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wacky not whacky

wagon

WAGs wives and girlfriends (especially of sports teams); singular WAG

Wahhabi (Muslim sect), not Wahabi. See Saudi

Wales cap North Wales, South Wales, Mid Wales, West Wales. For the new counties under the local government reorganisation of 1996, see unitary authorities

walked free from court avoid this lazy cliché. See Courts special section

Walkman is a trade name, so must cap; in general sense, use personal stereo

walkout

Wallace & Gromit (ampersand, not Grommit)

Wall's (ice cream etc)

Wal-Mart

Walton, Izaak, author of The Compleat Angler

Wap as in mobile telephones, short for wireless application protocol (not WAP)

War Cabinet (cap) see Cabinet

war crimes tribunal cap only when using the full title, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. It sits at The Hague and has a president and a chief prosecutor. Be specific in dealing with war crimes: they relate only to the treatment of prisoners in the custody of a military force

war dance two words

war game(s) two words

warfarin is not a trade name, so l/c

war in Iraq Guidance includes: write the Iraq war (l/c); write Arabic names al-X (l/c al, with hyphen); Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim; "Chemical Ali" Ali Hassan al-Majid; Fedayin ("men of sacrifice, martyrs"), guerrilla fighters; flak jacket; gas mask; the Gulf (not Persian Gulf); Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of the militia known as al-Mahdi Army, on second mention, Hojatoleslam al-Sadr; ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross (not for); Iraqi Information Minister Muhammad Said al-Sahhaf; Iraqi Governing Council (governing council, l/c, after first mention); Kurdish region or Kurdish-controlled region, not Kurdistan; the New Iraqi Army; oilfield, Oil-for-Food programme, oil well; Republican Guard divisions: Medina, Hammurabi and Nida (armoured divisions), Nebuchadnezzar and Baghdad (infantry divisions) and Adnan (mechanised division); Sunni Triangle.

Some Iraqi place names: Abu al-Khasib, al-Amarah, al-Awja (Saddam's home village), Arbil, Diwaniyah, Fallujah, al-Faw, Haditha, al-Hillah, al-Hindiyah, Iskandariyah, Karbala, Kirkuk, al-Kufah, al-Kut, Mosul, Najaf, al-Nasiriyah, al-Numaniyah, Ramadi, Rumaila, Rutbah, al-Shatrah, Sulaimaniyah, Tikrit, Umm Qasr, Zakho.

The names of the 18 Iraqi provinces, and their religious/ethnic make-up:

majority Shia (9): Karbala, Najaf, Babil, Qadisiyah, Muthana, Wasit, Maysan, Dhiqar, Basra;

majority Sunni (4): Anbar, Ninevah (use Nineveh variant only in ancient historic context), Salahuddin, Diyala;

majority Kurd (3): Sulaimaniyah, Arbil, Dahuk;

split (1): Tamim;

capital: Baghdad

warn can now be used transitively or intransitively. (Previously, up to December 2008, only the transitive construction was allowed.) A caveat is not to create an epidemic of "he warned" etc if we only mean "he said". However, we are now at liberty to write intransitively, ie, without the verb having an object, eg: "Mr Nutt warned that 2009 would be a telling year for the widget industry"; "Mr Nutt warned of difficulties for the widget industry", although on occasion "gave warning/issued a warning/cautioned" etc may still be preferable. For variety, do use transitive constructions as appropriate, eg: "The Chancellor warned MPs that ... "

War on Terror if the caps on War on Terror look obtrusive or overused, adopt a l/c alternative such as war against terrorism. Frequently used names and terms arising from the terrorist attacks against the US on September 11, 2001, include:

Osama bin Laden; al-Qaeda (his terrorist group); al-Jazeera (TV station in Qatar); burka (prefer to burqa); Pashtuns (biggest ethnic group in Afghanistan - they speak Pashto); Loya Jirga (Afghan national council that meets irregularly); special forces (l/c) of the US or UK in generic sense; twin towers (of the former World Trade Centre; note the northern tower and the southern tower, all l/c); Ground Zero; King Zahir Shah (returned Afghan King; King Zahir at subsequent mentions); Mullah Muhammad Omar (supreme leader of the Taleban; Mullah Omar at subsequent mentions). Note also Camp X-Ray at Guantánamo Bay (now use accent), Cuba (replaced by Camp Delta in April 2002). See Axis of Evil

warrant officers in the British Army, regimental sergeant-major and company sergeant-major are warrant officer ranks (between the NCOs and commissioned officers).

