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

BAA is now the name of the airports operator; it is no longer the British Airports Authority

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)

baby-boomer

Babygro (cap, proprietary)

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

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)

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

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)

balk not baulk

ball plural in Court Page headlines is Dances

ballgown (one word)

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

Balpa British Air Line Pilots' Association

banister not bannister

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

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 Senhor Barroso

Bart's 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

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

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

Battersea Dogs' Home (formal title is The Dogs' Home, Battersea, but not usually necessary to spell it out)

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

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 the BBC in spring 2002 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 Radio 1, 2, 3, 4, Radio 5 Live, 1Xtra, 6 Music etc keep the numerals. BBC 7 is one of the BBC's new digital radio networks. Note BBC Television and BBC Radio (caps). Note also Chairman of the (Board of) Governors 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 Board of Governors, but l/c the governors at other mentions. See radio, television

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

BC See AD

be-all and end-all note hyphens

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

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

Becket St Thomas à Becket (with the à)

Beduin is plural. The singular is Bedu

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 rapidly becoming 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)

benchmark (no hyphen)

benefited

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

berserk not beserk

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

BEST Investment has changed its name again; it is now Bestinvest

bestseller (one word); likewise bestselling

bête noire, italic and final “e” on noire

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

Bhutto, Benazir; call her Miss rather than Ms or Mrs at subsequent mentions

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), but biblical (l/c); biblical references thus - II Corinthians ii, 2; Luke iv, 5. See Churches special section

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

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

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 Eliot, T.S.

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

Biro is a trade name, so cap; 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

bishops See archbishops

Bishopsgate in the City of London (not Bishopgate)

Bishop's Stortford

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

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 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”

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 now NHS Blood and Transplant

bloodied but unbowed; but red-blooded etc

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

Bloomingdale's

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

blue-collar workers, as white-collar workers

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

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

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

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

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)

Bolshevik

bombs car bomb, fire bomb, nail bomb, petrol 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 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

Booth, Cherie the Prime Minister's wife 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 the PM's wife, eg, at summit meetings or on the campaign trail. Do not refer to her as Britain's First Lady. In legal contexts, write Cherie Booth, QC, at first mention; subsequent mentions, Ms Booth

Boothroyd, Baroness (not of Sandwell or anywhere else)

bored with, not 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 is the Ghanaian Kofi Annan

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

bow-tie

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

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

Braille (now cap)

brainchild try to avoid this cliché

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

Brands Hatch

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

breast-feed(ing), use hyphen

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

breathtaking (no hyphen)

breech birth

Brent Spar is 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)

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 or 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. Do not confuse these entities

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 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)

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, is now (2003) incorporated into the Office of Communications (Ofcom). See regulators

Broadmoor inmates are patients, not prisoners

broadsheet is better than quality in describing the serious British press

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

Brookings Institution (in Washington), not Institute

Brooks's, the London club. See London clubs

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

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

Brylcreem

BSE bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease

BSkyB: The News Corporation, parent company of The Times, owns 37.2 per cent of BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting Group Ltd). So use the formula: BSkyB, in which The News Corporation, parent company of The Times, has a 37.2 per cent stake ... BSkyB 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

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

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 National

Bulger, James (not Jamie)

bullion is gold or silver in unminted form

bull-mastiff, bull-terrier. See dogs

bullring, bullfight(er). Note that the old Bull Ring Centre in Birmingham is being redeveloped and will be known as Bullring

bull's-eye

bungee jumping (no hyphen)

BUPA, no longer Bupa

burka prefer to burqa

Burma, not Myanmar (except in direct quotes); the inhabitants are Burmese, while Burmans are a Burmese people

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. President Bush at first mention, then Mr Bush or the President. Refer to his father as the first President Bush or George Bush Sr

Bushey, Hertfordshire; Bushy Park, near Hampton Court

Bussell, Darcey (the ballerina)

but for use at start of a sentence, see punctuation

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

buyout and buyback (one word); but prefer buy-in, take-off, shake-out, shake-up, sell-off, sell-out etc with hyphens, wherever the composite 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 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

Byzantine (cap in all contexts)