When referring to individual animals in stories or captions, use “he” or “she” if the sex is definitely known or if the creature is called by a masculine or feminine name (eg Felix the cat had only himself to blame). But use “it” if sex is unspecified or irrelevant. On the racing pages, horses are always “he” or “she”. See anthropomorphism
annexe noun, but to annex verb
anniversary by definition, is the date on which an event occurred in some previous year. So avoid such nonsense as the “nine-month anniversary” or the “300-day anniversary” of something
answerphone or answering machine
Antarctic around the South Pole, Arctic around the North: capitalise, spell correctly and do not mix up
antennae plural of antenna in zoological sense; antennas in radio or aerial sense
anthropomorphism the lazy option in captioning photographs of animals; try instead to convey some real information about the creatures or the photograph
anti in compounds, generally no hyphen (unless hideous or confusing without) but always hyphenate before a capital letter, eg anti-American
Antichrist initial cap, no hyphen
anticipate widely (and acceptably) used to mean expect; better, however, to preserve the senses of to foresee something and react (to anticipate a blow), or to do something before the due time (so that to anticipate marriage is quite different from expecting to marry)
anticlimax no hyphen
anticyclone no hyphen
antidepressant (noun or adjective), no hyphen
antihero no hyphen
Antipodes, Antipodean cap A when referring to Australia and New Zealand
antisemitic, antisemitism arguments have been advanced for using the unhyphenated form to mean specifically hatred of Jews, which is what is almost always intended, and anti-Semitism to denote hostility to a whole group of Semitic peoples; the distinction seems rather effortful but it reinforces our preference for avoiding hyphens where we can
antisocial
antisocial behaviour order Asbo; plural Asbos
anti-tank one that probably looks better with a hyphen
anti-terrorism another
antiviral one word
any more always two words
apart from prefer to the Americanism “aside from”
ape, aping, apish
aphelion the point in its orbit when a planet or comet is farthest from the sun. See perihelion
apostrophes with proper names/nouns ending in s that are singular, follow the rule of writing what is voiced, eg Keats’s poetry, Sobers’s batting, The Times’s style (or Times style); and with names where the final s is soft, use the s apostrophe, eg Rabelais’ writings, Delors’ presidency; plurals follow normal form, as Lehman Brothers’ loss etc.
Note that with Greek names of more than one syllable that end in s, generally do not use the apostrophe s, eg Aristophanes’ plays, Achilles’ heel, Socrates’ life, Archimedes’ principle; but note Jesus’s (not Jesus’) parables. Beware of organisations that have variations as their house style, eg St Thomas’ Hospital, where we should respect their preference.
Take care with apostrophes with plural nouns, eg women’s, not womens’; children’s, not childrens’; people’s, not (usually) peoples’. Also beware of moving the apostrophe when creating plurals: a lot of shepherd’s pies, two rival builder’s merchants, two private member’s bills, etc.
Use the apostrophe in expressions such as two years’ time, several hours’ delay etc.
Some place names and many company names have lost their apostrophes: Earls Court, St Andrews, Barclays, Lloyds the bank (but Lloyd’s the insurance market), Morrisons etc; others — Sainsbury’s, Sotheby’s, Christie’s etc — have not; always check.
An apostrophe may for clarity be used to indicate the plural of single letters — p’s and q’s — if the alternative seems worse; a rare instance of a permissible greengrocer’s apostrophe. See also do’s and don’ts
apothegm maxim; prefer to apophthegm
apparatchik
appeal do not use the Americanism “appeal a verdict or decision”; English usage requires appeal against
appellations, titles, honorifics, names on News pages, although not on Features and Sport, almost every adult surname should be granted the courtesy of a title. Give the name in full at first mention, then refer to Mr, Mrs, Ms. There may be occasions when it is more appropriate at second mention to use just a first name (Bob, Sue etc). Such occasions will be rare; they require justification and careful thought.
The exceptions, who may be referred to by surname alone are: convicted offenders (or, rarely, offenders still on trial but who have clearly admitted guilt, see 6 below), the dead (but not the quite recently dead, except in obituaries; in news reports be particularly sensitive when writing about victims of crime); and, mostly in the Arts, Sport, Books and Diary sections, where common usage omits a title. On News pages, similarly, sportsmen, artists, authors, film stars, pop stars, actors etc should now normally not be referred to as Mr/Mrs/Ms, except in court cases or exceptional occasions where guilt would be implied by omitting the honorific. Where sportsmen, entertainers etc have been given honours, it will often seem more natural to refer to them by their full title once at first mention (“Sir Mick Jagger”) and thereafter as “Jagger” (rather than “Sir Mick”). Minors may when appropriate be referred to by first name alone.
General rules:
1. First mention, Herbert Palfry, Juliette Worth, subsequently Mr Palfry, Mrs/Miss/Ms Worth; only children should be referred to by first names alone.
2. Put the name first, then the age (if relevant), then the description; eg Penélope Cruz, 34, the Spanish actress; avoid the journalese construction “actress Penélope Cruz” or the like.
3. Avoid initials and middle initials (as in eg American names) unless the person is best known thereby (eg WG Grace, PJ Harvey, JK Galbraith, Cecil B DeMille, AJP Taylor, all with no full points).
4. Ms should be used when a woman wants to be called thus, or when it is not known for certain if she is Mrs or Miss.
5. Dr need not be confined to medical doctors; if a public figure with an academic doctorate from a reputable university insists on being called Dr, we can allow them the title as a courtesy, although we should discourage this unless the doctorate (and the expertise it suggests) is of some interest or relevance to the story. Generally, as for Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms, do not use Dr at first mention.
6. Court proceedings, professional body disciplinary hearings etc: accused people should be accorded the appropriate title (Mr, Miss etc), however guilty they may appear, after name and first name have been given at first mention; only convicted persons or those who have admitted guilt in recognised legal or disciplinary proceedings should be referred to by surname alone. But do be sensitive especially in murder cases, where the accused is given, for example, his “Mr”; the victim (despite the dead not usually being given a title) should here be accorded the courtesy of the title. Otherwise the stark contrast of, say, Mr X being accused of the murder of Dando,