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Armed Forces Arts Churches Courts Politics Sport Titles

b (abbreviation for born), no full point, eg, b 1906. Likewise d for died: d 1997

BAA is the name of the airports operator, formerly known as the British Airports Authority

Baader-Meinhof gang (hyphen). Note the title of the film The Baader Meinhof Complex (no hyphen). Do not abbreviate Red Army Faction to RAF; rather, refer to the faction (l/c) as a variant. See Meinhof, Ulrike

Baath party, not Ba'ath

Baby Bonds registered as a friendly society trademark, so must not be used in a generic sense or as vernacular for Child Trust Fund (initial caps). See trade names

baby-boomer

Babygro (cap, proprietary)

Baby P at first mention of the 17-month-old dead child in the London Borough of Haringey in August 2007, use constructions such as "the Baby P case", "Baby P, later revealed to be called Peter" or "in the case of Baby P, later revealed to be called Peter". At subsequent mentions, simply write Peter when referring to him directly; "the Baby Peter case" etc

baby-walker

baccalaureate use Anglicised spelling with l/c for general use, but cap in specific context of the International Baccalaureate; and note the specifically French examination or degree, the Baccalauréat (italic, cap, accent, no final "e")

Bacharach, Burt

backache, backbreaking, but back pain

bacterium singular bacteria plural

BAE Systems, no longer British Aerospace or BAe

B&B with caps and closed up around ampersand as abbreviation for bed and breakfast

back benches (parliamentary) two words; but backbenchers, backbench (adjectival, as in backbench revolt). See Politics special section

back burner (no hyphen), but be sparing of the cliché "on the back burner"

backlash overworked word; always try to avoid

backstreet(s) noun or adjective, no hyphen; similarly, backyard

“back to basics” (quotes, no hyphen) campaign by the Conservative Government of John Major

back-up (noun, hyphenate)

bacteria and viruses are different and the terms are not interchangeable. Make sure the terminology is correct. Note that antibiotics are used to treat bacterial but not viral infections.

See medical terms, meningitis

Bafta (not BAFTA), the British Academy of Film and Television Arts

Baha'i

bail out (as in to bail someone out of trouble; also bail water from a boat); but bale out of an aircraft by parachute, to escape. NB, bailout (one word, as noun). See -out

balk not baulk

Balkans prefer to Balkan states. This region includes the former Yugoslav republics, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece and the European part of Turkey

ball plural in Court Page headlines is Dances

ballgown (one word)

balloted, like benefited, budgeted etc, has only one “t”

Balpa British Airline Pilots' Association

Baltic states (l/c states) from north to south, and coincidentally in alphabetical order, they are Estonia (capital Tallinn), Latvia (capital Riga) and Lithuania (Vilnius).

Do not use the abbreviated Baltics

Baluchistan prefer to Balochistan

Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General. See Boutros Boutros Ghali, Korean names

bandana prefer to bandanna

Band, Admiral Sir Jonathon First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff. See Armed Forces special section

Bangladesh note that Sheikh Hasina remains Sheikh Hasina at subsequent mentions

banister not bannister

Bannister, Roger ran the first sub-four-minute mile (on May 6, 1954)

Bank Holiday, Bank Holiday Monday etc

Bank for International Settlements (not "of")

bankruptcy in Britain people file a petition for bankruptcy; they do not file for bankruptcy

baptistry prefer to baptistery. See Church special section

Bar, the (legal); also cap for the Bar of the House of Commons and cap in military honours sense, eg, DFC and Bar. See Courts special section and Politics special section

barbecue, barbecuing

bar mitzvah (l/c, roman); also bat mitzvah for girls

Bar school l/c “s”, as this is not its official title, and no longer Bar law school. Its full name is the Inns of Court School of Law

Barnardo's, and no longer Dr Barnardo's Homes

barony pertains to barons (eg, Lord X); baronetcy to baronets (hereditary titles carrying the prefix Sir, eg, Sir Fred Y; The Times does not usually use the Bt suffix). Note, knighthoods are not hereditary although they also use the title Sir. See Titles special section

