Americans. Beware. Among prominent Canadians are Paul Anka, kd lang, Joni Mitchell, Donald Sutherland, Neil Young etc etc

canal boats do not use the term “barge” indiscriminately; barges are towed, unpowered boats for transporting cargo. Use the term narrow boats for the boats on the narrow 7ft-wide canals, or canal boats for wider vessels on wider canals. If in doubt, use canal boat (never canal barge)

canapé accent

cancer take care not to describe cancer as “the biggest killer” in the UK. Heart disease is. Beware of writing about cancer in terms of battles, fights, brave struggles etc: such language can imply a lack of strength or effort or will on the part of others who succumb to the disease; this rightly upsets and offends

cannon (military) same form for singular and plural; but canons (ecclesiastical, both churchmen and church laws), and canon as a collection/list of an author

Canute prefer the traditional spelling to the more historically authentic Cnut, if only to mitigate the consequences of careless typing. Remember that his intention on the seashore was to demonstrate the worthlessness of temporal power; he knew he was going to get wet

canvas (as in painting); plural is canvases; canvasses with central ss is of the verb “to canvass” (ie polling)

CAP all caps for clarity; when spelt out is lower case common agricultural policy; similarly, common fisheries policy (CFP)

cap and trade noun; adjectivally hyphenate, eg a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions

capitalisation too many capital letters are ugly and distracting. Capitals are often unnecessary. Try to avoid them unless to do so causes confusion or looks absurd. There will always be room for discretion and common sense, and clarity is more important than consistency, but if in doubt use lower case. Do not use capitals to indicate importance or (with some rare, specified exceptions) as a mark of respect. Avoid especially what the 1959 edition of this guide called the “local interest” capital: “the Canteen of the works journal, the Umpire of the laws of cricket, the Directors of the company prospectus, the Village Hall of the parish magazine”.

The following guidance sets out some general principles. See also under individual alphabetical entries.

Job descriptions, titles and names

Almost all job descriptions should be lower case. This includes all company chairmen, vice-presidents, managing directors, chief executive officers, general secretaries, ambassadors, editors etc.

There are, however, some (not many) job descriptions that are also titles, ie that are commonly (and formally) used in conjunction with the proper name of the person holding the position in question. These take a capital when used as titles in front of the name but lower case at all other times. So, for instance, we would refer to President Trump but to Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States. We would refer to President Putin but to the Russian president’s influence on the world. We would refer to Professor Jones, but to the professor’s latest book.

In British usage political job descriptions are not generally attached to names as titles in this way. We do not refer to Prime Minister May, or to Chancellor of the Exchequer Hammond or to Foreign Secretary Johnson. These should all, therefore, be lower case at all times. Theresa May, the prime minister; Philip Hammond, the chancellor of the exchequer; Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary. Similarly the secretary of state for defence, the permanent secretary, the shadow chancellor, the cabinet secretary, the leader of the opposition, the minister of state for policing, criminal justice and victims at the Home Office. This may seem unsettling at first, but it is clearer and more consistent than any of the other options. The Speaker is a rare exception, as clarity seems to demand a cap (a deputy speaker remains lower case, however, as there is no risk of comparable confusion); be prepared to consider similar exceptions as they arise; do not pursue consistency at the expense of clarity or common sense.

The titles of ecclesiastical dignitaries may be said to describe a position or job, but they also name an individual holder of that position (even when no surname is given), and they may be attached as titles in front of a name (as political or other job titles in British usage are not). As a courtesy, they take a capital letter when used as names (which in practice will generally be at first mention); subsequent references are lower case; in this they are treated in the same way as aristocratic titles (see below) rather than, eg political jobs. This may be slightly anomalous, but it is probably what most Times readers expect, even in a secular age. So, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or Archbishop Welby, but then the archbishop; the Bishop of London, or Bishop Chartres, then the bishop; the Dean of St Paul’s, or Dean Inge, subsequently the dean; the Archdeacon of Barchester, or Archdeacon Grantly, then the archdeacon. Lower case when referring not to the individual but generally to holders of the office: future archbishops of Canterbury, the role of dean of Westminster, the first woman bishop of Gloucester etc.

