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cabbie (not cabby) as colloquialism for taxi driver

Cabinet cap in both British and foreign use, whether used as a noun or adjectivally. The only exception is the informal “kitchen cabinet”. Note Cabinet Office, Cabinet Secretary (or Secretary of the Cabinet), War Cabinet. Cabinet committees should be capped, eg, the Cabinet Committee on Science and Technology. See Politics special section

Cable, Vince the Liberal Democrat politician is Dr Cable at subsequent mentions

Cafcass the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service

Caernarfon (town and parliamentary constituency, no longer Caernarvon), but Lord Carnarvon

Caesarean section babies are delivered, not born, by this surgery

café (with accent)

caffeine prefer to caffein

cagoule, but kaftan

call centre noun, two words; hyphen as adjective, eg, call-centre manager

call-up (noun), to call up

camaraderie (not cameraderie)

Camborne, Cornwall (not Cambourne); note Camborne School of Mines (not Mining)

Cambridge, University of colleges and halls are:

Christ's College; Churchill College; Clare College; Clare Hall; Corpus Christi College; Darwin College; Downing College; Emmanuel College; Fitzwilliam College; Girton College; Gonville and Caius College; Homerton College; Hughes Hall; Jesus College; King's College; Lucy Cavendish College; Magdalene College; Murray Edwards College (the current trading name of New Hall); Newnham College; Pembroke College; Peterhouse; Queens' College; Robinson College; St Catharine's College; St Edmund's College; St John's College; Selwyn College; Sidney Sussex College; Trinity College; Trinity Hall; Wolfson College. See Russell Group, tripos

camellia (not camelia)

Cammell Laird, the Birkenhead shipyard (not Liverpool)

camomile prefer to chamomile

Campaign to Protect Rural England formerly the Council for the Protection of Rural England

Campbell, Alastair (not Alistair), formerly the communications and strategy director of Tony Blair when Prime Minister

Campbell, Sir Menzies his first name is pronounced "Ming-ezz", hence his nickname is Ming. Generally reserve sparing usage of Sir Ming for less informal contexts

Camp X-Ray (note caps) at Guantánamo Bay (now include accent) in Cuba; see War on Terror, X-ray

Camra the Campaign for Real Ale

Canada nationally there is a prime minister; in the provinces, there are premiers. See Prime Minister

Canadians are rightly annoyed when they are designated as Americans. Beware. Among many prominent Canadians are Paul Anka, k.d. lang, Joni Mitchell, Donald Sutherland, Neil Young etc etc

canal boats do not use the term "barge" indiscriminately; barges are towed, unpowered boats for transporting cargo. Use the term narrowboats for the boats on the narrow 7ft-wide canals, or canal boats for wider vessels on wider canals. If in doubt, use canal boat (never canal barge)

CanalPlus, the French TV channel (avoid the canal+ logo style)

canapé accent

cancer take care not to describe cancer as “the biggest killer” in the UK. Heart disease is

Cancún note accent for this Mexican resort

cannon (military, same form for singular and plural); but canons (ecclesiastical, both churchmen and church laws), and canon as a collection / list of an author

canvas (as in painting); plural is canvases; canvasses with two central esses is of the verb "to canvass" (ie, polling)

Canton, now Guangzhou. See Chinese names

Canvey Island in Essex is to the west of Southend-on-Sea

CAP, cap Common Agricultural Policy; similarly, Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)

Cape Canaveral was known as Cape Kennedy after the assassination of President Kennedy, in 1963, until 1973

Cape Town

Capello, Fabio the England football manager

Capgemini

capitalisation in general, the proper names of people and places, formal titles or titles of important offices, and the names of well-known and substantial institutions, all require capitals. As a rule of thumb, cap specifics (eg, the French Foreign Minister), but l/c non-specifics (eg, EU foreign ministers). But some terms, eg, Act, Bill, Cabinet, Civil Service, always cap. See initials

capsize See -ise, -isation

captions when space is tight, especially on single-column “mug shots”, the name should be just the surname, even when the person is titled, eg, Sir Marcus Fox would be simply Fox, as in headlines. Where women are photographed, be sensitive - readers complain endlessly about our omitting the Christian name, especially in court cases where the woman is the victim. Where possible, give the woman's first name, though this is not a hard and fast ruling.

When identifying faces with left and right etc, use commas rather than brackets (eg, Fred Smith, left, and his wife leaving the court); make the identification in the caption fit the sequence of faces (left to right) in the photograph.

