Style guide

(not tee) as in it suited her to a T, he had it down to a T

plural tableaux

singular and plural

is a tad overused

like Hong Kong and Korean names, these are in two parts with a hyphen, eg Lee Teng-hui (Lee after first mention)

adjective Tajik

noun

verb

plural (it means "students")

although the radio station's brand is talkSPORT

not a vaccine for bird flu, as often described: it's an antibiotic used to treat it

woollen cap

TM; say tampon

not Tangiers

TM; say public address system or just PA

the Irish prime minister (prime minister is also acceptable)

a company; tarmac formerly used to make pavements, roads and runways (we now walk and drive on asphalt)

the original London gallery in Millbank, now known as Tate Britain, houses British art from the 16th century; Tate Modern, at Southwark, south London, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, in Cornwall, all house modern art

English composer (born 1944) of such works as The Protecting Veil

English composer (c1490-1545) of masses and other vocal works

is legal; tax evasion is illegal

of aircraft

capital of Georgia

sports teams take plural verbs: Wednesday were relegated again, Australia have won by an innings, etc; but note that in a business context, they are singular like other companies, eg Leeds United reported its biggest loss to date

TM; say teamaker

TM

(1950s)

TM; say non-stick pan

hyphenate after three or four-figure area codes, but not five-figure area codes: 020-3353 2000, 0161-832 7200; 01892 456789, 01227 123456; treat mobile phone numbers as having five-figure area codes: 07911 654321

they are: Tinky Winky (purple); Laa-Laa (yellow); Dipsy (green); and Po (red)

chatshow, gameshow, quizshow, talkshow

thus: 30C (85F) – ie celsius, with fahrenheit in brackets on first mention; but be extremely wary (or don't bother) converting temperature changes, eg an average temperature change of 2C was wrongly converted to 36F in an article about a heatwave (although a temperature of 2C is about the same as 36F, a temperature change of 2C corresponds to a change of about 4F)

not tendonitis

We've Only Just Begun was playing on the radio. He began to drink; in fact he drank so much, he was drunk in no time at all. He sank into depression, knowing that all his hopes had been sunk. Finally, he sneaked away. Or perhaps snuck (according to Steven Pinker, the most recent irregular verb to enter the language)
see burned, dreamed, learned, spelled, spoiled

Welsh opera singer; please note he is a bass baritone, not a tenor

not terraced

A terrorist act is directed against victims chosen either randomly or as symbols of what is being opposed (eg workers in the World Trade Centre, tourists in Bali, Spanish commuters). It is designed to create a state of terror in the minds of a particular group of people or the public as a whole for political or social ends. Although most terrorist acts are violent, you can be a terrorist without being overtly violent (eg poisoning a water supply or gassing people on the underground).

Does having a good cause make a difference? The UN says no: "Criminal acts calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public are in any circumstances unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify them."

Whatever one's political sympathies, suicide bombers, the 9/11 attackers and most paramilitary groups can all reasonably be regarded as terrorists (or at least groups some of whose members perpetrate terrorist acts).

Nonetheless we need to be very careful about using the term: it is still a subjective judgment – one person's terrorist may be another person's freedom fighter, and there are former "terrorists" holding elected office in many parts of the world. Some critics suggest that, for the Guardian, all terrorists are militants – unless their victims are British. Others may point to what they regard as "state terrorism".

Often, alternatives such as militants, radicals, separatists, etc, may be more appropriate and less controversial, but this is a difficult area: references to the "resistance", for example, imply more sympathy to a cause than calling such fighters "insurgents". The most important thing is that, in news reporting, we are not seen – because of the language we use – to be taking sides.

Note that the phrase "war on terror" should always appear in quotes, whether used by us or (more likely) quoting someone else

not Tesco's

tax-exempt special savings account, replaced by Isas

(cricket) the third Test etc

a person; the adjective is Texas: Texas Ranger, Texas oilwells, Texas tea etc

do not use automatically after the word "said", but it can be useful: you tend to read a sentence such as "he said nothing by way of an explanation would be forthcoming" as "he said nothing by way of an explanation" and then realise that it does not say that at all; "he said that nothing by way of an explanation would be forthcoming" is much clearer

"that" defines, "which" gives extra information (often in a clause enclosed by commas): this is the house that Jack built, but this house, which John built, is falling down;
note that the sentence remains grammatical without "that", but not without "which"

Leaving "the" out often reads like jargon: say the conference agreed to do something, not "conference agreed"; the government has to do, not "government has to"; the Super League (rugby), not "Super League".

Avoid the "prime minister Gordon Brown" syndrome: do not use constructions such as "prime minister Gordon Brown said". Prominent figures can just be named, with their function at second mention: "Gordon Brown said last night" (first mention); "the prime minister said" (subsequent mentions). If it is thought necessary to explain who someone is, write "Bryan Robson, the Sheffield United manager, said" or "the Sheffield United manager, Bryan Robson, said". In such cases the commas around the name indicate there is only one person in the position, so write "the Tory leader, David Cameron, said" (only one person in the job), but "the former Tory prime minister John Major said" (there have been many).

lc for newspapers (the Guardian), magazines (the New Statesman), pubs (the Coach and Horses), bands (the Beatles, the Black Eyed Peas, the The), nicknames (the Hulk, the Red Baron), and sports grounds (the Oval).