Royalty etc The Queen, exceptionally, and as a courtesy, remains the Queen (upper case) at subsequent mentions, whenever the individual monarch is intended (likewise in historical stories referring to the reigning monarch of the day). There is no need for other monarchs or for senior members of the royal family to have capitals at all times; so, treat in the same way as senior clergy: the King of Spain, then the king; the Duke of Edinburgh, then the duke; the Prince of Wales, or Prince Charles, then the prince; the Duke of Cambridge, then the duke; Prince Harry, then the prince. The courtesy of a capital at all times is also extended to the Pope, whenever the individual pontiff is intended. When referring to the position of queen or pope rather than the person, use lower case: “the Queen (or Queen Elizabeth II) has had an impressive reign, which any future queen will struggle to match”; “the Pope (or Pope Francis) is the first pope to come from Latin America”.

Aristocrats The Duke of Wherever is thus at first mention; subsequently the duke; never Lord W. Other aristocrats take a capital when named in full: the Marquess of X; Viscount Y; the Earl of Z; at subsequent references all normally become Lord X, Y, Z (although the marquess, the viscount, the earl etc would be acceptable for occasional variety). Lower case when not naming individuals: an earlier marquess of Bath, future earls of Oxford, the seat of the dukes of Devonshire etc.

Similarly with military ranks, General Jackson would usually remain General Jackson at subsequent mentions, but the general might be used if variety seems necessary.

Police ranks are capped when attached to names: Chief Inspector Morse etc; subsequently the chief inspector or Mr Morse; chief constable, like prime minister, is not generally used with a name. We don’t say Chief Constable Jones, it remains lower case: Mr Jones, the chief constable; the chief constable of Merseyside etc.

With few exceptions, such as those indicated, resist using capitals to indicate the dignity or supposed dignity of a position.

Government departments etc The names of specific government departments and other significant national or international bodies or organisations are upper case when the full name is used (the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Education, the European Commission, the Law Society, the Football Association, the Independent Press Standards Organisation) but otherwise (or subsequently) lower case: the ministry, the education department, the commission, the regulator etc. The Home Office, the Foreign Office, the Cabinet Office, the Treasury remain upper case. All committees, etc, are lower case. In local government, generally upper case only for the name of the place: Norwich city council, West Somerset rural district council planning department (if such a thing exists).

Political terms in general Government, parliament, administration and cabinet are always lower case except when used as part of an official title, such as Government House, Houses of Parliament, Her Majesty’s Government or the Cabinet Office. The opposition is likewise lower case; there is some risk of ambiguity, but context will usually make quite clear what is meant. (Her Majesty’s Opposition, like Her Majesty’s Government, would be upper case if for some reason used.) Also lower case for all references to the state (except in naming, eg the US State Department): a state visit, the state opening of parliament, church and state. The word party is upper case where it it integral to the title: thus Labour Party, Conservative Party, Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) and United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip). Similarly in the case of foreign parties where the equivalent word is integral to the title: Popular Party (Partido Popular of Spain), Workers’ Party, Freedom Party etc.

Terms derived from proper names There are grey areas here and common sense is required.

As a general principle, with terms derived from the names of people (or peoples), the closer the connection with the proper name, the more likely it is to be upper case. Christian values, Thatcherite Tories, Homeric epithets and Marxist academics, for instance, all depend for their significance on the proper noun from which they derive; without knowing something of Christ, Margaret Thatcher, Homer or Karl Marx, we will not understand what is meant. When we talk of spartan conditions, herculean tasks, gargantuan appetites and quixotic acts, however, we are using words which have become common adjectives; they denote familiar attributes, and their meaning may be understood by people who know nothing of Greek history or myth, and who have never read Rabelais or Cervantes.

