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a or an before H?Use an before a silent H: an heir, an hour, an honest politician, use a before an aspirated H: a hero, a hotel, a historian (but don't change a direct quote if the speaker says, for example, "an historic"). With abbreviations, be guided by pronunciation: eg an LSE studentA*(A-level and GCSE) not A-starA&Eaccident and emergencyabattoirabbeystake initial cap, eg Westminster AbbeyAbbottabadcity in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden lived and diedabbreviations and acronymsDo not use full points in abbreviations, or spaces between initials, including those in proper names: IMF, mph, eg, 4am, M&S, No 10, AN Wilson, WH Smith, etc.Use all capitals if an abbreviation is pronounced as the individual letters (an initialism): BBC, CEO, US, VAT, if it is an acronym (pronounced as a word) spell out with initial capital, eg Nasa, Nato, Unicef, unless it can be considered to have entered the language as an everyday word, such as awol, laser and, more recently, asbo, pin number and sim card. Note that pdf and plc are lowercase.If an abbreviation or acronym is to be used more than once in a piece, put it in brackets at first mention: so Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), seasonal affective disorder (Sad); alternatively, use the abbreviation with a brief description, eg the conservation charity the RSPB. Remember that our international online readership will not necessarily be aware of even well-known UK abbreviations. If an organisation is mentioned only once, it is not necessary to give its abbreviation or acronym.Cap up single letters in such expressions as C-list, F-word, "the word assassin contains four Ss", etcabdicaterenounce high officeabnegaterenounce privileges, deny oneselfabrogaterepeal, abolisharrogatetake or claim (something) for oneself without justificationabjurerenounceadjureurgeaborigines, aboriginalfor indigenous populations other than in Australia, where the traditional term "Aborigine" is outdated a the preferred term is Indigenous Australians, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peopleabscessabsorbbut absorptionabysmalabyssa cappellaItalian for "in the style of the church", ie unaccompanied singingAcasthe Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, thereafter just AcasaccentsUse on French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Irish Gaelic words (but not anglicised French words such as cafe, apart from exposé, lamé, résumé, roué). People's names, in whatever language, should also be given appropriate accents where known. Thus: "Arsène Wenger was on holiday in Bogotá with Rafa Benítez"Accentureformerly Andersen C the new name was devised by an employee from "accent on the future"accesshas been known as contact since the 1989 Children Actaccommodate, accommodationaccordionnot accordianachilles heel, achilles tendonacknowledgmentnot acknowledgementacresUse hectares, with acres in brackets, rounded up: eg the field measured 25 hectares (62 acres).You multiply hectares by 2.47 to convert to acres, or acres by 0.4 to convert to hectaresacronymsSee actuc when using full name, eg Criminal Justice Act 1998, Official Secrets A but lc on second reference, eg "the act", and when speaking in more general terms, eg "we need a radical freedom of information act"; bills remain lc until passed into lawAction on Hearing Lossformerly known as the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID)actorUse for both ma do not use actress except when in name of award, eg Oscar for best actress. The Guardian's view is that actress comes into the same category as authoress, comedienne, manageress, "lady doctor", "male nurse" and similar obsolete terms that date from a time when professions were largely the preserve of one sex (usually men). As Whoopi Goldberg put it in an interview with the paper: "An actress can only play a woman. I'm an actor – I can play anything."There is normally no need to differentiate between the sexes – and if there is, the words male and female are perfectly adequate: Lady Gaga won a Brit in 2010 for best international female artist, not artiste, chanteuse, or songstress.As always, use common sense: a piece about the late film director Carlo Ponti was edited to say that in his early career he was "already a man with a good eye for pretty actors ... " As the readers' editor pointed out in the subsequent clarification: "This was one of