See Armed Forces special section

wars cap the First World War, Second World War, Cold War, Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Six Day War (no hyphen), the Gulf War etc; but prefer the Falklands conflict because war was never formally declared; if the phrase has to be used, write Falklands war (l/c); also the Iraq war. See Armed Forces special section, war in Iraq

warships take care with the following distinction: to serve in a warship, but on a merchant ship; a naval officer is appointed to serve in HMS Sheffield, and not posted to serve.

See Armed Forces special section

wartime

war zone two words

Washington not usually necessary to add DC (as in Washington DC), but occasionally useful to distinguish it from Washington State (caps), or even possibly Washington in the North East of England. Washington State and New York State are the only two states we need to cap, to avoid confusion. See New York

washout one word

Wasp acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant; adjective Waspy

waste usually better to write waste than wastage, which means the process of loss, or its amount or rate

wastepaper bin/basket

watchdog

watercolour, watercolourist; but the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours

water lily two words, but artistic convention uses one word in Monet's Waterlilies paintings

Waterstone's singular with apostrophe, the booksellers founded by Tim Waterstone

watt unit of power, eg, a 60W lightbulb. Beware confusion with consumption of energy, measured in watt-hours etc. See energy, megawatts, power

weapons no hyphens for AK47 (although we prefer Kalashnikov), M16, M79 etc

weapons(s) of mass destruction spell out at first mention, then WMD

wear write menswear, women's wear, children's wear, sportswear. See clothing

weather stations try always to include the county or other location if not widely known, eg,

Aberdaron, Gwynedd; Aberporth, Ceredigion; Aboyne, Deeside; Altnaharra, Highland; Aonach Mor, Highland;

Ballypatrick, Co Antrim;

Baltasound, Shetland;

Castlederg, Co Tyrone; Chivenor, Devon; Coningsby, Lincolnshire;

Kenley, Greater London; Kinloss, Morayshire;

St Angelo, Co Fermanagh; Shobdon, Herefordshire; Sule Skerry, Orkney;

Tain Range, Highland

Wattisham, Suffolk

Maps showing where the stations are, but not their counties, are at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/networks/index.html

weather stories (about floods, hurricanes, snow, record sunshine etc in the UK) should always take a cross-reference to the weather forecast. Style is, eg, Forecast, page 69 (bold, set left), or Weather Eye, page 69. See hurricane , Shipping Forecast

website one word. Unlike, say, computer games, do not routinely italicise websites in normal copy. In some contexts, eg, listings pages, italics or other type changes may be appropriate for display purposes

week, weekend the week ends on Saturday night. Common sense will dictate whether to say last week, this week, next week etc. Beware of references to at the weekend in Monday papers: always make clear whether you mean the weekend just past or next Saturday and Sunday, although the tense of the verb may be enough to indicate this. The phrase "this weekend" should refer only to the coming weekend, but if it is likely to cause any ambiguity then do not use it

weigh anchor means to raise a vessel's anchor, not to drop it. See Armed Forces special section

weights and measures abbreviations context will determine when to shorten kilometres, grams, feet, inches, stone, pounds, ounces etc. “He was 6ft 7in” (not ins, and no space between number and abbreviation); but “she stood two feet from the kerb”. Similarly, “she weighed 8st 12lb” (not lbs); but “he was several pounds overweight”.

See metric, scientific measures

Welch, Welsh take care with The Royal Welch Fusiliers, but Welsh Guards (part of The Guards Division). See Armed Forces special section

Welsh Assembly members are abbreviated AMs; MLAs for Northern Ireland Assembly; MSPs for Scottish Parliament. Cap A for Assembly at second mention in Wales and Northern Ireland; cap P for Parliament in Scotland. See Politics special section

welfare state (l/c); but note the Welfare to Work programme (twice cap W, no hyphens). See State

well or well- with adjective: no hyphen needed if the construction is after the noun, but write a hyphen if before the noun. Thus, "the island is well regulated", but "it is a well-regulated island". See adverbs

wellbeing

wellington boots l/c

wellwisher do not hyphenate

Welsh Assembly, caps, and the Assembly (cap) thereafter. The leader of the Assembly is called the First Minister (no longer the First Secretary). See Politics special section