Note that, as in text, double quotation marks are used in captions, including narrow-measure captions next to narrow-measure illustrations, "mug shots"

carabiniere l/c, an Italian police officer; plural carabinieri

car boot sale (no hyphen)

carcass

cardholder

Care Quality Commission from April 1, 2009, the CQC is the regulator of all health and adult social care in England, incorporating the work of the Commission for Social Care Inspection, the Healthcare Commission and the Mental Health Act Commission

careen to sway or cause to sway dangerously over to one side; cf career to move swiftly along, rush in an uncontrolled way

cargo prefer cargos as the plural

Carlos the Jackal (no quotes, no commas); always mention his full name, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, somewhere in the story

carmaker (one word)

car park (two words), multistorey car park

carpetbagger (one word)

Carrott, Jasper (not Carrot)

carry out do not use as synonym of do

cashcard (in general sense), cashflow, cashback

cash for honours, cash for peerages no need for quotes for these two phrases; but they do need hyphens when adjectival, eg, the cash-for-honours inquiry, the cash-for-peerages affair

Cashpoint is Lloyds TSB Bank's trademarked cash machine system, so takes the cap and must not be used generically; in the general sense, use cash dispenser or cash machine, or less formally, hole in the wall

Castro, Fidel do not refer to the former Cuban President as Dr after first mention; use Mr. His brother, who succeeded him, is Raúl Castro (note accent). See Spanish

casualties be cautious in use of early and unconfirmed estimates of casualties in instances of terrorism, militia gunfights or disasters. Always give the estimate's source where possible, and be aware of politically inspired exaggeration

catapult (not catapault)

catchphrase (one word)

Catch-22 avoid the grossly overworked cliché Catch-22 situation

cathedrals cap when giving the full name, eg, St Paul's Cathedral, Wells Cathedral; similarly the names of churches, eg, St Mary's Church, Ely, unless we know that the church name specifically excludes it, eg, St Stephen's, Ely

Catherine always check the spelling. A Catherine wheel (firework); St Catharine's College, Cambridge; St Katharine Docks, London

Catholic in church context, say Roman Catholic at first mention if that is what is meant, then Catholic. But note that in the Northern Ireland context, "Roman" is used pejoratively by some Protestants, so in such circumstances it may be better to leave the word out to avoid accusations of bias. See Churches special section

Catmark the financial products version of the Kitemark; similarly, Cat standard etc

CAT scan not Cat scan

cat's eyes should preferably be called reflecting roadstuds. Catseye is a trademark. See trade names

caviar no final "e"

CBI do not spell out as Confederation of British Industry www.cbi.org.uk

CD-Rom (compact disc, read only memory); CD-i (the interactive compact disc system)

ceasefire

Ceausescu, Nicolae (not Ceaucescu). He and his wife Elena were shot by firing squad on December 25, 1989

ceilidh social gathering (Highland)

Cellophane is proprietary, so cap

celsius, centigrade use either term. In news stories, use centigrade first, then fahrenheit in brackets at first mention, eg, “The temperature rose to 16C (61F)”. See metric, temperatures

Census cap in specific cases, such as the 1901 Census, the 2001 Census, but l/c generally and adjectivally

centenarian, and see also septuagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian

centenaries use centenary, bicentenary, tercentenary; after that, say four (five) hundredth anniversary

Center Parcs

Central Europe (with cap C); likewise Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe

Central St Martins College of Art and Design (no apostrophe), St Martins at subsequent mentions. See University of the Arts London

Centre, the use the cap in political context of the Centre, as with Left and Right. Similarly, Centre Left, Centre Right as nouns, but a centre-left politician (l/c adjectival, as with a right-wing policy). See Left, Right, Politics special section

Centre Court See Wimbledon , Tennis special section

centrepiece (no hyphen)

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention use the English spelling of centres for this US health institution. See American spellings

centring, but centering of arches in bridge-building

centuries the style is the 3rd century BC, the 9th century, the 18th century etc; and adjectivally with the hyphen, eg, 20th-century architecture

Cephalonia the Greek island location of Captain Corelli's Mandolin

CERN (all caps), the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, based in Geneva. See big bang

Ceylon the former name for Sri Lanka. The people are Sri Lankan, the majority group are the Sinhalese

Cézanne accent. The artist's first name was Paul

cha-cha-cha (not cha-cha)

chainsaw (one word)

chairman is the preferred usage referring to men and women, except in quotes; chairwoman is acceptable. Avoid chair and chairperson (except in quotes and phrases such as “addressing remarks to the chair”). In most cases, keep chairman l/c, but occasionally cap, as with BBC, Bar Council, and US Federal Reserve Board

Chaitén note accent; volcano in southern Chile

Challenge satellite TV channel - no final question mark

chamber (l/c) of the House of Commons. See Politics special section

champagne (l/c) use only for the product of the Champagne region of France; otherwise write, eg, Russian sparkling wine. The champagne producers protect their name rigorously. See wines

Champions League (European football), no apostrophe; the later knockout stage of the competition becomes the European Cup

