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Titles
oast house (two words)
Oath of Allegiance as sworn by new MPs; the oath at
subsequent mentions
oblivious of (not "to"); means forgetful of,
unaware of. It does not mean ignorant or uncomprehending
O'Brien, Conor Cruise; likewise Edna
obscenities “four-letter words” and profanities should be
avoided because they upset many readers. However, in direct quotes and where
they are essential to the story, style obscenities thus with asterisks;
f***, f***ing, c*** etc
occupied territories, the (all l/c)
occurred (not occured)
o'clock. See times
octogenarian
octopuses (plural of octopus, not octopi)
Oder-Neisse Line (the boundary between Poland and Germany)
Odone, Cristina (not Christina), journalist
OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development
oedipal (l/c) as pyrrhic, oriental
Oeic (open-ended investment company), cap as with Tessas and
Isas
of avoid expressions such as "all of the people attending",
"half of the children replied"; say simply "all the people",
"half the children" etc
of all time do not use this meaningless phrase, as in “best
golfer of all time”, in any circumstances
offbeat (no hyphen)
Office for Fair Access (Offa) regulator concerned with university
entrance places
Office for National Statistics formerly the Central
Statistical Office, now forms part of the agency called National Statistics:
be careful not to confuse the two. See National Statistics
Office for Standards in Education, but Ofsted usually
sufficient on its own. See regulators
officers (naval and military) do not call ratings or NCOs officers,
especially in headlines and captions. See Armed Forces special section
oil-drilling, oil-fired, oil-slick, oil-tanker, but oildrum,
oilfield, oilrig, oil platform. See Brent Spar
oil-seed rape (use hyphen)
OK rather than okay
old. See elderly
Old Etonian, Old Harrovian etc
Old Masters (caps to avoid confusion)
Olivier, Laurence (not Lawrence), the late Lord Olivier
Olympics can be used as a short form of the Olympic Games.
Similarly, the Games (always capped) can be used (same rule for Games in
Commonwealth Games etc). Always cap Olympics and Olympic even when used
adjectivally, eg, an Olympic athlete. Note International Olympic Committee
(no final “s” on Olympic).
In reference to the London Olympics of 2012, no need to capitalise venues
that do not yet exist, eg, the Olympic (note no -s) aquatic centre. Tessa
Jowell is the Olympics (note -s) Minister (caps) as well as the Culture,
Sport and Media Secretary
ombudsman, ombudswoman keep l/c in general context, eg, “he
referred the matter to the ombudsman”; but cap for specifics, as in the
Local Government Ombudsman, the Legal Services Ombudsman, and even the
unofficial title of Parliamentary Ombudsman (the Parliamentary Commissioner
for Administration). Do not confuse the Parliamentary Ombudsman with the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, an entirely separate post. Note
that the Financial Ombudsman Service has replaced the
Banking, Building Societies, Insurance, Investment, Pensions, and PIA
Ombudsmen
omega-3, omega-6 etc, l/c and hyphen, for fatty acids
on behalf of is a frequently misused phrase. It means in
the interest of (a person etc) or as representative of (eg,
“acting on behalf of his client” is correct). It must not be used as
a verbose way of saying by; eg, “the book betrays a lack of
understanding on behalf of the author” is wrong
ONdigital no longer exists
one use the singular verb in structures such as “one in three
says that ...” See nearly.