It will often be difficult to draw such a neat distinction, however. In such cases, rather than waste time worrying over how close the connection may be between a word and the person or place to which it refers, consider what is likely to seem more natural to the reader. This is an area in which our general preference for lower case may have to be qualified. Because we are so used to seeing them capped, the names of people and places (and the proper adjectives derived from them) tend often simply to look wrong when lower case.

For examples see the lists under food and drink, animals and birds, dogs, cheeses, wines etc. They are not exhaustive. They undoubtedly contain some expressions where the capital letter may seem otiose; the question to ask then is whether the needless capital in those phrases is more irritating than a missing capital would be in the rest.

God Cap when referring to the deity of monotheistic religions. No need for he, his, him to take cap unless there is a risk of confusion. Where there are many gods, use lower case, as in the Greek gods (or eg the Greek god of war).

When spelling out capitalised abbreviations such as CAP (common agricultural policy) use lower case.

Compass points and other terms indicating location except in proper place names, these are now generally lower case: east London, central London, west Africa, eastern Europe etc. See entries below

capsize is spelt thus. See -ise, -isation

captions are often read before the reports to which they relate. They need to make sense on their own, and to explain as much of the story as space allows. It is surprising how often this basic journalistic principle is overlooked. They should be clear, informative and, where appropriate, witty; they should make the reader want to go on to read the story. What they must not be is pointless or dull. Do not state the obvious. Readers can see the photograph for themselves; there is no need to describe what it quite clearly shows; say something useful or interesting about it instead. Dismal local-paper caption clichés — sharing a joke, in happier times etc — are banned.

Style in captions When a caption covers two or more images it should start with the main one. When space is tight, especially on single-column “mugshots”, the name may be just the surname, even when the person is titled, eg Sir Marcus Fox would be simply Fox, as in headlines. Where women are photographed be sensitive: readers complain about our omitting the Christian name, especially in court cases where the woman is the victim. Where possible give the woman’s full name, although this is not a hard-and-fast ruling.

When identifying faces with left and right etc, use commas rather than brackets (eg Fred Smith, left, and his wife, Jean, leaving the court); make the identification in the caption fit the sequence of faces (left to right) in the photograph. Words such as “pictured” and “inset” should be redundant. Note that, as in text, double quotation marks are used in captions, including narrow-measure captions next to narrow-measure illustrations. Don’t tie yourself in knots trying to link lots of pictures in a single caption of continuous prose; if it can be done, and done elegantly, so much the better; if not, opt for clarity instead and link separate caption elements with semi-colons

carabiniere (lower case), an Italian police officer; plural carabinieri

carat a measure of purity in gold (24-carat is 100 per cent); in precious stones and pearls, a measure of weight. The international carat is standardised at 200mg (0.2g; about 7/1000th of an ounce)

car boot sale no hyphen

carcass

cardholder

cardiac arrest not synonymous with heart attack; check which is meant, and do not change one to the other

careen to sway or cause to sway dangerously over to one side; too often confused with career, to move swiftly along, rush in an uncontrolled way

care home company etc no need to hyphenate

cargo prefer cargos as the plural

carmaker one word

car park two words; multistorey car park

carpetbagger one word

case was “an overworked word” in the 1959 edition of this guide; it still is

cashcard in general sense; cashflow, cashback

cash for honours, cash for peerages no need for quotes for these two phrases; but they do need hyphens when adjectival, eg the cash-for-honours inquiry, the cash-for-peerages affair

Cashpoint is Lloyds Bank’s trademarked cash machine system, so takes the cap and must not be used generically; in the general sense, use cash dispenser or cash machine, or less formally, hole in the wall