Champs Élysées note accents but no hyphen for Parisian boulevard leading from Arc de Triomphe; note also Élysée Palace

changeable

Changing the Guard (not ... of the Guard). See Trooping the Colour

Channel 4 (not Four); but the former Channel 5 was rebranded (Sept 2002) simply as Five. See television

Channel, the generally, no need to write "the English Channel" for the body of water between England and France. Note cross-Channel

Channel Tunnel (with cap T), but thereafter l/c tunnel if the context is clear; also, Channel Tunnel Rail Link (caps). See Eurotunnel

Chanukkah prefer this to variants such as Hanukkah etc, for the Jewish festival of lights

charge that an Americanism, never to be used as a synonym of allege that

charisma has become a boring cliché; find an alternative such as presence, inspiration etc

Charity Commission (not Charities)

Charollais (cattle or sheep)

Charterhouse the school is in Godalming, Surrey

charters (as in John Major's initiative). See Citizen's Charter, Parent's Charter, Patient's Charter; note Charter Mark (two words)

château plural châteaux

Château Lafite no hyphen, and not Lafitte

Château Latour

chat room (two words) but chatline one

chat show, game show, quiz show, talk show etc (no hyphens when used as noun but use the hyphen when adjectival, eg, chat-show host); note also chatline, sexline

Chávez, Hugo (accent) Venezuelan President. See Spanish

cheap goods are cheap, prices are low

Chechnya (not Chechenia); adjective Chechen

check-in (noun), but checklist, checkout counter. Note also checkup noun; check up verb

cheerleader (one word)

cheeses cap the place name, eg, the main English and Welsh varieties such as Caerphilly, Cheddar, Cheshire, double Gloucester, Lancashire, red Leicester, Stilton, Wensleydale; likewise Brie, Camembert, Roquefort etc

Chekhov, Anton

Cheney, Dick (no longer Richard)

chequebook one word, either as noun or adjective (eg, chequebook journalism)

chess names note Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Judit Polgar. Note also Fide, not FIDE, and grandmaster (l/c). See Russian names

Chester-le-Street, in Co Durham. The cricket ground is the Riverside

chi prefer qi for the vital energy in oriental medicine, martial arts etc believed to circulate around the body in currents

chickenpox (no hyphen; similarly smallpox)

chief constable caps when referring to a specific, as in Chief Constable of Lancashire; thereafter, the chief constable. Do not write, eg, the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, but simply the Chief Constable of the West Midlands. See police ranks

Chief Inspector of Prisons / ... of Schools; also, Chief Medical Officer

chief petty officer is an NCO (non-commissioned officer) in the Royal Navy, not an officer. See Armed Forces special section

Chief Whip (caps). See also whips, Politics special section

child access, child custody do not use these terms regarding divorce, unless in direct quotes and from lay people. Under the Children Act 1989, children are given residence with one parent, and the other in disputed cases has contact. Put more simply, children live with one parent and the other is allowed to see them

childcare (as healthcare)

ChildLine, the charity (note cap L)

Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is superseding the Child Support Agency

childminder one word

Children Act 1989 (not Children's); also, note The Children's Society (cap The) and the Adoption and Children Act 2002. See child access, child custody

children's names generally for under-18s, write, eg, John Jones at first mention and then simply John at second mention

child-sex abusers /offenders (use hyphen)

Child Trust Fund (initial caps). A friendly society has registered Baby Bond as a trademark, so baby bonds must not be used in a generic sense or as vernacular

chilli prefer to chili

chill out two words as verb; one word, whether noun or adjective, for the music style (chillout compilation); hyphenated when referring to lifestyle (chill-out session at the spa)

chimera prefer to chimaera

chimpanzees are apes, not monkeys

Chinese names use the Pinyin rather than the traditional Wade-Giles, so write Beijing, Mao Zedong (though Chairman Mao or just Mao are acceptable), Zhou Enlai etc. Normal style is to place family name first, then given name, so that the actress Zhang Ziyi, for instance, becomes Zhang at second mention. For place names, follow The Times Atlas of the World except where older usage is well established, ie, the special administrative regions Hong Kong (not Xianggang) and Macau (not Aomen); and the autonomous regions Tibet (not Xizang) and Inner Mongolia (not Neimengu).

In the following quick guide the names in parentheses should no longer be used except in an historical context:

Municipalities: Beijing (Peking), Chongqing (Chungking), Shanghai, Tianjin (Tientsin).

Autonomous regions: Guangxi (Kwangsi), Ningxia (Ningsia), Xinjiang (Sinkiang).

