A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
b
bit or binary digit
B
byte, usually made up of 8 bits
See byte
BAA
formerly the British Airports Authority
Ba’ath party
it means renaissance or resurrection
Bab al-Mandab
a strait between Yemen on the Arabian side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African side, linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden
Babybel
cheese
baby Bells
US regional telephone companies formed after the breakup of AT&T in 1984
baby boomer
people born in the period between the end of the second world war and the mid-1960s when there were increases in the number of births, particularly in the western world. The generation that preceded them, between about 1928 and 1945 are sometimes called the silent generation
Babygro
TM; a generic alternative is babygrow
Baby P
Peter Connelly, who died in Haringey in 2007, was known as Baby P or Baby Peter
babysit, babysitter
the noun “baby-sitter” came first (in 1937), and the verb “to baby-sit” was derived from it a decade later, an interesting example of back-formation
baccalaureate
abbreviation bac, but the new English baccalaureate is abbreviated to Ebacc
bacchanalia
originally wild festivals dedicated to the god Bacchus; now drunken revelry as found in most British towns on a Saturday night, lowercase with singular verb: the bacchanalia is likely to continue until we all pass out
Bacharach, Burt
US songwriter, born 1928
bachelor
now has a slightly old-fashioned ring to it, so probably better to say (if relevant) unmarried man; “confirmed bachelor” should definitely be avoided, as should “bachelor girl” (unless writing about swinging 60s movies)
backbench
newspaper or politics; backbenches, backbenchers
back catalogue, back yard
backdoor (one word)
a digital encryption term for a way of bypassing normal authentication in a product
back door (two words)
the rear entrance to a house
back-scratching
backstory, backstreet
bacteria
plural of bacterium, so don’t write “the bacteria is”; even more important, don’t confuse with viruses
Bad Sex awards
BAE Systems
formerly British Aerospace
Bafta
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
bagel
not baigel or beigel
Baghdad
Bahá’í faith
bailout
noun
bail out
a prisoner, a company or person in financial difficulty; but bale out a boat or from an aircraft
baked alaska
baker’s dozen
13
bakewell tart
balk
obstruct, pull up, stop short; baulk area of a snooker table
Balkanisation
ballboy, ballgirl, ballgame, ballgown, ballpark
ballerina
a ballerina dances leading roles; otherwise, she is a ballet dancer
ballot, balloted
Balochistan
not Baluchistan or Baluchestan for the largest province of Pakistan. Baloch is the adjective for general use, but also refers to a specific ethnic group, so be wary of applying it to people; Balochi is a language
BAME
black, Asian and minority ethnic; spelled out in full at first mention, but where possible it is always preferable to be more specific and to avoid using BAME in furniture. Other alternatives are person/people of colour, or minority ethnic people. However, when using an alternative always check that it doesn’t change the accuracy of the story, eg the term minority ethnic in its broadest sense includes white people, such as Travellers and Gypsies, so if a story citing BAME research is actually only about people of colour, use of the term minority ethnic would be incorrect. Likewise, avoid using people of colour when the BAME research in question may include minority ethnic white people. (See also black.)
Band-Aid
TM; say plaster or sticking plaster; in the US, it’s a bandage
B&B
abbreviation for bed and breakfast
band names
lc the: the Beatles, the Killers, the The; but uc equivalents in other languages, eg Les Négresses Vertes, Los Lobos. Bands that do not take the definite article (although they are often erroneously given it) include Arctic Monkeys, Pet Shop Boys and Ramones; for most bands, this can be easily checked online.
Bands take a plural verb: Snow Patrol are overrated, Iron Butterfly were the loudest band of the 60s, etc.
