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Gaddafi, Colonel (Muammar), the Libyan leader; Colonel Gaddafi at second mention. Note that he is not president

gadwall a species of duck; plural is gadwalls

gaff is a hook or spar; gaffe is a blunder or indiscretion. Note to blow the gaff (let out a secret)

Galápagos accent

gallon the US gallon is not the same as the imperial gallon. So extra care is needed when converting American pump prices to British ones.

The US gallon is 3.785 litres; the imperial gallon is 4.547 litres

Galloway, George the MP's wife is Amineh Abu-Zayyad, Dr Abu-Zayyad at second mention

Gambia, The always use the cap definite article

gambit is a technical term in chess, meaning an opening involving a sacrifice in return for general advantage. Thus opening gambit is tautology. Take care with its use as a metaphor, and use sparingly. Note endgame (one word)

game plan

game show, as chat show, quiz show, talk show etc (no hyphens for nouns); but game-show etc for adjectival use

Gandhi, Mahatma, Indira etc (never Ghandi)

gaol, gaoler do not use these spelling apart from historic references such as The Ballad of Reading Gaol. See jail, jailer

Garda See Ireland

Gardeners' Question Time, not Gardener's

garrotte

gas, gases (noun); gassed, gassing (verbal use), and note gases (not gasses) for present tense, eg, doctor gases patient

gasfield, as coalfield, oilfield

gateau

Gatt the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Its successor body is the World Trade Organisation (WTO). See Uruguay Round, World Trade Organisation

Gatwick sufficiently well known not to need airport in title. See airports , Heathrow

gauge (not guage)

Gaultier, Jean Paul (no hyphen)

gavel not used in British courts, so in that context an unwise choice of illustration. See Courts special section

gay fully acceptable as a synonym for homosexual or lesbian. See straight

"gay marriage" put in quotation marks at first mention only. See civil partnership

GCSE See A level, examinations

GDP gross domestic product. In most contexts, sufficiently well known not to need spelling out

GEC Alsthom became simply Alstom (note no "h") in mid-1998

gelatine (rather than gelatin)

Geldof, Bob do not write Sir Bob Geldof, as he is an honorary KBE

Gemelli hospital (l/c) in Rome. In full, it is the Policlinico Universitario Agnosto Gemelli

gender is a term of grammar; try not to use as a synonym of a person's sex

general election always l/c. Five years is the maximum period for a United Kingdom Parliament. This is specified within provisions contained under the Septennial Act 1715, amended by Section 7 of the Parliament Act 1911. The five years run from the first meeting of Parliament after a general election. The current Parliament was first summoned on Wednesday, May 11, 2005, so will cease to exist at midnight on Monday, May 10, 2010. A general election to elect the new Parliament must be held by no later than Thursday, June 3, 2010. Further details on elections procedures are available at the Electoral Commission website. See Politics special section

General Secretary of the TUC (caps), but general secretary of individual unions keep l/c. See TUC

General Strike (of 1926) (caps)

General Synod (of the Church of England), thereafter the synod. See Churches special section

Gentile(s) (cap)

gentlemen's club (prefer to gentleman's); also gentlemen's agreement

George, Sir Edward (not Sir Eddie), former Governor of the Bank of England. See King, Mervyn

geriatric does not mean elderly, but is applied to medical treatment for the elderly, eg, geriatric hospital. Never use as a term of abuse

German Bight, as in the Shipping Forecast (not Bite). See also Shipping Forecast areas map

Germany full title is the Federal Republic of Germany. If referring to the area that was East Germany, say eastern Germany or the former East Germany; similarly, western Germany or the former West Germany. Ossis, Wessis permissible vernacular for inhabitants of the two parts. When plural, use the two Germanys, not Germanies. Reunification was in 1990, so in the postwar period sporting teams etc represented West Germany and East Germany separately

gerrymander

get, got often a lazy verb for which an alternative should be sought

Getty, Sir Paul (do not use John or J. in his name)

Ghanaian (not Ghanian)

ghetto use only in the sense of an area of enforced or customary segregation, not as an ethnic neighbourhood, eg, middle-class district, not ghetto. Note plural ghettos

giant killer, giant killing (nouns), but giant-killing (adj)

gibe means taunt or sneer; gybe means to shift direction or change course, particularly in sailing. For the sake of clarity, jibe (a variant of both) should not be used

Gibraltar (never Gibralter); and note Strait of Gibraltar (not Straits)

