cadre Keep this word for the framework of a military unit or the officers of such a unit, not for a communist functionary.
calibres see hyphens.
Cambodian names see names.
Canute’s exercise on the seashore was designed to persuade his courtiers of what he knew to be true but they doubted, ie, that he was not omnipotent. Don’t imply he was surprised to get his feet wet.
capitals A balance has to be struck between so many capitals that the eyes dance and so few that the reader is diverted more by our style than by our substance. The general rule is to dignify with capital letters organisations and institutions, but not people; and full names, but not informal ones. More exact rules are laid out below. Even these, however, leave some decisions to individual judgment. If in doubt use lower case unless it looks absurd. And remember that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
avoiding confusion Use capitals to avoid confusion, especially with no (and therefore yes). In Bergen no votes predominated suggests a stalemate, whereas In Bergen No votes predominated suggests a triumph of noes over yeses. In most contexts, though, yes and no should be lower case: “The answer is no.”
In the context of the British referendum of 2016, Remain and Leave are upper case. “He voted Leave, but the Remain faction kept going.”
cities City with a capital, even though City is not an integral part of their names:
| Guatemala City | New York City |
| Ho Chi Minh City | Panama City |
| Kuwait City | Quebec City |
| Mexico City |
City also takes a capital when it is part of the name:
| Dodge City | Quezon City |
| Kansas City | Salt Lake City |
| Oklahoma City |
compass points Lower case for:
east west north south
except when part of a name (North Korea, South Africa, West End) or part of a thinking group: the South, the Midwest, the West (but lower case for vaguer areas such as the American north-east, northwest, south-east, south-west). Lower-case too for the adjectives: midwestern, western, southern.
The regions of Africa are southern, east, west and north Africa. But South Africa is the name of the country.
Europe Europe’s divisions are no longer neatly political, and are now geographically imprecise, so use lower case for central, eastern and western Europe.
Use West Germany (West Berlin) and East Germany (East Berlin) only in historical references. They are now west or western Germany (Berlin) and east or eastern Germany (eastern Berlin).
The Basque country (or region) is ill-defined and contentious, and may include parts of both France and Spain, so lower case for country (or region).
See also Euro-.
finance In finance there are particular exceptions to the general rule of initial capitals for full names, lower case for informal ones. There are also rules about what to do on second mention.
Deutschmarks are still known just as D-marks, even though all references are historical.
Special drawing rights are lower case but are abbreviated as SDRs, except when used with a figure as a currency (SDR500m).
The Bank of England and its foreign equivalents have initial caps when named formally and separately, but collectively they are central banks in lower case, except those like Brazil’s, Ireland’s and Venezuela’s, which are actually named the Central Bank. The Bank of England becomes the bank on second mention.
The IMF may become the fund on second mention.
The World Bank and the Fed (after first spelling it out as the Federal Reserve) take initial upper case, although these are shortened, informal names. The World Bank becomes the bank on second mention.
Treasury bonds issued by America’s Treasury should be upper case; treasury bills (or bonds) of a general kind should be lower case. Avoid t-bonds and t-bills.
food and drink Lower case should be used for most common or familiar wines, cheeses, grape varieties, for example:
| barolo | dim sum | piesporter |
| bordeaux | emmental | pinotage |
| brunello | gorgonzola | pont-l’évêque |
| burgundy | hock | primitivo |
| champagne | merlot | rioja |
| chardonnay | moselle | syrah |
| cheddar | parmesan | zinfandel |
But the proper names of particular wines take upper case: Cheval Blanc Lafite Marqués de Riscal Pontet-Canet
as do some foods and drinks that would look odd lower case: Bombay duck Nuits St George Parma ham
historical terms
Allies (in the second world war)
Black Death
Cultural Revolution
D-Day
the Depression (1930s) Enlightenment
Holocaust (second world war)
Industrial Revolution
Middle Ages
Prohibition
Reconstruction
Reformation
Renaissance
Restoration
Six-Day War
Stone Age (etc)
Thirty Years War
Year of the Dog, Horse, Rat
Note that all other revolutions are lower case, but upper-case for the qualifier: Orange revolution, Green revolution, French revolution.
organisations, institutions, acts, etc
1 Organisations, ministries, departments, institutions, treaties, acts, etc, generally take upper case when their full name (or something pretty close to it, eg, State Department) is used.
