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vacuum in common use as a verb, but avoid Hoover, a trade name. 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, so cap)

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

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

Vaseline proprietary, so cap

VAT, value-added tax; no need to spell out fully

V-chip (electronic scramblers for TV)

VE-Day. See D-Day, VJ-Day

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)

veld, not veldt

ventricles (anatomical), not ventricals

veranda (no final “h”). But see rajah/maharajah

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

verdict do not use for civil hearings - verdicts come at the end of criminal trials. See employment tribunals, industrial tribunals

verger, virger the latter to be used in context of St Paul's and Winchester Cathedrals

vermilion (not 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

vetoes (plural)

viable do not use as a synonym of feasible or practicable; it means capable of independent existence

vicar take care not to use as a generic word for priest, parson or clergyman. Vicar means specifically the incumbent of a parish (unless a rector); if in doubt, clergyman is usually a safer word. 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, then l/c. See university posts, job titles

vice versa (roman, no hyphen)

Victoria and Albert (Museum) use the ampersand only in the abbreviated V&A

videoconference, videoconferencing (no hyphen)

videotape (one word); but video cassette, video link, video recorder/recording. A video (for the film recording) is now common usage and permissible

Vietcong (not Viet Cong)

vintage car is one made between 1919 and 1930; veteran car is one made before 1919

Virgil (not Vergil)

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 tourist promotion body replacing (April 2003) British Tourist Authority and English Tourism Council

vitamin A, B, C etc (l/c "v")

viz prefer namely, that is, or even ie

VJ-Day. See D-Day, VE-Day

vocal cords (not chords)

Vodafone (not Vodaphone)

voiceover (no hyphen)

volcanoes (plural of volcano)

volte-face (roman, hyphenated)

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 (summer 2002)

VP never use as abbreviation of Vice-President of the US or other state (or vice-president of a company)