STYLE GUIDE

The Sydney Morning Herald

The Age

The Australian Financial Review

Brisbane Times

WAtoday

April 2022

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 FOREWORD

This guide covers The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian
Financial Review, WAtoday and the BrisbaneTimes.

As with its predecessors, this updated 2022 version of the style guide is
designed to help foster consistency, clarity and accuracy in the way we
communicate with our audiences regardless of the platform they choose.

Grammar, punctuation and spelling are covered, and the guide is also a
handy reference tool for many of the facts that crop up regularly in our
work. It will also help writers and editors avoid common pitfalls.

The English language is constantly evolving. Meanings change, nouns

become verbs and new words appear. Many old rules have fallen by the
wayside. While we don’t seek to be at the cutting edge of language
change, we also don’t want to be stuck in the past. Scores of new entries
appear in this guide and scores of outdated ones have been deleted.

No guide can cover all circumstances or resolve all anomalies.

Approaches that usually work may well be problematic on occasion.
There will inevitably be times when common sense calls for a different
path to that set out here.

We use the UK version of the Oxford Dictionary (to be found at

lexico.com) as our basic reference for spellings and meanings, deviating
from it only occasionally. Australianisms will also come up in Lexico
searches. Where the Oxford mentions alternative spellings, use the one
given as the main entry.

To search the style guide use Crtl+F.

Thanks go to all those who have helped in producing this update.

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 CONTENTS

Foreword 2

GENERAL STYLE 4

Grammar guide 67

Internet and IT guide 81

Punctuation guide 115

Words to Watch 153

BUSINESS GUIDE 158

SPORT GUIDE 196

ISLAMIC GUIDE 242

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 General Style

A
a/an Use a before all words starting with a consonant sound, including those that
start with an audible h: a hotel, a historic. Use an before words beginning with a
vowel sound: an heir, an honour, an hour. Use a or an before sets of initials
according to sound: an RAAF aircraft, an ALP member; but a UN meeting.

abattoir

ABBA The pop group.

abbreviations (acronyms) Most acronyms (abbreviations commonly pronounced

as words) are written in capitals: AIDS, ASEAN, ASIO, ASIS, NASA, NATO, OPEC,
UNESCO, UNICEF, etc. We make an exception for Anzac. Acronyms such as eftpos,
laser, scuba and radar have passed into the language as words in their own right
and are all lower case.

abbreviations (full points) Full points are not usually used in abbreviations except
for personal initials (A. C. Smith, with a thin space in print between the letters). The
abbreviations e.g. and i.e. also take full points.

abbreviations (organisations) In most cases an organisation’s name should be

used in full at first reference. Well-recognised abbreviations (ABC, ASIO, AFL, NRL,
FBI, CIA, etc) are an exception. When such terms as Australian, Victorian, NSW,
national, federal, Melbourne or Sydney are omitted from an organisation’s name but
the name is otherwise intact, retain capitals: the (Australian) Taxation Office, the
(National) Farmers Federation, the (Australian) Communications and Media
Authority, the (Australian) War Memorial. Police forces are an exception: Victoria
Police, the police; the Australian Federal Police, federal police.

abbreviations (overuse) Aim as much as possible to avoid abbreviations that are

not well recognised. They make copy harder to read and we use far too many of
them. Use instead on second mention the association, the board, the union, the

4
department, the council, the commission, etc. Spell out the full name again further
down in copy if necessary. If an obscure abbreviation is unavoidable, put it in
brackets after the full name. Do not add the abbreviation in brackets if it does not
appear again. Where abbreviations are particularly helpful is in cases where several
departments, committees, etc are referred to. Awkward abbreviations in quotes can
sometimes be avoided, particularly if mentioned only once, by instead spelling out
the full term inside square brackets.

abbreviations (states and territories) NSW and the ACT are always abbreviated.
In general, spell out other names in copy. Where abbreviated in graphics or lists,
use: SA, WA, NT, Qld, Tas, Vic. Avoid Vic, Tas, Qld in headlines.

abbreviations (weights and measures) See weights and measures

abbreviations (service ranks) See armed forces

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people There is wide diversity within
Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, which includes a broad
range of nations, cultures and languages. Opinions often differ on the most
appropriate ways to refer to people. When talking generally, terms such as
Indigenous Australians (always capital I for Indigenous people in the Australian
context), First Nations people, First People/s or First Australians may be used.
Aboriginal people is acceptable when not talking about Torres Strait Islanders.

Do not use the outdated term Aborigine, which offends many people. Black in
reference to Indigenous Australians is also considered offensive by many. It should
not be used as a noun. Adjectival use should generally be avoided but is allowed
when it is considered and respectful.

When writing about individuals, respect their preferences. It is often best to refer to
someone by their language/cultural group (a Wurundjeri man, a Warlpiri woman).
Others may prefer to be known by a regional term, such as Koori (plural Kooris) in
Victoria and parts of NSW. Some elders may use Aunty or Uncle as a term of
respect. Aunty Joy Miles would become Miles on second reference. Use lower case
for elder, traditional owner, stolen generations.

Indigenous Voice to parliament takes a capital V. Use a capital C for Country.

Many Indigenous people around Australia are highly sensitive to the naming and
use of photographs of people who have died. Grieving names are frequently used
to describe the dead, but practices vary from community to community and
according to the wishes of the deceased and their family, along with the length of
the grieving period. We should attempt to find out what the wishes are in individual
cases. See also race and nationality, black

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about Not approximately, not around.

accents We don’t use these in names. Use them in common nouns only where
there would be ambiguity otherwise: lamé v lame, rosé v rose, exposé v expose.
But cafe, fiancee, facade. See also foreign words

accidents Do not apportion blame. In reports of collisions we should say car X and
car Y collided, not that car X hit car Y or collided with car Y. Collisions involve at
least two moving objects. An accident involving a car and a tree, or a moving car
and a parked vehicle is not a collision. A pedestrian hit by a car may have been
moving, but the contest is so uneven that, again, it would not be appropriate to call
it a collision. Also be wary of using words such as ram in accident reports as it
implies intent to damage.

Achilles heel Also Achilles tendon.

acknowledgment

ACMA Australian Communications and Media Authority (note S in

communications).

ACOSS Australian Council of Social Service (not Services). Also VCOSS (Victorian
Council of Social Service) and NCOSS (NSW Council of Social Service).

act (of parliament) Use a capital when giving the title of an act: the Alpine Resorts
Act 1983, the Crimes Act, but the act, an act. The same principle applies to bill: the
Fertiliser Subsidy Bill, the bill.

acting Lower case when used with a title that is in capitals: acting Prime Minister
Sean Harris, etc. The acting prime minister if used without the name of the
incumbent.

actor/actress Use actor for males and females. Actress may be used on award
nights, such as the Oscars, when there are categories for best actor and best
actress. It is also appropriate when talking about sexual assault or harassment in
the entertainment industry.

ACTU No need to spell out the Australian Council of Trade Unions at first reference,
but it doesn’t hurt to do so on subsequent mention.

AD For anno Domini (in the year of the Lord). It goes before the date (AD 259), but
BC (before Christ) is written after the date: 352 BC.

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ad Abbreviation of advertisement. Do not use advert.

adage Not old adage. All adages are old.

added Do not use for said. OK in moderation for an afterthought or explanation.

address As in addressing issues. Rather than this overused choice, consider

handling issues, tackling them, dealing with them, resolving them or facing them.

adidas This company, along with many others, does not use an initial capital. We
follow suit, except at the start of sentences and headlines. See company names

adjacent to Prefer next to, beside, alongside, near.

administration Lower case, as in the US administration.

admit, admitted Can often give a false impression of wrongdoing. Said is usually
enough. Conceded is also a softer option. See claim

ad nauseam

adoption Children who have been adopted should not be referred to as such
unless it is relevant to the story.

adrenaline Hormone secreted by the adrenal glands.

adults People aged 18 and over. Refer to them by their surname, although there is
room for discretion in softer, featurish pieces.

adverbs and adjectives See grammar guide

adverbs and verbs See grammar guide

adverse/averse See words to watch.

adviser Not advisor, but the travel website is TripAdvisor.

advocate Not advocate for and definitely not advocate against.

AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time), AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight

Time) Use these rather than writing Sydney time or Melbourne time. No need to
spell out: The Oscars will begin at 11am (AEST).

affect/effect The verb affect means to influence, produce an effect on: The tax

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reforms affect everyone. The verb effect means to bring about, accomplish: It’s
hard to effect change. The noun is almost always effect (the noun affect is a
psychiatric term).

afflict/inflict People are afflicted with disease, but injuries are inflicted on them.

Afghanistan The people are Afghans, the adjective is Afghan, the currency is the
afghani.

aficionado(s) One f.

African American (noun) But African-American history (adjectival). This approach

applies to all nationality combinations. See black

Afrikaans Afrikaners speak Afrikaans.

after An unfortunate way in which this word is often used: A man was killed after
he was hit by a train … He survived the impact, presumably, but the train driver was
extremely irritated about the dent in his locomotive. Say killed when or died after.

afterwards Afterward is American. See Americanisms

Age, The The Age is owned by Nine Entertainment Co. Its publisher is The Age
Company Pty Ltd. Do not use italics for sections of digital sites or the paper: Green
Guide; the Age Letters page, Spectrum, Business, Sport, Good Food, Traveller, etc.
Spin-off publications are italicised: Good Food Guide, Good Weekend.

aged care The convention these days is to not add a hyphen when aged care is
used adjectivally in common phrases such as aged care home, aged care policy.

Agent Orange Herbicide used by the US military during the Vietnam War.

ages John Smith, 37, or Samantha Jones, 3 (do not spell out). But Samantha Jones
is a three-year-old and John Smith is a 37-year-old nurse. A woman is in her 20s,
not 20’s or twenties. See elderly

ages (past) Capitals for Stone Age, Iron Age, Middle Ages, etc. See historic (and
prehistoric) ages

ageing

ahead of Overused. Before is a good word.

aide Nursing, presidential, etc.

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AIDS For acquired immune deficiency syndrome. People living with AIDS should not
be tagged victims. HIV-positive people do not have AIDS unless they have
symptoms linked to the condition.

air-condition Also air-conditioning, air-conditioner.

aircraft Aircraft and plane are acceptable (aeroplane is dated, airplane is

American). Aircraft covers planes, helicopters and lighter-than-air craft. Check
company and aviation websites for the maker’s style for aircraft types. Examples
include the Airbus A380 and A330, Boeing 747, DC-9, DC-10, F/A-18, F-111, Fokker
F28, B-17, MiG (MiG-21 etc).

air force For ranks, see armed forces

airlift This should be reserved for large-scale operations, e.g. an airlift of food and
medical supplies to a flood zone. Avoid it as a verb; rather than The girl was airlifted
to hospital, say she was flown to hospital.

airport Use a capital as part of a proper name: Melbourne Airport, Sydney Airport.

air words ONE WORD: airbag, airbase, airborne, airbrush, aircraft, aircrew, airdrop,
airfare, airfield, airframe, airgun, airlift, airline, airmail, airport, airspace, airstream,
airstrike, airstrip, airtight, airtime, airwaves, airworthy. TWO WORDS: air force, air
freight, air raid, air show.

alcohol-fuelled Overused. Drunken is shorter.

al fresco

algae Plural of alga: Blue-green algae are (not is) spreading.

alibi Not the same as an excuse. It means a claim or piece of evidence that a
person was elsewhere when an act, usually a crime, took place.

al- Before an Arab name, this means the. See Arab names under ethnic names.
Also see Islamic Style Guide

Al Jazeera

al-Qaeda

Alfred The Alfred hospital in Melbourne, the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.

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Alice, the Meaning Alice Springs. Lower case the.

Allahu Akbar (God is greatest).

alleged A useful writ or contempt-saver when used judiciously and specifically: the
alleged offence, the alleged rape, the alleged libel, the alleged murder. But it is not
necessary to say someone is being tried for alleged murder. Even if the defence
contends that no murder was committed, there is no question that the accused is
being tried for murder and the jury trying the charge will decide whether he is
guilty. He faces a murder charge, and his trial is a murder trial. These terms are
objective, and safe. Similarly, a news organisation is sued for libel (not sued for
alleged libel) and a writ claims damages for libel.

Allies Use a capital only when referring to the Allied powers of the two world wars.

all right Alright is not all right.

all together/altogether All together means a lot of people or things in proximity to

one another as in The spectators were all together in the grandstand. Altogether
means on the whole, totally, as in The farm was altogether devastated by the flood.

allude To allude is to refer indirectly to something already known. It does not mean
to mention directly. The minister appeared to allude to last year’s budget deficit.

all-wheel-drive Can be abbreviated to AWD at second mention.

alongside (a ship, wharf etc). Not alongside of. Also see outside of

ALP The Australian Labor Party. The British, Israeli and New Zealand Labour parties
and the International Labour Organisation have a u. Use capitals for ALP factions:
Left, Socialist Left, Right, Centre-Left, Centre Unity. Generally, there is no need to
spell out ALP.

alternate/alternative Alternate the adjective should not to be used for alternative.