Amnesty International
Arab League
Bank of England (the bank)
Central Committee
Court of Appeal
the Crown (Britain)
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Department of State (the department)
European Commission
Forestry Commission
Health and Safety at Work Act
High Court
House of Commons
House of Lords
House of Representatives
Household Cavalry
Metropolitan Police
Ministry of Defence
New York Stock Exchange
Oxford University
Politburo
Scottish Parliament (the parliament)
Senate
St Paul’s Cathedral (the cathedral)
Supreme Court
Treasury
Treaty of Rome
Welsh Assembly (the assembly)
World Bank (the bank)
2 Organisations with unusual or misleading names, such as the African National Congress and Civic Forum, may become the Congress and the Forum on second and subsequent mentions.
3 But most other organisations – agencies, banks, commissions (including the European Commission and the European Union), etc – take lower case when referred to incompletely on second mention.
4 Informal names
Organisations, committees, commissions, special groups, etc, that are impermanent, ad hoc, local or relatively insignificant should be lower case:
international economic subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee;
Market Blandings rural district council;
Oxford University bowls club;
subcommittee on journalists’ rights of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party.
5 Artistic movements
Artistic movements (Impressionism, Cubism, etc) should be upper case. So should their practitioners (Romantics).
6 Rough descriptions or translations
Use lower case for rough descriptions (the safety act, the American health department, the French parliament, as distinct from its National Assembly). If you are not sure whether the English translation of a foreign name is exact or not, assume it is rough and use lower case.
7 Congress and Parliament
Congress and Parliament are upper case, unless parliament is used not to describe the institution but the period of time for which it sits:
This bill will not be brought forward until the next parliament.
But congressional and parliamentary are lower case, as is the opposition, even when used in the sense of her majesty’s loyal opposition.
The government, the administration and the cabinet are always lower case.
After first mention, the House of Commons (or Lords, or Representatives) becomes the House.
8 Acts
In America acts given the names of their sponsors (eg, Glass– Steagall, Helms–Burton) are always rough descriptions (see above) and so take a lower-case act.
1 Ranks and titles
Use upper case when written in conjunction with a name, but lower case when on their own:
Colonel Qaddafi, but the colonel
Pope Benedict, but the pope
President Obama, but the president
Queen Elizabeth, but the queen
Vice-President Ansari, but the vice-president
Do not write Prime Minister Brown or Defence Secretary Cannon; they are the prime minister, Mr Brown, and the defence secretary, Mr Cannon. You might, however, write Chancellor Merkel.
2 Office-holders
When referred to merely by their office, not by their name, office-holders are lower case:
the chairman of Marks & Spencer
the chancellor of the exchequer
the foreign secretary
the president of the United States
the prime minister
the treasury secretary
The only exceptions are a few titles that would look unduly peculiar without capitals:
Black Rod
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
First Lady
Lord Chancellor
Lord Privy Seal
Master of the Rolls
Speaker (in a parliament)
and a few exalted people, such as: the Dalai Lama, the Aga Khan. Also God and the Prophet.
3 Some titles serve as names, and therefore have initial capitals, though they also serve as descriptions: the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Emir of Kuwait. If you want to describe the office rather than the individual, use lower case: The next archbishop of Canterbury will be a woman. Since the demise of the ninth duke, there has never been another duke of Portland.
places Use upper case for definite geographical places, regions, areas and countries (The Hague, Transylvania, Germany), and for vague but recognised political or geographical areas (but see Europe above):
Central, South and South-East Asia
East Asia (which is to be preferred to the Far East) the Gulf
Highlands (of Scotland)
Middle East
Midlands (of England)
North Atlantic
North, Central and South America
South Atlantic
the West (as in the decline of the West), Western, Westerns (as in novels, films, etc), Wild West
West Country
Use capitals for particular buildings even if the name is not strictly accurate, eg, the Foreign Office.
