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What's New Armed Forces Arts Churches Courts Politics Sport Titles

p's and q's. See apostrophes

Pacific Rim, South Pacific, North Pacific etc

paedophile, an adult sexually attracted to children, but pederast, a man who has sexual relations with boys. Do not confuse

page 1, page 3, page 187 etc, but a Page 3 Girl

Page, Jennie (not Jenny)

paintings titles in italic. See Arts special section

Paisley, the Rev Ian on subsequent mention Mr Paisley (not Dr; his doctorate is honorary). His son is Ian Paisley Jr

Pakistani can be used both for the people of Pakistan and adjectivally, eg, Pakistani culture

palace cap in full names, such as Blenheim Palace, thereafter the palace — except that the Palace is to be used for Buckingham Palace in stories about royalty. See Royal Family

Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh

palaeo- (not paleo-), so palaeography etc

palaeontology concerns the study of fossils and must not be confused with archaeology, which concerns human cultural remains

Palestinian National Authority (not Palestine) — usually the Palestinian Authority will suffice; but the Palestine Liberation Organisation (the PLO)

Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes Film Festival

Palmer-Tomkinson, Tara

palmtop (computers etc)

pantyhose, but normally write tights

paparazzi

paperboy, papergirl

paraffin. See kerosene

paraphernalia (not paraphanalia)

paratroops a general term for troops dropped by parachute; a parachutist is a specialist in the activity. Note, The Parachute Regiment

Pardo Palace is a royal palace on the outskirts of Madrid; the Madrid art gallery is the Prado

Parent's Charter

Paris some of the more familiar place names prone to error are the Champs Elysées, the Elysée Palace, the Quai d'Orsay, the Jardin du Luxembourg (not de), the Jardin des Tuileries (not de) and the Jeu de Paume (not Pomme)

Parker Bowles, Camilla (no hyphen)

Parkinson's disease

Parliament cap always in British context, and in overseas contexts when the word forms part of the institution,eg, the European Parliament, Canadian Parliament.
However, l/c in such as the Spanish parliament (the Cortes), the Russian parliament (Duma), the Israeli parliament (Knesset),Polish parliament (Sejm) etc; and l/c when it is only a mooted body, such as the English parliament.
Also, l/c parliamentary, even in parliamentary private secretary (abbreviated PPS) because there are many of them; but note Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), of which there is one, and similarly Parliamentary Ombudsman. See PLP, ombudsman, and Politics special section

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards (caps) the post created in the light of the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life. He must NOT be referred to as the Parliamentary Ombudsman, who is the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration. See ombudsman

partially, partly partially is of degree, eg, partially deaf; partly is of extension, eg, partly under water

participles beware the grammar trap of the disconnected (or unrelated) participle; eg, “Judging by the lingering camera shots, X's luck was not about to change” is wrong — the present participle judging has to have a following noun or pronoun in agreement (in other words, X's luck is not doing the judging). So the sentence has to be rephrased,as “Judging by the lingering camera shots, I saw that X's luck ...”, or “To judge from the lingering camera shots, X's luck ...”

parties (political) Labour Party, Conservative Party, or any other party, with cap; also overseas, such as Republican Party, Democratic Party (though usually Republicans and Democrats will suffice). See Tory, and Politics special section

part-time, part-timer (hyphens)

partygoer. See -goer

Pashtuns biggest ethnic group in Afghanistan. Prefer this designation to Pathans, by which they are also known. The language is Pashto. See War on Terror

Passchendaele

passer-by, passers-by

past use rather than last in suchphrases as “the past two weeks”. See last

pastime

past tense of verbs almost always prefer the shorter form using final -t where appropriate; eg, spelt not spelled, dreamt not dreamed (though NEVER earnt for earned)

pâté. See accents

Patient's Charter

Patriarch Aleksiy II (not Aleksei), head of the Russian Orthodox Church

Pavlikovsky, Paul — not Pawel Pawlikowski for the Polish film director

PAYE (caps for pay as you earn)

Paymaster General

payout, payoff (no hyphens)