It means being taken, done, etc by turns. He went to Europe each alternate (every
second) year. But: He chose an alternative course (another one open to him).
Alternative the noun is one of a pair or set of choices. Despite the popular
misconception, there can be more than one alternative. Take care with copy from
the US, where alternate is used for alternative.

altitude Altitude readings for aircraft are expressed in feet, not metres.

aluminium Watch out for the American spelling, aluminum. Alumina is the oxide of
aluminium.

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Alzheimer’s disease

am/pm No full points, no space: 2pm, 7.35am. Beware redundancies such as 3am in
the morning and 9pm at night. Use noon or midnight, not 12pm or 12am.

ambassador Always lower case. Likewise embassy, consul, consulate, high

commissioner, high commission.

Americanisms Language changes and some words once considered American are
now standard Australian English. However, that does not mean we should surrender
completely. We still take holidays, not vacations. We walk on pavements, not
sidewalks. Here are a few other examples.

US Australian

auto car, vehicle

brownout blackout
check cheque
cookies biscuits
checkers draughts
drugstore pharmacy
fall autumn
fender mudguard
gas petrol
half-staff half-mast
ketchup tomato sauce
obligate oblige
power outage power cut
math maths
skeptic sceptic
transportation transport
trunk of a car boot
witness stand witness box

American spelling We follow the British preference for using -ise over -ize:
organise, realise, advertise, etc. We use -our over -or: colour, humour, neighbour,
Pearl Harbour. American spellings in job titles and names of organisations and
buildings should be changed: the US Defence Department, the Defence Secretary,
the World Trade Centre, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

America’s Cup It is possessive because it was first won by the yacht America. But

11
Americas Cup in golf; the Americas as in the continents of North America and
South America (including, of course, Central America, which is geographically part
of North America).

amid Not amidst.

amok Not amuck.

among Not amongst. See between.

ampersand (&) Use in business names only if the company itself uses it: Peters &
Georgiou. Also use in such abbreviations as R&R (rest and recreation), R&D
(research and development).

anaemia

anaesthetic

and Usual punctuation: She plays cricket, golf and football. Sometimes, for clarity, it
is helpful to use a comma before and: Follow the dry gully, the creek as far as the
waterhole, and the track up the hillside.

aneurysm Not aneurism.

animals General animal names do not take capitals, but use capitals for parts of
names derived from people and places: Jack Russell terrier, Jersey cattle, Friesian
cattle, Australian terrier, Tasmanian tiger, Scottish terrier, German shepherd, Pacific
oyster. The first letter of scientific names takes a capital: Tyrannosaurus rex, Canis
familiaris. Scientific names should be written in italics.

annex (verb), annexe (noun)

Antarctica or the Antarctic Antarctic is the adjective.

antenna Plural antennae of insects, antennas of radio or TV.

anti- words WITHOUT HYPHENS: antibacterial, antibiotic, antibody, Antichrist,

anticlimax, anticlockwise, anticoagulant, antidepressant, antifreeze, antihistamine,
antimalarial, antimatter, antioxidant, antipasto, antiperspirant, antivenom, antiviral.

WITH HYPHENS: anti-abortion, anti-apartheid, anti-vax, anti-vaxxer,

anti-communist, anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-inflammatory,
anti-monarchist, anti-nuclear, anti-personnel, anti-racism. For others, check the
Oxford Dictionary.

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anticipate This verb has been so long misused for expect that some dictionaries
now give this meaning. But expect is shorter and better. The long-accepted
meaning of anticipate is to foresee and take action against, to forestall: Anticipating
he would lose the election, he applied for another job before the poll.

anti-vax, anti-vaxxer Do not use these terms loosely. Check carefully that a
person or group really is against vaccination and not just objecting to a way a
particular policy is implemented or to an aspect of a particular vaccine.

any words Anyone or anybody can do it, but any one of these doctors and any
body of people; anyhow, anywhere, anyway (I’ll do it anyway), but any way (I can’t
see any way of doing it); any more, any time.

Anzac For the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps of World War I. Rarely do
we need to spell it out. Anzac Day. Anzacs (troops of the corps; also Australian and
New Zealand troops in any later alliance, as in Vietnam). Also see Digger

ANZUS (Treaty) The security treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the
United States.

APEC The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum. Spell out at first reference.

apologia Not an apology but an explanation of one’s beliefs.

apostrophe See apostrophes in punctuation guide

appal, appalled, appalling

appeal Avoid the American appeal the decision. Make it appeal against.

appendixes For body parts but appendices for parts of a book or document.

APRA Australian Prudential Regulation (not Regulatory) Authority.

appraise/apprise Appraise means to estimate the value or quality. Apprise means

to inform.

April Fools’ Day

Arab/Arabic Arabic refers to the language: Arab leaders are Arabic speakers.

Arab Spring Anti-government protests and uprisings in the Arab world in the early
2010s.

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Arabian Gulf Use only in quotes. Otherwise prefer Persian Gulf, then the Gulf.

archaeology

archdiocese The Catholic Church has archdioceses. These take in smaller

dioceses. The Anglican Church has dioceses. So it’s the archdiocese of Melbourne,
Sydney, etc (Catholic) but the diocese of Melbourne, Sydney, etc (Anglican).

arch rival, arch enemy Each two words.

Argentina The people are Argentinian(s).

ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association (not Record)

aristocracy (British)
Titles used in full take capitals: the Duke of Westminster, the Duchess of Bedford,
the Earl of East Cheam. Lower case for shortened titles: the earl, the duchess, the
duke. Peers are dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, barons and baronesses;
baronets and knights are not peers. Dukes and their wives take their first names or
are the duke and the duchess after first reference. Refer to marquesses, lords,
earls, viscounts and their wives by their surname on second mention. English
barons should not be called Baron So-and-So but Lord, and their wives Lady (but
some peeresses holding titles in their own right are called Baroness So-and So).
The correct styling of peers and members of their families is a labyrinth of protocol
and exception. The best course, if interviewing the nobility, is to ask them what
they should be called.

The essential difference between baronets and knights is that baronets hold
hereditary titles and knights do not. Both are called Sir Arthur Posh and their wives
Lady Posh. The wife of a baronet or a knight should never be called Lady Agnes
Posh or Lady Agnes – unless she is the daughter of a duke, a marquess or an earl
and therefore entitled to be called Lady Agnes in her own right. Where this is not
the case, correct form is Lady Posh, wife of Sir Arthur Posh, or Lady (Agnes) Posh.
See royal

Armadale (Victoria and Western Australia), but Armidale (NSW).

ARMED FORCES (Australia)

Use capitals for the full names of the services: the Australian Army, the Royal
Australian Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force. But lower case for the army, the
navy, the air force. Capitals for Army Reserve. The combined services are the
Australian Defence Force (not Forces); also the Defence Force. Use a capital for
Defence as shorthand for the Defence Department.

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Special Operations Command was formed in 2003 to unite Australian Army special
forces units. These include the Special Air Service Regiment, whose name can be
abbreviated to SAS.

When writing service titles, use capitals for the unit, formation, branch or
organisation. When a job title is written next to the name of the incumbent, use
capitals for senior positions such as Chief of the Australian Defence Force,
Commander-in-Chief and the heads of each of the services, such as Chief of Army.
Use lower case elsewhere. Use lower case for other positions such as commanding
officer, second-in-command.

Service-specific titles are listed below. Do not abbreviate ranks except in lists.
Some ranks can be shortened correctly at second reference. For instance,
Lieutenant-General Rufus Khan becomes General Khan if there is a need to mention
his title again. The accepted short forms are listed below next to the full rank.
Abbreviations for lists are provided in brackets; never use them in stories.

air force
Cap units and formations: No. 1 Squadron, No. 4 Flight, etc.
Service ranks (officers)
Marshal of the RAAF, Air Chief Marshal, Air Marshal, Air Vice Marshal, Air
Commodore,
Group Captain (abbreviate in LISTS ONLY as Gp Capt), Wing Commander (W Cdr),
Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr), Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt), Flying Officer (FO), Pilot
Officer (PO), Officer Cadet
(NCOs and other ranks)
Warrant Officer of the Air Force, Warrant Officer, Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt), Sergeant
(Sgt), Corporal (Cpl), Leading Aviator, Aviator
Service titles Lower case for air officer commanding. But the Chief of the Air Staff;
and Marshal of the RAAF take capitals when used next to the incumbent’s name.

army
Cap units and formations: Royal Australian Artillery, Royal Australian Ordnance
Corps, 4/19 Prince of Wales’ Light Horse, Second Battalion, B Company, Third
Platoon.
Service ranks (officers)
General (abbreviate in LISTS ONLY as Gen); Lieutenant-General, shorten to General
at second reference (abbreviate in LISTS ONLY as Lt-Gen); Major-General, shorten
to General (Maj-Gen); Brigadier (Brig); Colonel (Col); Lieutenant-Colonel, shorten to
Colonel (Col); Major (Maj); Captain (Capt); Lieutenant (Lt); 2nd Lieutenant (2Lt);
(NCOs and other ranks)
Private (Pte), Lance Corporal (Cpl), Corporal (Cpl), Sergeant (Sgt), Staff Sergeant
(Staff Sgt), Warrant Officer Class Two (WO2), Warrant Officer Class One (W01),

15
Warrant Officer (a rank held by the Regimental Sergeant Major of the Army.
Service titles Lower case for the commanding officer of the Eighth Battalion (or
officer commanding the Eighth Battalion); but upper case for the Chief of Army next
to the name of the incumbent.

navy
Cap divisions, bases etc. Also see HMAS, ships.
Service ranks (officers)
Admiral of the Fleet; Admiral; Vice Admiral, shorten to Admiral at second reference.
Rear-Admiral, shorten to Admiral at second reference. Commodore, Captain
(abbreviate in LISTS ONLY as Capt); Commander (Cdr); Lieutenant-Commander;
shorten to Commander (Lt- Cdr); Lieutenant (Lt), Sub-Lieutenant (Sub-Lt),
Midshipman.
(NCOs and other ranks)
Warrant Officer of the Navy, Warrant Officer (WO), Chief Petty Officer (CPO), Petty
Officer (PO), Leading Seaman (LS), Able Seaman (AS), Seaman
Service titles Lieutenant-Commander Nelson, captain of HMAS Unsinkable (note
this use of captain, correct for an officer commanding a warship). Upper case for
the Chief of Naval Operations or Admiral of the Fleet next to the incumbent’s name.

arm’s length Or arm’s-length as an adjective (He had an arm’s-length attitude).

artefact

article/section Lower case as in article 36 of the Vienna Convention, section 5 of

the Crimes Act.

articles (grammar) See the

arts movements Generally lower case except where derived from proper nouns. So
cubism, impressionism, modernism, baroque, postmodern. Also art deco, art
nouveau. But pre-Raphaelite, Bauhaus. Use capitals if confusion would arise
otherwise: the poetry of the Romantic era as opposed to a romantic dinner you had
last week.

arts, the Reviews should be treated with particular care. Because arts and
entertainment critics are vulnerable to any changes made to their copy, given its
sensitive nature, any changes must be first discussed with them. Titles of books,
plays, art works, exhibitions, films, TV shows, popular songs, concerts, tours and
podcasts are in italics. If classical works have identifying names, set them in italics,
for example Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.
Names that are simply labels, such as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C Minor,
should stay in roman, but any nicknames should be in italics, as in Beethoven’s

16
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor (Choral) and Schubert’s Quartet in D Minor (Death and
the Maiden).

Within titles, use lower case for articles (a, an, the), all prepositions (including of,
for, from, with, without, between, among, behind, against, under, over, beyond,
across) and all conjunctions (including and, but, either, neither, or, nor, as, since,
because), unless they fall at the beginning of the title. Capitals for all other words
(including Is and all other parts of the verb To Be) and adverbs (including those that
are sometimes prepositions and appear in the list above, e.g. Somewhere over the
Rainbow but The Party’s Over). Spell and punctuate titles as the author does.

ASEAN See Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Asia-Pacific region With a hyphen.

ASIC Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC at second

reference).

ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (abbreviation can be used at first

mention).

ASIS Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS at second reference.)

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN may be used at first reference

but spell out full name somewhere in copy.)

assassinate To murder a prominent person for political or religious reasons.

asylum seeker It is not illegal to seek asylum. Avoid the term boat people.

at about You cannot be definite and indefinite. He arrived at 10am or about 10am.

attorneys-general The plural form. Not attorney-generals.

audiovisual

auger (tool), augur (verb meaning to portend a good or bad outcome).

autoimmune

aunty Not auntie. Use a capital as an honorific: Aunty Joan. Aunty is also an
informal name for the ABC.

17
aurora australis, aurora borealis

Australia Post Spell out in full in articles. Use Aus Post in headlines if necessary
but not AusPost.

Aussie Use sparingly, generally only in colour stories or direct quotes. See
business entry.

Australian Border Force Prefer Border Force on second mention over ABF.

Australian Defence Force (not Forces) Encompasses the three services. See
armed forces, Special Operations Command

Australian Financial Review, The The Australian Financial Review is owned by

Nine Entertainment Co. Use The Australian Financial Review at first reference,
including an italicised The, then the Financial Review (only Financial Review
italicised).

