The Times Style Guide

A practical guide to English usage

Ian Brunskill

• Publisher: Times Books
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9780008412890
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Writing & Presentation Skills

Cc

cabbie (not cabby) as colloquialism for taxi driver

cabinet lower case in both British and foreign use, whether used as a noun or adjectivally, except (rarely) if a cap seems absolutely necessary to avoid confusion. Note Cabinet Office, but cabinet secretary (or secretary of the cabinet), war cabinet. All cabinet committees should be lower case, eg the cabinet committee on science and technology

Caernarfon (town and parliamentary constituency, no longer Caernarvon), but Lord Carnarvon

caesarean section lower case

café with accent

caffeine prefer to caffein

cagoule but kaftan

call centre noun, two words; hyphen as adjective, eg call-centre manager

call-up (noun), but to call up

camaraderie not cameraderie

Cambridge, University of colleges and halls are: Christ’s College; Churchill College; Clare College; Clare Hall; Corpus Christi College; Darwin College; Downing College; Emmanuel College; Fitzwilliam College; Girton College; Gonville and Caius College; Homerton College; Hughes Hall; Jesus College; King’s College; Lucy Cavendish College; Magdalene College; Murray Edwards College (formerly known as New Hall); Newnham College; Pembroke College; Peterhouse; Queens’ College; Robinson College; St Catharine’s College; St Edmund’s College; St John’s College; Selwyn College; Sidney Sussex College; Trinity College; Trinity Hall; Wolfson College

came as or comes as overused device that links, or tries to link, two loosely related bits of news within a single story (“The announcement of the rise in interest rates came as demonstrators took to the streets”); often smacks of desperation

camellia not camelia

camomile prefer to chamomile

Canada nationally there is a prime minister; in the provinces there are premiers

Canadians are rightly annoyed when they are designated as Americans. Beware. Among prominent Canadians are Justin Bieber, kd lang, Joni Mitchell, Donald Sutherland, Neil Young etc etc

canal boats do not use the term “barge” indiscriminately; barges are towed, unpowered boats for transporting cargo. Use the term narrow boats for the boats on the narrow 7ft-wide canals, or canal boats for wider vessels on wider canals. If in doubt, use canal boat (never canal barge)

canapé accent

cancer take care not to describe cancer as “the biggest killer” in the UK. Heart disease is. Beware of writing about cancer in terms of battles, fights, brave struggles etc: such language can imply a lack of strength or effort or will on the part of others who succumb to the disease; this rightly upsets and offends

cannon (military), same form for singular and plural; but canons (ecclesiastical, both churchmen and church laws), and canon as a collection/list of an author

Canute prefer the traditional spelling to the more historically authentic Cnut, if only to mitigate the consequences of careless typing. Remember that his intention on the seashore was to demonstrate the worthlessness of temporal power; he knew he was going to get wet

canvas (as in painting); plural is canvases; canvasses with central ss is of the verb “to canvass” (ie polling)

CAP all caps for clarity; when spelt out is lower case common agricultural policy; similarly, common fisheries policy (CFP)

cap and trade noun; adjectivally hyphenate, eg a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions

Cape Canaveral the Florida home of the US space programme was known as Cape Kennedy after the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963; this continued until 1973, when by popular local demand it reverted to its original name

capitalisation too many capital letters are ugly and distracting. Capitals are often unnecessary. Try to avoid them unless to do so causes confusion or looks absurd. There will always be room for discretion and common sense, and clarity is more important than consistency, but if in doubt use lower case. Do not use capitals to indicate importance or (with some rare, specified exceptions) as a mark of respect. Avoid especially what the 1959 edition of this guide called the “local interest” capital: “the Canteen of the works journal, the Umpire of the laws of cricket, the Directors of the company prospectus, the Village Hall of the parish magazine”.

The following guidance sets out some general principles. See also under individual alphabetical entries.

Job descriptions, titles and names

Almost all job descriptions should be lower case. This includes all company chairmen, vice-presidents, managing directors, chief executive officers, general secretaries, ambassadors, editors etc.

There are, however, some (not many) job descriptions that are also titles, ie that are commonly (and formally) used in conjunction with the proper name of the person holding the position in question. These take a capital when used as titles in front of the name but lower case at all other times. So, for instance, we would refer to President Biden but to Joe Biden’s election as president of the United States. We would refer to President Putin but to the Russian president’s influence on the world. We would refer to Professor Jones, but to the professor’s latest book.

In British usage political job descriptions are not generally attached to names as titles in this way. We do not refer to Prime Minister Johnson, or to Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak or to Foreign Secretary Truss. These should all, therefore, be lower case. Boris Johnson, the prime minister; Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer; Liz Truss, the foreign secretary. Similarly, the secretary of state for defence, the permanent secretary, the shadow chancellor, the cabinet secretary, the leader of the opposition, the minister of state for policing, criminal justice and victims at the Home Office. This may seem unsettling at first, but it is clearer and more consistent than any of the other options. The Speaker is a rare exception, as clarity seems to demand a cap (a deputy speaker remains lower case, however, as there is no risk of comparable confusion); be prepared to consider similar exceptions as they arise; do not pursue consistency at the expense of clarity or common sense.

The titles of ecclesiastical dignitaries may be said to describe a position or job, but they also name an individual holder of that position (even when no surname is given), and they may be attached as titles in front of a name (as political or other job titles in British usage are not). As a courtesy, they take a capital letter when used as names (which in practice will generally be at first mention); subsequent references are lower case; in this they are treated in the same way as aristocratic titles (see below) rather than eg political jobs. This may be slightly anomalous, but it is probably what most Times readers expect, even in a secular age. So, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, then the archbishop or just Welby; the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, then the bishop or just Mullally; the Dean of St Paul’s, David Ison, subsequently the dean or just Ison; the Archdeacon of Barchester, Theophilus Grantly, then the archdeacon or just Grantly. Lower case when referring not to the individual but generally to holders of the office: future archbishops of Canterbury, the role of dean of Westminster, the first woman bishop of Gloucester etc.

Royalty etc: The Queen, exceptionally, and as a courtesy, remains the Queen (upper case) at subsequent mentions, whenever the individual monarch is intended (likewise in historical stories referring to the reigning monarch of the day). There is no need for other monarchs or for senior members of the royal family to have capitals at all times: so, treat in the same way as senior ...