Castilian (castellano) is the standard spoken and literary Spanish of Spain; Catalan is the distinct language of Catalonia

casualties be cautious in use of early and unconfirmed estimates of casualties in instances of terrorism, militia gunfights or disasters. Give the estimate’s source where possible, and be aware of politically inspired exaggeration

catapult not catapault

Catch-22 there is a hyphen in the title of Joseph Heller’s 1961 satirical novel; avoid altogether the grossly overworked cliché Catch-22 situation

catchphrase one word

cathedrals cap when giving the full name, eg St Paul’s Cathedral, Wells Cathedral; similarly the names of churches, eg St Mary’s Church, Ely, unless we know that the church name specifically excludes it, eg St Stephen’s, Ely

Catherine one of those names that should always be checked: Catharine, Katherine, Katharine, Kathryn etc are all possible. cf Alistair

Catholic in church context, say Roman Catholic at first mention if necessary to make clear that this is what is meant. Eg if there could be confusion with Eastern rite churches or with those Anglicans who call themselves Catholic. Otherwise, if context is clear, just say Catholic

CAT scan to avoid confusion, exceptionally keep caps in this acronym; not Cat scan

cat’s eyes should preferably be called reflecting roadstuds. Catseye is a trademark

caviar no final e

CBI no need to spell out as Confederation of British Industry

ceasefire

ceilidh social gathering (Highland)

Cellophane is proprietary, so cap

celsius, centigrade use either term. In news stories use centigrade first then fahrenheit in brackets at first mention, eg “The temperature rose to 16C (61F).” Take great care with conversions, which often seem to go wrong

census lower case even in specific cases, such as the 1901 census, the 2001 census

centenarian also septuagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian

centenaries use centenary, bicentenary, tercentenary; after that, say four-hundredth anniversary or five-hundredth anniversary

central Europe with lower case c; also central London etc; likewise northern Europe, southern Europe. Use lower case also for eastern and western Europe except in historical context of the Cold War, but Central America needs cap for clarity

centre, the as with (the) left and (the) right, use lower case in political context unless clarity demands a cap. Similarly for compound nouns, the centre left, the centre right, and for adjectives, a centre-left politician with a rightwing policy

Centre Court at Wimbledon upper case; likewise No 1 Court, No 14 Court etc

centrepiece no hyphen

centring but centering of arches in bridge-building

centuries the style is the 3rd century BC, the 9th century, the 18th century etc; and adjectivally with the hyphen, eg 20th-century architecture

Ceylon the former name for Sri Lanka. The people are Sri Lankan, the majority group are the Sinhalese

cha-cha-cha not cha-cha

chainsaw one word

chair do not refer to anyone as a “the chair of” anything, unless in a direct quote. Neither must you use “chairperson”. A man must be referred to as a chairman and a woman as a chairwoman. Even if a person’s official title is “chair of …” use chairman or chairwoman (lower case). This is not sexist, it is simply a preference for calling things (and people) by their names, and a reluctance to allow ugly and unnecessary jargon to replace perfectly good words. A professor may, however, be said to hold the chair of theoretical physics, or whatever; a person can chair (used as a verb) a committee; and questions can be put through the chair (which is the office held). Similarly, write spokesman or spokeswoman. If the gender of the person is not clear, write spokesman

chaise longue two words, no hyphen; plural chaises longues (s on both words)

chamber (lower case) of the House of Commons

champagne lower case, because we use it as an English common noun rather than a French proper name. Use only, however, for the product of the Champagne region of France, to which its proper application is restricted by law; otherwise write, eg Russian sparkling wine. The champagne producers protect their name rigorously. See wines

Champions League (European football), no apostrophe

chancellor of the exchequer lower case

changeable

Changing the Guard not … of the Guard

Channel, the upper case. Generally, no need to write “the English Channel” for the body of water between England and France

Channel tunnel lower case tunnel, unless there is some possibility of confusion; also, Channel tunnel rail link