Australian rules: Where Australian rules is the dominant football code, refer to it as
football. For stories that mention more than one football code use Australian rules
for clarity: Rugby league authorities have accused Australian rules administrators of
copying their marketing techniques. Where other codes are as, or more, popular,
football may mean various things and the distinction should always be made. See
also Australian football in the sport guide

Australian Labor Party No u. British, Israeli and New Zealand Labour parties take a
u, as do many others.

Australian Taxation Office or the Taxation Office or Tax Office.

author Do not use as a verb; people do not author a book, they write it.

autism Some people on the autism spectrum prefer to be called an autistic person
rather than a person with autism. Opinions differ as to what is appropriate. Check
with the individual where possible.

autopsy An autopsy is performed or carried out, not held. Preferred over

post-mortem.

awards and prizes Upper case where Awards or Prize is part of the official name:
Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Booker Prize, Archibald Prize, Nobel Prize, etc.
Unless capitals are needed for clarity, use lower case for the categories in which
awards are given: best film, best director, best short story. But Nobel Peace Prize,
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, etc. Nobels are awarded in a

18
field, not for one. Someone does not win best actress; they are named best actress
or win the best actress award.

AWOL Absent without official leave.

axis Plural axes.

Ayers Rock Former name for Uluru.

B
Baby Boomers The 1946-64 generation. Also Gen X (1965-80); Gen Y (1981-96),
also known as Millennials; Gen Z (roughly mid 1990s to early 2010s depending who
you ask); Gen Alpha (early 2010s to mid 2020s).

bachelor’s degree bachelor of arts (BA), bachelor of science (BSc). Also master’s
degree.

bacillus Plural bacilli.

backbench, backbencher Also frontbench, frontbencher and crossbench,

crossbencher.

backburner

backyard One word in all cases. But front yard.

bacterium (singular), bacteria (plural). It is wrong to say The bacteria thrives.

Baghdad

Bahrain/Bahraini The country/the people.

bail/bale Bail someone out of jail. Bale of wool or hay. Bail out a boat. Bail out of an
aircraft or a difficult situation.

19
bailout (noun or adjective) bail out (verb) The government will bail out the
company because it considers it worthy of a bailout under its bailout policy.

baksheesh

Balaclava/balaclava Use a capital for the Melbourne suburb, lower case for the
woollen head covering.

ballot, balloted, balloting

ballpark figure Say directly what you mean: a rough or approximate figure; about
$50,000; an estimate.

Bamiyan The Afghan valley (and nearby city) where two giant Buddhas were
destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Band-Aid Trade name. Use capitals in the figurative use: a Band-Aid solution. See
also trade names

bandana

bands are referred to in the plural sense: the Cake Explosion are on tour, taking
their new show to all states. The the in names is lower case: the Rolling Stones, the
Beatles, the Killers.

Bangladesh/Bangladeshi The country/the people.

Bar, the Collective term for barristers: X was admitted to the Bar.

barbecue Not barbeque or BBQ. But Barbeques Galore.

bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah

BASE jumping BASE is an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth.

Basel (Switzerland)

basis (As in the wasteful phrase on a … basis.) Turn part-time basis into part-time.
Turn on a regular basis into regularly. On a daily basis can be replaced by daily.

bated breath Not baited.

battleship Naval ships are warships, not battleships. A battleship is a type of

20
warship.

baulk As in hesitate or show unwillingness. Not balk.

BC For before Christ. 352BC but AD259.

beaches Use capitals only if part of a suburb or town’s name, as in Sydney’s Bondi
Beach, Melbourne’s Safety Beach. Lower case for St Kilda beach, Manly beach.
Sydney’s Northern Beaches local government area takes capitals, but northern
beaches is lower case if referring only to the actual beaches.

Belarus The people are Belarusians (Note one s).

beleaguered Commonly misspelt, and commonly overused for any politician or

other individual having a hard time. Use it sparingly.

Bells Line of Road (NSW)

benefit, benefited, benefiting

Bennelong Point (NSW) Also, Bennelong electoral division, but suburban street
names vary.

Bern (Switzerland) Not Berne.

bestseller, bestselling

bete noire A particularly disliked person or thing.

betters/bettors Betters are superior people, bettors are punters.

between The rule is: between two things, among more than two things. But
commonsense exceptions are made, e.g. Switzerland lies between Italy, France and
Germany. A recognised exception is with words such as treaty, pact, agreement,
contract implying one-to-one relationships as well as the overall relationship
between the things named: a treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the
United States; a contract between Jones, Smith and Brown. Note: between 2005
and 2015 (not between 2005-15), and always between five and 10 (not between
five to 10).

Beverley (SA and WA), Beverley Park (NSW), Beverly Hills (Los Angeles and
Sydney).

biannual/biennial These are best avoided as it’s a safe bet they confuse most

21
people. Biannual means happening twice a year; biennial means lasting for two
years or happening every two years. Use twice yearly and two-yearly. Also,
bi-monthly might mean twice monthly or every two months; use twice monthly or
every two months.

Bible texts 1 Samuel chapter 4, verse 38 for first reference then 1 Samuel 4:38 for
later references.

Bible, the (with a capital, no italics), but biblical. But Wisden is the cricketer’s bible,
fashion bible Vogue.

bicentenary/bicentennial Either word may be used as an adjective or as a noun. A

bicentenary is a 200th anniversary; bicentennial means lasting for or taking place
every 200 years. Correctly, Australia’s 1788-1988 celebration was of a bicentenary,
though the organisation set up to run it was called the Australian Bicentennial
Authority.

bid Unless you are talking about an auction, a card game, the sharemarket,
contract tenders or suchlike, avoid it in text. It is used by some people as an
all-purpose substitute for many good words, including try, attempt, move, effort,
offer.

big four For Australia’s main banks. Also big pharma, big tech, big tobacco.

Big Ben Used nowadays as the name of the bell, clock and tower at Westminster,
although strictly speaking Big Ben is the name of the bell.

Big Bang theory for the model of the universe.

bikers/bikies Bikers are conventional motorcycle riders; bikies are motorcycle gang
members. Get them mixed up at your peril.

bilateral For the most part an unnecessary word usually used in the context of
talks or treaties. If there are obviously two parties involved, the reader is told
nothing by adding bilateral.

bill (parliamentary) The bill, a bill, lower case. But upper case for the full name of a
bill: the Aged Care Amendment Bill. See act

billion A thousand million. The letter b can be used in headlines, with no space
between it and the number. See figures

binge-watch

22
bird’s-eye view

birthday For people. Anniversary for institutions and other things.

birth rate, death rate

bitcoin Plural bitcoins. This and other cryptocurrencies, or virtual currencies, are
lower case.

black There is debate about whether black should take a capital in relation to
people, particularly in the African-American context. Our general style is to use
lower case, but if an opinion writer specifically wants to use a capital B, respect
that. Do not use the word as a noun when referring to race. Black is offensive to
some Indigenous Australians. As well as not using it as a noun, adjectival use
should generally be avoided in the context of Australian Indigenous people but is
allowed when it is considered and respectful. If in doubt consult a senior editor.
See Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and race and nationality

black market Also black-marketing, black-marketeer.

blackout (noun and adjective), black out (verb). He worried he would black out
during a blackout so he made an emergency blackout plan. Do not use the
American brownout.

black spot As in accident black spot and the plant disease.

bloc Combination of parties, nations, etc.

blond (male), blonde (female). Also blond wood.

blood-alcohol reading With hyphen. Express readings as .05, .12, rather than the
usual decimal style (0.05).

boat For small craft. Do not use for ship.

body cam (noun) but body-cam footage (adjectival).

bogey/bogie/bogy Bogey is a golf term (plural bogeys, past tense bogeyed); bogie
is a railway undercarriage and a bogy is an evil spirit (plural bogies).

Bombay Former name for Mumbai.

bon mot A witty remark. Plural bon mots.

23
Boogie board is a trade name. Use bodyboard. See also trade names

boost Overused to the point where it has come to mean any rise or increase. Do
not use it, in headings or text, unless you mean that something has been increased
greatly or suddenly.

Botanic Gardens, Royal (Melbourne and Sydney). The Australian Botanic Garden
Mount Annan (singular) in NSW.

both Often used when not needed. If you simply want to report that Agnes and
Maria went to a party, it’s unnecessary to insert both. But if you need to underline
the possibly surprising or significant fact that not just one but the two of them
went, you can do so with a both. Look out for confusion such as in the following
sentence: Both government departments and private operators support the new
system.

Botox Trade name. See also trade names

Brazil nut

breakaway (noun and adjective) break away (verb) A breakaway faction but to
break away from the faction.

breakthrough Needs to be used with extreme care in scientific copy, especially

when dealing with medical research.

breakout (noun) to break out (verb) They intend to break out of jail. Three
prisoners escaped in a previous breakout.

breathalyser Prefer breath-tested to breathalysed.

Brexit, Brexiter The opposing campaigns in the referendum that led to Britain’s exit
from the European Union were called Leave and Remain. Refer to members as
Leavers and Remainers.

bric-a-brac

Brighton-le-Sands (NSW)

Britain, United Kingdom Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland and Wales.
The United Kingdom also includes Northern Ireland and may be called the UK (or,
more loosely, Britain unless a clear distinction needs to be made).

Broadmeadow (NSW), Broadmeadows (Vic).

24
Broken Rites (not Rights), sex-abuse victims’ support group.

Brussels sprouts

bucketfuls, spoonfuls

budget Lower case. The federal budget, the state budget, budget papers.

builders Make two words (no hyphen) of all such terms as house builder, empire
builder, bridge builder. Also see one word, two words or hyphenated

bulk-bill, bulk-billing With a hyphen as an adjective and as a noun.

bullet See firearms.

bullet points Use a full stop after each one and a capital letter to start the next
one.
● The first bullet point looks like this.
● The second bullet point follows the same style.
● Then along comes the third.

bungy As in bungy jumping.

bureaucrat A word with a built-in sneer. For a neutral word use public servant or
official. Also see public service.

bureaus Not bureaux.

burnt Not burned. Also learnt (but learned gentleman and earned not earnt).

burnout (noun) to burn out (verb)

burqa Not burkha or burka. The full-body face-covering garb for women in
Afghanistan. It often has a strip of gauze for the eyes. Also see chador and hijab,
as well as the Islamic style guide

bushfire But grass fire, scrub fire. Wildfire for US fires.

businessman/businesswoman But business person, business people. Also:

small-business man, woman, people etc.

business names See company names

25
buyback One word as a noun or adjective, two words as a verb. She intends to buy
back the company in a $100 million buyback.

byelection And bygone, bylaw, byline, bypass, byplay, byproduct, byroad,

bystander, byway, byword.

buyout (noun and adjective) to buy out (verb)

C
cabinet Lower case for state cabinet, federal cabinet, shadow cabinet, national
cabinet, etc.

cache, cachet Cache is a hidden store. Cachet means something has character,
style, a seal of approval.

cactus, cactuses

caddie/caddy A golf caddie, but a tea caddy.

caesarean Lower case.

caesium The element. Not cesium.

caffe latte Plural caffe lattes.

Calcutta Call it Kolkata.

calibre Refers to the diameter of a bullet or shell or the barrel diameter of a firearm;
not weight or power. Say large calibre or small calibre, not heavy calibre or light
calibre. Also see firearms

callous/callus A callous person is cruel, uncaring; a callus means thick skin:

calluses on his palms, callused hands.

26
cane field

cannon As in gun. Singular and plural. See firearms

canon A general law, rule or principle or a list of works such as Shakespeare’s

canon.

canvas/canvass Canvas is a fabric (plural canvases), but to canvass is to solicit

votes, etc.

Cape Schanck (Victoria)

Cape York and Cape York Peninsula (Queensland), Yorke Peninsula (South
Australia).

Capital Hill (Canberra), Capitol Hill (Washington). Canberra and Washington are
capitals, but the US Congress meets in the Capitol (building).

CAPITALS Below are some of our more common styles on using, or not using,
capitals. Others are to be found throughout this guide.

CAPITALS (politics and government)

budget Lower case. Also federal budget, state budget.

cabinet Also national cabinet.

caucus

Constitution

government Lower case at all mentions: federal government, state government,

British government, US government, government spending.

mid-year economic and fiscal outlook

opposition Lower case: the federal opposition, the state opposition, the
opposition, opposition policies.

parliament Lower case: federal parliament, state parliament, British parliament,

Canadian parliament, hung parliament, etc. But start with a capital for the US
Congress and other foreign legislatures: Diet, Knesset, Bundestag, etc. Use capitals
for the names of houses within parliaments: the House of Representatives,

27
(shortened to the House), the Senate, the House of Commons (the Commons). But
upper house, lower house. Use capitals for building names: Parliament House, Old
Parliament House. Use lower case for the names of parliamentary committees
(Senate select committee on COVID-19, House foreign affairs committee, Senate
estimates committees).

question time

state

federal

politics and government (people) The basic rule is to use capitals at each
mention of the job titles of incumbent holders of high government office when the
title appears next to a name. Use lower case for mentions not next to a name and
for former office holders. Speaker is an exception (see below).

Prime Minister Brandon Potter said an investigation would be held.

The prime minister addressed the crowd.
Brandon Potter, who has been prime minister for 10 years ...

