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balk not baulk
Balkans prefer to Balkan states. This region includes the former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, as well as Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece and the European part of Turkey
ball plural in Court Page headlines is dances
ballgown one word
balloted like benefited, budgeted etc, has only one t
Baltic states (lower case states) from north to south, and coincidentally in alphabetical order, they are Estonia (capital Tallinn), Latvia (capital Riga) and Lithuania (Vilnius). Do not use the abbreviated Baltics
bandana prefer to bandanna
B&B with caps and closed up around ampersand as abbreviation for bed and breakfast
banister not bannister
bank holiday bank holiday Monday etc, lower case
Bank of England retain cap for clarity in subsequent refs to the Bank
Bank of Mum and Dad
bankruptcy in Britain people file a petition for bankruptcy; they do not file for bankruptcy
baptistry prefer to baptistery
Bar, the (legal); also cap for the Bar (but not the bars) of the House of Commons and cap in military honours sense, eg DFC and Bar
barbecue, barbecuing barbeques should be confined to pub menus
barcode one word
bar mitzvah lower case, roman; also bat mitzvah for girls
barony pertains to barons (who are Lord X, never Baron X, except in the formal announcement that a title has been gazetted). Baronetcy to baronets (hereditary titles carrying the prefix Sir, eg Sir Fred Y. The Times does not usually use the Bt suffix except with obituaries). Knighthoods, which also use the title Sir, are not hereditary
baroque lower case like similar terms
barter to exchange one thing (or service) for another; not a synonym for bargain or haggle
basically greatly overworked word that rarely adds anything to a sentence. Always try to avoid
basis “on a … basis” is a cliché and to be avoided. For “employment on a part-time basis” say “part-time employment”. Other usages are similarly redundant (“on a regular basis” — “regularly”; “on a daily basis” — “daily”; “on a voluntary basis” — “voluntarily”, “willingly”, or “without pay”, depending on context; and so on)
Basle (Switzerland), not Basel or Bâle. But note, FC Basel, the football team, and Art Basel, the art fair
Basque country, the
bated/baited note the difference: bated breath; baited hook; bait as a verb is to persecute, tease or torment (as in bear baiting); bate is the verb to use of a tethered hawk beating its wings and trying to jump from its perch, should you have occasion to write about such a thing
battalion never batallion. Say the 1st Battalion, the 7th Battalion etc (not First, Seventh)
battle try to avoid using as a transitive verb as in “The students battled the police …”; use “fought” or “battled against” instead; be wary of using at all (along with similar language) in relation to illness (battle against cancer etc)
battle cry
battleship a heavily armoured warship of the largest type, with many large-calibre guns. Beware. Battleship is not synonymous with warship: eg cruisers and destroyers are warships but they are not battleships. Historically, a battleship (line-of-battle ship) was any warship of sufficient size and armament to take her place in the line of battle; in other words, a ship of the line
BBC no need to spell out as British Broadcasting Corporation, although “the corporation” is a useful alternative in text. Avoid “the Beeb” except, on rare occasions, in columns or commentaries . The BBC is an organisation fond of capitals. Most are unnecessary. BBC job titles, like any others, are lower case: controller, chairman, director-general, governor. So are BBC television and BBC radio and the BBC charter. The BBC Trust may be capped when there is a risk of ambiguity, but is generally lower case. Caps for the historic radio stations: the Light Programme, the Home Service and the Third Programme
BC See AD
be-all and end-all note hyphens
beanbag one word
Beatles, the no need to cap the unless at the start of a sentence; similarly the Clash, the Killers, the Rolling Stones, the Smiths, the Who etc (now even the The, should there ever be any need to refer to them again)
becquerel lower case for the radioactive unit, symbol is Bq
bedizened archaic but lovely word meaning dressed or decorated gaudily or tastelessly
Bedouin prefer to Beduin for the nomadic peoples of Middle Eastern and north African deserts
beg the question refers in logic to an informal fallacy whereby an argument assumes its own conclusion: eg “this usage is unattractive because it is ugly”; that sense seems worth preserving. More commonly used as just another (less good) way of saying “raise (or ask) the question”; some readers are (logically) annoyed by this
beleaguered a cliché, especially in a political context, so best avoided
Belfastnorth, south, east and west, lower case
bellringer, bellringing, belltower no hyphens
bellwether not bellweather
benchmark no hyphen
bendy bus two words
benefited not benefitted
benzene is a substance obtained from coal-tar; benzine is a spirit obtained from petroleum
Beretta a type of pistol favoured by James Bond, not to be confused with a biretta (not berretta), a hat worn by Catholic clergy
Bermudian not Bermudan; but Bermuda-rig to describe the most common configuration of sails on modern cruising and racing boats (a fore and aft rig with a tall triangular mainsail and single headsail)
Berne use the anglicised version of the Swiss capital’s name (not Bern)
berserk not beserk
Berwick-upon-Tweed the northernmost town in England. North Berwick is in Scotland
beseeched prefer to besought
best loved, best-loved etc ensure there is a hyphen if you mean a best-loved writer rather than a best loved writer
bestseller one word; likewise, bestselling