Peace Implementation Council in the former Yugoslavia. See Contact Group

peacekeeping, peacemaking etc (no hyphens)

peal of bells, peel of anorange etc

Pearl Harbor (not Harbour)

pedal as in bicycle; peddle asin selling drugs or advocating ideas. Thus a pedaller is someone who pedals a bike; a pedlar is the(often shady) small trader; and a drug-pusher is a peddler

pedalo (not pedallo), plural pedalos

peers a peer or a peeress has a seat in the House of Lords. A female life peer is a peeress usually referredto as Baroness Smith. After the first mention of the Marquess of Paddington, Earl of Euston, Viscount Pimlico or Lord Holborn,call them all Lord Paddington, Lord Euston etc. See Titles special section

Peirce, Gareth the human rights lawyer is female

pejorative (not perjorative)

Peking only in phrases such as Peking duck or Peking man. The city is now Beijing. Note pekinese dogs. See Chinese names

Peloponnese

PEN, International; the world association of writers

peninsula never peninsular when used as a noun; peninsular is the adjective, as in the Peninsular War

pension funds (not pensions funds, as plural). Note final-salary scheme (with hyphen)

pensioners take care with this word. Some readers take exception to "ambiguous" usage, so it should strictly be confined to people drawing their state pension (men at 65, women at 60). If in doubt, write the elderly or older people, or as last resort, senior citizen. See elderly

peony (not paeony)

people use rather than persons wherever appropriate; exceptions would be “the law is no respecter of persons” or the ubiquitous missing persons. Take care with the apostrophe: remember that people is a plural, so the normal use is apostrophe “s”, eg, “it is the people's wish”; very occasionally, peoples in thesense of races can take an “s” apostrophe, eg,“the African peoples' common heritage”

people-trafficking hyphenate noun and adjective

Pep, Peps not usually necessary to spell out as personal equity plan any more

Pepsi-Cola (hyphen, as Coca-Cola)

per try to avoid in phrases such as “six times per year”; “six times a year” is better

per cent always takes figures rather than the word, eg, 3 per cent, not three per cent. Usually use decimals rather than fractions (3.25 per cent rather than 3¼ per cent). Use % sign in headlines, never pc, and spell out per cent in text

percentage, proportion do not use as a synonym of part or many if that is all they mean in a sentence; eg, instead of “a large percentage of parents objected” say “many parents objected”

percentage points take care. If the mortgagerate rises from 8 per cent to 10 per cent, it does not rise by 2 per cent, but by two percentage points. Similarly if a political party's support drops from 50 per cent to 40 per cent in anopinion poll, it has lost ten percentage points or 20 per cent of its support

perestroika (not italics)

performance-related pay

Performing Right Society (not Rights)

Pergau dam (in Malaysia)

Permanent Secretary when specific, l/c when general reference. See Politics section

Persia use Iran for the modern state, and neverPersian Gulf except in historical context. See Gulf

Personal Investment Authority (PIA), not Investments, has been subsumed into the Financial Services Authority (FSA)

personnel prefer people or employees or workers wherever possible

Perspex is a trade name, so must cap

Peterhouse, the Cambridge college, never takesCollege after the name. Neither does Christ Church, Oxford; nordo any Oxford or Cambridge colleges ending with Hall, eg, LadyMargaret Hall. Nor do Queen Mary and Royal Holloway at London University. See Cambridge, London, Oxford university entries

petfood (no hyphen); similarly, catfood, dogfood

petrol bomb not Molotov cocktail

phalangist (in Lebanon). See falangist

Pharaoh (not -oah), pharaonic (adjective l/c)

phenomenon, plural phenomena: beware the use of phenomenalas a cliché meaning remarkable or big

Phillips (no apostrophe), the auction house — still known as Phillips despite recent (summer 2002) on-off merger activity; but note Philips, the Dutch electronics company

phoney (not phony)

phosphorus (noun), but phosphorous, phosphoric (adjectives); phosphorescence

photo-finish, but photo call (two words); likewise, photo opportunity

photofit (l/c), but Identikit (cap)

Picketts Lock in North London (no apostrophe)

Picture of Dorian Gray, The (not Grey), Oscar Wilde's novel

pidgin English (not pigeon)

piecemeal, piecework

pigeonhole(d) (do not hyphenate)

pigheaded

Pigott-Smith, Tim (not Piggott), actor, but Lester Piggott (jockey)

Pilates the exercise method takes a capital

pilgrims are l/c, but the Pilgrim Fathers; note The Pilgrim's Progress

Pill, the (contraceptive), but morning-after pill (l/c)

Pimm's (the drink)