Gift Aid (initial caps)

gig perfectly acceptable for a musical event, as rave

gillie (rather than ghillie)

gipsy See Gypsy/gypsy

girl do not use as a synonym of woman except in informal contexts

girl band two words. Note also boy band

girlfriend one word, as boyfriend

girlie not girly

giro (l/c), as in benefit payments, cheques etc

Giscard d'Estaing, Valéry; thereafter Giscard

giveaway (noun or adjective), one word, as takeaway; but to give away

glamorise, glamorous, but glamour

glasnost (not italic)

glassmaker

GlaxoSmithKline, the merged pharmaceuticals company (GSK for short)

glisters, all that ... Shakespeare did not write glitters in reference to what is not gold, so better to quote the Bard precisely or not at all (The Merchant of Venice, Act II, scene vii)

Glen Coe, the valley; but Glencoe for the battle, the village and the pass

Glorious Twelfth, the (caps)

Gloster, Mrs Justice a High Court judge. In non-judicial settings, she is Dame Elizabeth Gloster. See Courts special section

glühwein l/c, roman, accent

glycerin no need for terminal "e"; likewise nitroglycerin and trinitroglycerin

GMB say the GMB general union

go-ahead, give the prefer approve, shorter and preferable to this cliché

goatherd one word

gobbledegook

God cap when referring to just one, in any religion. He, His, Him also take cap. Many gods, use l/c, as in the Greek gods. See Christian terms , and Churches special section

goddam

godforsaken, godless (l/c), but God-fearing

godparents, godfather, godmother, godson, goddaughter, godchild

godslot

Goebbels, Joseph -oe- not umlaut. Similarly, Hermann Goering

-goer as a suffix, run on as one word, as in churchgoer, cinemagoer, operagoer, partygoer, theatregoer etc

go-kart (use hyphen)

Goldeneye (the James Bond film, not GoldenEye)

Golden Globes note that, contrary to the cliché, these film awards are not reliable pointers to Oscar success. See Oscar Award(s)

Golden Jubilee caps for the Queen's celebration in 2002, l/c in general context

Golders Green (no apostrophe)

goldmine, goldmining

Goldsmiths College, London (no apostrophe). Goldsmiths has a Warden, not a Rector. See London, University of

gold standard l/c

González Durántez, Miriam second mention Ms González, aka the wife of Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat politician

goodbye

goodwill one word, whether used as a noun or adjective

Google cap noun; google l/c verb, googling, googled etc, as per Hoover/hoover, Twitter/twitter. See using Google for pages in Spanish

Gorazde in Bosnia (not Goradze)

Gorbachev, Mikhail

Gore-Tex (caps, hyphen, trade name)

gorilla

Gormley, Antony (the sculptor)

Gothenburg (not Göteborg)

Gothic (cap), rather than Gothick, for whatever meaning, including architectural, artistic, fashion, literary, musical and tribal; likewise, always cap Goth

gourmandise

Government cap all governments, British and overseas, when referring to a specific one, eg, “the Government resigned last night”, “the Argentine Government sent troops”, and specific past administrations such as “the Heath Government”; only l/c when unspecific or one that has yet to be formed, eg, “all the governments since the war”, “the next Tory/Labour government would raise pensions”, "here is a government running out of credibility with the voters".

Also l/c government in all adjectival contexts, eg, a government minister, a government decision, government expenditure. A further instance of l/c use is in phrases such as “the Bosnian government troops” or “the British government-backed trade delegation”, when the use is again principally adjectival.

Also, note that provincial or state governments, eg, in Australia, Canada, India etc, and within the United Kingdom, eg, the Scottish government, retain the l/c. See Politics special section

government departments cap both when giving full title (eg, Department of Health), and even when abbreviated, as in Health Department etc. Prefer to use the fuller form if possible with British government departments. See departments of state and government offices

Government Information and Communication Service (initial caps), the former name of the Government Information Service. It comprises the information officers in government departments

Governor of the Bank of England (cap at every mention), also cap Deputy Governor of the Bank. Similarly cap the Governor of the Falkland Islands at every mention; but prison governors at first mention only, eg, James X, Governor of Parkhurst, thereafter l/c, and l/c deputy governors of prisons

Arnold Schwarzenegger is Governor of California. On subsequent mentions of his title, the governor (l/c), as in Boris Johnson and mayor. Similarly for US states, capitalise specific title mention of John D. Cherry, Lieutenant-Governor of Michigan, l/c thereafter