Provinces: Anhui (Anhwei), Fujian (Fukien), Gansu (Kansu), Guangdong (Kwangtung), Guizhou (Kweichow), Hainan, Hebei (Hopeh), Heilongjiang (Heilungkiang), Henan (Honan), Hubei (Hupei), Hunan, Jiangsu (Kiangsu), Jiangxi (Kiangsi), Jilin (Kirin), Liaoning, Qinghai (Chinghai), Sha'anxi (Shensi), Shandong (Shantung), Shanxi (Shansi), Sichuan (Szechwan), Yunnan, Zhejiang (Chekiang). See Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau, Peking; also Chinese provinces map.

Note that, given China's size, it is always helpful to locate where a province is, eg, "in the northwestern Xinjiang province".

See Uighur

chip-and-PIN hyphenated as a noun or adjectivally. See PIN

chocoholic, but shopaholic and workaholic

Choose and Book (initial caps) is an NHS initiative allowing a patient to choose his or her hospital or clinic and book an appointment with a specialist

chopper and copter are never to be used as substitutes for helicopter, even in headlines

Christ Church (the Oxford college), never Christ Church College. See Peterhouse; also Oxford University

Christchurch, in Dorset and New Zealand

christened people are christened, ships and trains etc are named

Christian, Christianity, unchristian, non-Christian, antichristian, Antichrist

Christian Democrat for both noun and adjective, as in Christian Democrat MP

Christian names take care in context of non-Christians; in such cases, use forename or first name

Christian terms cap the Apostles, the Bible, the (Ten) Commandments, the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Disciples, the Resurrection, the Gospels, Mass, Holy Communion (and simply Communion), Eucharist, Blessed Sacrament, Advent, Nativity (but a nativity play, adjectival), the Scriptures; also He and His when referring to the persons of the Trinity, God (the Father), Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Use l/c for evensong, matins. Note Antichrist. See Churches special section

Christie's (also Christie's, New York, and now Christie's International, all with apostrophe)

Christmas Day, Christmas Eve

Church cap in context of the institution (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, whatever), but not adjectivally. See archbishops , and Churches special section

Church in Wales, not Church of Wales for the disestablished Anglican Church once headed by Dr Rowan Williams

churchwarden (one word)

cider (not cyder)

CIMA, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (all caps, at its insistence)

Cincinnati, Ohio

cinemagoer, as concertgoer, operagoer, theatregoer etc

CinemaScope is a trade name and must be capped (note also cap “S” in middle)

cipher (not cypher)

circa abbreviate simply as c (roman) followed by a space

cissy, cissies not sissy

Cites (not CITES), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

Citizens Advice Bureau/Bureaux no apostrophe, and final "x" as plural; Citizens Advice is an operating name of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. See bureau

Citizen's Charter

Citroën

City of London, the City, City prices. See London

City and Guilds of London Institute (abbreviated to City & Guilds, with ampersand)

ciudad not cuidad; the Spanish for city, commonly used in place names, eg, Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Rodrigo etc. See Spanish

Civil Guard(s) (Spanish police), use initial caps

Civil List (caps)

civil partnership the legal name for what is commonly referred to as "gay marriage". This latter phrase may offend those with diametrically opposed views on this comparatively new arrangement. It should be put in quotation marks (for linguistic clarity) in headings, and in copy at first mention only. In some contexts, quotation marks may be perceived as pejorative, and that is not their purpose here. So avoid writing: "Mr Smith and Mr Brown were 'married' two years ago"; instead write, eg: "Mr Smith and Mr Brown have had a civil partnership for two years". Dictionaries currently define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, although this may change in the light of social and legal developments. A suggested shorthand for headings is civil union. See "gay marriage"

Civil Service, but civil servants. Always cap Civil Service, even in adjectival use, eg, a Civil Service memorandum. Caps for the administrative grade, ie, Permanent Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Assistant Secretary, when used as part of the full title; thus, Sir Alfred Beach, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence. Otherwise l/c. For executive grade (ie, below Assistant Secretary), use l/c. Note also Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service. See Politics special section

claim do not use when simply said or declared would do. The word carries a suspicion of incredulity. Also, avoid the loose construction in sentences such as “The firm launched a drink which is claimed to promote learning ability”. This should read “... a drink which, it is claimed, promotes learning ability”

claims and facts remember to distinguish between a claim and a fact, particularly in headlines/standfirsts. Witnesses to rioting telling amid confusion of up to 600 people dead did not justify an unequivocal standfirst death toll of 600

clamour, clamouring but clamorous

clampdown not banned, but use as little as possible

Claridge's see London hotels

clarinettist

Clarke, Kenneth or Ken the Conservative politician is known by both first names, and he seems quite relaxed about this practice. It may be more appropriate for us to use his given name Kenneth in more formal stories, and the shortened form in, eg, diary or colour pieces

Class A, B or C drugs (cap C)