bête noire no longer italic; final e on noire; bugbear is a good English word that you might prefer
betting odds use a hyphen (16–1, 6–4 etc), not a slash (16/1). For odds-on, smaller figure comes first (1–2, 4–11 and so on). The higher the odds, the less likely something is; if the chances of something happening are raised, the odds are lowered. Not everyone understands odds as well as they think they do. If in doubt, consult the racing desk
bi- take care with this difficult prefix. Its correct use is in Latin compounds, where it has the force of two, not half, such as bicentenary/bicentennial (a two-hundredth anniversary), or biennial (recurring every two years). Biannual means twice a year; to avoid confusion, write out twice a year
biased
Bible cap and roman, not italic, in the religious context; but biblical (lower case); biblical references thus: II Corinthians ii, 2; Luke iv, 5. Write bible (lower case) in a metaphorical sense, eg “For many, Vogue is the fashion bible”
Bible belt
biceps, triceps same form for the singular and the plural of these muscles
bid prefer not to use in text as synonym of effort, attempt or try, although it may be used sparingly in headlines in this sense
big bang lower case for the event postulated by cosmological theory relating to the beginnings of the universe (lower case); note big-bang theory (hyphen as modifier). But Big Bang (caps) to distinguish the modernisation of the London Stock Exchange in October 1986
bight is a curve in a coastline or river; bite involves teeth; bytes are units of digital information in computing. Do not confuse
Big Society, the philosophy of community involvement once espoused by the Conservatives under David Cameron
Bill and Act caps only when fully identified or when clarity demands
billion one thousand million, not a million million. Write £5 billion, £15 billion (£5bn, £15bn in headlines), three billion, 15 billion etc
bin Laden, Osama note lower case “bin”, except where it is the first word of a headline or sentence. Avoid the “Mr” designation, as with Saddam Hussein etc. The organisation founded by bin Laden is al-Qaeda (not al-Qaida). Bin Laden was killed in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the early hours of Monday, May 2, 2011 (time differences mean it was still May 1 in Washington and London)
bin liner
biological terms with Latin terms, cap letter for first (genus) word, then lower case for the second (species); and italicise for all but the most common, eg Turdus merula, the blackbird
birds cap proper nouns or adjectives derived from them in names of species: Arctic skua, Montagu’s harrier, Cetti’s warbler, Slavonian grebe, etc
Biro is a trade name and misuse is aggressively policed, so cap; generic alternative is ballpoint pen
birthday people and animals have birthdays; everything else has anniversaries. Write 33rd birthday, 65th birthday etc (any number higher than tenth)
birthrate, birthright, birthplace no hyphens; but birth control, birth certificate etc
bisexual pronounshe and his can no longer refer to both sexes equally; he or she will sometimes do. Always be sensitive in this contentious area. It is often easier to use the plural they, for he or she, and sometimes even the ugly their for his or her. Do this only when necessary. Do not, for instance, write “one of the Chelsea players threw their shirt into the crowd”, or “each nun has their own list of tasks” — the sex of those involved in both cases is quite clear and should be stated
bishops once consecrated they are bishops for life unless defrocked; retirement from a see does not make anyone “a former bishop”
bit abbreviate to b; thus kilobit (kb), megabit (Mb) etc
bite (as with teeth) must not be confused with the computing term byte or the geographical bight
blacklist one word as noun or verb
blackout noun, one word
black (people), lower case; do not use “non-white” or “coloured” — and never “immigrants” (which many are not). Unless you want to evoke South Africa under apartheid, prefer “black people” to “blacks”. Be sensitive to local usage: African-American is now standard usage in the United States, for instance, while Afro-Caribbean (or African-Caribbean) and Black British are widely used in the UK. See also coloureds, race
blackspot (accident, unemployment etc), one word; similarly, troublespot, hotspot
blame take care with this word; blame is attached to causes, not effects. So say “Bad weather is blamed for my bronchitis”, NOT “My bronchitis is blamed on bad weather”
bloc use in context such as the former Soviet bloc, a power bloc etc; but block vote
blond (noun and adjective) for men, blonde for women; but all should have blond hair
blood groups write, eg O negative (no hyphen)
bloodied but unbowed, a cliché best avoided, but written thus if used; but red-blooded etc
blood sports two words; similarly field sports, motor sports
bloody mary lower case for the cocktail of tomato juice and vodka
blowsy prefer to blowzy
blue lower case for an Oxbridge sportsman or woman and for the award itself
blue-chip hyphen as modifier, eg a blue-chip company
blue-collar workers as white-collar workers
blueprint avoid this greatly overworked word when all you mean is plan, scheme or proposal
bluetongue one word for the notifiable disease afflicting ruminants
bluffers be very cautious. The Bluffer’s Guide/Guides are trademarks, rigorously protected by their publishers. So generic phrases such as “a bluffer’s guide to …” must be avoided
Blu-Tack proprietary so must cap
boat is generally used of a small vessel, including fishing boats up to the size of a trawler; a ship is a large seagoing vessel big enough to carry smaller boats. In the Royal Navy, submarines are called boats. All take the pronoun she and the possessive her
Boat Race caps for the annual Oxford-Cambridge race on the Thames