PIN (not Pin), personal identification number. Do not write PIN number, which is a tautology

pinstripes (-d)

pitbull (terrier)

pitstop (motor racing)

pizzazz

PKK, the Kurdish Workers' Party (not Kurdistan...)

place names refer to the Bartholomew Gazetteer for place names in England, Wales and Scotland, and The Times Atlas of the World for the rest of theworld. But there are exceptions; beware the new Welsh countynames, and see unitary authorities, foreign places and Spanishregions

place name constructions two ugly devices toavoid are, eg, a Gosport, Hampshire, housewife, and Manchester's Piccadilly station; say instead a housewife from Gosport, Hampshire, and Piccadilly station, Manchester

Plaid Cymru (the Welsh Nationalist Party)

plane, on a higher (not plain)

planes always prefer aircraft or jets (where applicable). Avoid airplanes. See aircraft

Plant names Much confusion can be pruned away:

a. Family names — roman with capital (Poaceae, grass family; Rosaceae, rose family).

b. Genus (plural genera) — italic with capital (Miscanthus, Cattleya, Malus). Can abbreviate to italic capital with full stop where followed by species or cultivar name (M. sinensis for Miscanthus sinensis; C. 'Bow Bells' for Cattleya 'Bow Bells').

c. Species name — italic and l/c even when formed from proper noun. Always combine with genus name (Miscanthus sinensis, Cattleya trianaei [for Mr Triana], Malus sylvestris).

d. Cultivars — roman with capital for each main word. If following cv (meaning cultivar), no quotes; if after genus, species or hybrid name, single quotes (Hamamelis x intermedia 'Winter Beauty'; Hamamelis x intermedia cv Magic Fire; H. mollis 'Brevipetala'; Paeonia 'Souvenir de Maxime Cornu'). Getting them right is important to avoid confusion with popular names.

e. Popular/common/vernacular names — no quotes, roman and no caps unless a proper noun is involved. Platanus x acerifolia is the London plane; Malus sylvestris the wild crab or European apple. Eryngium giganteum is known as Miss Willmott's ghost but also contains a cultivar 'Silver Ghost' - the first stands for the entire species, the second for one distinctive form of the species.

Play-Doh (proprietary)

play down to be preferred to downplay

play-off

plays titles in italics. See Arts specialsection

PlayStation

plc (all l/c), can usually be dropped from company names. See LLP, Ltd

PLP, the Parliamentary Labour Party. SeePolitics special section

plurals make corporate bodies and institutions singular unless this looks odd. Thus “The National Trust is...”, but sports teams are plural, eg, “Arsenal were worth their 8-0 lead”. Whether singular or plural, always maintain consistency within a story

plus, minus do not use as variants of andor without. NB, pluses and minuses

Poe, Edgar Allan

point-to-point

poetess avoid (say poet). See femininedesignations

Poet Laureate (caps); plural is Poets Laureate

poetry or blank verse quotes spacing should be as follows around the slash to separate the lines: The play's the thing/ Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king

Polaroid is a trade name, so must cap

pole l/c for an end of the Earth, and, adjectivally, polar; but the North Pole, the South Pole; also the magnetic North Pole, the geographical North Pole

Polgar, Judit. See chess names

Police Complaints Authority was replaced (April 2004) by the Independent Police Complaints Commission

police forces cap the word Police when it is part of the full name of the force. This applies to the following forces: Metropolitan Police, City of London Police, BritishTransport Police, Ministry of Defence Police, Bedfordshire Police, Cleveland Police, Dorset Police (Force), Essex Police, Greater Manchester Police, Humberside Police, Kent Police, Lincolnshire Police, Merseyside Police, Northamptonshire Police, Northumbria Police, North Yorkshire Police, Nottinghamshire Police, South Yorkshire Police, Staffordshire Police, Surrey Police, Sussex Police, Thames Valley Police, West Midlands Police, West Yorkshire Police, Dyfed-Powys Police, Gwent Police, North Wales Police, South Wales Police, Central Scotland Police, Grampian Police, Lothian andBorders Police, Strathclyde Police, Tayside Police. Other forces use Constabulary instead of Police (eg, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Hertfordshire Constabulary), so either give that full titleor, more commonly, say Cambridgeshire police, Hertfordshire police etc. Do not cap when referring to a local division, eg, Luton police, or police in Luton. If in doubt, consult Whitaker's Almanack under “Police Authorities”