Clause Four (as in Labour Party policy); but Clause 4 permissible in headlines

Claymation (ie, movie animation using clay modelling), trade name so capital letter

clichés ought to have no place in The Times. Some of the most common, to be resisted strongly in almost every context, are: backlash, basically, beleaguered, blueprint, bombshell, bonanza, brainchild, chaos, charisma, clampdown, consensus, crackdown, crisis, crunch, drama/dramatic, escalate, facelift, gunned down, high-profile, hopefully, ironically, legendary, major, massive, mega-, nightmare, prestigious, quantum leap, reportedly, shambles, shock, shoot-out, situation, trauma/traumatic, unique

climate change levy (l/c)

clingfilm (l/c, one word)

cliquey

closed-circuit television

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium, not a virus. Write C. difficile at second mention (and as a bonus do not pronounce it "DIF-ficil": it is not French but Latin. Try "dif-FI-chil-ay")

clothing say menswear, women's wear, children's wear, sportswear. See wear

cloud-cuckoo-land (two hyphens)

clubable

clubs see London clubs

co- the prefix does not normally require a hyphen even before an “e” or another “o” unless confusion might result. Thus co-operate (but uncooperative), co-opt, co-ordinate (but uncoordinated), coeducation, coexist. See co-production

CO2 use subscript (Alt Control 2 in Hermes publication system)

coalface, coalfield, coalmine (each one word), coalminer (but prefer miner). See gasfield, oilfield

coastguard l/c and one word, in the British context; but note the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (caps), though the coastguard service (generic) retains the l/c.

Note also the US Coast Guard

coasts cap South Coast, East Coast, West Coast and North Coast in British and Irish contexts (as in West Coast Main Line - all caps); also East Coast and West Coast in US

coats of arms see heraldry

Coca-Cola (hyphen); note also the trademark Coke. Similarly Pepsi-Cola. If in doubt about the identity of a beverage, write the l/c generic cola

cock a snook not snoop, please

cockfight (no hyphen), as bullfight and dogfight

Cockney cap for the person, the dialect and adjectival use

codebreaker, codebreaking one word

coeducation(al), but permissible to use co-ed in headlines as coed would look hideous

coexist

cognoscenti roman, not italic

Coldstream Guards may be called the Coldstream and the men Coldstreamers or Coldstream Guards; neither should be called Coldstreams. See Armed Forces special section

Cold War

collarbone (one word)

collectibles (not -ables), items sought by collectors

collective nouns usually use the singular verb, as with corporate bodies (the company, the Government, the council etc). But this rule is not inviolable; the key is to stick to the singular or plural throughout the story - sentences such as “The committee, which was elected recently, presented their report” are unacceptable. Prefer plural use for the couple, family, music groups and bands, the public, sports teams

Colombia is the country, while Columbia is the Hollywood studio, university, river and Washington district. Also, note British Columbia and Pre-Columbian

Colosseum in Rome; Coliseum in London

Coloureds (in South Africa), cap

comedienne avoid wherever possible; use comedian for both sexes. See feminine designations

comeuppance (no hyphen)

Commander-in-Chief, Officer Commanding caps

Commandments cap in biblical context, as the Ten Commandments, the Fourth Commandment. See Churches special section

commando, plural commandos (not -oes)

Commission, Commissioner See European Commission, Commissioners

Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission were incorporated (October 2007) into the Equality and Human Rights Commission

Commission for Social Care Inspection successor body to the Social Services Inspectorate and the National Care Standards Commission. See Care Quality Commission

Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police; similarly, cap City of London Police, British Transport Police and all police forces when the full title is given. For full list, see police forces

commit do not use as an intransitive verb without a direct object, eg, "he wants to commit to the reforms"; write "he wants to commit himself to the reforms" or "he wants to make a commitment to the reforms"

committee note 1922 Committee (cap) of Tory backbenchers. Committees of inquiry etc should be capped only when the full title is given. Cabinet and select committees should be capped. See next entry and Cabinet, select committees, Wicks, royal commissions, Conservative Party, Tory and Politics special section

Committee on Standards in Public Life examines standards of conduct of all holders of public office. It is different from the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges, which deals with the conduct of MPs (subsequent mentions, the Privileges Select Committee or l/c the committee). See Wicks

Common Agricultural Policy (caps); similarly, Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). See CAP

Common Market usually use EU or EC (see Europe), though Common Market is acceptable in its historic context. See European Union

common sense (noun), but commonsense, commonsensical (adjective)

Common Serjeant See Courts special section

Commons takes singular verb, eg, "the Commons is debating …" See collective nouns

Commons Fees Office at subsequent mention the fees office for the place where decisions are made about whether to reimburse Members' expenses for moats and beams.