Barroso the European Commission President wishes to be known as José Manuel Barroso, dropping the Durão. At second mention, he is Mr Barroso

Barts (no longer an apostrophe) abbreviation of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London

Basle (Switzerland), not Basel. See Berne

basically greatly overworked word which rarely adds anything to a sentence. Always try to avoid

Basij the Iranian volunteer militia. A member is a Basiji, plural Basijis. See Iran

basis “on a ... basis” is a cliché and should be avoided; for “employment on a part-time basis” say “part-time employment”

Basque Country (initial caps). See Eta

bated/baited Note the important difference - bated breath; baited hook

Batmanghelidjh, Camila founder of Kids Company

battalion (never batallion). Say the 1st Battalion, the 7th Battalion etc (not First, Seventh). See Armed Forces special section

Battenberg for the aristocratic family and the cake

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home ampersand, no apostrophes. Used to be known formally as The Dogs' Home, Battersea

battle avoid using as a transitive verb as in “The students battled the police ... ”; use “fought” or “battled against” instead

battle cry

Baylis, Trevor the inventor (single s)

BBC no need to spell out as British Broadcasting Corporation, though "the corporation" is a useful alternative in text. Note that in the spring of 2002 the BBC rebranded its TV channels as BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three and BBC Four etc (no longer BBC1, BBC2 etc); however, the numeral can still be used in headlines where space is tight. But the principal BBC radio stations - Radio 1, Radio 1 Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio 5 Live, Radio 5 Live Sport Extra, Radio 6 Music and Radio 7 - keep the numerals.

Note BBC Television and BBC Radio (caps). Note also the BBC Chairman takes caps (although chairman in most other cases is l/c). This is because we cap the Director-General and when both appear in the same story it is anomalous to cap the one and not the other. Cap the BBC Trust.

In historic context, capitalise the BBC Board of Governors, but otherwise l/c the governors of the trust. Note l/c controller. See radio stations, television

BBC Charter (cap when in full, then the charter l/c)

BBC Trust

BC See AD

be-all and end-all note hyphens

beanbag one word

Beatles, the, no need to cap the unless at the start of a sentence; similarly the Clash, the Killers, the Rolling Stones, the Smiths etc but prefer to keep cap “T” with The Who and The The.

See Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Beatrix (not Beatrice), Queen of the Netherlands. See Holland, Netherlands

Becket St Thomas à Becket (with the à)

Bec School the grammar school in southwest London attended by the Conservative politician David Davis

bedizened archaic but lovely word meaning dressed or decorated gaudily or tastelessly

Beduin is plural. The singular is Bedu

Beersheba

Beethoven, Ludwig van (not von); normally Beethoven will suffice. See Van

beg the question has a confusing variety of meanings, so is best avoided. Especially, do not confuse with "ask" or "raise" the question

Beijing (no longer Peking). See Chinese names

Belarus (no longer Belorussia); its people are Belarussians (prefer to Belarusians)

beleaguered a cliché, especially in a political context, so best avoided

Belfast, North, South, East and West. See Ireland

bellringer, bellringing, belltower (no hyphens). See peal

bellwether (not bellweather)

Belmarsh prison is in southeast London. See London, Prison Service

benchmark (no hyphen)

benefited not benefitted

Ben-Gurion, David note hyphen. See Israel

Bennet thus for the family in Pride and Prejudice

benzene is a substance obtained from coal-tar;

benzine is a spirit obtained from petroleum

-berg, -burg always check spelling of towns with these endings, and those ending in -burgh, -borough, -brough