policemen take care with this word. Certain senior officers, men and women, regularly chide us for using policemen when we mean police officers. If in doubt, use the latter. (PC in every sense)

police ranks wherever possible outside lists, avoid the inelegant abbreviated forms such as Det Con, Det Chief Insp. Spell out, even if inconvenient sometimes. The use of WPC (Woman Police Constable) is allowed historically, eg, WPC Yvonne Fletcher (murdered outside the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984), and also contemporarily, eg, WPC Sharon Beshenivsky (shot dead in Bradford, 2005), when emphasis on the gender of the officer is pertinent, and in headlines; more generally, use PC for all constables. PC also acceptable in headlines. Compound titles do not take hyphens in the police force. Detective Sergeant X becomes Sergeant X after the first mention. Inspector and all ranks above are usually Mr after the first mention. See Chief Constable

Police Staff College, at Bramshill, Hampshire; or simply the police college (l/c), Bramshill

policyholder, policymaker, but policy document

Politburo (usually cap)

politics treat as singular when talking of the form or process of government; plural when meaning a particular set of principles, ideas etc. eg, "Politics is a popular subject at many universities"; "What are your politics?" (Fowler). See Politics section

polo-neck shirt (adjectival) but poloneck when used as noun

Pope, the not usually necessary to give hisfull name, eg, Pope John Paul II (unless several popes arementioned in a story), but always cap when used specifically. Note papacy, pontiff (l/c). See Churches special section

poppadum

populist should not be confused with, or used asa synonym of, popular; it means supporting the interest ofordinary people, or pandering to mass public taste

Porritt, Jonathon; despite his baronetcy, heprefers not to use Sir

Portakabin, Portaloo trade names: always use the capital

possessives 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. Similarly, do not use the possessive in phrases such as BBC One's Panorama programme: write the BBC One Panorama programme, or simply Panorama on BBC One

possibly like most qualifiers, this word can(usually) be omitted

postal addresses in news and features, prefer tosay Bromley, southeast London (rather than Kent), and Kingstonupon Thames, southwest London (rather than Surrey) etc. Thisleaves the old counties such as Middlesex to be used principally intheir historical or sporting contexts. Also avoid the clumsy possessive form such as Manchester's Moss Side, London's East End; say Moss Side, Manchester, the East End of London. There is no need to use postcodes except when giving an address for information. See addresses

postcode (no hyphen)

Postcomm, the postal regulator. See Post Office, regulators

postgraduate, undergraduate (noun and adjective both one word)

Post-it Notes (proprietary, cap P and N)

Post-Modern (caps, hyphen) when used to describe a style of art; postmodern to describe an attitude to life. See artistic movements

post mortem wherever possible write post-mortem examination in reports, though post mortem is acceptable nowadays in headlines

Post Office will no longer be called Consignia (late 2002), but is being renamed Royal Mail Group, one of whose trading subsidiaries is Post Office Ltd (or the Post Office, colloquially), which runs the big urban post offices. Other subsidiaries are Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels delivery) and Royal Mail (post delivery). Note l/c post office for the branches, sub-post office, sub-postmaster, sub-postmistress. See Consignia

postwar, prewar (adjectives, commonly referring to the Second World War). Do not use adverbially (as in “there were a million unemployed prewar”)

potatoes (plural, as tomatoes)

pothole (as in caving or road surfaces), potholer

Potters Bar no apostrophe. Location of fatal train crash on May 10, 2002

pound do not use the £ by itself, except in headlines

PoW (prisoner of war); plural PoWs

Powell, General Colin (keep the General despite his civilian political status)

Powergen, no longer PowerGen

PPE the university degree is philosophy, politics and economics (not politics, philosophy etc)

PPP. See Private Finance Initiative

practical, practicable do not confuse. Practicalmeans adapted to actual conditions or (of a person) able to makethings function well; practicable means capable of being effectedor accomplished

practice (noun); practise(verb). It is an inexcusable practice for sub-editors to confuse the two; writers should practise getting it right