See Politics special section

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting caps

communautaire relating to the EU or European Community - not communitaire

communiqué

communism, communist as with socialism and socialist, the best rule-of-thumb is to cap only when in specific party context, eg, a Communist candidate, a Communist rally, the Communist Mayor of Lille; but communist ideology, communist countries etc. It will help to think of a parallel with conservative/conservatism or liberal/liberalism. But Marxist, Stalinist, Nazi and Fascist should be capped

community beware overuse in phrases such as the international community etc

Community Fund the new name for the National Lottery Charities Board. See Lotto, National Lottery

company, ship's all the officers and men

companies abbreviate to Co in, eg, John Brown & Co. Company is singular. Full points in company titles usually unnecessary, as in W H Smith and J Sainsbury. Do not abbreviate Ford of Europe to Fords, Swan Hunter to Swans etc. See Ltd, plc

NB. Do not confuse the words company and firm, even in headlines. A firm implies a business partnership, as in the legal or accountancy professions, estate agents etc

comparatively, relatively avoid using as synonyms of fairly or middling

compare with/to compare with (the more common use) when differences or contrasts are the point - “compare the saints with the devils” or “compared with last year's figures” etc; compare to for likenesses - “compare this image to a damsel fair”

compass points in the UK, regional phrases, if well established and in common use, take caps, as in the North, the South, the West, the South East, the North East, the North West, the South West, the West Country, the West Midlands, the East Midlands, East Anglia, Mid Wales, North Wales, South Wales, West Wales, the East/West End of London. Likewise, the West of Scotland, the North of Scotland etc

But adjectivally, southeast England (though still the South East of England).

Overseas, cap the following: the Midwest (US), Central America, West Africa, North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, South Africa but southern Africa, North and South Atlantic and Pacific, the Middle/Far East, but sub-Saharan Africa and south India etc

Do not use inelegant "geographic possessives" such as London's East End, Colorado's Breckenridge ski resort: write the East End of London; Breckenridge, the Colorado ski resort. See Scottish place names

complement (completing something); but

compliment (praise or tribute); complimentary as in free gifts etc

Complicite for the theatre group; no accent, no Théàtre de

Comprehensive Spending Review (initial caps)

comprise means to consist of, be composed of; see include

Comptroller General

concertgoer (as with cinemagoer, operagoer, partygoer, theatregoer), but concert hall

confectionery sweets, cakes, etc; confectionary is a place where confectionery is made

conference keep l/c in Labour Party conference, Liberal Democrat conference etc

congestion charge l/c

Congo take care to distinguish between the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire, and before that Belgian Congo) and the Republic of the Congo, which may also be referred to as Congo (Brazzaville), and was formerly a French colony. See Zaire

Congress (US), but congressional l/c, and congressman also l/c except when with a name, eg, Congressman John Waldorfburger; but generally try to avoid this construction and say John W, a congressman from Minnesota, etc. See Senate

Congress of the People political party established in South Africa (2008), led by Mosiuoa Lekota. At subsequent mentions, Cope. See South Africa

Congress party in India takes l/c “p”. Its full title is the Indian National Congress. It was known formerly as Congress (I)

conjoined twins the proper medical term for Siamese twins

conman (one word, as hitman)

connection

Connolly, Billy, the comedian

consensus (never concensus); the word is a cliché that should be avoided wherever possible

Conservative Party, Conservative Central Office - second mention Central Office (never CCO) - but Conservative chairman, manifesto etc; Tory is permissible as a less formal alternative, but note Tory party (l/c “p”). Abbreviate in lists etc to C (not Con). See Tory, Politics special section

considerable avoid its use as a lazy adjective implying emphasis

Consignia was renamed in late 2002 as Royal Mail Group, of which the Post Office is a trading subsidiary. See Post Office

Consolidated Fund, the

consortium, plural consortiums (not consortia); as a general rule, use the -ums plural. See memorandum

constituencies, parliamentary generally, follow the format of place name first and then compass point, area etc, eg, Ilford South (not South Ilford), Sheffield Hallam (no comma)

constitution of a country is capped only when an actual document, eg, the American Constitution, but the British constitution

consult never say consult with

Consumers' Association after a review in 2004, the whole organisation works under the Which? name for its campaigns and publications; note Which? (itals) for its publication

Contact Group, the UN group on former Yugoslavia (US, Russia, Britain, France, Italy and Germany), was replaced by the Peace Implementation Council

Continent, the, referring to mainland Europe, but l/c continental

continuous means without intermission; continual means frequently recurring

contract out has no hyphen

Contras, the (cap in Nicaragua context); note the Iran-Contra scandal etc

controller of Radio 1 etc (no longer cap “C”). See BBC

controversial delete from 99 stories out of 100

convener, not convenor

convertible (not -able), noun and adjective

conveyor belt; a conveyer is a person who conveys

Cooke, Alistair (not Alastair) for the journalist

cooling towers pictures of these should not be used to illustrate stories about air pollution. They emit water vapour, which is harmless

