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Armed Forces Arts Churches Courts Politics Sport Titles

F111s (no hyphen). See aircraft types

façade (use the cedilla)

facelift use sparingly in its metaphorical sense, where it has become overworked. In its cosmetic context quite acceptable, however

faceted, faceting prefer single -t-

fact that almost always an unnecessary circumlocution, so avoid (eg, “owing to the fact that” means because). See verbosity

fact sheet

Faeroe Isles, or the Faeroes. See Shipping Forecast

fahrenheit See celsius

faïence (diaeresis) tin-glazed earthenware

Fairtrade (one word, cap) referring to the mark sanctioned by the Fairtrade Foundation on goods; fair trade (l/c, two words) for the general concept

fairytale no hyphen

Faithfull, Marianne

falangist in Spain; phalangist in Lebanon

Falklands conflict, the l/c preferred formula because war was never formally declared; if the word war has to be used, write Falklands war (l/c).

See Armed Forces special section , wars

fallacy means a faulty argument, not an erroneous belief

Fallopian tubes (cap "F")

fallout (noun)

family one of the collective nouns that is preferable as a plural, eg, "the family are rearranging their holiday". Likewise, use the plural for couple, music bands and groups, public, sports teams. See also collective nouns

Farc (not FARC), the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

Far East encompasses the following: China, Hong Kong, Japan, North and South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, Taiwan. See Asean , South-East Asia

farther is applied to distance (literal or figurative); eg, “nothing could be farther from the truth”; further means in addition to, another, more, eg, “a further point”

fascia (not facia)

Fascist cap in the political sense, but as a term of abuse, l/c; but fascism l/c except in specifically party context. See communism , Mosley , Sir Oswald

fat cat no quotation marks, no hyphen. Hyphenate as modifier, eg, fat-cat salaries

Father (as in priest) avoid the ugly abbreviation Fr before a name

father of two, mother of three no hyphens. Do not define people by their relationships unequally: don't say "a mother of two was jailed" where you would not say "a father of two…."; do not say "a grandmother was attacked" - she may be no older than 40

Father's Day (not Fathers'). See Mother's Day

fatwa (not italic), a Muslim religious edict, not a sentence of punishment, eg, not synonymous with a death sentence

fault l/c when referring to a specific fault in the Earth's crust, eg, San Andreas fault; also note fault line (two words)

Fayed, Dodi (not Dodi Al Fayed), the late elder son of Mohamed Al Fayed

FDA is the name by which the First Division Association, the union that represents leading civil and public servants, wishes to be known.

Fed, the (US) say Federal Reserve (Board not usually necessary) at first mention; cap the Chairman of the Fed, as with Governor of the Bank of England, President of the Bundesbank etc

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (in US); not Agency or Authority

Federation of Small Businesses (not Business)

feel-good factor no need for quotes

Feild, JJ the actor (not no full points)

Fellow cap in specific title such as Dr Arthur Brown, a Fellow of Magdalen, or in the more obvious Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS); but in general sense, “a group of fellows in the quadrangle”, "a research fellow", l/c; keep fellowship l/c

female do not write female councillor(s), female director(s) etc; write woman councillor, women councillors, woman director, women directors

feminine designations such as authoress, poetess, wardress, should be avoided. But actress is such common usage that it is acceptable. See comedienne

feng shui two words, roman

Ferris wheel

Fez not Fes (Morocco)

Festival Hall generally omit Royal

festivals cap the Edinburgh Festival (cultural), Reading Festival (pop), Cheltenham Festival (racing) etc, thereafter the festival (l/c). See Fringe

fête (with accent)

fewer, of numbers (fewer people, fewer goals); less, of size, in quantity, or singular nouns (less population, less meat). See less

fiancé (man), fiancée (woman). See divorcé

Fianna Fáil; Fine Gael See Ireland, Irish

Fide (not FIDE), the world chess body. See chess names

Field of Cloth of Gold, the (not the Field of the Cloth of Gold); cloth of gold is a material