In first-person pieces, try to avoid the use of one as a synonym of I
one member, one vote (no hyphens). See Politics special
section
One Nation Tories, One Nation politicians etc (cap O and N)
one-time do not use as synonym of former as in
“one-time chairman” etc
One 2 One the former mobile phone company (NB spaces)
ongoing avoid this ugly adjective; say continuing if
anything is necessary
online one word in computer context
only take great care to place only before the word or phrase
it qualifies; “she only touched the key, but did not
press it; she touched only the key, not the switch; she
touched the only key”. Similarly, “he only played cricket”
is wrong; “he played only cricket” is correct
on to unlike into, two words invariably better than
one, as in “she moved on to better things”, though “he collapsed onto the
floor” is just acceptable. As a general rule, try to stem the advance of onto
Opec, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
opencast mining
open-heart surgery; open-door policy (if
this overworked phrase has to be used); open-plan living
room
"open skies" (l/c, quotes at first mention only),
international airline bilateral access agreements
operations. See medical terms
ophthalmologist, ophthalmic etc (not opthalmic)
Opposition the same cap or l/c rules apply as to Government -
cap as a noun but generally l/c as adjective; eg, “He accused the Opposition
of lying”, but “He said it was an opposition lie”. See Politics special
section
or need not be preceded by either, though it is
strengthened thereby if two options are mentioned. Usually avoid a comma
before it
oral must not be confused with verbal; it
means pertaining to the mouth, often in the spoken context (eg, the oral
tradition, by word of mouth); verbal means pertaining to words (contrasted
with, eg, physical or choral). Take care. See verbal
Orders in Council are approved, not signed, by the Queen
organic food never say that organic farmers use no chemicals;
they frequently use a limited range
ordinals. See numbers
Ordnance Survey, and ordnance in military contexts; but ordinance
as in regulations
Orient, the wherever possible, say the East. The adjective is oriental,
l/c. The East London football club is Leyton Orient
orientate, orientation prefer this to orient, oriented
etc. See disorientate
Orkney or the Orkney Islands, not the Orkneys. See Shetland
Oscar Award(s), or the Oscars caps, as they
are registered trademarks. See arts awards
OSCE the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe, has replaced the former CSCE (Conference on Security and
Co-operation in Europe)
Ouija (board) takes the cap as it is proprietary
Outback, the (in Australia)
outdoor (adjective); but the outdoors
outpatients, inpatients (no hyphen)
OutRage! the homosexual “outing” group
outside NEVER say outside of
-out suffixes in nouns, generally join up rather than
hyphenate, as in fallout, knockout, printout, callout, dropout,
bailout etc (but to fall out etc)
Outward Bound must be used ONLY when referring specifically
to the work or courses of the Outward Bound Trust Ltd, and never in general
use in phrases such as outward bound-style activities. Use
alternatives such as outdoor pursuits, adventure training, outdoor
adventure courses etc. Outward Bound's lawyers pounce on every
perceived infringement of its service mark. Take care
over do not use as a synonym of more than when
followed by a number, eg, "she waited over four hours for the train"
should be "... more than four hours ..."; "there were over 60
victims" should be "... more than 60 ...". See more than
over as prefix wherever the word does not look too ugly,
dispense with the hyphen, even when this leads to a double “r” in the
middle; thus, overcapacity, overestimate, overreact, override,
overrule, overuse, overvalue; an obvious exception where the hyphen
is essential is over-age
overall one word as adjective, but use sparingly
overly do not use as an alternative for over or too
Overseas Development Administration (not Agency) no longer
exists; it has been subsumed into the Department for International
Development. See departments
owing to. See due to
Oxbridge be sparing in using the term as a “catch-all” for
Oxford and Cambridge Universities
Oxford University colleges and halls are:
All Souls College; Balliol College; Blackfriars; Brasenose College; Campion
Hall; Christ Church; Corpus Christi College; Exeter College; Green College;
Greyfriars; Harris Manchester College; Hertford College; Jesus College;
Keble College; Kellogg College; Lady Margaret Hall; Linacre College; Lincoln
College; Magdalen College; Mansfield College; Merton College; New College;
Nuffield College; Oriel College; Pembroke College; The Queen's College;
Regent's Park College; St Anne's College; St Antony's College; St Benet's
Hall; St Catherine's College; St Cross College; St Edmund Hall; St Hilda's
College; St Hugh's College; St John's College; St Peter's College;
Somerville College; Templeton College; Trinity College; University College;
Wadham College; Wolfson College; Worcester College; Wycliffe Hall