Co-op the Co-operative Group became the new name (January 2001) for the Co-operative Wholesale Society. The Co-op is an acceptable abbreviation

co-operate, co-ordinate etc; but uncooperative, uncoordinated, non-cooperation

co-production, co-producer etc (use hyphen to avoid ambiguity with copro-, as in dung)

Coptic Church see Shenouda

copycat (no hyphen)

copyright (sole right in artistic work etc);

copywriter (advertising)

cornettist

cornflakes (generic), but see Kellogg's

Coronation cap when referring to a specific event, such as Elizabeth II's in 1953, and also cap Coronation Oath; but l/c in most adjectival uses, eg, coronation ceremony, coronation broadcast

coroner's court at inquests, the coroner is l/c unless specific, as in the Westminster Coroner. Juries return the verdict, the coroner records it. There are no coroner's inquests in Scotland; violent deaths are reported to the Procurator Fiscal, who may hold an inquiry.

Note that an inquest, like a trial or a hearing, cannot be "told". Write "the court was told". See Courts special section

correspondents wherever possible, write the political correspondent of The Times, the Moscow correspondent of The Times etc; but the Times political correspondent, the Times Moscow correspondent etc, is permissible. See The Times

cortège (use accent)

coruscating (not corruscating) means sparkling or scintillating, not abrasive or corrosive. The word often meant by this malapropism is excoriating

Côte d'Azur no final “e”

councils cap in full title, eg, Birmingham City Council, otherwise l/c

council tax replacement for poll tax/community charge, so use the latter only in their historical context

counsel is both singular and plural in court contexts. Do not say "counsels for Mr X and Mrs Y". See Courts special section

counter-productive, counter-attack etc, but countertenor (one word)

Counter Terrorism Command at Scotland Yard. It is known as SO15. See police forces

counties spell out names except in lists. Do not add -shire to Devon (except in Devonshire cream or the Duke of Devonshire), Dorset, Somerset. Irish counties should be as Co Donegal (cap “C”, no full point); Co Durham takes the same style. Take great care with new, reorganised or abolished counties. See county abbreviations and County of Avon, below; also Devon, Durham, Sussex, unitary authorities

county abbreviations these may be used to save space, but only in special circumstances such as postal addresses at the end of letters, in listings etc. Do not use them in ordinary text, eg, news, business, sport etc body copy.

Bedfordshire (Beds); Berkshire (Berks); West Berkshire (W Berks); Buckinghamshire (Bucks); Cambridgeshire (Cambs); Carmarthenshire (Carms); Denbighshire (Denbighs); Derbyshire (Derbys); Dumfries & Galloway (Dumf&Gall); Glamorgan: East Glamorgan (E Glam), West Glamorgan (W Glam), Mid Glamorgan (Mid Glam); Gloucestershire (Glos); Greater London (London); Greater Manchester (Manchester); Hampshire (Hants); Herefordshire (Herefords); Hertfordshire (Herts); Lancashire (Lancs); Leicestershire (Leics); Lincolnshire (Lincs); Middlesex (Middx); Northamptonshire (Northants); Nottinghamshire (Notts); Northumberland (Northumb); Oxfordshire (Oxon); Pembrokeshire (Pembs); Shropshire (Shrops); Staffordshire (Staffs); Strathclyde (S'clyde); Wales: Mid Wales; North Wales (N Wales); South Wales (S Wales); West Wales (W Wales); Warwickshire (Warwicks); Western Isles (W Isles); West Midlands (W Mids); Wiltshire (Wilts); Worcestershire (Worcs); Yorkshire: East Riding (E Riding); North Yorkshire (N Yorks); South Yorkshire (S Yorks); West Yorkshire (W Yorks).

Other counties and regions (whether administrative or postal, eg, Cornwall, Cheshire, Essex, Gwynedd, Highland, Powys, Somerset, Surrey) should not be abbreviated

County of Avon no longer exists as an administrative area (qv unitary authorities), but some official statistics are still collated under "Avon". Also some local services still have "Avon" in their titles, eg, Avon and Somerset Constabulary. On occasion, it may be appropriate to refer more loosely to the Bristol area. The four local authorities comprising the former county are Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset

couple treat this collective noun as a plural, eg, "The couple are coming to terms with their plight". See collective nouns

Courchevel, the Alpine ski resort (not Courcheval)

court martial plural, courts martial, Courts-Martial Appeal Court; verb, to court-martial

Court No 1 etc in a legal context. See Courts special section

Court of Appeal always use the full title at first mention and wherever possible thereafter, though appeal court (l/c) may be used sparingly. See Courts special section

Court of Arches is the court of appeal of the Province of Canterbury in the Church of England. Do not say Arches Court

Court of St James's

Court of Session, Edinburgh (not Sessions)