Fifth Avenue generally write out such street names (not 5th Avenue). See New York

fifty write 50-50 chance; note Fifties (cap) for the decade, but “she was in her fifties” (age, l/c, not 50s)

fighting for his/her life avoid this cliché. Instead say critically ill/injured

fig leaf (two words)

figures See numbers

file sharing noun; file-sharing (adj), eg, a file-sharing program

filibuster (not fillibuster)

Filipinos, Filipinas (women), the Philippines

film festival write at first mention The Times BFI London Film Festival; see The Times. Likewise, at first mention cap the Cannes Film Festival etc, then subsequently the festival (l/c)

films titles in italics (see Arts special section); note film-maker. See movies

film star (two words)

Filofax is a trade name and must be capped. Use "personal organiser" for generic

final-salary scheme (with hyphen). See pension funds

Financial Ombudsman Service (not Service Ombudsman). See ombudsman

Financial Services Authority (FSA) replaced the Securities and Investments Board. See Personal Investment Authority

Finnigan, Judy (not Finnegan) and Richard Madeley, chat-show hosts

firearms do not confuse bullets with shotgun cartridges (containing pellets); so a gunshot wound is markedly different from a bullet wound

fire brigade l/c in general context, but cap specifics, eg, Kent Fire Brigade

firefight should not be used as a synonym of military skirmish or exchange of fire; firefighters try to extinguish flames. Note that we should always refer to firefighters rather than firemen, as a substantial number in the Fire Service are now women

Fire Service nationally, cap, as the Ambulance Service, Civil Service, Police Service, Prison Service, Probation Service etc

firing line militarily, the group doing the shooting. Do not confuse with line of fire, qv

firm do not use as a synonym of company. See companies

first serves as an adverb; avoid firstly. If a list of priorities is essential in a story, now write first, second, third etc as the shorter adverbial form. Never say first-ever.

Use first-class (for service, hotel etc) generally; but because the denomination is specified, 1st-class and 2nd-class for postage stamps. See ever, superlatives, universal claims

first aid (noun, no hyphen); but hyphenate when adjectival, eg, first-aid qualifications

First Lady caps, and restrict use primarily to US context - never for the British Prime Minister's wife

First World War (not World War One); similarly, Second World War. See wars

Fischer, Joschka, German politician

fishfinger one word for the generic filleted or minced piece of fish in breadcrumbs. Note Birds Eye, the manufacturer of frozen food

Fitzgerald, Garret

Five not Channel Five for the UK television station

Five Nations Championship (rugby), initial caps, became the Six Nations Championship in 2000 (England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy)

fjord (not fiord)

flair, as in talent, must never be confused with

flare, as in fire, fashion etc

flat-owners (hyphen), but homeowners

flat-screen hyphen as in flat-screen television

flaunt means to make an ostentatious or defiant display, eg, “she flaunted her finery”; to flout is to show contempt for, eg, “he flouted the law”

flavonoid any of a group of organic compounds that pigment fruit and flowers

fledgeling with the second "e"

fleur-de-lys (not lis)

flight numbers cap in stories where the number of the flight is relevant, eg, Flight 103 (in the Lockerbie disaster), Flight 93 (on 9/11)

flight path (two words)

floodlighting, but floodlit

floodwater one word

flotation (shares), but floatation (tanks)

flout See flaunt

flowerbed (one word); also flowerpot

flu (no apostrophe), acceptable for influenza

flunky prefer to flunkey; plural flunkies

Flushing Meadows (not Meadow), New York home of the US Open tennis championships. See Sports special section ; tennis special section

flyer whether a pilot or a handbill. As high-flyer

flying boat an aircraft that can land only on water, eg, a Sunderland; not to be confused with an amphibian aircraft that also has landing gear, and so can land on terra firma as well as water, eg, a Catalina. See aircraft