Former prime minister Tony Menzies loves golf.

Incumbent Brazilian President Manuel Costa is too busy to play.

The following positions take capitals when used next to the name of incumbents,
deputies and acting office holders:

President (of a nation or of a legislature)

Governor-General
Governor
Prime Minister
Premier
Opposition Leader (an official tile as opposed to Labor leader, Liberal leader,
Greens leader, etc, which do not take capitals)
government ministers (Defence Minister Carla Cannon, the defence minister, US
Secretary of State Hilary Trump, the secretary)
Lord Mayor
Mayor

The titles of shadow cabinet members are always lower case. We prefer opposition
health spokesman, energy spokeswoman, etc, to shadow health minister, shadow
energy minister, but make it shadow treasurer, shadow attorney-general, shadow
minister for women (an improvement on opposition spokeswoman on women). For

28
longer titles, it's the opposition spokesman/woman/person on (not for) commerce
and industrial relations, etc.

Capital S for the incumbent Speaker, Deputy Speaker, acting Speaker at every
mention, even without a name, to avoid ambiguity. Capitals may also be used for
former speakers if needed to remove ambiguity.

Senator takes a capital only as an honorific: Greens senator Jill Black, new senator
Jill Black, the senator said. But: “I don’t approve of Senator Black’s comments,”
Senator James Brown said.

Lower case for an independent MP.

Lower case for leader of the House, government leader in the Senate, etc.

Lower case for the government (or opposition) whip, someone appointed by a
political party to maintain parliamentary discipline among party members. Lower
case for the serjeant-at-arms (this spelling for the parliamentary official); the clerk
of the Senate (or of the House, the assembly etc). But for clarity, the usher of the
Black Rod (Black Rod is also used as this official’s short title: President of the
Senate Penny Burns summoned Black Rod).

other government job titles Titles of public servants, including departmental

secretaries, are generally lower case. Use capitals at each mention next to a name
for an incumbent auditor-general, ombudsman, chief medical officer, chief health
officer, human rights commissioner, taxation commissioner, chief scientist or similar
office holder and their deputies.

diplomacy Lower case for all job titles and names of embassies, consulates and
high commissions: Mexican ambassador Marisol Calva visited the Colombian
embassy. See also diplomacy/diplomatic titles.

CAPITALS (courts/tribunals/commissions) Capitals for judge and justice

only when used as honorifics. The judge said, but Judge Raymond Carter said.
Capitals for Chief Judge, Chief Magistrate, Chief Justice, Chief Coroner when used
next to the name of the incumbent. Capital for President when next to the name of
the incumbent Fair Work Commission president. The Royal Commission on Drug
Trafficking, but the Stewart royal commission, the royal commission. See courts

CAPITALS (organisations) No capitals for job titles in companies and other

non-government organisations: RSL president, BHP managing director, Sydney
Morning Herald editor. Use capitals for an organisation or group with a specific
name, but use lower case when only a small part of the name is used in a later
reference (the Boating Industry Association, the association). When such terms as

29
Australian, Victorian, NSW, national or federal are omitted from an organisation’s
name but the name is substantially intact, retain capitals, e.g. the (Australian)
Broadcasting Tribunal, the (Australian) Taxation Office, the (National) Farmers
Federation. Police forces are an exception: Victoria Police, the police; the Australian
Federal Police, federal police, state police.

See also company names, police, universities.

CAPITALS (royals) The word royal is lower case except in the name of
institutions. Our current monarch keeps capitals on each mention. Queen Elizabeth,
the Queen. Full titles such as the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the
Duchess of Sussex take capitals on each mention. Capitals for Prince William,
Princess Mary, etc, but lower case for the prince, the princess, the duke, the
duchess, etc when used without the name. Kings and queens of other countries are
the king, the queen on second mention. See also royal

CAPITALS (geographical areas) Regions such as the North Coast, Southern

Highlands and Central Coast in NSW and Western District in Victoria take capitals.
Geographical descriptions such as the north-west of the state, north shore,
eastern suburbs, etc, are lower case. See also place names

See also animal breeds; French; Scot, Scottish, Scotch

cappuccino Plural cappuccinos.

captions Use round brackets to indicate position: (left), (right), (rear). Use
double quote marks in captions. Name people from left to right unless the most
relevant person is to the right. Don’t make the mistake of adding a (left) when
it’s obvious who’s who, such as in a picture of a government minister and a
child. Someone as famous as the US president or Australian prime minister
does not need a (left) or (right) next to their name. If starting a caption with a
few pithy words in the form of a kicker, use a colon and then a capital letter for
the first word of the caption proper. We use photographers’ names for photos
taken by our own people or where there are special arrangements. Otherwise,
use the name of the wire agency only: AP, PA, Getty Images, Bloomberg, etc. If
crediting more than one agency separate them with a comma.

Crowded house: Royalty of the Hollywood variety Lola Superstar (left)

and Bev Hills greet fans at a tiny-house expo in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo:
AP

30
Use present tense only in reference to what is visible in a photo, otherwise past
tense: a photo of 10 protesters should not be captioned Hundreds rally outside
Parliament House. Steer clear of captions that describe the obvious; give
readers extra information beyond what they are seeing. If someone is waving,
readers don’t need to be told that’s what they are doing. When using several
similar pictures online, don’t repeat full details in each caption. It’s enough the
first time around to give someone’s full name and title. Give the reader new
information in subsequent captions.

car park Also car parking and car yard, car maker.

carat Use carat for gems and gold, not karat.

carbon emissions Refers to carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. It

won’t hurt to mention the dioxide occasionally. Prefer carbon as shorthand
rather than the chemical symbol for carbon dioxide, CO₂. If you do need to use
the chemical symbol, say as part of a quote, in Cyber type CO𝝮inf2. Inf stands
for inferior and the command will shrink the 2. There isn’t a special character for
the inferior number in INK, but you can copy and paste one from the special
characters to be found under Insert in Google Docs. Search the word number.

cartridge A bullet is fired from a rifle, a pistol or a machinegun; shot is fired from a
shotgun. (A shot, of course, may be fired from any firearm.) Shot and bullets are
packed in cartridges for loading and firing; so a body might be found with bullets in
it but a firearm would be found with cartridges in it. See also firearms

caster For the sugar, in keeping with Good Food style. But castor oil and castors for
the wheels.

CAT scan Use CT scan instead.

catch-22 Lower case unless referring to Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel.

Catholic We use Catholic for the church and its people, not Roman Catholic. Avoid
RC. See also churches.

cat-o’-nine-tails

cattle breeds See animal breeds

Caucasian Upper case

caucus Lower case

31
caulk Not calk.

ceasefire (noun and adjective), to cease fire (verb)

Cellophane A trade name. See also trade names

cement The binding medium used with sand and screenings (stone, gravel etc) to
make concrete, or with sand to make mortar. So: a concrete structure; a concrete
road; Gallagher mixes cement to make concrete.

census Lower case

centenary, bicentenary, tricentenary After that, the 400th, 500th etc

anniversary.

Central Australia

Central Coast (NSW)

Central Tablelands (NSW)

centre (verb) Should be followed by on, not around. Do not say something centres
around something else (it is not possible).

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the US federal agency based in
Atlanta, Georgia. Note plural Centres. Do not use American spelling Centers.
Abbreviated as CDC.

cents Use the cents symbol ¢ in text and headings: Petrol prices rose 3¢ or The
price of oil rose US59¢ a barrel. Shift+Alt+C creates the cents symbol. See figures
2 (money).

century Lower case for the 20th century, third century, first century BC, first
century AD, etc.

CEO Use chief executive. CEO is OK in headlines.

CFMMEU The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union. Spell out
high up in copy but not necessarily in the intro. Confusingly, it still commonly uses
CFMEU. Use CFMMEU if referring to the overall national organisation, but CFMEU
for the various divisions.

Chad/Chadians The country/the people.

32
chairman/chairwoman/chairperson/chair Some businesswomen prefer to be
called chairman, so do not presume the title on a gender basis. Go by a person’s
preference for chairman, chairwoman, chairperson or chair. See also women

changeover (noun and adjective)

Channel, the (England)

charges Do not use police jargon. Translate into English.

Chatham House rule Not rules. A rule that information disclosed at a meeting may
be reported by those present but the source must not be identified. Named after
Chatham House in London, which houses the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

check/chequered A check suit, check tie, but chequered pattern. Also: chequers;
chequerboard (one word); chequered flag; chequered career; and Chequers, the
British prime minister’s country home.

chemist Use pharmacist for the people who dispense drugs.

Chennai Formerly Madras.

chief commissioner of police Use capitals only when the title appears next to the
name of the incumbent: Chief Commissioner Margaret Allen said …. but the chief
commissioner said ... See police

chief health officer, chief scientist etc When talking about government positions,
use capitals only when the title appears next to the name of the incumbent.

childcare

children Prefer this to kids, kiddies, juveniles, tiny tots etc.

chilli(ies)

chink While the use of chink to mean narrow opening (a chink of light) or weak spot
(chink in someone’s armour) has been around for centuries and does not have
racist origins, avoid the word given its other meaning as a slur against Chinese
people. Chink in the armour is cliched anyway.

chopper Not to be used for helicopter, except in quotes.

chord in music, but vocal cord, spinal cord.

33
Christchurch (New Zealand and Hampshire), Christ Church (Oxford).

christen It happens to babies, not ships, which are named.

Christian Upper case. Also un-Christian, anti-Christian, non-Christian; but the

Antichrist.

Christian name The term is often inappropriate, sometimes offensive. Prefer first
name, given name. In general, do not call adults solely by their given names in copy
or headings. Adults are people aged 18 and over. Also see ethnic names

Christie’s auction house. Also Sotheby’s.

Christmas Never Xmas in copy or headlines.

chukka (polo)

churches Catholic is widely accepted as referring to Roman Catholic. The Roman

can be dropped. When there are Anglican and Catholic hierarchy with similar titles,
make sure to differentiate between them: the Anglican (or Catholic) archbishop of
Sydney, Archbishop James Smith, Smith, the archbishop. If the Catholic archbishop
is a cardinal he will be the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal James Smith,
Smith, the cardinal.

The Catholic Church has archdioceses, which take in smaller dioceses. The
Anglican Church has dioceses. Use capitals in the Anglican Church, the Uniting
Church, the Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church, Greek Orthodox Church etc. Use
lower case for the word church on its own: The church issued a statement.

Religious titles take capitals when used in full next to the names of incumbents,
otherwise lower case: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Humble (then the
archbishop), Bishop of Bendigo George Faithful (the bishop). An exception: The
Pope takes a capital at every reference when talking about the Vatican incumbent.
Coptic Pope Tawadros, however, would become the pope at later reference. Lower
case for papal, papist and pontiff.

Ordinary clergy in most non-Catholic churches are ministers and mainly use the
Reverend as their honorific at first mention: the Reverend John Smith, then Smith at
later reference. Ordinary clergy in the Catholic Church are priests and have the
honorific Father (do not abbreviate as Fr): Father John Smith, then Smith. Anglican
clergy are sometimes called priests, and some use Father. It is usually not
necessary to use the Very Reverend, Right Reverend, Most Reverend with the
names of higher clergy, as their status is sufficiently indicated in their titles.

34
CIA The US Central Intelligence Agency. Generally no need to spell it out. Lower
case director.

cities Capitals for municipality names: City of Parramatta, City of Melbourne, City
of Sydney (meaning the central municipality, not metropolitan Melbourne or
Sydney). Upper case for the City when referring to the London financial district or
New York City (as opposed to the state of New York). Also see councils

City Loop, the Loop (Melbourne)

City of Sydney Formerly Sydney City Council. If specifying the council as opposed
to the local government area, make it City of Sydney council (lower case).

claim This implies some scepticism on the user’s part about the truthfulness of
what is being said. Use with care, and in most cases use said.

clergy See churches.

cliches The bottom line is put the ballpark figure on the backburner and try to say
something original. Also see standard phrases

climax It is not the end, but the point of greatest intensity, the culmination.

Clydesdale Upper case. See animal breeds

Co (for Company) No full point. See also company names

co-/co Most common words beginning with co are clearly readable without a
hyphen: coalition, coaxial, coeducation, coefficient, coexist, cohabit, coincide.
(Exceptions are co-ed, co-opt, co-operate, co-ordinate, unco-operative,
unco-ordinated.) Use a hyphen in cases such as co-conspirator, co-religionist,
co-respondent.

coalfield But coal mine, coal miner, coal mining.

Coalition The Liberal-National Coalition (capped), the Coalition, the Coalition

government.

Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard is a government service. The
Australian Volunteer Coast Guard (administered by the Australian Volunteer Coast
Guard Association) is an organisation of boating enthusiasts who undertake
searches and rescues. To avoid giving the impression that they are a government
service, we should call them the Volunteer Coast Guard, at least at first reference.

35
coffin Not casket.

coiffeur/coiffure A hairdresser is a coiffeur, they create coiffures. A coiffure is also

a headdress.