those occasions when the word 'actresses' might have been used"AD, BCAD goes before the date (AD64), BC goes after (300BC); both go after the century, eg second century AD, fourth century BCadaptationnot adaptionadapter adaptor plugaddendumplural addendums Latinate -um neuter endings that are a part of the language (eg stadium) take an -s plural. Exceptions: bacteria, which retain the Latin plural and take a plural verb, as do media, but note that spiritualists are mediumsaddresseslike this: 90 York Way, London N1 9GUAdidasinitial cap, although adidas is lc in the company logoadministrationthe Obama administration, etcadmissible, inadmissiblenot -ableadmitTake care – as a reader put it when we referred to Tory MPs who "admitted" being gay: "Admit in modern English is almost exclusively used when conceding or confessing something negative and/or of which one is or should be ashamed. Please be more careful. Language can offend." Quite.The former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee urged reporters not to "hide their biases and emotions behind subtly pejorative words" such as admitadoptionMention that children are adopted only when relevant to the story: a reader points out that "explicitly calling attention to adoptions in this way suggests that adoption is not as good, and not as real a relationship, as having a child normally". So say biological father, biological family rather than "real father", "real family", etcAdrenalinTM; a brand of adrenalineadrenalinehormone that increases heart rate and blood pressure, extracted from animals or synthesised for medical usesadvance bookingsrather than "advanced bookings". Or you could just say "bookings"adverbsMost adverbial phrases do not need hyphens. Never use them after adverbs ending in -ly, eg constantly evolving newspaper, genetically modified food, hotly disputed penalty, wholly owned subsidiary.For adverbs that do not end in -ly, use hyphens only when there would be a possibility of ambiguity without one, eg an ill-prepared speech. But phrases such as ever forgiving, near fatal, now defunct, once popular, etc do not need hyphens.Exceptions: much and well when used before a noun, eg a much-loved character (but a character who is much loved), a well-founded suspicion (a suspicion that is well founded), etcadverse averse reluctant: He was averse to crossing the Irish Sea in such adverse conditions.advisernot advisoradvocatemember of the Scottish bar (not a barrister)aeroplaneaffect/effectexhortations in the style guide had no effect (noun) on th the level of mistakes was not affected (verb) by exhortation we hope to effect (verb) a change in thisaffidavita written declaration made on oath, so "sworn affidavit" is tautologousaffinitywith or between, not to or forafghanhoundAfghanspeopleafghanicurrency of Afghanistanaficionadoplural aficionadosAfrican AmericanAfrican-Caribbeannot Afro-CaribbeanAfrikaanslanguageAfrikanerpersonAfrikandercattle breedafrohairstyleafterlife, aftermathageingagesDavid Cameron, 45 (not "aged 45"); little Lucy, the woman was in her 20s (but twentysomething, thirtysomething, etc)Age UKcharity formed by the merger of Age Concern and Help the Aged in 2009aggravatewidely used both in the sense of to mak the former dates from the 1590s, the latter from the 1610saggroabbreviation of aggravation, and spelt thus despite the once popular terrace chant "A, G, A-G-R, A-G-R-O: agro!"AGMa-haband from N A-ha! Alan Partridge catchphrase, quoting Abba's Knowing Me, Knowing Youahead ofoverused, and often jars ("Why else would they hurriedly concoct their own 'Confucius peace prize', a day ahead of the ceremony in Oslo?" appeared in a leading article); before (which should have been used in this case) or in advance of are among the alternativesaide-de-campplural aides-de-camp (aide is a noun)aide-memoireplural aide-memoires (aide is a verb)Aidsacquired immune deficiency syndrome, but normally no need to spell out. Do not use such terms as "Aids victims" or someone "suffering from Aids", language that in the words of one reader is "crass, inaccurate and reinforces stigma", implying helplessne "people with Aids" or "living with Aids" are preferable.Do not use the term "full-blown Aids". Unesco guidelines state: "This term implies that there are varying stages of Aids ... People have Aids only when they present with an Aids-defining illness"airbase, aircrew, airdrop, airfield, airlift, airmail, airspace, airstrip, airtimeaircraftdesignations