a cap. Otherwise lower case in adjectival use, eg a civil service memorandum. Lower case for the administrative grade, ie permanent secretary, deputy secretary and assistant secretary, when used as part of the full title; thus, Sir Alfred Beach, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence
civil war generally lower case but by convention cap the English Civil War and the American Civil War
claim do not use when simply said or declared would do. The word carries a suspicion of incredulity. Also, avoid the loose construction in sentences such as “The firm launched a drink which is claimed to promote learning ability”. This should read “… a drink which, it is claimed, promotes learning ability”. Do not allow terrorists to “claim responsibility” for their crimes
claims and facts remember to distinguish between a claim and a fact, particularly in headlines/standfirsts. Witnesses to rioting telling amid confusion of up to 600 people dead did not justify an unequivocal standfirst death toll of 600; if claims are made, say who is making them
clamour, clamouring but clamorous
clampdown not banned, but use as little as possible
Clapham Junction is not Clapham. It is not even in Clapham. They are separate places and their names are not interchangeable. Clapham is in the London Borough of Lambeth; Clapham Junction is in the Battersea part of Wandsworth. A reader helpfully noted, at the time of the London riots in August 2011: “The Victorians are responsible for the confusion that has persisted for generations. When they opened their large interchange station in 1863 they designated it Clapham Junction because that district was then much more genteel than working-class Battersea”
clarinettist
Class A, B or C drugs (cap C)
clichés and hype We are lucky to have intelligent and sophisticated readers. They buy The Times to avoid the hype and the stale words and phrases peddled by some other papers. Words such as shock, bombshell, crisis, scandal, sensational, controversial, desperate, dramatic, fury, panic, chaos etc are too often ways of telling the readers what to think. Let them decide for themselves.
Any list of proscribed formulas is soon out of date, as old clichés give way to new. There may be nothing inherently wrong with the words or phrases themselves. They gain currency in the first place because they seem vivid, amusing, fresh. Soon, however, they become fashionable, are overused, grow tired and stale, then finally cease to mean anything much at all. A good writer or editor will know when a word or phrase has outlived its usefulness
climate change levy lower case, no hyphen
clingfilm lower case, one word
cliquey
clock tower two words
closed-circuit television
Clostridium difficile is a bacterium, not a virus. Write C. difficile at second mention (and as a bonus do not pronounce it “DIF-ficil”: it is not French but Latin. Try “dif-FI-chil-ay”)
clothing say menswear, women’s wear, children’s wear, sportswear
cloud-cuckoo-land two hyphens
clouds no need to italicise the names. Four main types: nimbus produce rain; stratus resemble layers; cumulus resemble heaps; and cirrus resemble strands or filaments of hair. Prefixes denote altitude, ie strato (low-level), alto (mid-level) and cirro (high-level)
clubbable
co- the prefix does not normally require a hyphen even before an e or another o unless confusion or utter hideousness might result. Thus co-operate (but uncooperative), co-opt, co-ordinate (but uncoordinated), coeducation, coexist
CO2 use subscript
coalface, coalfield, coalmine (each one word) similarly coalminer (but prefer miner)
coalition lower case noun or adjective, eg the coalition government
coastguard lower case and one word, in the British context; but note the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (caps for full name), although the coastguard service (generic) retains the lower case. The US coast guard
coasts lower case south coast, east coast, west coast and north coast in all contexts
coats of arms see heraldry
Coca-Cola (hyphen); note also the trademark Coke. Similarly Pepsi-Cola. If in doubt about the identity of a beverage, write the lower case generic cola
cock a snook not snoop, please
cockfight no hyphen, as bullfight and dogfight
cockney lower case for the person, the dialect and adjectival use
codebreaker, codebreaking one word
coeducation(al) but permissible to use co-ed in headlines as coed would look hideous
coexist
cognoscenti roman, not italic
Coldstream Guards may be called the Coldstream and the men Coldstreamers or Coldstream Guards; neither should be called Coldstreams
Cold War caps
collarbone one word
collectibles (not -ables) items sought by collectors
collective nouns usually use the singular verb, as with corporate bodies (the company, the government, the council etc). But this rule is not inviolable; the key is to stick to the singular or plural throughout the story: sentences such as “The committee, which was elected recently, presented their report” are unacceptable. Prefer plural use for the couple, family, music groups and bands, the public, sports teams
Colombia is the country; Columbia is the Hollywood studio, university, river and Washington district. Also, note British Columbia and pre-Columbian
colons throw meaning forward and introduce lists
Colosseum in Rome; Coliseum in London
Coloureds (in South Africa), cap; not to be used in any other context
comedienne avoid; use comedian (or, if you must, comic) for both sexes
comeuppance no hyphen
commander-in-chief, officer commanding lower case
Commandments cap in biblical context, as the Ten Commandments, the Fourth Commandment
commando plural commandos (not -oes)
commas Unnecessary commas interrupt the flow of a sentence; omit the comma before if, unless, before, after, as, since, when unless the rhythm or sense of the sentence demands it.
Keith Waterhouse, as so often, had sound advice: “It is not the function of the comma to help a wheezing sentence get its breath back. That, however, is how the comma earns much of its living in journalism.” If your sentence needs a comma just to stop the reader collapsing in a heap before reaching the end, you might do better to recast it as two sentences anyway.
There is often no need for a comma after an adverbial formation at the beginning of a sentence: “Last