Flying Scotsman the locomotive (not The Flying Scotsman). See locomotive names

Flying Squad cap, as it is the only one in the UK. But l/c fraud squads as there are several; similarly vice squads, drug squads, crime squads, regional crime squads. See Counter Terrorism Command, police forces

focused

foetus, foetal not fetus etc; similarly, foetid not fetid

fogey plural fogeys

folk song, folk singer (no longer use hyphens)

following avoid as a sloppy synonym of after. ALWAYS use after in preference

font prefer in the typographical sense to fount

Food and Drug Administration (US)

foodie

foodstuffs where place names form part of the phrase, generally use the cap, eg, Brussels sprouts, Cheddar cheese, chicken Kiev, Cornish pasties; but potatoes lyonnaise, and keep l/c for hamburger, frankfurter etc. See cheeses ; see measures under metric

foolproof (no hyphen)

foot-and-mouth disease

for-, fore- the general rule is that the “e” is added only when the prefix has the meaning of before. Thus forbears (refrains), forebears (ancestors); forgo (go without), forego (go before, as in foregone conclusion). Take particular care with forswear and foresee(able), both frequently misspelt

Forces say the Armed Forces wherever possible, but if the word has to be used alone, cap Forces both as a noun and adjectivally (as Service); but confine this formula to UK Forces, not foreign. See Armed Forces special section

forced to always look twice at this phrase: "The police were forced to call in troops in support ..." Is "forced to" giving the correct impression?

forecastle please do not attempt to abbreviate

Foreign and Commonwealth Office use full term at first mention; thereafter Foreign Office or FCO (abbreviation permissible in headlines). Historically, it was known as the Foreign Office pre-1968

foreign appellations The Times no longer routinely uses local honorifics for:

France: M, Mme, Mlle and Me (for Maître, legal);

Germany and Austria: Herr, Frau (for all grown women, whether married or not), and Fraülein

Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America: Señor, Señora, Señorita;

Italy: Signor, Signora, Signorina;

Portugal and Brazil: Senhor, Senhora (but not Senhorina).

Note that with Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Canada, Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms etc were already used because of those countries' linguistic sensitivities (eg, Jacques Santer, former President of the European Commission, was always Mr Santer subsequently). Similarly the English forms with Francophone Africa, where French is more the language of the elite rather than the lingua franca.

For all other nationalities, use English except where it is possible to use a local title (eg, Ayatollah, Begum, Chief, Pandit, Sheikh), or a military one (eg, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi); occasionally, where titles are in general use (eg, Baron von X in Germany), we would respect such exceptions.

NB: in Burma, U means Mr, Daw means Mrs; in China, use the first Chinese name as surname, eg, Deng Xiaoping becomes Mr Deng

foreign immigration avoid this tautology in stories about movements of people from one country to another, despite its popularity with organisations such as Migrationwatch UK

foreign places as a general rule, use the spellings in The Times Atlas of the World, including Chinese place names (see Chinese names). However, The Times retains the Anglicised spellings of many familiar (and especially European) cities and countries, such as Brussels, Cologne, Cracow, Dunkirk, Florence, Geneva, Gothenburg, The Hague, Lyons, Majorca, Marseilles, Mexico City, Minorca, Moscow, Munich, Naples, Prague, Rheims, Rome, Salonika, Venice. See also Indian place names, Spanish regions

foreign words write in roman when foreign words and phrases have become essentially a part of the English language (eg, elite, debacle, fête, de rigueur, soirée); likewise, now use roman rather than italic, but retain accents, in a bon mot, a bête noire, the raison d'être. Avoid pretension by using an English phrase wherever one will serve. See accents

forensic means pertaining to the courts. A forensic expert could be a solicitor or a biochemist; make your meaning clear by writing forensic scientist, forensic medicine etc.

Note that forensics is not acceptable as a shorthand for forensic science tests or the like. It means the art or study of formal debate

for ever means always; forever means continuously

for free do not tolerate this absurd yet popular construction of preposition and adjective. "For cheap" or "for expensive" would not be contemplated. Write simply "free" (adjective) or "for nothing" (preposition and noun). See for real

forklift truck

Formica (cap, proprietary) do not use the trade name in a generic sense to describe decorative plastic laminates

formula plural usually formulas, but formulae in mathematical and scientific contexts

Formula One see Motor racing special section

for real avoid this cliché when all you mean is "really". See for free

Fortnum & Mason (note ampersand)

fortuitous does not mean fortunate. It means by chance or accidental. Do not confuse

forum plural forums. See referendum

four-letter words avoid wherever possible as these obscenities upset most readers. If there is no alternative (eg, in direct quotes, where they are essential to the story), soften them with asterisks - f***, f***ing, c*** etc. See obscenities