And if in doubt use lower case (the sunbelt).
The third world (an unsatisfactory term now that the communist second world has disappeared) is lower case.
Avoid the western hemisphere. Unlike the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere, it is not clear where the western hemisphere begins or ends. The Americas will usually serve instead.
1 The full name of political parties is upper case, including the word party:
Communist (if a particular party)
Labour Party
Peasants’ Party
Republican Party
Tea Party (though not strictly a party, it looks too odd in lower case)
2 But note that some parties do not have party as part of their names, so this should therefore be lower case:
Greece’s New Democracy party
India’s Congress party
Indonesia’s Golkar party
Turkey’s Justice and Development party
3 Note that usually only people are:
| Democrats | Liberal Democrats |
| Christian Democrats | Social Democrats |
Their parties, policies, candidates, committees, etc, are:
| Democratic | Liberal Democratic |
| Christian Democratic | Social Democratic |
They also vote Democratic, etc; but a committee may be Democrat-controlled.
The exceptions are Britain’s Liberal Democrat Party and Thailand’s Democrat Party.
4 When referring to a specific party, write Labour, the Republican nominee, a prominent Liberal, etc, but use lower case in looser references to liberals, conservatism, communists, etc. Tories, however, are upper case, as is New Labour.
proper names When forming nouns, adjectives and verbs from proper names, retain the initial capital:
Christian
Finlandisation
Gaullism
Hindu
Hobbesian
Islamic
Jacobite
Leninist
Luddite
Maronite
Marxist
Napoleonic
Paisleyite
Russify
Thatcherism
Exceptions are: platonic, pyrrhic, draconian.
Indian castes are upper case and roman. Eg Brahmin, Dalit.
province, river, state are lower case when not strictly part of the name:
| Cabanas province New York state |
| Limpopo river Washington state |
Exceptions are: River Nile, River Thames, Red River (USA), Yellow River (China).
American counties are part of the name; hence Orange County, Madison County.
trade names Use capitals:
BlackBerry eBay Google Hoover Teflon Valium Jeep Stetson
miscellaneous (lower case)
19th amendment (but Article 19)
aborigines, aboriginal
administration
amazon (female warrior)
angst
blacks (and whites)
cabinet
civil servant
civil service
civil war (including America’s)
cold war
common market
communist (generally)
constitution (including America’s)
cruise missile
draconian euro
first world war
french windows, fries
general synod
gentile
government
Gulf war
heaven (and hell)
internet junior (as in George Bush junior)
Kyoto protocol
the left
mafia (any old group of criminals)
mecca (when used loosely, as a mecca for tourists)
new year (but New Year’s Day)
Olympic games (and Asian, Commonwealth, European)
opposition
philistine
platonic
the pope
the press
pyrrhic
the queen
quisling
realpolitik
republican (unless a party)
revolution (everyone’s)
the right
second world war
senior (as in Douglas Fairbanks senior)
state-of-the-union message
sun
titanic (not the ship)
titans (unless the original Titans)
white paper
world wide web
young turk
miscellaneous (upper case)
Anglophone (but prefer (English-speaking)
Antichrist
anti-Semitism
Atlanticist
the Bar
the Bible (but biblical)
Catholics
CD-ROM
Chapter 9, etc
Christ
Christmas Day
Christmas Eve
Coloureds (in South Africa)
Communist (if a particular party)
Congress
the Crown
the Cup Final
the Davis Cup
D-Day
Earth (when, and only when, it is being discussed as a planet like Mars or Venus)
Empire (everyone’s)
First Lady
Founding Fathers
Francophone
General Assembly (UN)
Hispanics
Koran
Labour Day
Mafia (the genuine article)
May Day
Mecca (in Saudi Arabia, California and Liberia)
Memorial Day
Moon (when it is Earth’s)
Nature (the general entity)
New Year’s Eve etc (but new year)
Parliament (the institution)
Pershing missile (because it is named after somebody)
Protestants
the Queen’s Speech
Semitic (-ism)
Social Security (in American contexts only, where it is used to mean pensions; what is usually understood by social security elsewhere is welfare in the United States)
Stealth fighter, bomber
Taser
Teamster
Ten Commandments
Test Match
Tory
Tube (London Underground)
Utopia (-n)
Warsaw Pact
See also abbreviations.