Try to include diacritical marks if bands use them in their name, no matter how absurd: Maxïmo Park, Mötley Crüe, Motörhead, etc; for a comprehensive list see the excellent “metal umlaut” entry on Wikipedia
Bangalore
do not use; the city’s official name has been changed to Bengaluru
bank holiday
bank holiday Monday, etc
Ban Ki-moon
former UN secretary general; Ban on second mention
banknote
Bank of England
the Bank on subsequent mentions
Bank of Scotland
BoS on second mention
banks
that aren’t banks but share certain characteristics with banks are two words: blood bank, food bank, time bank
banlieue
French for suburbia, not suburb: strictly singular, but a French reader points out that the Petit Robert dictionary listed “les banlieues” among its “nouveaux mots” in 2006; the French for suburb is faubourg (literally, “false town”)
Bannau Brycheiniog
is the official name but you should probably also tell the reader that it was formerly known as the Brecon Beacons. You can subsequently use the informal name, the Bannau
bar
(legal) she was called to the bar; (political) of the House of Commons
Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC)
An organisation that is independent of the Bar Council
barbecue
Barclays Bank
barcode
barmitzvah, batmitzvah
Barnardo’s
children’s charity, formerly Dr Barnardo’s; it no longer runs orphanages
barolo
wine
Baron Cohen, Sacha
the man behind Ali G and Borat
Baron-Cohen, Simon
a professor of developmental psychopathology at Cambridge University and cousin of Sacha
barons, baronesses
are lords and ladies in our publications: Andrew Adonis at first mention, Lord Adonis (not “Baron Adonis”) on second mention, thereafter Adonis; similarly Sayeeda Warsi, then Lady Warsi (not “Baroness Warsi”), then simply Warsi
Barons Court
baroque
barracks
the army has barracks, the RAF has airfields
Barroso, José Manuel
former prime minister of Portugal, subsequently president of the European commission
Barts
abbreviation for St Bartholomew’s hospital, London
Base jumping
extreme sport; the acronym stands for four categories of object from which you can jump, if so inclined: building, antenna, span and earth
Basel
not Basle
basically
this word is unnecessary, basically
basket case
originally referred to quadriplegics who had suffered catastrophic wounds in the first world war; now a cliche used mainly to describe currencies or countries of which a newspaper disapproves. Either way, the phrase is best avoided
Basque Country
bas-relief
bated breath
not baited
Battenberg
(not Battenburg) German family name that became Mountbatten; battenberg cake lc
Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
no apostrophes
Battersea power station
unless you are referring to the Battersea Power Station tube station
battle
Avoid when referring to people who have a disease, such as cancer. It is overused and many people who have had illnesses over which they have little or no control find it inappropriate
battlebus
Battle of Britain
Bauhaus
BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four
BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4, 4 Extra, 5 Live, 6 Music
BC
1000BC but AD1066
be-all and end-all
bearing children
Such phrases as “she bore him two sons” and “he had two children by” are outdated and sexist. We said of Wendi Deng that she “went on to bear [Rupert Murdoch] two children”. As a reader complained: “Surely an expression which implies that a woman has a child for a man has no place in the Guardian ... How about ‘they had two children’?”
We also said that the late David Frost had “three sons by Carina Fitzalan-Howard” and referred to Mick Jagger’s “two sons by Jerry Hall”, as if the mothers were racehorses. Men have children with, not by, women
beau
plural beaux
Beaufort scale
measure of wind speed created in 1806 by Sir Francis Beaufort.
There are 13 classes, as follows: 0 calm, 1 light air, 2 light breeze, 3 gentle breeze, 4 moderate breeze, 5 fresh breeze, 6 strong breeze, 7 near gale, 8 gale, 9 strong gale, 10 storm, 11 violent storm, 12 hurricane.
Forces 13 to 17, used in China and Taiwan, cover cyclones and typhoons
beaujolais, beaujolais nouveau
wine; Beaujolais region where it is produced
Beaver scouts
for boys (and now girls) aged six to eight, when they are eligible to become Cub scouts
bebop, hard bop, post-bop
jazz genres
Be-Bop-A-Lula
Gene Vincent song
because
can be ambiguous: “I didn’t go to the party because Mary was there” may mean that Mary’s presence dissuaded me from going or that I went to sample the canapés
Becket, Thomas (1118-70)
murdered archbishop of Canterbury, not “Thomas à Becket”
becquerel
the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one nucleus decays in a second; the time measurement is included, so it is wrong to say “becquerels per hour”
bedblockers, bedblocking
terms best avoided, unless quoting someone, because as one of our readers put it: “This neoliberal language dehumanises people to commodities and treats them as a transactional contract, rather than humans”
Bedouin
bedroom tax
no need for “so-called” or quotation marks – it’s the bedroom tax. Belated attempts by the government to call it the “abolition of the spare room subsidy” should be treated with the contempt they deserve
beef wellington
Beeton, Mrs
(Isabella Mary Beeton, 1836-65) author of The Book of Household Management
begs the question
This phrase is almost invariably misused: it means assuming a proposition that, in reality, involves the conclusion. An example would be to say that parallel lines will never meet, because they are parallel.