Cold War Upper case for the state of hostilities between the West and
Soviet bloc countries after World War II. Lower case for a more general
reference: a new Coalition cold war.

collectable

collective nouns See the grammar guide

collide Be careful not to attribute blame in accident reports. Saying a car collided
with, ran into or hit a truck may seem to attach blame. Better to say the car and the
truck collided. Also, a collision is the meeting of two moving objects. A car cannot
collide with a stationary object such as a pole; it hits the pole. A pedestrian hit by a
car may have been moving, but the contest is so uneven that, again, it would not be
appropriate to call it a collision. Also be wary of using words such as ram in
accident reports as it implies intent to damage.

colloquialisms Colloquial language, which includes slang and swear words,

conveys a relaxed, less serious approach to a report. Its appearance in straight
news reports (other than in quotes of course) can weaken the impact. See also
obscenities

Colombia is the South American country, Columbia was a space shuttle. The DC in
Washington, DC, stands for District of Columbia.

colons (and capitals) in body text

(1) Use upper case when the colon introduces a quotation: He said: “What are you
doing?” Question: What are you doing? Answer: You tell me.
(2) Lower case when the colon introduces a list: She bought: sleeping bags, a tent,
cooking equipment, etc.
(3) Lower case when the colon introduces an elaboration, an explanation, an
associated idea. This is the position: if we don’t economise, we’re doomed. See also
the punctuation guide, headlines, captions

Colosseum of Rome But follow spelling of proper names, such as Coliseum in

London and Los Angeles.

combating, combated

36
commando(s)

commence Don’t be so formal as to commence things; begin or start them.

common law Lower case.

common sense (noun) commonsense (adjective). A commonsense approach

requires committing to memory that common sense is two words as a noun.

Commonwealth Games Also, the Games. Called the Empire Games (1930-50), the
British Empire and Commonwealth Games (1954-66), the British Commonwealth
Games (1970) and the Commonwealth Games from 1974.

Communion The Christian sacrament.

Communist/communist Upper case for the names of particular communist

parties. In general references use lower case: the Chinese Communist Party, but
communist philosophy, a loyal communist. The same principle applies to socialist,
conservative, fascist, liberal, green, etc.

company names Give the company name in full at first reference when necessary
to avoid confusion with a company of a similar name (Australian Growth Ltd versus
Australian Growth Properties), or when the story needs to be particularly specific,
such as in a legal context. Otherwise, Pty, Ltd, Co, Inc are usually not required. But
it’s Nine Entertainment Co if referring to our mastheads’ owner in a formal business
sense. Otherwise, just Nine. Use an ampersand if a company does.

Many companies go out of their way to make their names as distinctive as possible
through, shall we say, creative use of spelling, spacing, punctuation and mixes of
capitals and non-capitals. For the most part, do what the companies do: eBay,
adidas, lululemon, YouTube, etc. Some exceptions:

● Yahoo, not Yahoo!. The company itself often drops the exclamation mark.
● NIB for the health fund that has made its name awkward to read by opting
for nib.
● If a company writes its name in all capitals but the name is not an
abbreviation, use upper and lower case. NB: IKEA is an abbreviation.
● Use capitals if the name starts a sentence or headline: EBay profits soar;
Adidas plans new stores.

Some companies present their names differently in their logos to how they write
about themselves. Prefer the latter version.

37
compare to/with Compare to means to liken one thing to another, suggesting a
similarity. Compare with means to set things side by side and examine to what
extent they are similar or different. She compared the sound to thunder. He
compared his attempted forgery with the original.

complex (building) Limit this term to projects designed for diverse uses: a
complex of shops, offices and flats. Centre is better for projects designed for
related uses: the arts centre, a sports centre. Refer to an office block, not an office
complex; a block of flats (or apartments), not an apartment complex.

compound adjectives See the grammar guide

computer terms See the internet & IT guide

condition (medical) Four patients are in a critical condition, not in critical

conditions.

conditions (weather) Bad weather, not bad weather conditions or weather events.

confidant Male and female versions.

Congo Be careful to differentiate between the Republic of Congo, whose capital is

Brazzaville, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (the former Zaire), whose
capital is Kinshasa. The people of both countries are Congolese.

Congress The US Congress is upper case. But X is a congressman or

congresswoman. The Congress comprises the House of Representatives and the
Senate. Lower case for congressional.

conman, conwoman, con artist

consensus Do not use consensus of opinion or general consensus; simply say

consensus.

Conservative/conservative Capitals for members of the British Conservative

Party, Canada’s Conservative Party and other parties of the same name; otherwise
lower case. The same principle applies to socialist, green, communist, liberal, etc.

consortiums Not consortia.

Constitution Also First Amendment, etc of US Constitution.

constitutional matters The Commonwealth of Australia (the Commonwealth) is a

member of the Commonwealth of Nations (commonly the British Commonwealth).

38
It has a federal Constitution, of which the adjective is constitutional. The Australian
Commonwealth was formed in 1901 at Federation (cap the event). It is a federation
and its political organisation is federal (lower case for both). It elects the federal
parliament and the federal government, which are responsible for federal matters.
Federation was agreed to by the six colonies, which became states (lower case).
Each elects its state parliament and state government, which are responsible for
state matters.
See also capitals (politics and government)

Continental, the Continent Upper case when they refer to Europe.

continual/continuous Not interchangeable. Continual means regularly or

frequently recurring; continuous means going on without a break, uninterrupted.

contractions Contractions such as they’d, we’d, they’ve, she’ll, we’ll, would’ve,

could’ve, hadn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t, haven’t, who’ve, who’d should be kept out of
straight news reports. They have a place in features, comment and colour pieces
when wanting to convey a chatty tone.

contrast Contrast with, not to.

contusions Call them bruises.

convener Not convenor.

convince Commonly misused in this way: He tried to convince his brother to give
up gin. Instead of convince … to, say persuade … to. Correct use of convince: He
tried to persuade his brother that gin was bad for him, but he was convinced of its
spiritual efficacy.

cooee, cooeed

co-operate Also co-operative, co-ordinate, co-op, co-opt.

cops Prefer police. Cops can cause offence to some but may be used in some
informal contexts and tight headlines.

cord/chord A vocal cord, a spinal cord, but a chord in music.

coroner Capitals for an incumbent state coroner when the title is used next to the
person’s name, but lower case for other coroners. Some take judge as an honorific.
See courts

councils Some local councils style themselves as X Council, some as City of X,

39
some as X Shire, some as X Shire Council. Use a capital C for council or city or S for
shire if part of the council’s name: the City of Sydney (Sydney city council, the
council), the City of Melbourne, Waverley Council (Sydney), Hepburn Shire Council
(Victoria). Council on its own is lower case. Use upper case for lord mayor and
mayor only when written next to the name of an incumbent (Mayor Freda Win, then
the mayor). Use lower case for former office holders. The honorific for councillors,
including a lord mayor or mayor is Cr. There is a tendency in local government
circles to omit the the when talking about councils (e.g. a submission to council).
We should say the council. Use lower case for all council staff positions including
chief executives.

counterclaim (noun and verb) Also countercharge, countersue, countersuit but

cross-summons.

counter-terror/ism

Country Liberal Party (of the NT) A single party, not a coalition. No hyphen.
Likewise Queensland’s Liberal National Party.

coupe A section of forest as well as a style of car.

COURTS

bench, full bench Lower case. Be careful when using the term full bench, also
known as full court. A full bench/court has a greater than usual number of judges
hearing a case (e.g. three on appeal rather than the initial solo judge) but does not
typically have all of a court’s judges. Rather than the full bench of a particular court,
what should usually be said at first mention is a full bench. In the High Court a full
bench has at least two judges. The court has seven judges in total.

coroners Upper case for the state coroner and any deputy when the title is used
next to the incumbent’s name. Most coroners are not judges. They are usually
magistrates or lawyers.

counsel Singular and plural. Some senior barristers receive “silk”, becoming a
Queen’s Counsel or a Senior Counsel as a mark of their high achievements. Both
groups are collectively called senior counsel. When using their names in full, add
QC or SC according to their preference. Tiffany Chan, QC, is too busy to eat
breakfast. Omar Erdogan, SC, likes sparkling water with his lunch. It is customary to
use counsel without an article: Tim Nguyen, counsel (not the counsel) for the
accused.

40
court evidence In court copy, where it is especially important that everything
reported be attributed to the witness, lawyer, prosecutor, magistrate or judge who
said it, two economical and useful devices are available: reported speech and
running verbatim.
Reported speech (paraphrasing the evidence): Jones said she saw Williams tie
the dog’s leash to the wheel of his bicycle. He had then ridden off, dragging the
dog along the road. She said the leash had become tangled around the wheel hub.
Williams had fallen off and landed heavily. Picking himself up, he had shouted:
“Now you know why I hate dogs.”
Use the past tense (saw, became) after the attribution said. Use the past perfect
tense (had mounted … and ridden; had fallen … and landed; had shouted) in the
succeeding sentences to show clearly that we are still giving the witness’s account.
Using reported speech, it is not necessary to use (witness) said in every sentence;
but it should be done often.
Running verbatim (where the aim is to quote a string of questions and answers):
Prosecutor Elahi Singh: “Did you see something done with the dog’s leash?”
Jones: “Yes, Mr Willams tied it to his back wheel.”
And the leash was still around the dog’s neck? – Yes.
What happened then? – He got on and rode off. The dog was being dragged along
the road. What he didn’t know was the leash was getting tangled on the wheel hub.
It got all tangled up and he fell off the bike.
Did he say something? – He yelled out: “Now you know why I hate dogs.”

Make a paragraph of the question, with name, colon and quote marks. Make a
paragraph of the answer, with name, colon and quote marks. Each succeeding
paragraph is question-dash-answer, without quote marks, there being no need to
keep repeating the names. Having finished a passage of running verbatim
reportage, pick up again with a name.

court martial Plural courts martial (see plurals of compounds). No hyphen in the
noun, but a hyphen in the adjective and the verb: These are court-martial charges.
He was court-martialled.

Crown

honorifics and titles (Financial Review only) People charged with offences retain
their honorifics in news stories unless they are convicted or plead guilty. (This
includes celebrities, sportspeople, journalists, artists and others who would not
have honorifics in non-court contexts. Celebrities, sportspeople, etc, appearing as
witnesses also keep honorifics. Honorifics are reinstated when convicted people
have served their sentences or if a conviction is overturned on appeal. Judges of
the High Court, the Federal Court, the Family Court, the Supreme Court and
equivalent jurisdictions have the title Justice at each mention. Judges of the
County Court (Victoria) and District Court (NSW) are Judge X, Judge Y at second

41
mention. Coroners and magistrates are usually Mr or Ms.

judges Judges of the High Court, the Federal Court, the Family Court, the
Supreme Court and equivalent jurisdictions have the title Justice. A judge’s given
name should be used at first reference (Justice John Smith, then Smith or the
judge, as opposed to the justice). In the plural it’s Justices Tom Smith and Tina
Nguyen. Judges of the County Court (Victoria) and District Court (NSW) have the
title Judge at first mention. A judge’s first name should be used at first reference:
Judge John Smith, then Smith or the judge. When used next to the name of an
incumbent, use capitals for titles such as the Chief Justice of Australia, the Chief
Justice of the High Court, the Chief Justice of (insert state), the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, the Chief Justice of the
Family Court, the Chief Judge of the County Court (Victoria), Chief Judge of the
District Court (NSW). Upper case for Master Paul Jones in the Supreme Court, but
lower case for a master of the Supreme Court. Whether a former judge retains a
judicial title varies. Check for each individual.

magistrates Capitals for the incumbent chief magistrate, deputy chief magistrate
when the title is used next to their name, but lower case for other magistrates. Do
not call a magistrate a judge. A magistrate’s given name should be used at first
reference. The Magistrates’ Court in Victoria takes an apostrophe. Those in other
states do not use one.

other legal officials

Use capitals next to the name of the incumbent Attorney-General (following style
for government ministers), Solicitor-General, Crown Solicitor, Director of Public
Prosecutions, but make it Crown prosecutor, prosecutor, sheriff of the Supreme
Court, clerk of the Magistrates’ Court, bailiff, tipstaff, etc.

witness box Not witness stand, which is American.

COVID-19 Short for coronavirus disease 2019. Use COVID-19 in body copy but it
can be shortened to COVID in headlines or compounds such as COVID-safe, a
COVID-normal situation. The name of the virus that causes it is SARS-CoV-2
(severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). There are various coronaviruses
that can infect humans. SARS-CoV-2 is genetically related to the virus that caused
the SARS outbreak of 2003. Variants are designated with Greek letters: Alpha,
Delta, Omicron, etc. Use super-spreader with a hyphen for a person who infects
many people.

crescendo This musical term concerns a passage performed with a gradual

increase of loudness. It is wrong to say that something reaches a crescendo.

42
crevasse/crevice A crevasse is a deep fissure in ice; a crevice is a narrow opening
or fissure.

Crime Stoppers

criteria Plural, and it takes a plural verb. The singular is criterion. It means the
principle or standard that something is judged by, not a requirement.

Croat/Croatian/Croats People from Croatia are Croats. But the adjective derived
from Croatia is Croatian. There are also Bosnian Croats.

Cross City Tunnel (Sydney). No hyphen.

crossbench, crossbencher

cross-examine

crowdfund

crowdsource

Crown/crown Upper case for the institution, lower case for the object: Crown land,
a Crown prosecutor; a heavy crown.