Berkeley Square, in the West End of London; similarly, Berkeley, California

Bermudian, not Bermudan; but a Bermuda-rigged boat

Berne (Switzerland), not Bern. See Basle

berserk not beserk

Berwick-upon-Tweed (the northernmost town in England)

beseeched prefer to besought

Beshenivsky, PC Sharon (shot dead in Bradford, 2005). See police ranks

Bestinvest independent financial adviser (IFA) formerly known as BEST Investment

best loved, best-loved etc: ensure there is a hyphen if you mean a best-loved writer rather than a best loved writer

bestseller (one word); likewise bestselling

bête noire, no longer italic; final “e” on noire. See italics

Betjeman, Sir John (not Betjamin)

betting odds use a hyphen (16-1, 6-4 etc), not a slash (16/1). For odds-on, smaller figure comes first (1-2, 4-11 and so on)

Bevan, Aneurin; Bevin, Ernest

Beverly Hills in California; cf Beverley (note third "e") is in the East Riding of Yorkshire

Beyoncé (Knowles) note accent

Bhutto, Benazir she was referred to as Miss rather than Ms or Mrs at subsequent mentions. See Mehsud, Baitullah

bi- take care with this difficult prefix. Its correct use is in Latin compounds, where it has the force of two, not half, such as bicentenary/bicentennial (a two-hundredth anniversary), or biennial (recurring every two years). Biannual means twice a year; to avoid confusion, write out twice a year

biased

Bible cap and roman, not italic, in the religious context; but biblical (l/c); biblical references thus - II Corinthians ii, 2; Luke iv, 5.

Write bible (l/c) in a metaphorical sense, eg, "For many, Vogue is the fashion bible". See Churches special section.

Many Bible translations are available here. Cf references in the Koran

Bible Belt (both cap "B")

bid do not use in text as synonym of effort, attempt or try, though it may be used sparingly in headlines in this context

big bang l/c for the event postulated by cosmological theory relating to the beginnings of the Universe; note big-bang theory (hyphen as modifier). See CERN;

but Big Bang (caps) for the modernisation of the London Stock Exchange in October 1986. See Stock Exchange

bight is a curve in a coastline or river; bite involves teeth. Do not confuse. See bite, German Bight

Bigley, Kenneth not Ken, the hostage murdered in Iraq in 2004. See War in Iraq

Bill and Act caps whether fully identified or not, whether British or foreign

Bill of Rights cap even when non-specific (eg, “If the Government were to introduce a Bill of Rights ...”)

billion one thousand million, not a million million. Write £5 billion, £15 billion (£5bn, £15bn in headlines), three billion, 15 billion etc. See millions, trillion

Billy Elliot (hit film), not Elliott. But see T. S. Eliot

bin Laden, Osama note l/c "bin", except where it is the first word of a headline or sentence. Avoid the "Mr" designation, as with Saddam Hussein etc. Bin Laden's organisation is al-Qaeda (not Qaida). See War on Terror

bin-liner (use hyphen)

biological terms See scientific names, with particular reference to Latin terms - cap letter for first (genus) word, then l/c for the second (species); and italicise for all but the most common, eg, Turdus merula, the blackbird

Birds Eye the manufacturer of frozen food. See fishfinger

Biro is a trade name, so cap; generic alternative is ballpoint pen

birthday people and animals have birthdays; everything else has anniversaries. Write 33rd birthday, 65th birthday etc (any number higher than tenth). See numbers

birthrate, birthright, birthplace (no hyphens), but birth control, birth certificate etc

Birtwistle, Sir Harrison (composer), not Birtwhistle

bisexual pronouns he and his can no longer refer to both sexes equally; he or she will sometimes do. Always be sensitive in this contentious area. It is often easier to use the plural they

Bishkek capital of Kyrgyzstan

bishops see archbishops

Bishopsgate in the City of London (not Bishopgate)

Bishop's Stortford

bit abbreviate to b, thus kilobit (kb), megabit (Mb) etc. See byte

bite (as with teeth) must not be confused with the computing term byte or the geographical bight. See bight, byte, soundbite

