Apple Computer not Computers, for the Mac company
appraise means evaluate; apprise means inform. Never confuse
appurtenance
April Fool’s Day, April fool, but All Fools’ Day
aqueduct not aquaduct
Arabic refers to the language. Use Arab in such phrases as “the Arab world”
Arabic names there is no universally accepted system of transliteration. Arabic has 28 letters, many of which change shape, sometimes considerably, depending on whether they stand alone or on where they appear within a word: initial, medial, final. Vowels are largely ignored in most printed and handwritten text. There are ligatures and diacritical marks by the dozen. There are consonants with no direct counterparts in English, and sounds with no obvious equivalents at all.
Attempts to replicate these complexities (with elaborate spellings and much use of apostrophes) are confusing and look a mess. Clarity, simplicity and a degree of consistency should be our aims. Where there is a western consensus on a spelling, eg among reputable news agencies, big media outlets and/or diplomatic sources, we should follow it, except in the very few cases where a different preferred spelling is specified in this guide. For other cases these are some very basic guidelines:
prefer al- to el- or Al (and to variants such as as- ash- ad- or ul-) unless an individual or corporation is established in the West and has a preferred or familiar western style (eg Al Jazeera, the broadcaster, or Saudi royals who are Al; also Mohamed Al Fayed, who may or may not be entitled to style himself thus, but does). Drop al- when not giving the full name (eg Bashar al-Assad becomes Assad)
end names in i not y (Ali, not Aly etc)
do not use the apostrophe in eg Ba’ath
do not generally attempt to distinguish long and short vowels, but in common names with long vowels generally prefer ee to i (eg Rasheed rather than Rashid; Fedayeen, not Fedayin; Mujahideen); prefer ou to u or oo (eg Yousef, Mansour etc)
prefer q to k or kh (Rafiq, qat)
abu, abd, abdul, bin, bint: these are not self-contained names but words meaning “father of”, “slave of” etc. Usually lower case, except as the first word of a name, they attach to the name that follows and must not be separated, eg Abu Qatada remains Abu Qatada, Osama bin Laden becomes bin Laden)
Arab Spring cap for the uprisings at the start of 2011 in north Africa and the Middle East
arbitrate, arbitration do not confuse with mediate, mediation. An arbitrator hears evidence from different parties then hands down a decision; a mediator listens to the different arguments then tries to bring the parties to agreement
archaeologist, archaeology
archbishops
1. Anglican archbishops and diocesan or suffragan bishops in the UK: at first mention, the Archbishop of Barchester, the Most Rev John Smith; or the Bishop of Barchester, the Right Rev John Smith, or (if a doctor) the Bishop of Barchester, Dr John Smith; subsequent references, the archbishop or bishop (lower case), or Dr Smith (if so entitled), never Mr Smith.
2. The Archbishop of Canterbury is primate of All England, the Archbishop of York is primate of England.
3. Anglican bishops are consecrated, Roman Catholic bishops ordained.
4. Roman Catholic archbishops, at first mention: the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Rev John X, subsequent mentions Archbishop X or the archbishop; bishops, first mention the Roman Catholic Bishop of Plymouth, the Right Rev Christopher Y, thereafter Bishop Y or the bishop, unless he has a doctorate, when he is Dr Y; Anglican and Catholic archbishoprics carefully avoid overlap, but there is no reason readers should know this, so it may be helpful to spell out in this way at first mention which church is involved
arch-rival hyphenate in the sense of chief rival. For combinations using the prefix arch-, some will look better hyphenated while others can be a single word, eg archbishop
Argentine is the adjective; an Argentinian is a person from Argentina (never the Argentine)
Argyle for socks, jumpers and the Plymouth football club; Argyll for the Scottish county and its regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
armada cap in historical reference to Drake etc, otherwise lower case; try to avoid (or at least limit) imprecise use of this word: it means a fleet of armed ships, so strictly should not be applied to just any collection of boats or ships; flotilla might sometimes be a better word for what you want
Armageddon cap
armchair, deckchair no hyphens
armed forces, the lower case; also the services
Armistice Day is not the same as Remembrance Sunday (unless November 11 falls on a Sunday)
arm’s length as in “he was kept at arm’s length”; but hyphenate as a modifier, eg “the former partners now have an arm’s-length relationship”
army cap the British Army, if naming in full (but otherwise and thereafter the army, eg “he joined the army”; “government efforts to reform the army”); otherwise all lower case: the Belgian army, the Swiss army, the US army; always lower case when used adjectivally, eg an army helicopter, a British army tank, a Swiss army knife
A-road, B-road etc hyphenated
around do not use as an alternative to about
Arran Isle of, in the Firth of Clyde; but the Aran Islands (note one r) off Co Galway in western Ireland, and Aran Island (singular) off Co Donegal; and an Aran sweater etc
arrest rarely necessary to add “by the police”; an arrest made by anyone else is worth explaining. If, unusually, there is a good reason for specifying a particular squad or unit, then do so: he was arrested by the anti-terrorist squad, by officers investigating phone-hacking, by detectives from South Yorkshire police who had travelled to Spain etc
art deco artistic style/movement (see below), lower case seems fine, but use caps if needed for clarity
artefact do not use artifact
artiste not a word to use seriously; prefer entertainer, performer, singer, dancer etc
artistic knights with these, use only surname in their artistic contexts (eg Rattle conducted the Berlin Philharmonic with panache), but full title in news stories with, for example, political or social contexts (eg Sir Simon Rattle visited No 10 yesterday). Similarly, McKellen played Lear, but Sir Ian McKellen led the gay rights march
artistic movements/styles generally lower case for all period or stylistic designations — baroque, classical, neoclassical, rococo, modernist, minimalist, postmodern — except in the context of quite specific art historical discussion (of, eg an exhibition of German Expressionist painting) or where clarity is helped by a capital: the romantic movement, for instance, can usually be lower case like the rest, but there may be times when it matters that Romantic verse, as written by Byron or Keats, is not necessarily romantic verse, in which case use a cap for clarity
Arts and Crafts movement seems to need caps for clarity
as beware of sloppy use in sentences such as “They were moved out as the blast tore open the building”;