Crown casino (Melbourne) The word casino is not part of its name.

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. As the

CSIRO, it is sufficiently well known to be used at first reference. To keep it well
known, it helps to use the name in full now and then.

cul-de-sacs

culmination Not the end, but the highest point, the climax.

Cup (Melbourne) At first reference it’s the Melbourne Cup, then the Cup, Cup Day,
Cup week, Cup fashions. Also see the racing section of the sport guide

curb/kerb To curb is to restrain or keep in check; a kerb is a pavement edge.

currencies See figures 2 (money) and currencies in the business guide.

currently Unnecessary the vast majority of the time. Save it for when you really
need to stress that something is happening now as opposed to in the past or
future. Note: Don’t substitute presently for currently. It means soon, not now.

43
curriculums

custom-made

customs Lower case customs check, customs regulations.

cutout (noun and adjective), to cut out (verb) He cut out the pattern to make a
cardboard cutout.

cuts Not lacerations.

cyclone, hurricane Cyclone Tracy, Hurricane Katrina, etc. A category 3 cyclone.

cynic A person with little faith in human goodness and sincerity. A sceptic is a
doubter.

D
dad, mum Use with restraint in text and headlines. Use mother, father in serious
stories. Cap mum and dad when used in place of a name. "I told Mum to take the
car,'' but "I heard his mum yelling.''

Dalai Lama A title used rather than a name. Cannot be abbreviated.

damage Damage is worth nothing, so do not say $100,000 worth of damage. Say
the fire caused $100,000 damage, or damage estimated at $100,000.

dash See the punctuation guide.

data Singular and plural. We do not use datum.

44
dates Follow this style: Friday, February 27, 1987; Friday, February 27; February 27,
1987; February 1987; February last year. Also: 1981-82; 1905-06 (not 1981-2,
1905-6). See AD, BC, century.

David Jones DJs (no apostrophe) can be used at second reference and in
headlines.

daylight saving Not savings.

days To avoid confusion in a multiplatform world, reporters should not use

yesterday, today, tomorrow, this morning, tonight to time stories. Name the day.
The journalist bought her fourth mansion on Wednesday, not yesterday. And the
preposition on must stay. Do not use the American construction The mansion was
bought Wednesday. Today, yesterday, tomorrow etc are used in print. Desk editors
need to make the appropriate changes. Live blogs may use today, tonight, etc to
aid clarity as they will not be running in print.

D-Day

dean At a university. Lower case.

death Tragic death is a tautology. The same goes for died tragically and the done
to death brutal murder. Avoid passed away except in quotes.

decade It may mean, loosely, any 10-year period. In more precise use a decade
runs from the beginning of the first year, say, of the century to the end of the 10th
year (1901-10, not 1900-10); from the beginning of the 81st year to the end of the
90th year (2081-90). Also see AD, BC, century, historic

decimals See figures 3

decimate Historically, it meant to kill one in 10 people. These days it means to kill,
destroy or remove a large proportion of and doesn’t only relate to people. Don’t use
it to mean total destruction.

Defence Force Capitals for the Australian Defence Force (not Forces); also the
Defence Force. The ADF is acceptable on second reference. Also see armed forces

defuse/diffuse To defuse a bomb is to take out its fuse, render it harmless. To

diffuse something is to spread it about.

Delhi The Indian capital, New Delhi, is located within the wider city of Delhi.

45
Democratic Party (US) But the Australian Democrats or the Democrats.

demonstrator But protester.

dependant (noun), dependent (adjective). As a dependant of his mother, Tyson, 6,

is dependent on her for new toys.

deprecate/depreciate To deprecate something is to express disapproval of it. To

depreciate something is to value it as less than it is usually regarded.

diabetes type 1, type 2.

dialogue Prefer talk, debate, discussion, conciliation, unless you are talking about
the dialogue in a play, film, book, etc.

diarrhoea

didgeridoo

dietitian Not dietician.

differ from/differ with I differ from you in that I am a conservative. But I differ with
you on abortion; I differ with your opinion.

Digger The colloquialism for an Australian soldier.

dinghy/dingy A dinghy is a small boat; but dingy means grubby.

dilemma Often misused when problem is meant. A dilemma is a position in which

there are only two choices, both unattractive.

dingoes

diphthongs Generally, when a word can be spelt with a diphthong, use it:
anaesthetic, paedophile, leukaemia. Two exceptions are primeval and medieval,
where not using the diphthong is becoming standard. We also drop it for
homeopathy unless spelt otherwise in the title of an organisation. Fetus should not
have a diphthong.

diplomacy/diplomatic titles Lower case ambassador, embassy, consul, consulate,

high commissioner, high commission, etc, even when the nationality is attached:
the French ambassador; the Australian embassy in Paris; the US consulate; the
New Zealand high commission. Also, first secretary, charge d’affaires, military
attache, etc. Commonwealth countries have high commissions/commissioners, not

46
embassies, in other Commonwealth countries.

direct and indirect speech The use of direct speech enlivens reports but often
what people say may have to be paraphrased because of the need to condense it
or because a speaker is not very articulate. Most reports of meetings, speeches,
statements, etc will contain a mixture of direct and indirect speech. There are some
simple rules to keep such reports easy to read.
(1) Readers get impatient, so in a quoted passage never leave them guessing the
identity of the speaker. Source the speaker before or during the first sentence. Use
quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph of the quoted passage.
(3) When there is a change of speaker, the new paragraph must start by identifying
the new speaker.
(4) When using indirect speech, the past tense should follow he/she said. This
allows several sentences of indirect speech to be put together without any further
he/she said. For example: Premier Rashida Porter said she would not increase taxes
in the budget next month. “I have no intention of imposing further burdens on
people in a time of recession,” Porter said. “Taxes will not be raised.” However, she
said borrowing overseas would be used to meet any shortfall in revenue. She did
not believe more than $500 million would have to be borrowed. Ministers would be
instructed to keep their departmental budgets at this year’s level. “All departments
will have to make big savings,” Porter said.
Opposition spokesman Jim Brown said the government would have to cut back
services if it was not going to raise taxes. “Many needy people will suffer even
more,” he said.

Said is a fine word that can be used throughout copy. Usually there is no need to
resort to she added, he stated, she continued, they declared. Nor do we need to
keep telling readers that someone told The Age/Herald/Brisbane Times/WAtoday or
Financial Review. According to and claim/ed should be used sparingly. They imply
doubt as to the veracity of the person quoted. Be wary of saying in court cases
that a person admitted anything. If they have pleaded not guilty that is for the
judge and/or jury to decide.

director of public prosecutions The title takes capitals when used next to the
name of the incumbent. The initials DPP are acceptable on second reference. NSW
has the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Victoria has the Office of
Public Prosecutions.

disability Steer clear of stereotypes, stigma, defining people by their condition and
words that evoke pity. Don’t mention a person’s disability unless it’s relevant. Ask
people how they want to be referred to. In general, adopt an approach that puts the
person before the disability: Paul Winters has X, Paul Winters is living with X; not
Winters is afflicted with or a victim of. Refer to people with disabilities rather than
the disabled. Do not use terms such as handicapped, a schizophrenic, an epileptic.

47
Say that someone is in a wheelchair or uses a wheelchair rather than that they are
confined to a wheelchair or wheelchair-bound.

disc/disk Use disk in reference to computers (the old floppy disk, hard disk, disk
drive etc) and disc (compact disc) in all other cases.

discharge/dismiss Do not confuse these terms, which arise often in magistrates

courts. A magistrate may dismiss a charge (but not a person), or discharge an
accused person (but not a charge).

discreet/discrete Discreet means prudent, circumspect. Discrete means distinct,

separate.

diseases Use lower case for all words in names of diseases except those that are
proper nouns: acquired immune deficiency syndrome, mumps, measles. But
Legionnaires’ disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Down syndrome,
German measles, Ebola (named after a river).

disinterested/uninterested Disinterested means unbiased, impartial, not

influenced by one’s own advantage Uninterested means not interested,
unconcerned, indifferent.

disoriented Not disorientated

dispatch Not despatch.

disruptor

dissociate Not disassociate, unless in a direct quote.

Docklands The Melbourne suburb is Docklands, not the Docklands.

doer words e.g. -maker, -grower, -miner.

See one word, two words or hyphenated

dog breeds See animal breeds

dollars and cents See figures 2.

do’s and don’ts An apostrophe is not usually used to form a plural, but an exception
is made here for clarity. Also: so-and-so’s, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, and
plurals of other letters of the alphabet: A’s, D’s, C’s. See also plurals and verb
number in the grammar guide

48
doughnut Not donut.

downplay This means to make something seem less important than it actually is.
The fact that politicians say something is of little importance does not mean they
are downplaying it if the truth is that it really is of little importance.

Down syndrome Not Down’s. Named after John Down (1828-96), who first studied
it.

Down Under Upper case when referring to Australia, but save it for colour stories.

draconian Lower case. It means excessively harsh and severe, not merely tough.

draft/draught Draft of a novel, draft legislation, draftsman, draftsmanship. But

draught under the door, draught of a ship, draught beer, draught horse, play
draughts.

Dreaming, the A range of spiritual beliefs among Indigenous communities.

Dreamworld (Gold Coast)

drink-driver, drink-driving

dropout (noun) to drop out (verb)

drug names Pharmaceutical drugs have several names: brand, generic and
chemical. As much as possible we should try to distinguish between them and
preferably use generic, rather than brand, names. For example, a drug used to treat
narcotic overdose, Narcan, is called naloxone; a drug used in opiate drug
dependence, Trexan, is called naltrexone.

Druze The Middle Eastern sect and people. Not Druse.

dry, drier, driest, drily But hair dryer, clothes dryer.

duke/duchess See aristocracy; royal

dumbbell

E
49
each It takes singular in these forms: Each was fined $20. Each man was fined $20.
Each of them was fined $20. And plural in these forms: They each pay $20. Smith,
Jones and Deng each pay $20.

earned Never earnt.

earth Upper case when talking of the planet Earth as opposed to Mars, Uranus and
the rest. The satellite orbited Earth for three years. Lower case for idioms: she’s
down to earth, what on earth?

earthquakes No longer measured on the Richter scale. Refer to a magnitude six

earthquake or an earthquake of magnitude 7.1.

East Coast/West Coast (US)

East, Eastern Upper case for Eastern civilisation, Eastern philosophies, the East,
Eastern Europe, East Asia; similarly the West, the Western world, Western Europe.

East Timor Not Timor Leste unless in a quote.

East End (London)

East Jerusalem

Ebola virus Named after a river.

E. coli Use a thin space in print, and italicise as it is a scientific name.

ecstasy Lower case for the drug.

Ecuador, Ecuadorian

editor Lower case. Also editor in chief.

educationist Not educationalist. Not strictly a teacher, but one who studies the
science or methods of education; she may teach teaching, but it is wrong to
substitute teacher for this word. An educator, on the other hand, is a teacher.

effect/affect The verb affect means to influence, move, touch, produce an effect
on (The tax reforms affect everyone). The verb effect means to bring about,
accomplish, cause to exist or happen. The noun is almost always effect. (This will
have a positive effect). The noun affect is a psychiatric term. See also words to
watch.

50
effectively Often misused. It means that something has been done in an effective
way. It does not mean in effect, and should not be used in that sense.

eftpos electronic funds transfer at point of sale. No need to spell out.

e.g.

Eid al-Fitr The feast that marks the end of Ramadan. A second festival called Eid
al-Adha coincides with the end of the Hajj.

either/neither Either takes or; neither takes nor: Either you or I am wrong; Neither
Smith nor Brown has a chance. Neither I nor the detectives are convinced of the
butler’s guilt.

elderly This description should never be used gratuitously e.g. An elderly man was
injured. It should be enough to give his age, even approximately (in his 70s),
without using a description that can give offence. Drawing the line is not easy, but
nowadays you could well buy a quarrel calling anyone under 75 elderly.

-elect Titles such as prime minister and president take capitals when used with the
word elect if appearing next to the name of a person who has been elected and is
waiting to be sworn in. The word elect is lower case. Prime Minister-elect Mark
Markus.

electorate MPs have in their electorates an electorate (not electoral) secretary and
an electorate office.

electrocardiogram/graph The electrocardiograph is the machine that measures

electrical activity in the heart, producing an electrocardiogram, the record of
measurements taken. The short form for either is ECG.

electrocute This used to mean to kill by electric shock but is now accepted to also
mean to injure. Be clear either way as to what state the person is in.

electroencephalogram/graph The electroencephalograph is the machine that

measures electrical activity in the brain, producing an electroencephalogram, the
record of measurements taken. The short form for either is EEG.

eleventh hour

ellipsis ( … ) Used to indicate that words have been omitted or that a sentence is
incomplete, broken off: I was ready to go but … Use a space on either side of the
ellipsis.

51
El Salvador/San Salvador/Salvadorean The country/the capital/the people.

elite This word can imply an unfair sneer when used in reference to private schools.
Use with care.

email No hyphen for email, ebook, esports, but use one for other e-words:
e-learning, e-reader, e-commerce, e-tag, e-cigarettes.

embarrass, embarrassed

em dash A dash the width of an upper case letter M (—). We don’t use it. See also
en dash, which we do use.

emigrant An emigrant leaves a country; an immigrant enters a country. A migrant

can go either way.