Black Hawk the Sikorsky helicopter marque; note the movie Black Hawk Down. See aircraft names

blacklist one word as noun or verb. See shortlist

blackout (noun, one word)

blacks (people), l/c; do not use “non-whites” and be sensitive to local usage. African-American is now often used in the United States, for instance. See also Coloureds, race

blackspot (accident, unemployment etc), one word; similarly, troublespot, hotspot

blame take care with this word; blame is attached to causes, not effects. So say “Bad weather is blamed for my bronchitis”, NOT “My bronchitis is blamed on bad weather”

Blanchett, Cate

Blériot, Louis

Blind, Royal National Institute of the (not for the) (RNIB)

bloc use in context such as the former Soviet bloc, a power bloc etc; but block vote

blond for men, blonde for women

blood the National Blood Service (NBS) - not the National Blood Transfusion Service - operates only in England and North Wales. Until October 2005 its parent administrative body was the National Blood Authority. The equivalent bodies to the NBS in other countries of the UK are the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service; the Welsh Blood Service (for South and Mid Wales, but not for North Wales); and the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service. See NHS Blood and Transplant

bloodied but unbowed; but red-blooded etc

blood sports (two words; similarly field sports). See foxhunt

bloody mary l/c for the cocktail of tomato juice and vodka

Bloomingdale's

blowsy prefer to blowzy

Blue cap both for an Oxbridge sportsman or woman and for the award itself. See Sports special section

BlackBerry the mobile phone; plural BlackBerrys

blue-chip hyphen as modifier, eg, a blue-chip company

blue-collar workers, as white-collar workers

blueprint avoid this greatly overworked word when all you mean is plan, scheme or proposal

bluetongue one word

bluffers be very cautious. The Bluffer's Guide/Guides are trademarks, rigorously protected by their publishers. So generic phrases such as "a bluffer's guide to ..." must be avoided. See trade names

Blu-Tack proprietary so must cap

bmi british midland (no longer British Midland), the airline; note also easyJet and buzz, but Go (now with cap)

Boadicea not Boudicca

boat is generally used of a small vessel, including fishing boats up to the size of a trawler; a ship is a large seagoing vessel big enough to carry smaller boats. In the Royal Navy, submarines are called boats. All take the pronoun she and the possessive her. See ships

Boat Race caps for the annual Oxford-Cambridge race

Bobcat should not be used in a generic sense as a description of skid-steer loaders or other equipment. See trade names

Boche, derogatory slang for Germans; Bosch, the household appliance or power tools manufacturer

Body&Soul close up, roman, for the section of The Times

bodyline one word, no quotes; use lower case in general usage such as bodyline bowling but cap for the Bodyline tour (of 1932-33). See Cricket special section

boffin do not use as a synonym of scientist, except ironically or in direct quotes

Bogart, Humphrey, but (Sir) Dirk Bogarde

bogey (golf), bogie (wheels), bogy (ghost); but note bogeyman

Bogotá (capital of Colombia)

Bohemian (cap noun), but bohemian (adj, l/c)

Bolívar, Simón

Bolshevik

bolshie l/c for rebellious; cap in (derogatory) political context

bolt hole two words

bombs car bomb, fire bomb, nail bomb, petrol bomb, suicide bomb etc, but hyphenate verbal or adjectival use, eg, to fire-bomb, a nail-bomb attack

bombshell in metaphorical use, as in “drop a bombshell”, a cliché that has no place in The Times

bonanza another greatly overworked word that should be avoided wherever possible

Bond, Jennie the former BBC royal correspondent

Bonfire Night initial caps; see Guy Fawkes Night

Bonham Carter, Helena (no hyphen)

Bonhams (no apostrophe), the auction house; still known simply as Bonhams despite recent (summer 2002) on-off merger activity

Boodle's, the London club. See London clubs

bookshop

Boötes diaeresis on the name of the constellation

Booth, Cherie the wife of Tony Blair should be referred to as Cherie Booth wherever possible rather than Cherie Blair. Refer to Cherie Blair only in context where she is clearly in the role of his wife, eg, at summit meetings or on the campaign trail. In legal contexts, write Cherie Booth, QC, at first mention; subsequent mentions, Ms Booth