usually take hyphens after initials, e.g. B-52, MiG-23aircraft carrierair fares, air force, air raid, air show, air strikeAir Force OneUS president's jetair hostesscabin attendant or flight attendant, pleaseairportsHeathrow, Gatwick, Stansted (normally no need to say airport); Liverpool John Lennon airport, Schiphol airport, etcair vice-marshalAKAalso known asakimboSee al-(note lc and hyphen) before an Arabic name means "the" so try to avoid writing "the al- ..." where possibleSee al-Aqsa Martyrs BrigadeAlastair or Alistair?Alastair Campbell (spin doctor)Alastair Cook (cricketer)Alastair Hetherington (late Guardian editor)Alastair Stewart (broadcaster)Alistair Cooke (late BBC and Guardian journalist)Alistair Darling (politician)Alistair MacLean (late novelist)Alistair McGowan (impressionist)Aleister Crowley (late satanist)Albright, Madeleineformer US secretary of stateAlcott, Louisa May(1832-88) American author of Little WomenA-levelsAl Fayed, Mohamedowner of Harrods (Fayed Mr Fayed if honorific is needed); the son who died in Paris in 1997 was Dodi FayedAlfonsín, Raúl() president of Argentina from 1983-89alfrescoalgaeplural of algaAli, Muhammadwas Cassius Clay until 1964alibi not synonymous with excusealice bandas worn by Alice in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) and more recently David BeckhamAlice booksAlice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), was published in 1865; its sequel, which followed six years later, is called Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.Note that they are not called "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking-Glass"A-listetc, but to refer to "C-list celebrities" and its variations has become tedious. An edition of G2 referred to "D-list celebrities" and, less than hilariously, in a separate piece about the same reality TV show, "Z-list celebrities"al-JazeeraAllahArabic for "the God". Both words refer to the same concept: there is no major difference between God in the Old Testament and Allah in Islam. Therefore it makes sense to talk about "God" in an Islamic context and to use "Allah" in quotations or for literary effectAllahu Akbar"God is greatest"Allawi, AyadIraqi politicianAllende, IsabelC her father was a cousin of Salvador AllendeAllende, SalvadorChilean president, overthrown and killed in 1973alliessecond world war allies, the allied invasion, etcall mouth and trousersnot "all mouth and no trousers"all righthas traditionally been regarded as right, and alright as not all right (although the 1965 Who song, much loved by generations of headline writers and still widely quoted today, was The Kids are Alright). Kingsley Amis in The King's English said alright was "gross, crass, coarse and to be avoided" but admitted this was "a rule without a reason".Note, however, the difference between "she got the answers all right" and "she got the answers, alright!"All Souls CollegeOxford, no apostropheal-Maliki, Nouri(not Nuri) became prime minister of Iraq in 2006Almoarm's-length management organisationAlmodóvar, PedroSpanish film-makeralpha maleal-Qaidait means "the base"al-Sadr, Moqtadacreator of the Mahdi army, or as the magazine Red Pepper described it: "Moqtada al-Sadr's not-so-barmy army"alsatiandogAlsatianperson from Alsaceal-ShabaabIslamist insurgency group in S it means "the youth". Singular not plural.alsooften redundantAlta Vistaalter egonot "altar ego", as we have been known to spell italternativenormally a choice between t if there are more than two, option or cho beware the trend to use "alternate" instead of alternative: in a piece about French politics we wrote "in this juddering alternate reality …"alumnus although in the UK graduate is preferableal-Zaidi, MuntazerIraqi journalist who served a jail sentence for throwing his shoes at the then US president, George BushAlzheimer's diseaseAM (assembly member)member of the Welsh assemblyAmazonnormally no need for com or co.ukambassadorlc, eg the British ambassador to W "ambassador, you are spoiling us" has become a headline clicheambiencenot ambianceamendmentsto the US constitution like this: fifth amendment, 18th amendment, etcAmerica, Americansthe country is generally the United States or US, although its citizens are A we should remember that America includes all of North and South AmericaAmerican Civil Liberties Unionnot American Civil Rights UnionAmerican EnglishFollow US spellings for proper nouns, eg Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Defense, Labor