Emir, emir The Emir of Akbad, thereafter the emir.

enamoured of Not enamoured with.

encyclopaedia

en dash A dash the width of the letter N (–). This is the one we use. See also em
dash.

Endeavour Cook’s ship.

enforceable But forcible.

English-speaking, non-English-speaking

enormity Strictly speaking this means monstrous wickedness. Its use to mean
hugeness is widespread, but you will keep more people happy by not using it in this
sense.

enquire, enquiry Use inquire, inquiry.

en suite

ensure (make certain), insure (against risk).

EPA The Environment Protection Authority in Victoria and NSW, but the
Environmental Protection Agency in the US.

52
epicentre The point on the planet's surface above the focus of an earthquake. Not
to be used to mean the centre or focus itself.

epilepsy Epileptic seizures, not fits. Person with epilepsy, not an epileptic.

equator Lower case, except in place names, e.g. Equatorial Guinea.

equivocal There is no such word as equivocable.

Eskimo, Eskimos Use Inuit (singular and plural).

espresso Coffee. Not expresso.

estimates Budgetary, etc. Lower case.

Eswatini The name Swaziland changed to in 2018.

e-tag

etc No full point. Avoid in straight news reports unless in a quote.

ethnic Use this word only as an adjective: "ethnic cleansing", ethnic group, ethnic
minority. Someone’s ethnicity should be mentioned only when relevant. See also
slurs

ETHNIC NAMES
It is sometimes difficult to determine which of a person’s names is the family name
and which is the given name. Names can vary from country to country and within
the same country because there is no standard way to transcribe them into English.
It is always best to ask people how they prefer their names spelt or check what
they use on their social media accounts. When that isn’t possible, use the following
as a guide. Sometimes it will be necessary to choose one wire agency’s style
(Reuters being our preference) and stick with it.

MUSLIM NAMES
Arab names Residents of Arab countries – Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Algeria,
Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain,
Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon – and Arab residents of Israel
usually have three names. These consist of a given name and the names of father
and grandfather, for example Mohammed Ahmed Fahd. Most Arab family names in
the Gulf region have the prefix al-, which is often joined to the surname with a
hyphen. For example, Mohammed Ahmed al-Torabi; Torabi at second reference. In
Egypt and Sudan, the prefix should usually be al- unless the person in question is

53
known to spell their name with el- in roman characters (e.g. former International
Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei). Either article may be dropped
depending on a person’s preference or common practice. Muslims in North Africa
hardly use al- or el-. They prefer bin, which means “son of”. Title and first name
usually suffice in first reference to rulers (kings, imams, emirs and sheikhs). For
example Abdul Faisal ibn King Aziz al-Saud was King Faisal. Sheikh is the title of
rulers of Persian Gulf principalities. For example, Sheikh Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah
becomes Sheikh Abdullah. See the Islamic style guide
Persian-influenced names Most Iranians and residents of countries that once
belonged to the Persian Empire – Afghans, Tajiks, Pakistanis and Indians – use two
names. For example Mohammad Khatami; Khatami (family name) at second
reference.
Turkish-influenced names Turkish names are easier to sort out because Turkey
adopted roman letters in the early 1900s and most Turkish names have standard
spelling. The same is true for Albanians and East Europeans.

ASIAN NAMES
There are few hard-and-fast rules. Only one rule applies in all cases: use the
spelling or second reference preferred by the person being referred to. In general,
Asian names can be divided into three groups: those that on second reference
should be referred to by the first name, by the last name or by the whole name. Use
the following as a guide.
Bangladesh/Pakistan Usually given name first, family name last. For example
Benazir Bhutto; use Bhutto at second reference. Shiites in Pakistan often have
three names. Use last name at second reference.
Myanmar Most have two or three given names. None have surnames. Usually use
the complete name at second reference. But Aung San Suu Kyi can be shortened to
Suu Kyi on second mention. U is an honorific. For example U Thant.
Cambodia The family name usually precedes the given name. Use full name at
second reference. Given name is used only by close friends or family.
China Family name usually precedes given name. Use family name at second
reference. Xi Jinping becomes Xi.
Hong Kong Cantonese names generally include two given names preceded by a
family name. Use family name at second reference. Note: most Hong Kong Chinese
also have a Western name. In these cases, the family name is second in the list.
Mary Lau Wai-hing.
India Generally, family name follows given name. Use family name at second
reference. Male Sikhs follow their given name with Singh. Use Singh at second
reference only when the story contains one Singh. If it contains more than one, use
full names throughout. Note: not all Singhs are Sikh.
Indonesia Many Javanese have only one name, including former leaders Suharto
or Sukarno. Most non-Javanese have adopted surnames, which should be used at
second reference.
Japan Family name follows given name in romanised usage. Use family name at

54
second reference.
Korea Surname precedes two given names, usually hyphenated. Use surname at
second reference, e.g. Kim Jong-il; Kim at second reference.
Laos Given name precedes family name. Use given name at second reference.
Malaysia Given name precedes father’s name. Use given name on second
reference. Mahathir Mohamad; Mahathir at second reference. Omit honorific titles
that often precede Malay names such as Tan Sri, Datuk, Dato and Haji.
Philippines Family name comes last. Use family name at second reference.
Taiwan The Wade-Giles system of transliteration is used. Given name is
hyphenated, with the second element in lower case. Surname precedes given
name. Lee Teng-hui becomes Lee at second reference.
Thailand Given name precedes family name. Use given name at second reference.
Vietnam Usually three names. Family name first, then two given names. Use the
third name at second reference. For example Nguyen Co Thach is Thach at second
reference. Note: many Vietnamese have adopted pseudonyms, especially
revolutionary noms de guerre such as Ho Chi Minh. Ho at second reference.
Pseudonyms such as Le Duc Tho and Truong Chinh, which means Long March,
cannot be split. Use all the names at second reference. Wherever possible check
the origin of each name.

EUROPEAN NAMES
Russia Usually, Russians have three names: a given name, followed by their father’s
given name – adding the suffix -a for a woman – and then their father’s family
name.
Spain Spanish people generally have one or two given names (e.g. Juan Carlos)
followed by their father’s family name (Gonzalez) and then their mother’s family
name (Cardozo). In everyday use, some Spanish people will drop their second given
name and their mother’s family name (Juan Gonzalez). Gonzales at second
reference.

PACIFIC NAMES
Samoan
Typically, the first name comes before the last name. Omit honorific titles such
as To'osavili, Fiame and Seiuli.

NAME ELEMENTS
As a general rule, lower case elements such as al, arap, bin, binte, de, de la, van,
von, y (Spanish) except when they begin a sentence or a headline. But pay heed to
personal preference where a person has an established spelling of their name in
roman characters.

Eucharist and Holy Eucharist See sacraments

euro Lower case. The symbol € is used with figures in heads and text.

55
eurozone

Europe Capitals for Eastern Europe, Western Europe.

European Union, the The executive body is the European Commission. The initials
EU can be used in headings and at second reference in text.

euthanise

ever It can mean all time, all past time, or all future time. It is legitimate to call
something the biggest ever, meaning that it is not only the biggest in existence but
the biggest known, remembered, etc. But it is a tautology to call something the first
ever (once a first, always a first).

evoke/invoke To evoke something is to call it up as in The smell of frying eggs

evoked memories of her childhood. To invoke is to call on someone or something
for a response. He invoked the aid of God to help him win through.

executive Of government, lower case. But Executive Council. Execs is acceptable

in headlines for business people.

Exhibition Building (Melbourne) It should be called, at first reference, the Royal

Exhibition Building (not Buildings).

ex parte No hyphen.

expatriate (noun and verb) Not expatriot or ex-patriate. Expat, not ex-pat.

extracurricular

extramarital

extramural

extraterrestrial

F
F-111 Not F-III. See aircraft.

56
Facebook Upper case as a noun and a verb. See trade names

face mask

facilitate Use ease, help, aid, enable.

facility, facilities Do not use this military or industrial jargon for base, station,
plant, factory, laboratory and other straightforward words. Find out what is meant
by these code words and let the reader in on the secret.

facts Not actual facts or true facts. Avoid the courtroom jargon: Outlining the facts,
the police prosecutor said … Just report the things the prosecutor said without
calling them facts (which we cannot prove). Do not use the police statement of
facts. It is the police statement; they may not be facts.

fail to Implies an unsuccessful attempt or neglect of duty. A neutral term is did not.

fairytale One word as a noun and as an adjective.

fallout (noun) to fall out (verb)

Falun Gong

Far North Queensland Also North Queensland.

farther Use further.

fascist/fascism

fast food/fast-food An issue with fast food is its fat content but One fast-food
issue is its fat content.

Father Spell out the honorific, don’t use Fr.

Father’s Day Also Mother’s Day.

fatwa A ruling on a point of religious law in Islam, be it mundane (Is it OK to play

chess?) or weighty. See also Islamic style guide

faze/phase Faze means to embarrass or disturb: The snub did not faze her. Phase
denotes an aspect or stage: They will phase in a new system.

FBI It is the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, but no need to spell out. Lower

57
case director.

federal Lower case as in federal government, federal opposition, federal spending,

federal Education Minister, federal parliament, federal election. Likewise for state.

Federation Upper case when referring to the event in Australian history and
adjectival uses Federation houses etc. See also constitutional matters.

fellows Lower case for members of certain learned or professional societies and
for specific distinctions (a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons).

female Don’t use such descriptions as female doctor, female architect or female
pilot as if the very fact a woman has such a role needs pointing out. Say doctor,
architect, pilot, etc. If you do need to point out femaleness, use female as the
adjective rather than woman. See women

fetus Not foetus. Also see diphthongs

fewer/less Fewer than refers to things that can be counted, less than to quantity:
fewer than 80 children, fewer than 100 protesters, less sugar, less time.

fiance (male), fiancee (female)

FIGURES (general) One to nine are usually spelt out;10 and above are in
numerals: six hectares, eight boats, five kilometres, 50 years. But tens of
thousands, hundreds, thousands of people, the Twelve Apostles,Ten
Commandments, a thousand-to-one chance, an eleventh-hour decision. We don’t
use commas in four-digit numbers (3000, 9450). Spell out first to ninth, then 10th,
etc.

5.6 million, not 5,600,000; 5.73 million, not 5,730,000.

Below 1 million: 950,000, not 0.95 million; 500,000 not .5 million

Rules may vary in tables, charts, diagrams, etc, with numerals used for figures that
we would spell out in text. In print, separate numerals and their associated measure
with a thin space to prevent bad turns.

WHEN NOT TO SPELL OUT ONE TO NINE:

million, billion, trillion Always use numerals: 1 million, 6 billion, 2 trillion.

percentages Always expressed in numerals. See per cent.
school years and terms (a pupil in year 3, dates for term 2, but first semester,

58
second semester).
temperatures (8 degrees, minus 3 degrees)
type 1, type 2 diabetes
category 4 storm
phase 3 trial
scope 1
tier 2
Page 1 of The Age, etc
zone 1 transport area
ages written next to a name: Dev Patel, 6. But he is aged six and he is a
six-year-old.
literary, legal and parliamentary references Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2; section
2 (a) of the Crimes Act; an 11-1 verdict.

FIGURES 2 (money) Use the cents symbol ¢ (Shift+Alt+C) in text and headings:
Petrol prices rose 3¢ on Thursday, or The price of oil rose US59¢ a barrel. In
conversions to Australian dollars, make it $US1.75 million ($2.5 million). The pound
symbol (£) should be used when dealing with sterling or our old currency. We also
use the euro symbol (€). Foreign currencies should usually be converted once only,
at the first reference, but a subsequent conversion may sometimes be more useful:
After giving a homeless man her last $US5, she won $US100 million ($130 million)
in a lottery. Or The price rose US50¢ to $US12.50 ($23). This was $US5 more
expensive than last year. Also see currencies in the business guide

FIGURES 3 (fractions and decimals) For whole numbers with fractions, use
figures: 2½ hours, 5½ years, etc. Hyphenate written-out fractions: one-third,
three-eighths. For complicated fractions use figures as in 11/64ths. Precise
fractions are better expressed in decimals: 2.6, 3.75. Figures less than one should
carry a nought before the decimal point for clarity: 0.6, 0.062. An exception is
blood-alcohol readings: .05, .16. Also, the inch calibre of a firearm is .22, .303 etc.
Interest rates are written as 0.2, not 0.20, 2.5, not 2.50

FIGURES 4 (ages) Where ages are given after a name, they go between commas,
not brackets: John Smith, 39. As per above, the figures style is varied for ages
below 10: Robert Smith, 6, (the numeral instead of the word). But he is aged six and
he is a six-year-old. It’s a man in his 20s, not 20’s or twenties.

FIGURES 5 (roman numerals) The roman one is a capital I (“EYE”), not the Arabic
figure 1. Too often, World War II appears as World War 11. It’s a cricket XI, but a
squad of 12 cricketers. A rugby XV.