Boothroyd, Baroness (not of Sandwell or anywhere else); Lady Boothroyd at second mention, as normal style

Border cap the one between England and Scotland

bored with/by, not of cf tired of

borstals no longer exist; they are now young offender institutions

bortsch (Russian or Polish soup)

Bosphorus

Botox trade name, so must cap

Boutros Boutros Ghali (no hyphens), the former UN Secretary-General; at subsequent mentions, Dr Boutros Ghali. His successor was the Ghanaian Kofi Annan, in turn replaced by Ban Ki Moon. See Korean names

Bowes Lyon no hyphen for most of the family, but always important to check in Who's Who or Debrett, available via knowuk. The late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother did NOT take the hyphen

bow tie no longer hyphenated

box office as noun, two words; but hyphenate when adjectival (eg, box-office success)

boxed sets prefer to box sets for CDs, DVDs etc

boy band two words. Note also girl band

boyfriend, girlfriend

Boy Scouts are now simply Scouts in the UK. Cub Scouts have replaced Wolf Cubs; Scoutleaders have replaced Scoutmasters. Also cap Scouting in the context of the movement. In the US there are still Boy Scouts. Similarly for Guides, Girl Guides

Boy's Own as generic phrase, cap and roman; but the old publication was called The Boy's Own Paper

BPI formerly the British Phonographic Industry. It may be helpful to explain in copy that the BPI is the record companies body

Braille cap

brainchild try to avoid this cliché

branch (in police context): Special Branch, Anti-Terrorist Branch. See police forces

Brands Hatch

brasserie may be uplifting but not to be confused with brassiere

breakthrough avoid describing every bit of medical and scientific progress as a breakthrough - "a significant development or discovery, especially in science". It isn't

breakout, breakdown (as noun, each one word); but to break out etc, and break-up (hyphen)

breastfeed(ing) no longer use hyphen

breast-stroke hyphenate the swimming discipline

Breathalyser (cap, proprietary), but to breathalyse (l/c, generic)

breathtaking no hyphen

breech birth

Brent Spar was not an oil platform, still less a rig. It is a storage buoy and must be referred to in no other way. Note that oil platforms stand on the seabed; oilrigs are small mobile installations for oil exploration

Bretton Woods (as in world trade)

Breughel (the painters)

Bric Brazil, Russia, India and China collectively, all relatively fast-growing developing economies; thus, eg, the Bric countries

bridges cap as in Severn Bridge, London Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge

Bridget Jones's Diary (not Jones'), novel and film

Bridgwater (Somerset) has no middle “e”

Brink's-Mat

Britain is now widely used as another name for the United Kingdom or Great Britain, and pragmatically we accept this usage. Strictly, Great Britain = England, Wales, Scotland and islands governed from the mainland (ie, not Isle of Man or Channel Islands); United Kingdom = Great Britain and Northern Ireland; British Isles = United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands.

Britannia the decommissioned former Royal Yacht. Refer to her at first mention as HMY Britannia, or the Royal Yacht Britannia, thereafter Britannia

British Athletic Federation (not Athletics)

British Home Stores has changed its abbreviation to Bhs

British overseas territory eg, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, St Helena and its dependencies, Turks & Caicos Islands. Note that they may have a premier rather than a prime minister, so always check. See also Crown dependency, premier

British Social Attitudes Survey, 2001; dates of the survey vary, but use preceding comma whenever

British Standards Institution (BSI), not Institute. It awards companies, goods etc its Kitemark (cap). Beware the use of Kitemark to refer to other quality-mark schemes. See Kitemark

Britpop (not Brit Pop), but Brit Art (two words)

Brittany (Bretagne in French)

Broadcasting Standards Commission, which merged the Broadcasting Standards Council and Broadcasting Complaints Commission, was incorporated (2003) into the Office of Communications (Ofcom). See regulators

Broadmoor inmates are patients, not prisoners, as it is a hospital

broadsheet is losing currency as a way to describe the serious British press. Most British newspapers are now of a smaller format (tabloid, or compact; Berliner etc). Quality or upmarket may be used as appropriate

