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k avoid for 1,000 except in direct quotes, eg, "He used to earn 200k"

kabbalah initial k and l/c for the spiritual movement based on ancient Jewish mystical tradition

Kadima party or simply Kadima, which was founded by Ariel Sharon (cf Likud, the Likud party). Kadima means "Forward"

kaftan, but cagoule

Kaká the footballer. Note the accent. His real name is Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, which would be more of a typographical challenge for the back of a shirt

Kakutani, Michiko the eminent American literary critic is a woman

Kanchenjunga preferred variant for the third-highest mountain on Earth

Kant, Immanuel not Emmanuel

Karadzic, Radovan then Dr Karadzic for the psychiatrist and war crimes suspect. See Mladic

Karajan, Herbert von; thereafter just Karajan (not von Karajan)

Karpov, Anatoly; Kasparov, Garry. See chess names , Russian names

Katharine see Catherine

Kathmandu

Keep Our NHS Public render the campaigning organisation thus, despite some website typography to the contrary

Kellogg's Corn Flakes, but cornflakes (generic)

Kentucky Fried Chicken was rebranded as KFC, so do not use the full capped version for the company or restaurant chain except in historical context. Permissible to refer to the product as Kentucky fried chicken (l/c)

kerosene is American for paraffin

Kevorkian, Dr Jack (the American euthanasia doctor; not Kervorkian)

Key Stage 1, 2, 3 etc (caps and figures for Government's educational targets)

Kfor, the Nato-led force in Kosovo (not KFOR). It is short for Kosovo Force, not Kosovo Protection Force

Khan Imran Khan and Jemima Khan are happy to remain known as Mr Khan and Mrs Khan despite their divorce, but in most cases, beware of Khan as the family name; it is usually a title given to officials or rulers in Central Asia

Khartoum

Khashoggi, Soraya, Adnan etc

Khmer Rouge the Cambodian faction led by Pol Pot. A Khmer is a Cambodian. The former leader with the nom de guerre Duch is Kang Kek Ieu

Khrushchev, Nikita

kibbutz plural kibbutzim

kibosh

kick-off (noun), but to kick off

kick-start (hyphenate, noun or verb)

Kiev not Kyiv, capital of Ukraine (not the Ukraine)

Kiley, Bob (prefer to Robert), the former Commissioner of Transport for London (2001-06), or Transport Commissioner for short

killer can be used for murderer but do not use assassin as a synonym

kilobyte abbreviate to kB; note also megabyte (MB), gigabyte (GB), terabyte (TB). See byte

kilogram (not kilogramme). See gram, metric

kilometres per hour correct abbreviation is km/h rather than kph. See metric

kilowatt-hour correct abbreviation is kWh. The cost of generating electricity at a power station is usually expressed in pence per kilowatt-hour (eg, 10p/kWh). See megawatts

King, Mervyn the Governor of the Bank of England. See George, Sir Edward

King's College London (apostrophe, no commas). See London, University of

King's Cross, London

King's Heath, Birmingham (pace the apostrophe-light city council)

King's Lynn, Norfolk

King's Norton, Birmingham (pace the apostrophe-light city council)

Kings Road, Chelsea (do not use apostrophe)

Kingston upon Hull (no hyphens) is the official name for Hull; normally just say Hull. Note that Humberside no longer exists as a local authority. See unitary authorities

Kingston upon Thames (no hyphens); say southwest London, rather than Surrey; but note that Surrey County Council is still based in Kingston. See London , postal addresses

Kinkladze, Giorgi, footballer (not Georgi)

kitchen cabinet l/c cabinet in this informal context. See Cabinet

Kitemark. See British Standards Institution; do not use Kitemark/kitemark for other quality-mark schemes

Kit Kat (two words)

kiwi the flightless bird. But note Kiwi, colloquialism for New Zealander; and kiwi fruit l/c

Kirill preferred transliteration. The acting head of the Russian Orthodox Church is Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. See Patriarch , Russian names

Kmart the US stores corporation

kneejerk (reaction etc), no hyphen; but beware of overuse

knockout (noun), but to knock out

knowhow (one word as noun)

Knowledge close up, roman, TheKnowledge for the section of The Times

knowledgeable

Knowles, Beyoncé note accent

Knox-Johnston, Sir Robin (yachtsman)

Kodak is a trade name, so must be capped

Koh-i-noor diamond

Koran, the (cap and roman, like the Bible)

Korean names, unlike Chinese, take all initial caps but no hyphens, eg, Roh Tae Woo, Ban Ki Moon. See North Korea , United Nations

Kosovo, Kosovan do not use Kosova, Kosovar

kowtow (no hyphen)

Kristallnacht (roman)

Ku Klux Klan (no hyphens)

Kurdistan In reportage do not not write about "Kurdistan" as if it were an internationally recognised state. In this context, the formation of an entity called Kurdistan, potentially involving territory in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the former Soviet Union, is a key political aim of strands of Kurdish separatism. (Similarly, there is a Palestine Liberation Organisation but not currently a state of Palestine.) We should continue to make reference to "the Kurdish region of Iraq" and other formulas that take note of the geopolitical reality. The word "Kurdistan" is perfectly acceptable in direct quotes

Kurdistan Workers' Party (in Kurdish, Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, hence the PKK) not Kurdish Workers' Party

kwashiorkor

KwaZulu-Natal (not KwaZulu/Natal). See South Africa

Kyoto Protocol (cap P)

Kyrgyzstan no longer Kirghizia. See Bishkek

Last edited: July 9, 2009