Chanukkah prefer this to variants such as Hanukkah etc, for the Jewish festival of lights

chaos overused, and often hyperbole; confusion, disorder, upheaval, turmoil, disarray: say what is meant

charge that an Americanism, never to be used as a synonym of allege that

charisma has become a boring cliché; try to find an alternative such as presence, inspiration etc

charters (as in John Major’s now forgotten initiative) lower case

château plural châteaux

Chatham House rule, the strictly speaking just the one, so don’t write Chatham House rules. It says that information disclosed at a meeting may be used or reported by those present on condition that neither the source nor anyone else attending is identified

chat room two words, but chatline one

chat show, game show, quiz show, talk show etc no hyphens when used as noun or when adjectival, eg chat show host; note also chatline, sexline

cheap goods are cheap, prices are low

check-in (noun) but check in (verb)

checklist, checkout counter note also checkup (noun); check up (verb)

cheerleader one word

cheeses we tried making these all lower case. It worked, but it always seemed a triumph of consistency over common sense. Readers are used in most contexts to seeing capital letters at the start of proper nouns and adjectives, especially place names. So that is what we should do. Wensleydale, Lancashire, Red Leicester, Cheshire and their foreign equivalents simply seem more natural than the lower case alternative. This will give us a few more capital letters in the paper than we might like, but for it to become a problem, we would have to write about cheeses a lot more often than we do. Exceptions are made for cheddar and brie, which are almost universally treated as common nouns (Canadian cheddar, Irish cheddar, Somerset brie). See foodstuffs

chequebook one word, either as noun or adjective (eg chequebook journalism)

chi prefer to qi for the vital energy in oriental medicine, martial arts etc believed to circulate around the body in currents

chickenpox no hyphen; similarly smallpox

chief constable lower case, the chief constable of Lancashire or the chief constable. Do not write, eg the chief constable of West Midlands police, but simply the chief constable of the West Midlands

chief inspector of prisons/schools also chief medical officer

chief of the defence staff is the professional head of the British armed forces and the principal military adviser to the defence secretary and the government; the chief of the general staff is the professional head of the British army

chief petty officer is an NCO (non-commissioned officer) in the Royal Navy, not an officer

Chief Rabbi cap at first mention when naming the individual, then the chief rabbi or refer to as Rabbi X or Lord Y (like the Archbishop of Canterbury). See capitalisation (titles of ecclesiastical dignitaries)

chief whip lower case

child access, child custody do not use these terms regarding divorce unless in direct quotes and from lay people. Under the Children Act 1989 children are given residence with one parent and the other in disputed cases has contact. Put more simply, children live with one parent and the other is allowed to see them

childcare as healthcare

childminder one word

child pornography/child porn never use these terms, except in direct quotes. Use instead internet child sex abuse, sex abuse images, or similar

children’s names generally for under-18s, write eg John Jones at first mention and then simply John at second mention

child-sex abusers/offenders use hyphen

chilli (plural chillies) prefer to chili

chill out two words as verb; one word as noun or adjective

chimera prefer to chimaera

chimpanzees are apes, not monkeys

Chinese cap C in idioms such as Chinese whispers, Chinese walls

Chinese names use the Pinyin rather than the traditional Wade-Giles, so write Beijing, Mao Zedong (though Chairman Mao or just Mao are acceptable), Zhou Enlai etc. Normal style is to place family name first, then given name, so that the actress Zhang Zivi, for instance, becomes Zhang at second mention. For place names, follow The Times Atlas of the World except where older usage is well established, eg the special administrative regions Hong Kong (not Xianggang) and Macau (not Aomen); and the autonomous regions Tibet (not Xizang) and Inner Mongolia (not Neimengu)

chip and PIN no hyphen as a noun or adjectivally

chocoholic but shopaholic and workaholic

chopper, copter not to be used as substitutes for helicopter, even in headlines

Christ discourage use as a casual exclamation or expletive; it offends many readers

Christ Church (the Oxford college), two words, thus, and never Christ Church College