Day, One World Trade Center, Ann Arbor, Pearl HarborAmerican universitiesTake care: "University of X" is not the same as "X University"; most states have two large public universities, eg University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University, University of Illinois and Illinois State University, etc. Do not call Johns Hopkins University "John Hopkins" or Stanford University "Stamford"America's Cupsailing trophy named after the schooner America, its first winnerAmhrán na bhFiannIrish national anthemAmicustrade union formed by a merger between the AEEU and MSF, now part of Unite after a further merger with the TGWUamidnot amidst."James warned, however, that the second half of the year was likely to prove more challenging overall amid a weak consumer backdrop."Things fall against a backdrop, not amid one. If something is amid the backdrop, it's part of it,
and thus completely unremarkable. Some cliches make
this one makes the news sound as if it's not news at all amoknot amuckamongnot amongstamong or between?Whatever you may have been told, between is not limited to two parties. It is appropriate when the relationship is essentially reciprocal: fighting between the many peoples of Yugoslavia, treaties between European countries, among belongs to distributive relationships: shared among, etcamount or number?amount refers to a quantity, number to something that can be counted, eg an enormous amount of energy was exerted by a small number of peopleampersandUse in company names when the company does: Johnson & Johnson, Marks & Spencer, P&O, etcanaestheticanalysisplural analysesancestors we frequently manage to get them the wrong way roundAndalucíaAnderson shelternot AndersenAngkor WatAngkor Wat is only one of the 100 or so temples of Angkor, albeit the best known ("wat" means temple)anglicise, anglophile, anglophoneanimalspronoun "it" unless gender establishedannex I am going to annex the annexe for the afternoonanorexicis not a superlative of thin. Anorexia is an illness. Like schizophrenia, it should not be used as a cheap and lazy metaphor. Anyone who thinks of using a phrase such as "positively anorexic" should think againAnsaphoneTM; use answering machine or answerphoneantenna(insect) (radio) plural antennasanti-ballistic missile treatyantichristanticipatetake acti not synonymous with expectanticlimaxantidepressantsantidisestablishmentarianismposition adopted by those opposed to the disestablishment of the Church of England.Not recommended for use in headlinesantiheroantipodean, antipodesantisemitic, antisemitismno hyphen: it does not mean "anti-Semitic"antisocialanti-warany morePlease do not say "anymore" any moreapexplural apexesapostrofly"an insect that lands at random on the printed page, depositing an apostrophe wherever it lands" according to the Guardian's former readers' editorapostrophesused to indicate a missing letter or letters (can't, we'd) or a possessive (David's book).Don't let anyone tell you that apostrophes don't matter and we would be better off without them. Consider these four phrases, each of which means something different:my sister's friend's books (refers to one sister and her friend).my sister's friends' books (one sister with lots of friends).my sisters' friend's books (more than one sister, and their friend).my sisters' friends' books (more than one sister, and their friends).The possessive in words and names ending in S normally takes an apostrophe followed by a second S (Jones's, James's), but be guided by pronunciation and use the plural apostrophe where it helps: Mephistopheles', Waters', Hedges' rather than Mephistopheles's, Waters's, Hedges's.Plural nouns that do not end in S take an apostrophe and S in the possessive: children's games, old folk's home, people's republic, etc.Phrases such as butcher's knife, collector's item, cow's milk, goat's cheese, pig's blood, hangman's noose, writer's cramp, etc are treated as singular.Use apostrophes in phrases such as two days' time, 12 years' imprisonment and six weeks' holiday, where the time period (two days) modifies a noun (time), but not in nine months pregnant or three weeks old, where the time period is adverbial (modifying an adjective such as pregnant or old) – if in doubt, test with a singular such as one day's time, one month pregnant.Some shops use an apostrophe, wrongly, to indicate a plural ("pea's"), but will generally omit the apostrophe when one