Prado gallery, Madrid. See Pardo

praying mantis (not preying)

praesidium, not presidium

prearrange

Pre-Budget Report (initial caps)

pre-Columbian before Columbus

predilection (not predeliction)

pre-empt

prefixes such as super, mega, multi, eco, over, under, micro, mini rarely need a hyphen: supersize; megarich; multifaceted (but exceptions when two vowels fall together: multi-ethnic, and see entry under multi); ecofriendly, ecowarrior; overrule, oversensitive, overuse (exception is over-age, see entry for over as prefix); underperforming, underreact (exception under-age); macroeconomic; microskirt; miniskirt (qv)

pregnant avoid the infelicitous phrase she fell pregnant

Premier do not use in text as a synonym of Prime Minister, though very occasionally its use in the headline of a foreign story (never British) may be permitted. Generally, confine the word to heads of government of the Canadian provinces or Australian states, when it should take a cap. Premiership is preferable to prime-ministership

premiere, of a play, ballet etc (no accent)

Premiership (football) refer to the Barclaycard Premiership (no longer Carling) at first mention, the Premiership thereafter, for the top division in English football; the organisation that runs it is the FA Premier League. Take care not to confuse the competition and the organisation. Similarly, the lower divisions form the Coca-cola Championship, league one, league two (note l/c) etc; this competition is run by the Football League. See Sports special section

premise is an assumption in an argument; premises (property) take the plural verb, eg, “the premises are well positioned”

Premium Bonds (caps)

prepositional verbs avoid wherever possible.Examples such as measure up to, get on with are acceptable on the odd occasion. Others such as consult with, meet with (where the preposition is tautologous) are hideous and must never be used

Pre-Raphaelite. See artistic movements

Presbyterian beware, especially with the adjective Scots. See Church, and Churches special section

present better than current but often redundant

President (of any country, also President of the European Commission), cap at first and all subsequent mentions when used as a variation for a specific person, eg, "George W. Bush said that … the President said that … "; "Richard Nixon was the President until 1974". Lower case when using president more generally, eg, "Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States". Also l/c presidency (as in the French presidency of the EU), and note that presidents of companies or organisations will normally take l/c, though this rule should be relaxed for leading national organisations, such as President of the Royal Society, President of the TUC etc. See Prime Minister

press always l/c except in titles such as the Press Complaints Commission. See broadsheet, media

prestigious try to avoid this much-overworked word and find an appropriate substitute such as highly regarded, admired, eminent, esteemed, leading, noted, outstanding, powerful etc

Pret A Manger (restaurants), no accents, cap A

pretension, but pretentious

prevaricate must not be confused with procrastinate.The first means to speak or act evasively; the second to defer action, to be dilatory

preventive (not preventative)

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC for short), the merged accountants

prime meridian (l/c)

Prime Minister cap for every country, but only in reference to a specific person, eg, "Tony Blair said that … the Prime Minister said that … "; "Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990". Thus lower case when using prime minister more generally, eg, "Being prime minister has affected many men's health"; "This is a prime minister with much still to prove". Similar capitalisation and lower-case rulings for President/president when referring to a head of government. Never say, eg, Prime Minister Tony Blair or even Tony Blair, the Prime Minister (Times readers will know who Mr Blair is); say instead Tony Blair at first mention, then the Prime Minister at next mention. Never use Premier for the British Prime Minister, and never use PM except sparingly in headlines. See Premier, President

primeval

Prince avoid the familiar forms of Prince Charles and Prince Philip at least until they have been given their full designation of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh; even then, prefer the Prince and the Duke at subsequent mentions. Note The Prince's Trust. Prince William at first mention, thereafter simply William (or for variation the Prince, if not ambiguous); similarly, Prince Harry at first mention, thereafter simply Harry (or for variation the Prince, if not ambiguous). See royal, Royal Family

Princess of Wales. See Diana, Princess of Wales

Princes Street, Edinburgh

principal (noun or adjective) means chief, main,important, head etc; eg, the principal of a college, or the team's principal objective. It must never be confused with principle,which is a noun meaning concept, ideal, rule, moral etc; eg, her Christian principles

Principality, the cap in Welsh context

printout

prior to avoid wherever possible; use before

prise apart (not prize)

Prison Service (caps); Prisons Board (caps and note “s”); Director-General of the Prison Service (caps); Chief Inspector of Prisons (caps). See Governor, Probation Service

prison visitors these are members of the National Association of Prison Visitors, who visit prisoners in the "social" sense of visiting; previously, there were also members of prison boards of visitors, who visited as watchdogs in an official role. The central organisation for this function is now called the Independent Monitoring Board Secretariat. Each prison has a body called, for example, the Winchester prison independent monitoring board

Pritt Stik (initial caps)