Christchurch in Dorset and New Zealand

christened Christians are christened; ships, trains and people not known to be Christians are named

Christian, Christianity unchristian, non-Christian, antichristian, Antichrist

Christian Democrat cap when referring to specific European parties for both noun and adjective, as in Christian Democrat MP

Christian names take care in context of non-Christians; in such cases use forename or first name

Christian terms mostly lower case when possible but cap eg the Bible, the (Ten) Commandments, the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, Mass, Holy Communion (and simply Communion), Eucharist, Blessed Sacrament, Advent, Nativity (also cap adjectival Advent calendar, Nativity play), the Scriptures; also when naming the persons of the Trinity, God (the Father), Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit; but then follow the Vatican and Lambeth Palace in using lower case for he/his except where clarity demands a cap (“Isaiah looks forward to God rescuing His people”, ie God’s, not Isaiah’s). Cap the names of books of the Bible: the Book of Revelation, Acts of the Apostles, the Gospel of (or According to) Matthew; but generally lower case for the apostles, the disciples, gospel, the gospels. Use lower case for evensong, matins. There are columnists and feature writers who like to use eg God, Christ and Jesus as harmless exclamations or mild expletives; they should know that this offends many Times readers

Christmas Day, Christmas Eve seem to need caps

church cap in names — the Church of England, St James’s Church, Piccadilly etc — but otherwise only if absolutely necessary to distinguish an institution from a building (“the Church is often said to be in terminal decline, but the church I attended on Sunday was absolutely packed”). Context will usually suffice to make clear which is meant, so lower case should be possible more often than not

Church in Wales not Church of Wales for the disestablished Anglican church once headed by Dr Rowan Williams

churchwarden one word

cinemagoer as concertgoer, operagoer, theatregoer etc

cipher not cypher

circa abbreviate simply as c (roman) followed by a space

City of London the City, City prices

civil list (lower case unless clarity demands caps) has been replaced by the sovereign grant (also lower case unless clarity demands caps)

civil partnership commonly referred to as gay marriage before gay marriage became legal. A suggested shorthand for headings is civil union

civil service, also civil servants lower case as a noun unless clarity demands a cap. Otherwise lower case in adjectival use, eg a civil service memorandum. Lower case for the administrative grade, ie permanent secretary, deputy secretary and assistant secretary, when used as part of the full title; thus, Sir Alfred Beach, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence

civil war generally lower case but by convention cap the English Civil War and the American Civil War

claim do not use when simply said or declared would do. The word carries a suspicion of incredulity. Also, avoid the loose construction in sentences such as “The firm launched a drink which is claimed to promote learning ability”. This should read “… a drink which, it is claimed, promotes learning ability”. Do not allow terrorists to “claim responsibility” for their crimes

claims and facts remember to distinguish between a claim and a fact, particularly in headlines/standfirsts. Witnesses to rioting telling amid confusion of up to 600 people dead did not justify an unequivocal standfirst death toll of 600; if claims are made, say who is making them

clamour, clamouring but clamorous

clampdown not banned, but use as little as possible

Clapham Junction is not Clapham. It is not even in Clapham. They are separate places and their names are not interchangeable. Clapham is in the London Borough of Lambeth; Clapham Junction is in the Battersea part of Wandsworth. A reader helpfully noted, at the time of the London riots in August 2011: “The Victorians are responsible for the confusion that has persisted for generations. When they opened their large interchange station in 1863 they designated it Clapham Junction because that district was then much more genteel than working-class Battersea”

clarinettist

Class A, B or C drugs (cap C)

clichés and hype We are lucky to have intelligent and sophisticated readers. They buy The Times to avoid the hype and the stale words and phrases peddled by some other papers. Words such as shock, bombshell, crisis, scandal, sensational, controversial, desperate, dramatic, fury, panic, chaos etc are too often ways of telling the readers what to think. Let them decide for themselves.