Court Service, the (caps; not Courts)

courts cap all courts when specific, eg, Birmingham Crown Court, Clerkenwell County Court, Dawlish Magistrates' Court, Ashford Youth Court etc; in a general, unspecific context, always cap the Crown Court (it sits in about 90 centres), but l/c county court, magistrates' court or youth court etc. See Courts special section ; also coroner's court; Crown Court; Inns of Court

Coutts Bank

Coward, Noël use the diaeresis

Cowen, Brian the Irish politician

crack is a type of cocaine, so the phrase crack cocaine is tautologous

crackdown not banned, but use as little as possible

Cracow (prefer to Krakow or variations). See foreign places

crèche (not crêche)

creditworthy, creditworthiness (no hyphen)

Creole is a person born in the West Indies or Latin America whose ancestry is wholly or partly European. It does not imply mixed race

crescendo means getting louder, growing in force. Nothing rises to a crescendo. Plural is crescendos

Cresta Run

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (abbreviate CJD). Note also variant CJD (with l/c v), abbreviated to vCJD. No longer call it new variant CJD. See mad cow disease

Criminal Records Bureau (not Record)

crisis always try to find an alternative for this greatly overworked word. Its use should be confined to a process reaching a turning point. A crisis does not deepen, grow, mount or worsen, and is never a continuous state such as a "housing crisis". Economics are never "in crisis"; "crisis situations" are NEVER to appear in The Times

criterion plural criteria

Croat for the people and language, Croatian for the general adjective. See Slovak and note Slovakian

crosier prefer to crozier. See Church special section

Cross, the (cap). See Christian terms

cross benches, but crossbenchers, crossbench opinion. See Politics special section

cross-Channel, but transatlantic

Crow, Bob general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT)

Crown (in constitutional sense) is capped, as in Crown property, the Crown representative. See Royal Family

Crown Court always cap and do not refer to crown courts (plural) as there is technically only the Crown Court, which may sit in any of some 90 centres. See Courts special section .

To find courts, use the court locator

Crown dependency eg, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man. See also British overseas territory

Crown Estate Commissioners (not Estates)

Crown Jewels (caps)

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)

crucifix a cross or an image of a cross with a figure of Jesus Christ on it. See Churches special section

Cruddas, Jon the MP (not John)

Cruella De Vil the character in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (the Disney cartoon, 1961) and 101 Dalmatians (1996, with Glenn Close)

Crufts Show, or just Crufts (no apostrophe)

cruise missiles, but Pershing missiles and the Stealth bomber

crunch avoid phrases such as reaches crunch point, the situation came to a crunch - clichés that have no place in The Times

crystallise

CSCE no longer. See OSCE

cul-de-sac hyphens; plural cul-de-sacs

cummings, e.e. the American poet and artist styled himself thus (all l/c)

Cup cap Final only in FA Cup Final (or Cup Final for short), but l/c all others, such as European Cup final, World Cup final, Davis Cup final etc. See Sports special section

cupfuls, spoonfuls etc (not cupsful or cupfulls)

currencies always convert to sterling on news, sport and features pages - usually at first mention of the foreign currency. On business pages commonly used foreign currencies need not be converted unless to help the flow, and the headline should reflect the article's original currency rather than a sterling equivalent. Do not convert meaninglessly, eg, a number of dollars spent in 1995 to a number of pounds at a 2009 exchange rate. See dollars, euro. For currency conversions, Full universal currency converter

current avoid wherever possible as synonym of present

curriculums (plural, not curricula; but note extracurricular activities); curriculum vitae, CV abbreviated (plural, curricula vitae). See national curriculum

curtsy (not curtsey); plural curtsies

cusp, on the … Does not mean "on the brink" but is a division between two astrological signs or houses. To avoid confusion prefer, eg, "on the brink", "on the verge" or an elegant alternative

Custom House (the headquarters building)

Customs and Excise former name for the organisation that is now part of Revenue & Customs. Continue where appropriate to use l/c for customs officer, customs post, customs regulations etc

cut-throat use hyphen

cybercafé, cybercrime, cyberpet, cyberpunk, cybersex, cybberspace, cybersquatting, cyberterrorism, cyberwar all one word; some new words with the prefix cyber- may need a hyphen if they look (even more) hideous without one

Cyprus, northern keep the l/c in northern, as the “state” is recognised only by the Turkish Government; also l/c government in northern Cyprus, as with provincial or state governments in Australia or Canada etc

czar although usual style is tsar (in Russian context), the czar form is permissible in the context of government-appointed co-ordinators such as drugs czar, mental health czar. See Tsar

Czech Republic use Czechoslovakia only in the historic sense. The two countries since their division are the Czech Republic and Slovakia. See Slovak

Last edited: July 23, 2009