The concept can be traced as far back as Aristotle, but HW Fowler, whose entry on begging the question is listed under the Latin petitio principii (assumption of the basis), defines it as “the fallacy of founding a conclusion on a basis that as much needs to be proved as the conclusion itself”, giving as an example “foxhunting is not cruel, since the fox enjoys the fun”.
Now used widely to mean “raises the question”, its traditional sense is being lost, which seems a sad fate for a phrase that might be useful or even – in a logical or philosophical context – essential
Beijing
Belarus
adjective Belarusian
beleaguered
overused, even when we spell it correctly
believable
Belisha beacons
flashing orange lamps on black and white poles at zebra crossings, named after Leslie Hore-Belisha, the minister of transport who introduced them in 1934; have given way in many cases to pelican crossings (little red and green men)
bell-end
bellringing, bellringers
no hyphens
Bell’s whisky
bellwether
sheep that leads the herd; something that indicates the direction in which a situation or events may be heading
belt and road initiative
benefactor, beneficiary
are sometimes confused: the former gives something; the latter gets it
benefited, benefiting
“benefits tourism”
and similar contentious phrases should normally be used only when quoting someone, rather than suggesting that we accept them at face value
Benetton
Bengaluru
the name of the city formerly known as Bangalore
Benin bronzes
metal sculptures and other carvings made from at least the 16th century onwards that British troops looted in 1897 from Benin City. Benin City was the historical capital of the kingdom of Benin, which is now part of Nigeria and not to be confused with the modern-day republic of Benin
Berchtesgaden
Beretta
Italian firearms manufacturer; biretta square cap worn by Roman Catholic clerics, black (priest), purple (bishop), red (cardinal)
berks and wankers
Kingsley Amis identified two principal groups in debates over use of language: “Berks are careless, coarse, crass, gross and of what anybody would agree is a lower social class than one’s own; wankers are prissy, fussy, priggish, prim and of what they would probably misrepresent as a higher social class than one’s own”
Berliner
newspaper format, narrower and shorter than a broadsheet, taller and wider than a tabloid; the Guardian switched to Berliner format on 12 September 2005
Berlin Wall
Bermuda
the adjective is Bermudian (not Bermudan) and its citizens are Bermudians
Bernabéu stadium
the home of Real Madrid
Berne
not Bern
berserk
not beserk
Berwick-upon-Tweed
is in England, although Berwick Rangers play football in the Scottish League
bestseller, bestselling
Betaferon
TM; the generic term for the drug is interferon-beta 1b
bete noire
no accents
betting odds
We frequently get this wrong. A brief explanation: long odds (eg 100-1 against, normally expressed as 100-1) mean something unlikely; shorter odds (eg 10-1) still mean it’s unlikely, but less unlikely; odds on (eg 2-1 on, sometimes expressed as 1-2) means it is likely, so if you were betting £2 you would win only £1 plus the stake.
Take care using the phrase “odds on”: if Labour is quoted by bookmakers at 3-1 to win a byelection, and the odds are cut to 2-1, it is wrong to say “the odds on Labour to win were cut last night” – in fact, the odds against Labour to win have been cut (the shorter the price, the more likely something is expected to happen).
It gets more complicated when something is genuinely odds-on, ie bookmakers quote a price of “2-1 on”: in this case, if the Labour candidate is quoted at 2-1 on and becomes an even hotter favourite, at 3-1 on, the odds have shortened; if Labour loses popularity, and 2-1 on becomes, say, 7-4 on or evens, the odds have lengthened
between 15 and 20
not “between 15 to 20” or “between 15-20”
Bevan, Aneurin
(1897-1960) Labour health minister from 1945 to 1951 and architect of the NHS. Also known as Nye Bevan. In a 1948 speech he described Tories as “lower than vermin”
Beverly Hills
Bevin, Ernest
(1881-1951) Labour foreign secretary between 1945 and 1951 who helped to create Nato. Not to be confused with Nye Bevan
Beyoncé
beyond the pale
not pail; this pale is derived from the Latin palus, a stake as used to support a fence (cf palisade); hence the figurative meaning of beyond the pale as being outside the boundary, unacceptable
biannual or biennial?
As no one can agree which of these means twice a year, and which means every two years, it’s best not to use them at all; “twice a year” or “every two years” are unambiguous.