uc for books (The Lord of the Rings), films (The Matrix), poems (The Waste Land), television shows (The West Wing), and placenames (The Hague)

normally lc in name, eg Adelphi theatre, Crucible theatre (or just Adelphi, Crucible); initial cap if "Theatre" comes first, eg Theatre Royal, Stratford East

no apostrophe

the then prime minister, etc (no hyphen)

TM; say vacuum flask

one word

meaning not the west (first) or the Soviet Union (second), so today an outdated (as well as objectionable) term; use developing countries or developing nations

that was then, but this is now; this looks forward, that looks back: so the man showing his son and heir the lands lying in front of them says: "One day, son, all this will be yours." Then he points behind him to the house and says: "But that remains mine"

third generation mobile telephony

Beijing

not Tientsin

just what it says it is; tsunami huge wave caused by an underwater earthquake

1am, 6.30pm, etc; 10 o'clock last night but 10pm yesterday; half past two, a quarter to three, 10 to 11, etc; for 24-hour clock, 00.47, 23.59; noon, midnight, not 12 noon, 12 midnight; The week starts on Mondays, but stories published on Sunday refer to the following week as "this week" and the six days preceding that Sunday as "last week".

Writers must put the date in brackets when there might be ambiguity. Never start a story 'Last week'. Do not even start a sentence thus

formerly East Timor

another example of jargon that has quickly become hackneyed through overuse

not tidbit

Do not italicise or put in quotes titles of books, films, TV programmes, paintings, songs, albums or anything else. Words in titles take initial caps except for a, and, at for, from, in, of, the, to (except in initial position or after a colon): A Tale of Two Cities, Happy End of the World, Shakespeare in Love, Superman: The Early Years, War and Peace, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? etc. Exception: the Review and the Observer
see italics

inexplicably capped up in the paper at least twice

as in "what a to-do!"

this is used far too often: it should normally be replaced by "said" and reserved for occasions when it genuinely adds interest or authority to a story (if someone got an exclusive interview with, say, Osama bin Laden)

(1892-1973) British author and philologist, notable for writing The Lord of the Rings and not spelling his name "Tolkein"

plural tomatoes

measured in tons (units of volume), not tonnes (units of mass) – derived from the number of tuns (large barrels) a vessel could hold; registered tonnage is the total internal capacity of a vessel, displacement tonnage is its actual weight, equal to the weight of water it displaces

not ton (with the above exception): the metric tonne is 1,000kg (2,204.62lb), the British ton is 2,240lb, and the US ton is 2,000lb; usually there is no need to convert

plural tornadoes (storm)

plural Tornados (aircraft)

a tortuous road is one that winds or twists

a torturous experience is one that involves pain or suffering

avoid starting court stories with variations on the formula "three men were jailed for a total of 19 years", a statistic that conveys no meaningful information (in this case, they had been given sentences of nine, six and four years).

The only time this might be justified is when one person is given a series of life sentences, and "he was jailed for a total of 650 years" at least conveys how serious the crimes were

US blues musician

US jazz musician

(1743-1803) leader of Haiti's slave revolt of 1791 and subsequent fight for independence, which was granted in 1801

one of the two members of the Who who didn't die before he got old (the other is Roger Daltrey)

(TM) Take care: use a generic alternative unless there is a very good reason not to, eg ballpoint pen, not biro (unless it really is a Biro, in which case it takes a cap B); say photocopy rather than Xerox, etc; you will save our lawyers, and those of Portakabin and various other companies, a lot of time and trouble . NB: Be very careful with Outward Bound courses

use with care, especially avoiding cliches such as "tragic accident"

a number of things in a string – such as animals, railway carriages or wagons. In railway terms it is hauled by a locomotive or engine, which it is not synonymous with. Many thanks to a reader for this entry

separatist region that declared its independence from Moldova in 1990, but has not been recognised by the international community; also known as Trans-Dniester

TfL on second mention

capped: they are recognised as an ethnic group under the Race Relations Act; but note new age travellers l/c

(officially HM Treasury)

lc, eg Geneva convention, treaty of Nice

how to refer to Star Trek fans unless you want to make fun of them, in which case they are Trekkies

French and Irish

a thousand billion (1 followed by 12 noughts), abbreviate like this: $25tn

not to be confused with Trinity Hall, Cambridge

trade-related intellectual property rights

soldier in a cavalry regiment; trouper member of a troupe, or dependable worker ("Subeditors are real troupers")

(no "of")

(Northern Ireland)

never "try and", eg "I will try to do something about this misuse of language"

not czar. Avoid "the government's transport tsar" or other PR-generated nonsense

not tee-shirt

wave caused by an undersea earthquake; not a tidal wave

lc (London Underground is the name of the company); individual lines thus: Jubilee line, Northern line, etc; the underground

Trades Union Congress, so TUC Congress is tautological; the reference should be to the TUC conference

TM

does not mean apathetic or sluggish – that's torpid – but swollen, congested, or (when used of language) pompous or bombastic

adjective Turkmen; its citizens are Turkmen, singular Turkman

(singular noun and adjective is Turkoman) are a formerly nomadic central Asian people who now form a minority in Iraq; they speak Turkmen

the subeditor turned stylebook guru, Amelia Hodsdon, said … (no hyphens)

noun

verb

but hyphenate if adjectival: "newspapers of the 21st century", "21st-century newspapers"