Welsh Valleys for the (former) mining valleys of South Wales

Welsh, Irvine the novelist and playwright

west, western etc; for when to cap in geographical context, see compass points

West, the (in global political sense); similarly, Western leaders, Western Europe etc

Westbrook, Danniella

western l/c for cowboy films

West Lothian question l/c "q". See Politics special section

wharf prefer wharfs as plural

whence means "from where". Never write "from whence"

whereabouts is singular, eg, “his whereabouts is not known”. Prefer “nobody knows where he is”

whether rarely needs or not to follow it

which see that

Which? the consumer organisation/group/watchdog; note Which? (itals) for its publication

while not whilst

whingeing with middle “e”

whips cap Chief Whip, Whips' Office, but l/c the unspecific, eg, a government whip. See Politics special section

whisky from Scotland, Scotch as alternative; but whiskey (from Ireland and America). See Scotch

whistleblower no longer hyphenated

whistle-stop hyphenated, as in whistle-stop tour

Whitbread Round the World Race caps, no hyphens, renamed the Volvo Ocean Race. See Sailing special section

White Cliffs of Dover caps

white-collar workers

White House Chief of Staff cap

White Paper caps, as with Green Paper; these should not be capped, however, with anything other than a White Paper/Green Paper issued by the Government. A “white paper” from the Opposition should be styled thus - quotes and l/c first mention, thereafter just l/c. See Green Paper, Politics special section

white phosphorus; white phosphorus bomb for adjective and noun, and its adjectival use. See phosphorus

whiz-kid only one “z”, but use this colloquialism sparingly

WHO spell out at first mention, World Health Organisation, then the WHO

who, whom which of these to use is determined solely by its function in the relative clause. Remember that whom has to be the object of the verb in the relative clause. Thus, “she is the woman whom the police wish to interview” (ie, the police wish to interview her, not she); the other most common use of whom is after a preposition such as by, with or from, eg, “the person from whom he bought a ticket”.

Beware of traps, however: “Who do you think did it?” is correct (not whom, because who is the subject of “did it”, not the object of “do you think”); and “Give it to whoever wants it” is correct (not whomever) because whoever is the subject of the verb wants.

Beware too of constructions such as “he squirted ammonia at a van driver who [correct] he believed had cut him up” (where “he believed” is simply an interjection; “who” is not the object of “he believed” but the subject of the subordinate clause, “who ... had cut him up”)

whodunnit (not whodunit)

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? note all initial caps and question mark. It is a registered trade mark

W H Smith no points. See companies, initials

why usually superfluous after reason, eg, “the reason he did it was ...”, not “the reason why he did it was ...”

Wicks Committee on Standards in Public Life (Sir Nigel Wicks was its new chairman in March 2001). See Committee on Standards in Public Life

Widdecombe, Ann not Anne

Widdicombe Fair not Widdecombe; note Uncle Tom Cobbleigh

-wide no hyphen in compounds such as countrywide, nationwide, worldwide, but needed in Europe-wide

wideawake one word

wideranging one word

widow (woman), widower (man); never say “widow of the late John Jones”; she is the “widow of John Jones”

wi-fi l/c, hyphen, as hi-fi

wildfowl, wildlife

Wild West

Wimbledon caps for the Centre Court, No 1 Court, No 14 Court etc. See Sports special section, tennis special section

Wimpy bars/hamburgers but Wimpey, the builders

Winchester College its pupils are Wykehamists

wind with strong winds, give a description as well as force number (in numerals), eg, storm force 10 (add "on the Beaufort scale" where appropriate. The scale grades wind speeds from 0 to 12; Americans use the scale to 17).

So write, eg, force 4 (l/c, numeral), up to force 7; thereafter, gale force 8, severe gale force 9, storm force 10, violent storm force 11 and hurricane force 12.