is actually required ("new seasons asparagus"), a phenomenon sometimes referred to as the greengrocer's (or grocer's) apostrophe. Try to avoid thisappan application for, typically, a mobile phoneappalbut as the Prince of Wales might say, it really is appallingapparatchikappealIn British English you appeal against a decision, verdict, etc, you do not "appeal the verdict". After we reported on 9 June 2010 that a convicted murderer "successfully appealed the sentence", a despairing reader wrote: "This usage seems to be occurring more and more, sometimes even in headlines. Do Guardian journalists not read the style guide?" Not all of them, evidentlyappendixplural appendicesAppleno longer Apple Computerappleslc: cox's orange pippin, golden delicious, granny smith, etcappraiseto evaluateappriseto informApril Fools' Dayalso known, less commonly nowadays, as All Fools' D an individual prank, or the victim of one, is an April fool, so you might say "one of the greatest April fools was the Guardian's
– it made April fools of all who were taken in"aquariumplural aquariumsArabBoth a noun and an adjective, and the preferred adjective when referring to Arab things in general, eg Arab history, Arab traditions. Arabic usually refers to the language and literature: "the Arabic press" means newspapers written in Arabic, while "the Arab press" would include newspapers produced by Arabs in other languages. There is no simple definition of an Arab. At an international level, the 22 members of the Arab League can safely be described as Arab countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. At a human level, there are substantial groups within those countries – the Berbers of north Africa and the Kurds, for example – who do not regard themselves as Arabs.Arabic namesThough Arabic has only three vowels – a, i and u – it has several consonants that have no equivalent in the Roman alphabet. For instance, there are two kinds of s, d and t. There are also two glottal sounds. This means there are dozens of ways of writing the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's name in English, and a reasonable argument can be made for adopting almost any of them. With no standard approach to transliteration agreed by the western media, we must try to balance consistency, comprehensibility and familiarity – which often puts a strain on all three. Typically, Arabs have at least three names. In some cases the first or second name may be the one that is most used, and this does not imply familiarity (Arabs often address foreigners politely as "Mr John" or "Dr David"). Often Arabs also have familiar names that have no connection with the names on their identity cards: a man might become known after the birth of his first son as "Abu Ahmad", and a woman as "Umm Ahmad", the father or mother of Ahmad (eg the Palestinian leader Ahmed Qureia is commonly known as Abu Ala). Where a particular spelling has become widely accepted through usage we should retain it. Where an individual with links to the west has clearly adopted a particular spelling of his or her own name, we should respect that. For breaking news and stories using names for which we have no established style, we take the lead given by Reuters wire copy. Note also that names in some parts of the Arab world have become gallicised, while others have become anglicised, eg the leading Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine uses a French spelling instead of the English transliteration, Shaheen.Some guidelines (for use particularly where there is no established transliteration)al- Means "the". In names it is not capitalised, eg Ahmad al-Saqqaf, and can be dropped after the first mention (Mr Saqqaf). For placenames we drop it altogether. Sometimes it appears as as- or ash- or ad- or ul-: these should be ignored and can be safely rewritten as al-. But some Arabs, including Syrians and Egyptians, prefer to use el- in place of al-. Exceptions: by convention, Allah (al-Lah, literally "the God") is written as one