The same applies to bimonthly and biweekly: say “every fortnight”, “twice a month” or “every two months”, and so on. It’s remarkable that no one has sorted this problem out; nearly a century ago, HW Fowler was already calling it “a cause of endless confusion”
bias, biased
Bible
cap up if referring to Old or New Testament, lc in such sentences as “the stylebook is my bible”; the adjective biblical is always lc
Bible belt
biblical quotations
Use a modern translation, not the Authorised Version. From a reader: “Peradventure the editor hath no copy of Holy Writ in the office, save the King James Version only. Howbeit the great multitude of believers knoweth this translation not. And he (or she) who quoteth the words of Jesus in ancient form, sheweth plainly that he (or she) considereth them to be out of date. Wherefore let them be quoted in such manner that the people may understand”
biblical references
like this: Genesis 1:1; II Corinthians 2:13; Revelation 3:16 (anyone calling it “Revelations” will burn in hell for eternity)
bicentenary
a 200th anniversary; bicentennial its adjective
biceps
singular and plural (there is no such thing as a bicep)
bid
Use only in a financial or sporting sense, eg Royal Bank of Scotland’s disastrous bid for ABN Amro, Barcelona have put in a bid for Rooney, etc; or when writing about an auction. Say in an attempt to, in an effort to, rather than “in a bid to”; in headlines, move is a useful alternative
big
usually preferable to major, massive, giant, mammoth, behemoth, etc
big bang
lowercase, whether you are talking about the origin of the universe, around 14 billion years ago, or deregulation of the City of London in 1986
Big Ben
strictly speaking, the Palace of Westminster’s famous clock tower is called – since 2012 – Elizabeth Tower, but it’s acceptable to call it Big Ben, as most people do. You will, of course, know that the name Big Ben originally referred to the largest of the clock’s five bells
big industries
big tobacco, big pharma, big six energy companies etc; lower case and no quote marks
‘big society’
A project briefly championed by David Cameron and described by the late Simon Hoggart as “surely the vaguest slogan ever coined by a political leader. Nobody knows what it means.” Use quotation marks on first mention
bill
lc, even when giving full name; cap up only if it becomes an act. But …
Bill of Rights
collective name for the first 10 amendments to the US constitution
billion
one thousand million: in copy use bn for sums of money, quantities or inanimate objects: £10bn, 1bn litres of water; otherwise billion: 6 billion people, etc; use bn in headlines
bin Laden, Osama
Bin Laden on second reference. He had been stripped of his Saudi citizenship, so can be described as Saudi-born but not as a Saudi
bin Salman, Mohammed
the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, the king’s heir apparent. On second mention call him Prince Mohammed, not Bin Salman. Please don’t call him MBS
biodegradable, bioengineering, bioethics, biofuel
but bio-based economy, bio-products
biodiversity
use wildlife instead to convey more clearly that the subject involves living things
Birds Eye
TM; two words, no apostrophe, named after the frozen food pioneer Clarence Frank Birdseye II (1886-1956)
birdwatchers
also known as birders, not “twitchers”; they go birdwatching or birding, not “twitching”
Birkbeck, University of London
comma, but no “college”
Biro
TM; say ballpoint pen
birthdays
are for people. Institutions, events etc have anniversaries
birthplace, birthrate, birthright
Birtwistle, Sir Harrison
British composer (not Birtwhistle)
bishops
the Right Rev Clifford Richard, bishop of Wimbledon, at first mention; thereafter just Richard or the bishop
bismillah
means “in the name of God” in Arabic
bitcoin
plural bitcoins
bite-size
not bite-sized; very few things are the same size as a bite
bitterest
use of this word by the Guardian in 2006 provoked a bitter controversy among readers, many of whom (rightly) pointed out that there is nothing wrong with it
black
should be used only as an adjective when referring to race, ie not “blacks” but “black people” or whatever noun is appropriate. There is debate about the capitalisation of black, with some using it as a physical descriptor, others to describe a specific cultural group, therefore while generally lower case, if a subject, writer or editor of a story prefers to use Black then that choice should be respected. (See also BAME.)