But the vernacular "force 11 winds" is acceptable

wind farm two words

wines l/c in most cases, for both the type and the grape, except where it would look out of place; so say, eg, alsace, bordeaux, burgundy, champagne, claret, moselle, prosecco, rioja etc, but a Côtes du Rhône, a Hunter Valley chardonnay. Cap when referring specifically to the wine-growing region, eg, “I prefer a good burgundy to an alsace, but I think the best wines still come from Bordeaux”; “he preferred to buy his champagne only in Champagne”. See Épernay

wine bar (two words)

Winnie-the-Pooh hyphens

Winslet, Kate

Winter of Discontent (of 1978-79), initial caps

wintry prefer to wintery (or indeed winterly)

Wirral (not Wirrall); permissible to refer to The Wirral (cap “T”), but the Wirral peninsula

Wisden Cricketers’Almanack ital; it can also be called Wisden. See cricket special section

wish list no hyphen

wisteria now prefer to wistaria as the variant for the common name after huge controversy in May 2009 at The Times. The internationally agreed scientific name for the genus is Wisteria, hence, for example, Chinese wisteria is Wisteria chinensis. The plant was named by Thomas Nuttall, an English botanist, in honour of Caspar Wistar, an American anatomist and physician (1761-1818) and friend of Thomas Jefferson, but bizarrely he decided to spell the genus Wisteria. Wistar's family came from Germany with the surname Wüster: one branch, so to speak, decided to change it to Wister rather than Wistar, which may have confused Nuttall (for more detail, see a passage and footnote from The Perennial Philadelphians, by Nathaniel Burt). Incidentally, the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, the first American independent biomedical research facility, also commemorates Caspar Wistar.

Leading article; Richard Dixon and Philip Howard

See aubrieta , plant names

witch-hunt, but witchcraft and witchdoctor

withhold not withold

witnesses in British courts, witnesses go into the witness box and give evidence; they do not take the stand and testify. In the general sense, prefer witness to eyewitness wherever possible. See Courts special section, eyewitness

woebegone, woeful

Wolf Cubs are now Cub Scouts. See Boy Scouts

Woman's Hour the Radio 4 programme; not Women's Hour

women doctors, women teachers etc adopt the plural through common usage. See feminine designations , lady

Woodgate, Jonathan (not Jonathon), footballer

Woolf reforms several important changes have been made in civil litigation rules and terminology since April 1999. Three of the commonest are: plaintiffs became claimants; a writ became a claim form; and notices of application are served in the place of summonses. For fuller list, see Courts special section

Woolsack in Parliament, initial cap

Woolworths no apostrophe either in formal name for business contexts or colloquial use for the store and products; colloquially and informally, Woolies

word processor; word processing noun, word-processing hyphen, adjective

workaholic, as shopaholic, but note chocoholic

workers farmworkers, metalworkers and roadworkers each one word, but two for car workers, oil workers, office workers etc

workforce, workshop, work-to-rule

working families tax credit (l/c, and families not family)

workout (one word); also workrate

world avoid, wherever possible, phrases such as the fashion world, the theatre world, the cricket world etc

world-beater hypenate

World Heritage List, World Heritage Site (caps)

World Trade Organisation (WTO), the successor body to Gatt. See Gatt, Uruguay Round

world view two words

worldwide one word for general adjective, but see next two entries

World Wide Fund for Nature now the WWF. See WWF

world wide web (as with internet), l/c; and the web for short, also website. See internet

Worrall Thompson, Antony TV chef

worthwhile (one word) often used where simply worth would be better, eg, “the programme was worth recording”

wound(ed) see injure

WPC see police ranks

wrack means seaweed or wreckage and must not be used as a synonym of torture; thus, racked by doubts etc. See racked

wreaked (not wrought) havoc, heavy damage, vengeance etc

Wrens use only in historical context. Women sailors are now fully integrated into the Royal Navy and the WRNS no longer exists as a separate entity. If necessary to specify, refer to a woman captain etc. See Armed Forces special section

wristwatch one word

write-off noun, write-up noun, but a writedown in business context

writes with written-in bylines, prefer the construction Ann Bloggs writes to writes Ann Bloggs. Use the singular with, eg, (Our Foreign Staff writes). Normal style is to use the brackets on news and sports pages, the italics on features

wrongdoer, wrongdoing, but wrong-footed, wrong-headed

WWF is now the name of what was the World Wide Fund for Nature and for legal reasons must not be used for the World Wrestling Federation (say the federation if a shorter form for the wrestling group is needed). See World Wide Fund for Nature

Wyndham's Theatre in London takes the apostrophe

Wytch Farm oilfield in Dorset

Last edited: July 9, 2009