Governor-General takes a hyphen everywhere except Canada

Graces The Three Graces (Canova's statue). See Arts special section

Grade II listed, Grade II* listed etc

gram not gramme; similarly, kilogram. See metric

Grammy, Grammys

grandad, but granddaughter

Grand Guignol caps, not italic

Grand Jury (caps) in US contexts

grandmaster (chess) l/c. See chess names

grand slam noun, l/c; grand-slam adjective, l/c, hyphen

Grand Tour, the caps

Grappelli, Stéphane use acute accent

Grass, Günter umlaut

grassroots (adjective), the grass roots (noun). Try to use this cliché sparingly

grave, turn in his/her a somewhat hackneyed phrase anyway, but definitely not to be used if the person is not dead or has not got a grave. For example, George Bernard Shaw was cremated and his ashes scattered in his garden. It is often possible to check whether someone has indeed got a tomb or not, especially the great and the good

gravlax

great and the good, the (all l/c, and quotes usually unnecessary)

Great Britain or 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. See Britain

Great Dane cap; see dogs

Greater London Authority (GLA at subsequent mention) is the strategic government for London, consisting of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly, backed up by a staff of some 400. The London Assembly (not the Greater London Assembly) is an elected body of 25 members providing checks and balances on the Mayor of London

greater or lesser degree lesser is not correct but is common usage. See lesser

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (no longer Sick Children)

Great Train Robber(s), Great Train Robbery on August 8, 1963, in Buckinghamshire

Greco-, not Graeco-

green belt l/c, but greenfield sites (similarly brownfield)

green line l/c, demarcation line between hostile factions in, eg, Jerusalem, Beirut, Cyprus; likewise, green zone

Green Paper caps in official government sense. See White Paper

Green Party, or the Greens, but green issues etc l/c for generic environmental matters

green zone l/c as green line

grenade no need to write hand grenade; but qualify if delivered in another way, eg, rocket-propelled grenade

grisly means horrifying, repugnant; grizzly means greyish, grizzled, or is a short form of grizzly bear

grottoes

ground(s) in the sense of reason, do not use plural unless more than one is given; eg, “he gave up his job on the ground of illness”; but “he gave up his job on the grounds of his failed marriage and illness”; "on the ground of diminished responsibility" etc

ground-breaking hyphenate adjectivally

Group 4 (security company)

G-string

Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (now use accent). See War on Terror

Guayaquil the Ecuadorean port city on the Pacific Coast is 170 miles southwest of Quito (not southeast as an agency once reported)

guerrilla note double r and double l; beware of loaded terms for advocates of political violence. See terrorist

guest avoid using as a verb (Lady X will guest on the show; say Lady X will be among the guests, or Lady X is a guest). See host

guesthouse no hyphen

guidebook similarly, chequebook, formbook, stylebook, textbook etc

Guides (not Girl Guides); Girlguiding UK became the new name in April 2002 for the Guide Association; the individual members are still known as Guides, Brownies and Rainbows. See Scouts

Guildhall (London); never the Guildhall

guinea pig (no longer hyphen)

Guinness Guinness World Records (formerly The Guinness Book of Records)

Gujarati person or language (not Guje-)

gulag loosely, labour camps; Gulag (cap) was the Soviet organisation that ran the prisons and forced labour camps

Gulf, the avoid both Persian Gulf and Arabian Gulf in this politically sensitive area

Gulf War, the do not write "the first Gulf War". Refer to the subsequent conflict as the Iraq war (l/c). See war in Iraq

gunboat, gunfight, gunfire, gunman, gunpoint, gunshot, gunsmith but gun dog

gunned down avoid this Americanism, which means shot; if you mean shot dead, say it

gunrunner, gunrunning one word

Guns N' Roses

gunwales (nautical, not gunwhales)

gurdwara (l/c, roman) a Sikh temple

Gurkhas

guttural (not gutteral)

Guyana (formerly British Guiana, now independent); do not confuse with French Guiana (still a French overseas territory). The adjective from Guyana is Guyanese, also the person. Note also Surinam (not Suriname), the former Dutch Guiana

Guy Fawkes Night no apostrophe, initial caps; similarly Bonfire Night

Gwyn, Nell

Gypsy/gypsy (not gipsy). Use the cap when referring to a specific group of this semi-nomadic people, but l/c in the fashion or general sense, as in "gypsy style is the look for spring". The other wandering groups in Britain are the Irish tinkers, who prefer the name Irish travellers; the Scottish Gypsies/travellers; and the hippies, whom we can call New Age travellers; travellers is a useful generic term. Note (the) Roma is the term for Gypsies from the Continent, some of whom have sought asylum in Western Europe. The singular and adjectival form is Romany, eg, a Romany woman, but Gypsy can be used in the same way. Note also that the Gypsy Council (or Romani Kris) is not the same as the Gypsy Council for Education, Culture, Welfare and Civil Rights (GCECWCR). This second organisation must not be shortened to Gypsy Council.

Last edited: July 29, 2009