blackberry
fruit; plural blackberries
BlackBerry
handheld wireless email device; plural BlackBerrys
black cab-driver
a black person who drives a cab
black-cab driver
a person who drives a black cab
Black Country
the Black Forest
for the place, but black forest gateau
black holes
referring to a fiscal “black hole” gives the impression there is an inexorable compulsion to fill the gap. As governments are able to run a deficit if they choose, this can be misleading. There are other, less politically loaded alternatives, such as “shortfall” or even, simply, “hole”
black market or black economy
hidden or parallel economy are preferable
black-on-black violence
is banned, unless in a quote, but even then treat with scepticism (imagine the police saying they were “investigating an incident of white-on-white violence between Millwall and West Ham supporters”)
blackout
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
a giant funfair, not a beach, so do not illustrate with a picture of donkeys on the sand
Blade Runner
not Bladerunner
Blanchett, Cate
blase
no accent
bleeper
pager; not to be confused with beeper, a thing that goes “beep” (eg on a microwave)
blitz
as in the London blitz of 1940-41, and various other blitzes (eg Liverpool, Sheffield); an abbreviation of Blitzkrieg (German for “lightning war”)
blog
(noun) collection of online articles, blogpost single article; (verb) action of publishing a blogpost: “I just blogged about that”
blokeish
rather than blokish
blond
is the adjective, male and female: John has blond hair, and Jane’s hair is also blond.
As nouns, blond is male (John is a blond) and blonde is female (Jane is a blonde), but they sound old-fashioned and sexist nowadays (“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”) so it’s best to say simply that someone is blond
blood bank
bloodsports
bloody mary
vodka and tomato juice
Bloody Sunday
Take care when writing about the death toll: 13 died in Derry on 30 January 1972, but a 14th victim died from a brain tumour several months later, so we should use a phrase such as “which led to 14 deaths”
blowjob
Bluetooth
Bluffer’s Guide
TM; beware of using phrases such as “a bluffer’s guide to crimewriting”, a headline that led to a legal complaint
blunder
one (of many) mentions of this word led to the following comment from a reader: “The term ‘blunder’ is used most frequently when referring to mistakes made in public services and this only serves to fuel the view commonly propagated by rightwing newspapers that the role of the public sector should be diminished and its functions handed over to private companies. I’m sure the Guardian does not endorse this view, but its use of language may imply that it does”
Blu-ray
TM; full name is Blu-ray Disc (not Disk), abbreviation BD
Blu-Tack
TM
boat or ship?
large, ocean-going vessels, eg liners, tankers and warships, are ships rather than boats, which is a term better suited to small vessels such as fishing boats, dinghys, lifeboats etc. Remember that “a ship can carry a boat, but a boat cannot carry a ship”.
Boat Race
Oxford v Cambridge
Boddingtons
popularly known as Boddies, it remains the cream of Manchester, despite the closure of the Strangeways brewery
bodge or botch?
To botch a job is to make a mess of it; to bodge means something very similar, but with the added sense that you botched it by trying to cut corners or save money – think of the Bodgers and their novelty 1976 single, (Don’t Do It Right) Bodge It!
Bodø
town in Norway, just inside the Arctic Circle
bodybuilder, bodybuilding
body fluid, body hair, body heat
describe part of the body
bodily contact, bodily functions, bodily secretions
describe something the body does
boffin
tabloid word for scientist
Bogarde, Dirk
(1921-99) British actor
Bogart, Humphrey
(1899-1957) American actor
bogey
golf, ghost, so bogeyman
bogie
trolley, truck
Bogotá
capital of Colombia
Bolívar, Simón
(1783-1830) Venezuelan-born Latin American revolutionary hero; not Simon Bolivar, Simón Bolivar, Simon Bolívar, or Simón Bólivar - all of which appeared in the paper in the space of a year
bolognese
sauce, not the French spelling bolognaise
bolshie
rather than bolshy
Bombay
is now known as Mumbai
bombay duck
not a duck, but a fish
Bombe
(not Bomb) machine created by Alan Turing at Bletchley Park to break the Enigma code
bona fide, bona fides
Bondi beach
but the suburb is Bondi Beach
Bonfire Night
also known as Guy Fawkes Night
Bonham Carter, Helena
bon vivant
not bon viveur
boo-boo
mistake; Boo Boo cartoon bear who lived with Yogi in Jellystone Park
bookcase, bookkeeper, bookseller, bookshelf
Booker prize
no longer the Man Booker prize
bordeaux
wine from Bordeaux
border and protocol delivery group
bored with, bored by
are preferable to bored of, although usage seems to be changing, particularly among younger people.