cartel A cartel is a group that restricts supply in order to drive up prices. Do not use it to describe any old syndicate or association of producers – especially of drugs.
case “There is perhaps no single word so freely resorted to as a trouble-saver,” says Gowers, “and consequently responsible for so much flabby writing.” Often you can do without it. There are many cases of it being unnecessary is better as It is often unnecessary. If it is the case that simply means If. It is not the case means It is not so.
Cassandra Do not use Cassandra just as a synonym for a prophet of doom. The most notable characteristic about her was that her predictions were always correct but never believed.
catalyst A catalyst is something that speeds up a chemical reaction while itself remaining unchanged. Do not confuse it with one of the agents.
Central Asian names see names.
centred on not around or in.
challenge Although duels and gauntlets have largely disappeared into history, modern life seems to consist of little else but challenges. At every turn, every president, every government, every business, everyone everywhere is faced with challenges. No one nowadays has to face a change, difficulty, task or job. Next time you grab the word challenge, drop it at once and think again.
charge If you charge intransitively, do so as a bull, cavalry officer or some such, not as an accuser (so avoid The standard of writing was abysmal, he charged).
cherry-pick If you must use this cliché, note that to cherry-pick means to engage in careful rather than indiscriminate selection, whereas a cherry-picker is a machine for raising pickers (and cleaners and so on) off the ground.
Chinese names see names.
circumstances stand around a thing, so it is in, not under, them.
civil society pops up a lot these days, often in the company of citizenship skills, community leaders, good governance, the international community, social capital and the like. It can, however, be a useful, albeit ill-defined, term to describe collectively all non-commercial organisations between the family and the state. But do not use it as a euphemism for NGOs (non-governmental organisations), which is how it is usually employed.
clerical titles see titles.
clichés weren’t always clichéd. The first person to use window of opportunity or level playing-field or accident waiting to happen was justly pleased with himself. Each is a strong, vivid expression – or was. The trouble is that such expressions have been copied so often that they have lost their vividness. Mass printing made constant repetition easy, which explains how the word cliché came into being: it is the French term for a stereotype printing plate. Careful writers since Flaubert, who was so obsessive in his search for freshness that he insisted on anything approaching a cliché being printed in italics, have tried to avoid hackneyed phrases.
In “A Dictionary of Clichés” (1940), Eric Partridge wrote: “Clichés range from fly-blown phrases (much of a muchness; to all intents and purposes), metaphors that are now pointless (lock, stock and barrel), formulas that have become mere counters (far be it from me to …) – through sobriquets that have lost all their freshness and most of their significance (the Iron Duke) – to quotations that are nauseating (cups that cheer but not inebriate), and foreign phrases that are tags (longo intervallo, bête noire).”
Many of yesterday’s clichés have become so much a part of the language that they pass unnoticed; they are like Orwell’s dead metaphors. The ones most to be avoided are the latest, the trendiest. Since they usually appeal to people who do not have the energy to pick their own words, they are often found in the wooden prose of bureaucrats, academics and businessmen, though journalese is far from immune.
Clichés numb, rather than stimulate, the reader’s brain.
Many of the clichés in The Economist are phrases like bite the bullet, confirmed bachelor, eye-watering sums, grinding to a halt, high-profile, honeymoon period, incurable optimist, road maps, tax packages, too close to call, toxic debt, whopping bills. They serve merely to bore. Far worse are some of those placed in its pages by its managers, which probably induce terminal despair. The following appeared in an advertisement in May 2009: world-class analysis, key industries, proven track record, strategic, transformative thinking, decisive goal-driven leader, consummate collaborator within a team framework, impactful programmes, strategic and consultative approach, professional in all internal and external interactions, results-driven, relationship-building and communication skills.