Any list of proscribed formulas is soon out of date, as old clichés give way to new. There may be nothing inherently wrong with the words or phrases themselves. They gain currency in the first place because they seem vivid, amusing, fresh. Soon, however, they become fashionable, are overused, grow tired and stale, then finally cease to mean anything much at all. A good writer or editor will know when a word or phrase has outlived its usefulness

climate change levy lower case, no hyphen

clingfilm lower case, one word

cliquey

clock tower two words

closed-circuit television

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium, not a virus. Write C. difficile at second mention (and as a bonus do not pronounce it “DIF-ficil”: it is not French but Latin. Try “dif-FI-chil-ay”)

clothing say menswear, women’s wear, children’s wear, sportswear

cloud-cuckoo-land two hyphens

clouds no need to italicise the names. Four main types: nimbus produce rain; stratus resemble layers; cumulus resemble heaps; and cirrus resemble strands or filaments of hair. Prefixes denote altitude, ie strato (low-level), alto (mid-level) and cirro (high-level)

clubbable

co- the prefix does not normally require a hyphen even before an e or another o unless confusion or utter hideousness might result. Thus co-operate (but uncooperative), co-opt, co-ordinate (but uncoordinated), coeducation, coexist

CO2 use subscript

coalface, coalfield, coalmine (each one word) similarly coalminer (but prefer miner)

coalition lower case noun or adjective, eg the coalition government

coastguard lower case and one word, in the British context; but note the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (caps for full name), although the coastguard service (generic) retains the lower case. The US coast guard

coasts lower case south coast, east coast, west coast and north coast in all contexts

coats of arms see heraldry

Coca-Cola (hyphen); note also the trademark Coke. Similarly Pepsi-Cola. If in doubt about the identity of a beverage, write the lower case generic cola

cock a snook not snoop, please

cockfight no hyphen, as bullfight and dogfight

cockney lower case for the person, the dialect and adjectival use

codebreaker, codebreaking one word

coeducation(al) but permissible to use co-ed in headlines as coed would look hideous

coexist

cognoscenti roman, not italic

Coldstream Guards may be called the Coldstream and the men Coldstreamers or Coldstream Guards; neither should be called Coldstreams

Cold War caps

collarbone one word

collectibles (not -ables) items sought by collectors

collective nouns usually use the singular verb, as with corporate bodies (the company, the government, the council etc). But this rule is not inviolable; the key is to stick to the singular or plural throughout the story: sentences such as “The committee, which was elected recently, presented their report” are unacceptable. Prefer plural use for the couple, family, music groups and bands, the public, sports teams

Colombia is the country; Columbia is the Hollywood studio, university, river and Washington district. Also, note British Columbia and pre-Columbian

colons throw meaning forward and introduce lists

Colosseum in Rome; Coliseum in London

Coloureds (in South Africa), cap; not to be used in any other context

comedienne avoid; use comedian (or, if you must, comic) for both sexes

comeuppance no hyphen

commander-in-chief, officer commanding lower case

Commandments cap in biblical context, as the Ten Commandments, the Fourth Commandment

commando plural commandos (not -oes)

commas Unnecessary commas interrupt the flow of a sentence; omit the comma before if, unless, before, after, as, since, when unless the rhythm or sense of the sentence demands it.

Keith Waterhouse, as so often, had sound advice: “It is not the function of the comma to help a wheezing sentence get its breath back. That, however, is how the comma earns much of its living in journalism.” If your sentence needs a comma just to stop the reader collapsing in a heap before reaching the end, you might do better to recast it as two sentences anyway.

There is often no need for a comma after an adverbial formation at the beginning of a sentence: “Last week we were told etc”, “Until now there has been no need etc”, “In opposition the Lib Dems said etc”, “Minutes later the announcement was made”.