The distinction can, however, be useful: compare “bored with Tunbridge Wells” (a person who finds Tunbridge Wells boring) and “bored of Tunbridge Wells” (a bored person who happens to live there, perhaps a neighbour of “disgusted of Tunbridge Wells”)
Boris
Some people (Arnie, Maggie, Iggy) have forenames that make them instantly recognisable, and Boris Johnson is one. This makes his name tempting for headline writers. Fine in its place, on (say) a sketch or colour piece, but use sparingly and with due regard to tone; in web stories, we should normally use his full name
born out
of necessity; borne out by the facts; borne back ceaselessly into the past
borstals
named after a village in Kent, these institutions were replaced by youth custody centres in 1982, four years after being immortalised by the Sham 69 single Borstal Breakout
borscht
Bosnia and Herzegovina
for the former Yugoslav republic, not Hercegovina
Bosphorus
not Bosporus
Boston Strangler
both
unnecessary in most phrases that contain “and”; “both men and women” says no more than “men and women”, takes longer, and can also be ambiguous
Botox
a brand name; botulinum toxin is normally more appropriate in copy, although we recognise that the temptation for headline writers to say “Never mind the Botox” may sometimes prove irresistible
Botswana, Botswanan
country and people; Tswana is the language and largest ethnic group
bottleneck
Boudicca
not Boadicea
bougainvillaea
bouncebackability
invaluable word coined by the football manager Iain Dowie and since, thanks to the wonders of Twitter, translated by Guardian Style followers into French (la rebondissabilité) and German (die Rücksprungsfähigkeit)
Boundary Commission
bourgeois
adjective; bourgeoisie noun
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
former UN secretary general
bow tie
Boxing Day
a public holiday on or soon after 26 December in many countries; in the Irish Republic it is known as St Stephen’s Day, and in South Africa as the Day of Goodwill
box office, box set
boy
male under 18
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)
when referring to the the movement
boyband, boyfriend
Boy’s Own
brackets
If the sentence is logically and grammatically complete without the information contained within the parentheses (round brackets), the punctuation stays outside the brackets. (A complete sentence that stands alone in parentheses starts with a capital letter and ends with a stop.)
“Square brackets,” the grammarian said, “are used in direct quotes when an interpolation [a note from the writer or editor, not uttered by the speaker] is added to provide essential information.”
Use brackets sparingly, particularly square ones: it’s not necessary to add [David] in a football story when an interviewee refers to “Beckham”
braggadocio
braille
brain dead
Bramall Lane
famous old football (and former cricket) ground, the home of Sheffield United FC
Constantin Brâncuși
brand
“Wenger brands Ferguson a liar” and similar tabloidese should be avoided
Brands Hatch
no apostrophe
Brasília
capital of Brazil
breakup
one word (noun); but break up, two words (verb), eg “After we broke up I realised it was the best breakup I’d ever experienced”.
breastfed, breastfeeding
Brecon Beacons
now Bannau Brycheiniog
Bremner, Ewen
actor, not Ewan
Brexiter
only use Brexiteer if quoting someone
briar
bush, pipe
bric-a-brac
brickbat
is permissible only if you know what a brickbat is
bridges
initial capitals, eg Golden Gate Bridge, Waterloo Bridge
Bridgnorth
Shropshire
Bridgwater
Somerset
Brighton and Hove
a city and unitary council since 2000, and no longer in East Sussex
brilliant
“a word applied indiscriminately by the Guardian to anything new, no matter how ordinary” (2010 tweet from a reader)
brinkmanship
rather than brinksmanship
Brink’s-Mat
Britain, UK
These terms are synonymous: Britain is the official short form of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Used as adjectives, therefore, British and UK mean the same. Great Britain, however, refers only to England, Wales and Scotland. Take care not to write Britain when you might mean England and Wales, or just England – for example when referring to the education system. See Scotland
Britart
Britfunk
British and Irish Lions
(rugby union); not “British Lions”
British Council
British empire
but British Empire Medal
British Film Institute
BFI on second mention
British Isles
A geographical term taken to mean Great Britain, Ireland and some or all of the adjacent islands such as Orkney, Shetland and the Isle of Man. The phrase is best avoided, given its (understandable) unpopularity in the Irish Republic. Alternatives adopted by some publications are British and Irish Isles or simply Britain and Ireland
British Library
British Medical Association
(doctors’ trade union), BMA on second mention
British national (overseas)
at first mention for Hongkongers who registered as such before the handover to China on 1 July 1997; BNO thereafter
British overseas territories
Parts of the former British empire that remain under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the UK, though not part of it. Until 1983, they were known as crown colonies and the king remains head of state.