Fourth of July, or US Independence Day (not 4th)

four-wheel drive (for the power system), but a four-wheel-drive vehicle; see motoring terms

foxhunt, foxhunting (no hyphens), as foxhound, foxhole, master of foxhounds (l/c). Note the Hunting Act 2004. See hunting with hounds

Fox News, Fox Sports, Twentieth Century Fox (or 20th Century Fox in logo form), etc are part of the Fox Entertainment Group, which is 82.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times

FPA formerly the Family Planning Association. Note that it uses fpa (l/c) in its logo, but this seems too baffling to write in copy, so use caps (so to speak)

fractions do not mix fractions and decimals in the same story. Compounds such as half-hour, half-dozen etc take a hyphen; half an hour, half a dozen do not. Hyphenate when fractions are adjectival - “two-thirds full” - but not as nouns - “two thirds of the bus was empty”. note that two and a half years is preferably spelt out, unless an age ("she is 2½"). See two thirds, years

franc l/c, and abbreviate as Fr40; specify if not French, eg, BFr40 (Belgian), SwFr40 (Swiss) - now often historical contexts

franchisor (no longer franchiser)

Frankenstein foods never use this pejorative phrase to describe genetically modified (GM) foods, except in direct quotations

fraud squad (l/c). See Flying Squad

freak wave always treat this phrase with profound scepticism. Coasts can be dangerous, and people may drown because of their lack of familiarity with how big normal waves are. Scientifically, there are such things as freak waves, but they are far less common than many ignorant and sensationalist landlubberish media reports suggest. Beware

“freebie” permissible as colloquialism for a handout, free trip etc, but use inverted commas

Free Churches, Free Churchman etc (caps). See Churches special section

Freedom of Information Act spell out in full at first mention, thereafter simply the Act. As a concept, freedom of information may be abbreviated to FoI; use sparingly

free fall (two words)

Freemasonry, Mason, Masonic

French names prefer the more Anglicised style for street names etc: Rue Royale, Place de la Victoire, Boulevard des Montagnes. No need to hyphenate place names such as St Malo, St Etienne etc. See Quai d'Orsay

french windows (l/c)

frescoes (not frescos)

freshers week no apostrophe needed

Fresh Start, the government education initiative. Initial caps, as with other government programmes such as Third Way, Welfare to Work etc

Freud, David the government adviser on welfare reform is not knighted, so is Mr Freud at second mention

Freud, Lucian (not Lucien)

"friendly fire" this euphemism should be in quotes in headings and at first mention in copy

Fringe, the Edinburgh; always cap, whether as noun or adjective (eg, a Fringe puppet show on the Royal Mile)

Frisbee (cap, proprietary)

front bench, the (noun); but frontbencher, frontbench power etc. See Politics special section

frontline (adjective, as in the frontline states), but the front line (noun)

front-runner hyphen

FTSE 100 index (do not hyphenate FT-SE); also FTSE all-share index; both can be shortened to the FTSE 100 or the FTSE all-share

fuchsia

fuel is becoming a greatly overworked verb, especially in headlines; always seek alternatives such as raise, increase, add to, even boost

Führer (not Fuehrer)

Fujiyama or Mount Fuji, not Mount Fujiyama

fulfil, fulfilment, but fulfilled, fulfilling

full points note thin space after initials and points, eg, F. W. de Klerk. But with companies, omit the full points, eg, W H Smith. See companies, initials

-ful, -fuls so cupfuls, not cupsful

full-time (adj), but full time (noun, as in football)

fulsome be very careful - and sparing - with the use of this word. It means excessive or insincere (the cliché fulsome praise actually means excessive praise, not generous or warm praise). Misuse of this word is common in journalism. Try to avoid it, especially the clichéd (and wrong) use

fundholders (as in NHS)

fundraising, fundraiser (no hyphen)

further see farther

fury avoid the temptation to over-use this short headline word. "Fury" is rarely expressed or intended; anger or even mild disappointment is more likely

fusillade

Last updated: July 30, 2009