Private Finance Initiative (PFI), sometimes now known as Public Private Partnerships (initial caps)

private sector, public sector do not use hyphens even when employed adjectivally, eg, public sector pay (as high street shopping)

privatised industries. See regulators

Privy Council, but Privy Counsellors (not Councillors)

prize-money (use hyphen)

prizewinner (one word); a Nobel prizewinner (unspecific Nobel award), but winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (a specific award); also, a Nobel prize-winning novel. See Nobel

Probation Service (caps, as Prison Service)

probe use only in a scientific, medical or space context. Never to be used as inquiry, even in headlines

problem be sparing with use of this overworked word

procrastinate means to defer action, to be dilatory. See prevaricate

Procter & Gamble (-er and ampersand)

Procurator Fiscal, Crown prosecutor in Scotland. See Courts special section

profanities. See obscenities, four-letter words

Professor of History, Psychology etc (caps when given as specific designation after a name); thereafter, the professor or Professor X. See university posts

proffer, proffered; not profer, proferred

profits, especially in Business stories, should always state the basis of the figure (pre-tax, operating etc)

program (computers); programme(the arts etc)

pro-life beware this contentious phrase for the anti-abortion lobby (especially in US context); use the phrase anti-abortion wherever possible, but when “pro-life” is unavoidable always quote it

Proms acceptable abbreviation of Promenade Concerts; Promenaders; and the Last Night of the Proms

prone means lying face-down; supine,face-up

proofread, proofreader, proofreading

propeller (not -or)

prophecy (noun), prophesy (verb)

proportion. See percentage

pros and cons

protagonist means a supporter (of either side) in a debate or quarrel; it does not mean advocate or proponent

protégé if female, protégée

protester (NEVER -or); but see demonstrator

Protestant beware of using for all Christians who are not Roman Catholic. See Churches special section

proven not proven is the Scottish legal verdict. In general use, prefer proved to proven; but proven and unproven may be used as a colloquial alternative

provided that (not providing that)

Province, the. See Ireland (paragraph d)

provinces, provincial take great care of these words in the context of “outside London”. Many regard them as patronising; use the regions or regional wherever possible

prurient means having an unhealthy obsession with sex; it does NOT mean puritanical

PSBR, the public sector borrowing requirement

public house pub is fully acceptable in text or headlines

public interest immunity certificate (abbreviate to PIIC, or simply the certificate)

publicly (never publically)

Public Record Office (not Records); now the National Archives (see entry)

public school independent school is now a preferable term; say public schoolboys, public schoolgirls, if we have to use the phrase

public sector. See private sector

Puffa jacket (must cap P, trademark); use padded or quilted jacket as the generic

Pulitzer prizes. See Nobel for when to cap

pullout (noun, one word); but to pull out

punctuation some important reminders:

a. Commas: keep commas inside quotes in the following type of “broken” sentence: “The trouble is,” he said, “that this is a contentious issue.” Omit the comma before if, unless, before, since, when unless the rhythm or sense of the sentence demands it. Avoid the so-called Oxford comma; say “he ate bread, butter and jam” rather than “he ate bread, butter, and jam”.

b. Dashes: should not be used in place of commas. Too many dashes can be ugly and disruptive.

c. Note that punctuation marks go inside the inverted commas if they relate to the words quoted, outside if they relate to the main sentence, eg, She is going to classes in “health and beauty”. If the whole sentence is a quotation, the final point goes inside, eg, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”

d. Interrogation marks are never used with indirect questions or rhetorical questions, eg, “She asked why he did not laugh.”

e. Parentheses should be used sparingly; try to use commas instead.

f. And and but, both conjunctions, may occasionally be used at the beginning of a sentence, especially for emphasis.

g. With ellipses, use three points with full space after last word, then thin-spacing between points, then full space before next word; for example, not only ... but also.

puns an enjoyable device for headline writers. Restrict their use to funny or light stories or features and if in doubt, avoid; but if irresistible, make sure they are in good taste

Puritan do not use the word for the 16th/17th-century religious group as a contemporary adjective; puritanical is just permitted

putsch, a military seizure of power, as in coup

pygmy, pygmies

Pyramids the three main Pyramids at Giza (including the Great Pyramid) should be capped. But there are many other pyramids (l/c) throughout Egypt

Pyrenees no need for accents unless referring specifically to the French département

pyrrhic (as with victory), l/c