There are 14: Akrotiri and Dhekelia (Cyprus); Anguilla; Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory; British Indian Ocean Territory; British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Pitcairn Islands; St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Turks and Caicos Islands.
Abbreviation: BOTs
British Museum
British Sign Language
abbreviate to BSL after first mention
British Transport Police
Britpop
Brits
avoid using except when quoting people; Britons or British people should be used
Britvic
TM
Broadmoor
a secure psychiatric hospital, not a prison
Brontë
Charlotte, Emily, Anne and their brother Branwell; they grew up at Haworth (not Howarth) in what is now West Yorkshire
bronze age, ice age, iron age, stone age
brownie points
Brownies
for girls aged seven to 10, at which point they may join the Guides
Brueghel
family of Flemish painters, including Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c1525-69) and his sons Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564 or 1565-1636) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625); Pieter Bruegel the Elder dropped the H from his surname in 1559
Brum, Brummie
brussels sprouts
brutalise
render brutal, not treat brutally; so soldiers may be brutalised by the experience of war
Brylcreem
TM
BSE
bovine spongiform encephalopathy; no need to spell out
BST
bovine somatrophin (bovine growth hormone)
BST
British summer time
BTec
Buckingham Palace
the palace on second mention
buckminsterfullerene
a form of carbon, named after the US engineer Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983)
buck’s fizz
cocktail of champagne and orange juice, named after Buck’s Club in London
Bucks Fizz
winners of the 1981 Eurovision song contest with Making Your Mind Up
budget, the
lc noun and adj, eg budget talks, budget measures, mini-budget, pre-budget report, etc
buffaloes
for the plural; not buffalo or buffalos
buffet
finger food, not to be confused with ...
Buffett, Warren
investor known as the Sage of Omaha
buildup
(noun) no hyphen
Bulger, James
not Jamie
bullet points
take a full stop after each one, ie:
This is the first bullet point.
This is the second.
And this is the third.
bullseye
bullyboy
bumblebee
bumf
not bumph
Buñuel, Luis
(1900-83) Spanish film director
buoyed up by
not buoyed by
Burberry
TM
burden of proof
This refers to who has to prove an allegation in court ie in criminal cases the burden of proof is on the prosecution, in libel cases it is the defendant (ie the libeller rather than the libelled). The standard of proof is criminal (beyond reasonable doubt) or civil (on a balance of probabilities).
bureau
plural bureaus (furniture) or bureaux (organisations)
bureaucrat
Not really a neutral term. Consider civil servant, administrator or official instead
burgeon
means to bud or sprout, so you can have someone with burgeoning talent; often misused to describe anything that is growing or expanding, especially population
burgher
citizen, not to be confused with burger (although we have contrived to do so more than once)
burgomaster
not burgomeister
burkini
not burqini
Burma
is now Myanmar
burned/burnt
burned is the past tense form (he burned the cakes); burnt is the participle, an “adjectival” form of the verb (“the cakes are burnt”)
Burns Night
25 January
burqa
not burka
Burton upon Trent
buses, bussed, bussing
Bush, George W
son of George HW Bush
businesslike
businessman, businesswoman
for individuals, but say business people or the business community rather than “businessmen”
Bussell, Darcey
Royal Ballet dancer who retired in 2007
but, however
often redundant, and increasingly wrongly used to connect two compatible statements
Butlin’s
butterflies and moths
are usually lc: adonis blue, orange-tip, purple emperor, silver-washed fritillary, death’s-head hawk moth, etc; but note the following: Duke of Burgundy, Queen of Spain fritillary, Essex skipper, Lulworth skipper, Scotch argus
buyout
but buy-in
buy to let, help to buy, right to buy
no initial caps; hyphenate before a noun, eg buy-to-let mortgages, help-to-buy programme, right-to-buy scheme
BuzzFeed
buzzword
but buzz phrase
byelection, bylaw, byline, bypass, bystander
byte
unit of measurement of computer information storage, eg 320GB hard drive (320 gigabytes)
Byzantine
empire; byzantine complexity