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Special sections
Armed
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Titles
vacuum in common use as a verb. See Hoover, trade names
vagaries means aimless wanderings or eccentric ideas, not vicissitudes
or changes (as in weather)
Vajpayee, Atal Behari Indian politician
Valentine's Day normally omit the St, and keep cap for Valentine card
etc
Valium proprietary name of diazepam, so cap. See trade
names
Valletta capital of Malta
valley cap in full name, such as the Thames Valley, the Wye Valley etc.
See Welsh Valleys
Van in Dutch names is cap when surname alone is given, as in Van Gogh,
but l/c when used in full, eg, Vincent van Gogh. Note Ludwig van Beethoven
(not von), although the composer was German. See von
Van Dyck, Sir Anthony, but vandyke brown, vandyke beard etc
Van Dyke, Dick
Vanessa-Mae the violinist (note hyphen)
Van Outen, Denise (cap "V")
various do not use as a pronoun as in “various of the countries
protested”; write “several / many of the countries ...”
Varsity match acceptable colloquialism for the Oxford-Cambridge rugby
match. See Cambridge, University of, Oxford, University of
Vaseline proprietary, so cap. See trade
names
VAT, value-added tax; no need to spell out fully
V-chip electronic scrambler for TV
VE-Day May 8, 1945. Likewise D-Day, VJ-Day
Veda,Vedic cap
Velázquez (Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, but normally last
name on its own will suffice), the 17th-century Spanish painter (not
Velasquez)
Velcro cap, proprietary. See trade
names
veld, not veldt
Vélib (cap, roman) a bicycle available under the public cycling
scheme in Paris
Venezuela note President Chávez (accent)
Venice Biennale (caps), biennale (l/c) at subsequent mentions
ventricles (anatomical), not ventricals
Venus flytrap
veranda (no final “h”). But see maharajah, rajah
verbal means pertaining to words, oral means pertaining to the mouth.
Do not confuse. Sadly, corrupted phrases such as verbal abuse and verbal
warning have permeated sports journalism to the point of our having to
accept them occasionally, but always try to restrict such use and find an
alternative. See oral
verbosity watch out for, and eliminate, wordy phrases such as “on the
part of” (use by), “a large number of” (many), “numerous occasions” (often),
“this day and age” (does not even demand an alternative). Such meaningless
expressions have no place in The Times. See fact that
verdict do not use for civil hearings - verdicts come at the end of
criminal trials. See employment
tribunals
verger, virger the latter to be used in context of St Paul's and
Winchester cathedrals
vermilion prefer to vermillion
verruca not verucca
versus abbreviation is v (l/c, no point)
very one of the most overworked words in English. Always try to do
without
vet(s) at first mention, write veteran(s), veterinary surgeon(s),
veterinary scientist(s) etc as appropriate; vet(s) is allowed in headings
for veterinary surgeons or scientists
vetoes plural noun and third-person singular
viable do not use as a synonym of feasible or practicable; it means
capable of independent existence
vicar take care to use this word accurately, as it is not a generic for
priest, parson, clergyman etc. In the Church of England, a vicar is the
incumbent appointed to act as priest of a parish from which, formerly, he or
she would not have received tithes but rather a stipend. By contrast, a
rector is the incumbent of a parish where, formerly, he or she would have
been entitled to all the tithes. Vicar (and rector) should not be applied to
other categories of Anglican cleric, eg, bishops, priests-in-charge, deans,
canons, non-stipendiaries etc. Clergy of other denominations should be
referred to as priests, ministers etc as appropriate. Cap when specific, eg,
the Vicar of Bray. See Churches
special section
vice always hyphenate in its deputy context (vice-chairman,
vice-president of a company etc) but not in its depravity context, eg, vice
squad. Do not confine the meaning of vice to sex; it is the opposite of
virtue and has a correspondingly wide range of meaning
vice-chancellor of a university should be capped at first mention if
given in full, eg, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, then
l/c. See job titles, universities, university posts
vice versa (roman, no hyphen)
Victoria and Albert (Museum) use the ampersand only in the abbreviated V&A
videoconference, videoconferencing no hyphen
video game
videotape one word; but video cassette, video link, video
recorder/recording. A video (for the film recording) is common usage and
permissible
Vietcong prefer to Viet Cong; also Vietminh rather than Viet Minh
vintage car is one made between 1919 and 1930; a veteran car is one
made before 1919
Virgil not Vergil
Virginia Tech university l/c university; write Virginia Tech at second
mention. Formally it is the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University. The campus killer on April 16, 2007, was Cho Seung Hui (Cho at
second mention, following Korean naming convention). See Korean
names
Virtuality is a trade name and must be capped; it must not be used as a
synonym of virtual reality
vis-à-vis roman, hyphens, with accent
viscountcy describes the rank. See Titles special section
VisitBritain the tourism promotion body that in April 2003 replaced the
British Tourist Authority and English Tourism Council
vitamin A, B, C etc l/c "v"
viz (abbreviation for videlicet) prefer namely, that is, or simply ie
VJ-Day August 15, 1945. Likewise D-Day, VE-Day
vocal cords not chords
Vodafone not Vodaphone
voiceover no hyphen
volcanoes plural of volcano
volte-face roman, hyphenated; plural remains volte-face
von (German) is usually l/c in the middle of a name, and capped only at
the beginning of a sentence. See Van
Vosper Thornycroft not Thorneycroft, and renamed VT Group in the summer
of 2002
VP never use as abbreviation of Vice-President of the US or other state
(or vice-president of a company)
Last edited: July 30, 2009