Many of these expressions are meaningless. All are ugly. All are borrowed unthinkingly from the language of other advertisers, and since they appear so often they fail to make an impact. Bureaucrats are inveterate offenders. Here is part of a letter from a large London think-tank, explaining that it might be slow in updating members’ details because it was improving its computer system. This simple message was conveyed in 125 words, of which these are some:
The organisation is upgrading its IT infrastructure by introducing a new database which will enable us to store and share information more effectively internally. We embarked upon this major project when it became clear that the current system no longer adequately supported our requirements. When the new system is fully implemented in the autumn it will enable us to more effectively manage our relationship with members and other stakeholders … We kindly ask for your patience while we resolve any issues over the next two weeks.
Language such as this is so common that its authors have stopped asking themselves whether it means anything, whether the message might make more impact if it were expressed in 20 words rather than 125 or whether anyone will even bother to read it.
Do not add to such tosh. Banish from your mind and prose bridges too far; empires striking back; kinder, gentler; F-words; flavours of the month; Generation X; hearts and minds; $64,000 questions; southern discomfort; back to the future; shaken, not stirred; thirty-somethings; and where’s the beef? Be especially careful not to borrow the empty phrases of politicians who constantly invoke paradigm shifts, wake-up calls, supply-side solutions, blue-sky thinking and social inclusion, while asserting their desire to go the extra mile, push the envelope and kick-start the economy. Making a difference is one of the most fatuous favourites. Thus a former director of communications for the Labour Party could assert that the prime minister, Gordon Brown, was being criticised only because he wanted to make a difference, as though the same plea could not have been made for A. Hitler or J. Stalin.
Not all clichés, however, are used unthinkingly. Politicians often resort to hackneyed language to give the impression that they are saying something when they are doing their best to avoid it.
Treat all such stuff as a caution. (“Political language is designed to … give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” George Orwell)
co- This prefix is sometimes useful but now overdone. In the sentences He co-founded the company with Sir Alan or He co-wrote “The Left Nation” with Adrian Windback, the co- is unnecessary. Co-author and co-sleep are worse than that. “We want parents … not to co-sleep with their baby,” said Professor Peter Fleming. This was because “the majority of the co-sleeping deaths occurred in a hazardous sleeping environment.” (The Times, October 14th 2009.) Co-workers are colleagues.
coiffed not coiffured.
colons see punctuation.
come up with Try suggest, originate or produce.
commas see punctuation.
commit Do not commit to, but by all means commit yourself to something.
community is a useful word in the context of religious or ethnic groups. But in many others it jars. Not only is it often unnecessary, it also purports to convey a sense of togetherness that may well not exist:
The black community means blacks (or African-Americans, etc).
The business community means businessmen (who are supposed to be competing, not colluding).
The intelligence community means spies.
The online community means geeks, nerds and netizens.
The migration and development communities means NGOs.
The international community, if it means anything, means other countries, aid agencies or, just occasionally, the family of nations. What the global community (Financial Times, July 12th 2005) means is a mystery.
company names Call companies by the names they call themselves. Therefore check the company’s name against their literature or website. Economist usage is now to ignore all rogue exclamation marks, backward letters, etc in company names.
comparatives Take care. One thing may be many times more expensive than another. It cannot be many times cheaper. Indeed, it can be cheaper only by a proportion that is less than one. A different but similar mistake is to say that people grew twice as poor during a given period. Instead, say people’s incomes fell by half during that period (if that is what you mean, which, since it confuses income with wealth, it may not be).
Remember that comparatives should be compared with (or to) something.
compare In best usage, A is compared with B when you draw attention to the difference. A is compared to B when you want to stress their similarity.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
compound (verb) does not mean make worse. It may mean combine or, intransitively, it may mean to agree or come to terms. To compound a felony means to agree for a consideration not to prosecute. (It is also used, with different senses, as a noun and adjective.)
comprise means is composed of. NATO’s force in Afghanistan comprises troops from 42 countries. America’s troops make up (not comprise) nearly half the force. Alternatively, Nearly half NATO’s force in Afghanistan is composed of American troops.
contemporary see current.
continuous describes something uninterrupted. Continual admits of a break. If your neighbours play loud music every night, it is a continual nuisance; it is not a continuous one unless the music is never turned off.