Brobdingnagian cap, immense

Brooke, Lord Justice (not Brook), the Court of Appeal judge

Brookings Institution (in Washington), not Institute

Brooks's, the London club. See London clubs

Brosnan, Pierce not Piers

brownfield, greenfield (as in building sites). But note green belt (two words)

Brownie, Brownie points cap "B"

Brummie (not Brummy), Geordie, Scouse etc, people and dialect, all capped. See Cockney

Brylcreem

BSE bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow (no longer "mad cow") disease. See mad cow disease

BSkyB News Corporation, parent company of The Times, owns 39.1 per cent of BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting Ltd). So use the formula: BSkyB, in which News Corporation, parent company of The Times, has a 39.1 per cent stake ... Sky can also be called an associate company of News International, or of News Corp. See News International, The Times

BT is the usual abbreviated form of British Telecommunications plc, but it is often convenient to call the company British Telecom at first mention, and BT subsequently

Bubble Wrap trademark, so cap

Budget cap the British Budget, otherwise l/c. Note Budget day (l/c "d"); also note Pre-Budget Report and Autumn Statement (caps)

buffalo plural buffaloes

Buffett, Warren, American investment banker

Buggins's turn (not Buggins')

buglers, trumpeters cavalry regiments have trumpeters, infantry regiments have buglers. They are not interchangeable

builder's merchant(s)

building societies cap when we give the full name, eg, Skipton Building Society, thereafter the Skipton, or the society etc. Take care with societies that have become banks. See Abbey

Bulger, James (not Jamie)

bulletproof adjective or verb, one word

bullion is gold or silver in unminted form

bull-mastiff, bull-terrier. See dogs

bullring, bullfight(er). Note that the redeveloped former Bull Ring Centre in Birmingham is known as Bullring

bull's-eye

bumf prefer to bumph

bungee jumping (no hyphen)

Bupa no longer BUPA

Burchfield, Robert

bureau plural bureaux or bureaus depending on context; eg, bureaux de change, Citizens Advice Bureaux; but prefer bureaus for writing desks and distant newspaper offices

Bureau of Labor Statistics (US). Retain the American spelling of Labor. See American spellings, Labor Day

burka prefer to burqa for the long, enveloping garment worn by Muslim women in public. The niqab is the piece of cloth which they use to cover the face.

The hijab is a covering for the head and the face

Burma, not Myanmar (except in direct quotes); the inhabitants are Burmese, while Burmans are a Burmese people. The new capital is Naypyidaw

Burnet, Sir Alastair

Burns Night (caps, no apostrophe) falls on January 25

burnt not burned

Burton upon Trent (no hyphens); and note the colloquial gone for a burton (l/c)

bus, buses (noun); but in verbal use, busses, bussed, bussing

Bush, George W. do not use Jr. Refer to him subsequently as Mr Bush or the former President (cap). Refer to his father as the first President Bush or George Bush Sr

Bushey, Hertfordshire; Bushy Park, near Hampton Court

Bussell, Darcey the ballerina

"businesses that depend on water" beware this and similar phrases. All businesses depend on water to some extent; some businesses, eg, farms, are especially dependent on water

but may be used at the beginning of a sentence, especially for emphasis. Likewise for and

Butlins holiday camps (no apostrophe); now known as resorts

buyout and buyback one word as nouns; but prefer buy-in, take-off, shake-out, shake-up, sell-off, sell-out etc with hyphens, wherever the composite noun looks hideous

buzz, the no-frills airline, and note easyJet and Go

buzzword (one word)

by-election

bylaw

bypass (noun or verb)

by-product

bystander

byte (abbreviate as B) is a computer term for a small collection of bits (binary digits), roughly equivalent to one character. Do not confuse with bite (as with teeth). But note soundbite. See bit, kilobyte

Byzantine cap in all contexts

Last edited: August 20, 2009