and in Saudi royal names, Al Saud is correct (in this case, "al" is actually "aal" and does not mean "the"). abdul, abu and bin These are not self-contained names, but are connected to the name that follows: abdul means "slave of … " and so cannot correctly be used on its own. There are standard combinations, "slave of the merciful one", "slave of the generous one", etc, which all indicate that the person is a servant of God. In transliteration, "abd" (slave) is lowercase, eg Ahmad abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf, except when used at the start of a name. abu (father of) and bin (son of) are similar. When they appear in the middle of a name they should be lower case and are used in combination with the following part of the name: Faisal abu Ahmad al-Saqqaf, Faisal bin Ahmad al-Saqqaf. Despite the above, some people are actually known as "Abdul". This is more common among non-Arab Muslims. And some Arabs run "abd" or "abu" into the following word, eg the writer Abdelrahman Munif.MuhammadOur style for the prophet's name and for most Muhammads living in Arab countries, though where someone's preferred spelling is known we respect it, eg Mohamed Al Fayed, Mohamed ElBaradei. The spelling Mohammed (or variants) is considered archaic by most British Muslims, and disrespectful by many of them.Muhandis/Mohandes, QadiBe wary of names where the first word is Muhandis or Qadi: these are honorary titles, meaning engineer and judge respectivelyArab springAran Islandis off Co Donegal and the Aran Islands off Co Galway in western I the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Aran sweaters, whether Irish or Scottish, come in lowercase with an initial cap Aarcane archaic antiquated (yes, we got them the wrong way round)archbishopsIt is not normally necessary to use their formal title, which for both Anglicans and Catholics is Most Rev: so Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, at first mention, thereafter Williams or the archbishop (except in leading articles, where he is Dr Williams); Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, on first mention, subsequently Nichols or the archbishoparchdeaconthe Ven Paul Olive, archdeacon of Farringdon, thereafter Olive, or the archdeaconarcheryarrows are shot, and if they hit the centre of the target, it is a gold rather than a bullseyearchetype or stereotype?An archetype is a perfect or typical specimen, an original model or pattern, or prototype.A stereotype is based on simplistic generalisations about a particular group. So the matriarch in a typical Woody Allen film might be described as a stereotypical, not archetypal, Jewish motherarchipelagoplural archipelagosarch-rivalan arch rival would mean something differentArdoyne(Belfast), not "the Ardoyne"Argentina, Argentinianarguablyunarguably one of the most overused words in the languageArmageddonarmed forces, armed servicesthe army, the British army, the navy, but Royal Navy, Royal Air Force or RAFarms akimbohands on hips, it is surprising how often the phrase "legs akimbo" turns up in the paper, "suggesting that such a posture exists, but lacks a word to define it", as David McKie wrote. The radical theatre group in the BBC TV comedy series The League of Gentlemen was called Legz Akimboaroundabout or approximately are better, eg "about ?1m" or "approximately 2,000 people"around or round?We were driving around a it nearly drove me round the bendarranged marriagesare a traditional and perfectly acceptable form of wedlock across southern Asia and within the Asian community in B they should not be confused with forced marriages, which are arranged without the consent of one or both partners, and have been widely criticisedarseBritish E ass American Englisharsing aboutrather than arseingart movementsare generally lowercase, eg art deco, art nouveau, cubism, dadaism, expressionism, gothic, impressionism, pop art, surrealism, etc, but note Bauhaus, Modern (in the sense of Modern British, to distinguish it from "modern art", pre-Raphaelite, Romantic (to differentiate between a romantic painting and a Romantic painting)artefactartistnot artiste (except, possibly, in a historical context)Arts and Crafts movementArts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, Creative Scotlandas or since?"as" is causal: I cannot check the online style guide as th "since" is temporal: Luckily, I have had the latest edition of Guardian Style on my desk since it was publishedasboantisocial behaviour orderascendancy, ascendantAseanAssociation of Southeast (sic) Asian NationsAshAction on Smoking and HealthAshuraa day of voluntary fasting for M Shia Muslims also commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the prophet, so for them it is not a festival but a day of mourningAsperger syndromeis the proper name but it is acceptable to call it Asperger'saspirinal-Assad, Basharbecame president of Syria in 