contrast, by or in Use by contrast only when you are comparing one thing with another: Somalia is a poor country. By contrast, Egypt is rich. This means Egypt is rich by comparison with Somalia, though by other standards it is poor. If you are simply noting a difference, say in contrast: The Joneses spend their holidays in the south of France. In contrast, the Smiths go to south Wales.
convince should be followed by a noun or, in the passive, that or of. Do not convince people to do something. If you want to write to, the verb you need is persuade. The prime minister was persuaded to call a June election; he was convinced of the wisdom of doing so only after he had won.
coruscate means sparkle or throw off flashes of light, not wither, devastate or reduce to wrinkles (that’s corrugate).
could is sometimes useful as a variant of may or might: His coalition could (or might) collapse. But take care. Does He could call an election in June mean He might call an election in June or He would be allowed to call an election in June?
council, counsel A council is a body of people, elected or appointed, that advises, administers, organises, legislates, etc. Counsel (noun) means advice or consultation, or lawyers who give legal advice and fight cases in court.
crescendo Not an acme, apogee, peak, summit or zenith but a passage of increasing loudness. You cannot therefore build to a crescendo.
crisis A decisive event or turning-point. Many of the economic and political troubles wrongly described as crises are really persistent difficulties, sagas or affairs.
critique is a noun in British English. If you want a verb, try criticise.
currencies Use $ as the standard currency and, on first mention of sums in all other currencies, give a dollar conversion in brackets.
Apart from those currencies that are written out in full (see below), write the abbreviation followed by the number.
Britain
pound, abbreviated as £
pence, abbreviated as p
1p, 2p, 3p, etc to 99p (not £0.99)
£6 (not £6.00), £6.47
£5,000–6,000 (not £5,000–£6,000)
£5m–6m (not £5m–£6m)
£5 bn–6 bn (not £5–6 bn), £5.2 bn–6.2 bn
dollar, abbreviated as $, will do generally; US$ if there is a mixture of dollar currencies (see below)
cents, spell out, unless part of a larger number: $4.99
other dollar currencies
| A$ Australian dollars | NZ$ New Zealand dollars |
| C$ Canadian dollars | S$ Singaporean dollars |
| HK$ Hong Kong dollars | Z$ Zimbabwean dollars |
| NT$ Taiwanese dollars |
Europe
euro, plural euros, abbreviated as €, for those countries that have adopted it.
cents, spell out, unless part of a larger number.
€10 (not 10 euros), €10.75
DM, BFr, drachmas, FFr, Italian lire, IR£ (punts), markkas, Asch, Ptas and other currencies of the euro area have all been replaced by €, but may turn up in historical references.
DKr Danish krone (plural kroner)
IKr Icelandic krona (plural kronur)
NKr Norwegian krone (plural kroner)
SFr Swiss franc, SFr1m (not 1m Swiss francs)
SKr Swedish krona (plural kronor)
sums in all other currencies are written in full, with the number first.
Brazil, real, 100m reais
China, yuan, 100m yuan (not renminbi) (see below)
India, rupee, 100m rupees
Nigeria, naira, 100m naira
peso currencies, 100m pesos
South Africa, rand, 100m rand (not rands)
Turkey, Turkish lira, 100m liras
But Japan, yen ¥, ¥1,000 (not 1,000 yen)
China Properly, Chinese sums are expressed as, eg, 1 yuan rmb, meaning 1 yuan renminbi. Yuan, which means money, is the Chinese unit of currency. Renminbi, which means the people’s currency, is the description of the yuan, as sterling is the description of the pound. Use yuan.
See also figures; and currencies and measures in Part 3.
current, contemporary Current and contemporary mean at that time, not necessarily at this time. So a series of current prices from 1960 to 1970 will not be in today’s prices, just as contemporary art in 1800 was not modern art. Contemporary history is a contradiction in terms.
cusp is a pointed end or a horn of, for example, the Moon, or the point at which two branches of a curve meet. So it is odd to write, say, “Japan is on the cusp of a recovery” unless you think that recovery is about to end.