Avoid the so-called Oxford comma; write “he ate bread, butter and jam” rather than “he ate bread, butter, and jam”, except where to do so might create nonsense or confusion: “For lunch they had lamb with roast potatoes, and chocolate mousse.”

Commas with names and descriptions may help to indicate number. If “he was accompanied by his brother John” suggests that he has other brothers who did not accompany him, then “he was accompanied by his brother, John” makes clear that John is the only brother he has. With brothers the distinction may seem too subtle to bother about; it is worth bearing in mind when naming someone’s wife.

There is no need to put a comma between adjectives that form a kind of unit or where the last adjective is in closer relation to the noun than the preceding one(s), eg fine dry evenings, a good little boy.

Keep commas where they should be logically in “broken” sentences. Thus, the comma goes outside in the following example: “The trouble is”, he said, “that this is a contentious issue”

Commission when named: the European Commission, the Competition Commission; lower case in other refs

commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

commit do not use as an intransitive verb without a direct object, eg “he wants to commit to the reforms”; write “he wants to commit himself to the reforms” or “he wants to make a commitment to the reforms”

committee on standards in public life examines standards of conduct of all holders of public office. It is different from the select committee on standards and privileges, which deals with the conduct of MPs (subsequent mentions, the privileges select committee or lower case the committee)

committees are generally lower case but note 1922 Committee (cap) of Tory backbenchers, as it looks odd lower case. Cabinet and select committees should be lower case

common agricultural policy lower case, abbreviated as CAP for clarity; similarly, common fisheries policy (CFP)

common market usually use EU or EC (see Europe), although common market is acceptable in its historical context

common sense (noun), but commonsense, commonsensical (adjective)

common serjeant lower case. Note j spelling

Commons (keep cap) takes singular verb, eg “the Commons is debating …”

Commons fees office lower case. At subsequent mention the fees office for the place where decisions are made about whether to reimburse members’ expenses for moats and beams

Commonwealth heads of government meeting lower case after cap C

communiqué

communism, communist as with socialism and socialist, the best rule of thumb is to cap only when in specific party context, eg a Communist candidate, a Communist rally, the Communist mayor of Lille; but communist ideology, communist countries etc. Likewise fascist. It will help to think of a parallel with conservative/conservatism or liberal/liberalism. But Marxist, Stalinist and Nazi should be capped

community beware overuse in phrases such as the international community, the black community etc

companies there was once a useful distinction to be made between company and firm; the latter implied a business partnership, as in the legal or accountancy professions, estate agents etc. The words now seem to be used more or less interchangeably to cover almost any sort of enterprise, not least because the shorter word has obvious advantages for headlines

company names and brand names Follow the style and spelling that the company prefers unless it is ugly, distracting or absurd; use common sense. In practice, given the irritating prevalence of initial minuscules and mid-word caps in the modern corporate world, this will mean applying conventional orthography to many names that the companies themselves choose to write differently. So, use all caps only if a name consists of (and is pronounced as) a series of initials: BMW, IBM, EDF etc. Otherwise generally (and if in doubt) use an initial cap followed by lower case as for any other name, even if corporate branding is all upper or lower case or has capitals in odd places: Adidas (not adidas), Amazon (not amazon), Ikea (not IKEA), Easyjet, (not easyJet), Moneysupermarket (not MoneySuperMarket), Talktalk (not TalkTalk), Talksport (not talkSPORT) etc. An exception is made for the small number of household name global brands that have a capital as their second letter: iPad, iPhone, eBay; these may be written thus, and there seems no need to give them an extra initial capital even when they start a sentence or headline (something they should do only if it cannot be avoided). Prefer to ignore spurious typographical symbols in contrived or gimmicky spellings: Yahoo not Yahoo!, Eon not E.ON, Fevertree not Fever-Tree etc. Abbreviate to Co in, eg John Brown & Co. Company is singular. No full points in company titles, as in WH Smith and J Sainsbury. Usually no need to add Ltd, plc, LLP etc