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assadassassin, assassinationthe murder of prominent political figures rather than, say, celebritiesassisted dyingis preferable to "assisted suicide"astrologer, astrologyhoroscopesastronomer, astronomytelescopesastronomer royalcurrently Lord ReesAsuncióncapital of Paraguayasylum seekerSomeone seeking refugee status or hum there is no such thing as an "illegal asylum seeker", a term the Press Complaints Commission ruled in breach of its code of practice. Refugees are people who have fled their home countries in fear for their lives, and may have been granted asylum under the 1951 refugee convention or qualify for humanitarian protection or discretionary leave, or have been granted exceptional leave to remain in Britain. Someone who is refused asylum should be referred to as a refused asylum seeker, not a "failed asylum seeker".An asylum seeker can become an illegal immigrant only if he or she remains in Britain after having failed to respond to a removal noticeATCUAssociated Train Crew U not to be confused with ACTU, the Australian Council of Trade Unionsathletics1500m but 5,000m (the former is the "fifteen hundred" not "one thousand five hundred" metres)Atlantic Oceanor just the Atlanticattacheno accentattention deficit hyperactivity disorderADHD after first mentionAttlee, Clement() Labour prime minister 1945-51, often misspelt as Atleeattorney generallc, plural attorney generals (there will be those who tell you it should be "attorneys general" – )augerused to make holesaugurpredict or presageAum Shinrikyomeans Supreme Truth sect, but note that the "aum" means sect, so to talk about the "Aum sect" or "Aum cult" is tautologousAung San Suu KyiUse her full name (as with other Burmese names), even on second and subsequent mentions, if absolutely necessary, Suu Kyi is permissible in headlinesAuntienot Aunty if you must refer to the BBC in this wayau pairAustralasiaOceania is preferable. Australian Labor partynot Labourautismneurological disorder, to be used only when referring to the condition, not as a term of abuse, or in producing such witticisms as "mindless moral autism" and "Star Wars is a form of male autism", both of which have appearedautisticsomeone with autism, not someone with poor social skillsAutocueTM; teleprompter is a generic alternativeAuto-TuneTM; also Auto-Tuned, etcautumnAVthe alternative vote electoral systemavant gardeno hyphenaverage, mean and medianAlthough we loosely refer to the "average" in many contexts (eg pay), there are two useful averages worth distinguishing. What is commonly known as the average is the mean: everyone's wages are added up and divided by the number of wage earners. The median is described as "the value below which 50% of employees fall", ie it is the wage earned by the middle person when everyone's wages are lined up from smallest to largest. (For even numbers there are two middle people, but you calculate the mean average of their two wages.) The median is often a more useful guide than the mean, which can be distorted by figures at one extreme or the otherawards and prizesare generally lc, eg Guardian first book award, Nobel peace prize (but note Academy Awards)lc for categories, eg Colin Firth won the best actor Oscar, Chipmunk was voted best newcomer at the 2008 Mobos, etcawolstands for "absent without leave" but, having been around since at least the 1920s, has established itself as a word in its own rightawopbopaloobop alopbamboomfrom Little Richard's Tutti Frutti (1955), a recording that has been described as "the sound of the birth of rock'n'roll"axingnot axeing, but cutting jobs is less cliched than axing themaxisplural axesAyers Rockalso known as UluruAzerbaijannoun, A note that there are ethnic Azeris living in, for example, ArmeniaAznar, José Maríaformer prime minister of Spain & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & &
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About this article
Guardian and Observer style guide: A
This article was published on
at 16.22 GMT on Friday 21 November 2014.
It was last modified at 16.22 GMT on Friday 21 November 2014.
It was first published at 14.52 GMT on Friday 14 February 2014.
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This is the guide to writing, editing and English usage followed by journalists at the Guardian, Observer .Edited by
and . Illustrations by Jakob Hinrichs.Refer to
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