FIGURES 6 (starting sentences) Figures are spelt out at the start of sentences:
Eighty-four people attended. Frame sentences so as to avoid big figures spelt out
at the beginning.

59
For other entries on figures also see billion, per cent, weights and measures. Also
check currencies and per cent, percentages in the business guide

Filipino, Filipina The male and female inhabitants of the Philippines. Where we
need a collective word use Filipinos. Philippine is the adjective as in the Philippine
ambassador.

filmmaker

Finland/Finn/Finnish The country/the people/the adjective.

firearms Firearms include machineguns, rifles, shotguns and pistols. These are
small arms. A shotgun has a smooth bore. Machineguns, rifles and modern pistols
have rifled bores. Strictly speaking, a rifle is not a gun, but it has become one in
common usage. Colloquially, a pistol is a gun or handgun. A pistol may be a revolver
(having a revolving cylinder magazine) or an automatic (having a clip magazine).
But automatic weapon means a machinegun, sub-machinegun, machine pistol or
automatic rifle. Rifles may be automatic, semi-automatic, repeating (bolt-action) or
single-shot.

A bullet is fired from a rifle, a pistol or a machinegun; shot is fired from a shotgun.
(A shot, of course, may be fired from any firearm.) Shot and bullets are packed in
cartridges for loading and firing; so a body might be found with bullets in it but a
firearm would be found with cartridges in it. Rounds may be anything from
small-arms ammunition to artillery shells.

Cannon is singular and plural. Also see calibre, figures 3 (fractions and decimals)

firebreak, firefighter, firepower

first Tautologies to avoid: first ever (it’s enough to say it was the first); first
discovered (discovered); it was first introduced (introduced).

first home owner/ first home owner grant

first lady As used of the wife of a leader in countries such as the US. Always lower
case. The same principle applies for first gentlemen. Australia does not use such
titles.

Fishermans Bend (Melbourne) No apostrophe.

60
fishers is the plural form of people in the fishing industry.

Five Eyes Intelligence alliance made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK
and the US.

fjord Not fiord

flak/flack Flak is anti-aircraft fire or severe criticism. Flack is US slang for publicity
agent.

flammable/inflammable Both mean combustible. Flammable is shorter and

preferred.

flyer

focaccia

focus Also focused, focusing.

forebear/forbear A forebear is an ancestor. To forbear is to abstain from or be

patient.

forecast Present and past tenses. Not forecasted.

forego/forgo To forego means to go before, to precede. To forgo means to give up,

to relinquish.

foreign name elements As a general rule, lower case elements such as al, arap,
bin, binte, de, de la, van, von, y (Spanish) except when they begin a sentence or a
headline.
But pay heed to personal preference where someone has an established spelling of
their name in roman characters: Robert De Niro, former International Atomic Energy
Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei. Also see ethnic names.

foreign words Italicise them in text only if necessary to avoid ambiguity or if

needed for clarity.. Otherwise, use roman. Also see accents.

foreign place names Unless a decision is taken to do otherwise, use Reuters

spellings as our default.

forever

foreword Of a book.

61
formula Plural formulas, not formulae.

Formula 1 Motor racing.

foster relationships Foster children cannot be identified.

Foster’s The beer.

Four’n Twenty The meat pie.

fractions Hyphenate written-out fractions: one-half, one-third, five-eighths, but it

is preferable to say A third of the people in the room were men, and half of them
were from Adelaide. See figures 3 (fractions and decimals).

freak accident Do not use. An accident is an accident, however unusual its cause.

freak wave A misnomer for a natural oceanic phenomenon. Say big wave.

free Not for free or free of charge.

free trade agreement The convention these days is to drop the hyphen between
free and trade as there is no ambiguity.

freedom of information Should be lower case except in the proper name of the
legislation: the Freedom of Information Act; but freedom of information in general
use and freedom of information laws. The abbreviation is FOI.

Freemasons Upper case for the order and the lodges. Lower case for the members
(mason, freemason) and their hierarchy (grand master etc).

French Upper case for French polish, French window, French fries, French toast,
etc. See also animal breeds; Scot, Scottish, Scotc h

frequent-flyer points

freshwater (adjective), fresh water (noun).

frontbench One word as a noun or adjective. Also frontbencher, backbench,

backbencher, crossbench, crossbencher.

front line (noun), frontline (adjective). In the front line, but the frontline states.

frontman/frontwoman

62
fruit grower

-ful The plurals of words such as handful, mouthful, cupful, spoonful, bagful,
bucketful are handfuls, mouthfuls, cupfuls, spoonfuls, bagfuls, bucketfuls.

fulfil Also fulfilment, fulfilled, fulfilling.

full bench Lower case. See bench

full-time, part-time as adjectives and adverbs.

fulsome Praise properly described as fulsome is excessive, overdone, cloying. The

word should not be used of praise that is warm, generous. It should also not be
used when full is meant.

fundraiser, fundraising .

G
G7, G8, G20 The abbreviations can be used at first reference. Provide meanings in
the story.

Gaddafi, Colonel Muammar Former Libyan leader.

Gambia, the Not Gambia.

Gandhi Rajiv, Indira, Sonia (widow of Rajiv) or Mahatma Gandhi. A common error is
Ghandi.

Gap, The (Sydney) Upper case The.

gaslight, gasworks, gasfield

gasoline Use petrol. Also prefer aircraft fuel to aviation gasoline (or avgas).

63
-gate Since Watergate, this has become a cliche denoting scandal. We could do
with fewer -gates.

gay See LGBTQ

Geiger counter

genetically modified (GM) crops, not genetically engineered (GE), though genetic
engineering is a legitimate term.

Geneva Conventions

Germanys Before reunification they were the two Germanys, not Germanies.

GetUp Not GetUp! for the activist movement.

GG Abbreviation of governor-general in headings only.

Ghanaian

ghetto(s)

gigalitre A gigalitre is a billion litres. A megalitre is a million litres. Readers find it

easier to understand millions and billions of litres than megalitres and gigalitres, so
convert.

gift Do not use as a verb.

given name See Christian name and ethnic names

glasnost Literally, Russian for openness, publicity. The policy in the former Soviet
Union of open, consultative government and wider dissemination of information.
Also see perestroika.

Glen Huntly (Melbourne) The suburb and the road. The names Glen Huntly, Glen
Eira and Glen Iris come from ships of the Glen Line.

glitterati But literati.

goalkeeper Also goalkicker, goalsneak, goal line, goalpost, goal scorer, goal
square, goal umpire.

God For the Judaeo-Christian and Islamic God. Upper case pronouns used for God:

64
He, Him, His, Thou, Thee, Thy, Thine, You, Your, Me, My. Lower case god, gods
generically and sayings: Oh my god; for god’s sake.

godchild Also godfather, godmother, godson, god-daughter.

god-fearing Also godforsaken, godlike, godliness, godly, godsend, godspeed.

-goer theatregoer, churchgoer, partygoer, moviegoer.

going forward Banned unless in a direct quote.

gold medal In the Olympics etc, lower case. Also silver, bronze.

gold mine Also gold miner, gold mining, but goldfield.

goodwill One word in all senses.

Google Upper case at all times, including when used as a verb: I’ll Google that. See
trade names

gourmet/gourmand A gourmet is a person who likes fine food and is an excellent

judge of food and drink. A gourmand is a glutton.

government Lower case: the Coalition government, the Morrison government, the
federal government, the Queensland government, a government spokesman, etc.
Also see capitals (politics and government)

government committees Lower case for the names of all government and
parliamentary committees. Also see capitals (politics and government)

government departments and ministries As with ministers’ titles, short names of

departments and ministries can be inverted: Arts Ministry, US State Department
rather than Ministry of the Arts and Department of State. For ease of reading, do
this only where a single word will appear before Department or Ministry; do not
invert longer names such as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. See
ministers, ministry

governor Always lower case for the governor of the Reserve Bank and a prison
governor but upper case for the state Governor, the Governor-General, Texas
Governor, etc when written next to the name of incumbents.

governors-general Not governor-generals. See plurals (of compounds)

grade 6, grade 3 Lower case, with numerals. Also year 3, year 10, term 2, but

65
second term.

graffiti Singular and plural.

Grampians The mountain ranges are in Victoria’s Grampians National Park. The
Aboriginal name for the region is Gariwerd.

grandfather Also grandmother, grandparent, grandson, grandnephew, grandma,

granddad(dy), granddaughter. In kinship, great always takes a hyphen:
great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather (etc), great-aunt, great-uncle,
great-nephew, great-grandson, great-granddaughter.

grand final Lower case for the AFL, NRL and other grand finals. Also see the sport
guide

grand prix Capitals only when using the full name of a race: the Australian Grand
Prix (thereafter the grand prix). Plural grands prix. Capital F for Formula 1.

grassroots (noun and adjective)

Great Depression Also the Depression.

Greater Melbourne, Greater Sydney, etc

green light Avoid as a verb.

green paper, white paper A green paper is a preliminary report of government

proposals published for consultation. A white paper is a statement of government
policy.

Greens, greens, greenies Upper case for Green in the proper name of any political
party or organisation (the West Australian Greens). Lower case green as a general
term for the environmentally aware.

Grenada/Grenadian The country/the people.

Grim Reaper Upper case

grotto(es)

Ground Zero Upper case when referring to the site of New York’s World Trade
Centre. In other cases it is lower case. It means the point on the Earth’s surface
where an explosion occurs.

66
grow We do not grow a business or grow customers, or grow profits. Use instead
words such as expand and increase. We do grow flowers.

growers, miners, makers and other doers If not otherwise mentioned in this
guide, follow the Oxford when making these one or two words or hyphenated. See
also the style guide entry under one word, two words or hyphenated

guerilla Not guerrilla.

guesthouse

Guinness World Records Formerly the Guinness Book of Records.

Gulf War The 1990-1991 action by allied forces against Iraq. The 1980-88 conflict
formerly known as the Gulf War should be called the Iran-Iraq War. The conflict that
started in 2003 is the Iraq War or, for the sake of clarity, it is sometimes called the
Second Gulf War.

gutted Do not say fire gutted a building unless you mean the internal fittings were
burnt out, leaving the external structure standing.

gynaecology

Gypsy/gypsy Not gipsy, unless in The Virgin and the Gipsy (D. H. Lawrence), The
Scholar Gipsy (Matthew Arnold) and other titles spelling it that way in art, literature,
etc. Upper case for Gypsy in reference to the Romani people, although Romani is
the preferred term. Some consider Gypsy offensive.

GRAMMAR GUIDE

GRAMMATICAL PARTS
nouns “Naming” words – they name people, places and things. Often divided into
proper nouns (John, Sydney, Toyota), common nouns (man, city, car), abstract
nouns (beauty, truth, science) and collective nouns (committee, jury, team),
although there are many other divisions.
pronouns These stand for nouns and include words such as I, you, he/she/it, we,
they, me, him/her/them. My/mine, your/yours, his/her/its, our/your/their/ are
possessive pronouns. Other pronouns include this, that, these, who, what and
which.
verbs These are the “doing” or “action” words and “being” words: They ran to the
shops. They are at home.

67
adjectives These give more information about nouns or pronouns: a red car, a big
dog, poor me. Compound adjectives are frequently hyphenated: a first-class
performance, a five-member committee.
adverbs These qualify verbs, other adverbs, adjectives, prepositions and
conjunctions, but mostly verbs. He ran slowly, (modifying a verb), she taught well
(verb), she is seriously ill (adjective), the weather changed very suddenly (adverb).
prepositions These show position, direction and other relationships (in, at, on,
above, about, among, around, at, before, down, for, from, into, on, off, out, over,
under, up, with etc). They introduce phrases: in the end, on the table, over the
moon, under the weather. They are added to simple verbs to make complex
meanings: to take on, to take over, to take up, to take down, to take away.
conjunctions Joining words: and, but, then, or, so, for, nor, yet.
interjections Expletives (what you say when your computer crashes) and other
interjections: help! cool! oh! ow! cheers, oh dear, etc.

USING GRAMMATICAL PARTS

adverbs and adjectives An adverb ending in -ly should not be attached to an

adjective by a hyphen: a newly divorced couple, carefully made beds, badly injured
people. Adverbs such as well and ill should be attached by a hyphen if they appear
before a noun. The hyphen is dropped if they appear after a noun: a well-known
fact, an ill-timed decision; the decision is well known, we can ill afford waste.

collective nouns Collective nouns for organisations usually take a singular verb:
the company, the government, the council, the association or the management is.
Note that we treat bands and sporting teams as plural though, as is widespread
practice. Also, where circumstances dictate, the plural is used. Ask yourself
whether you want to emphasise the individuals in a group or the overall single
entity.
The crowd shook their heads in amazement.
The crowd is marching to Times Square.
The audience are asked to be in their seats by 7.15pm.
The audience is at capacity.
The family is the building block of society.
My family want me to take them mountaineering.
The couple are arguing about where to take their holiday.
That couple isn’t coming.

Similarly:
A number of options are available.
A team of doctors were operating.
The majority of people want us to govern.

compound adjectives Use hyphens in compound adjectives such as

68
battle-hardened, drought-stricken, war-weary, value-added, hand-held. Many
adjective-noun combinations require a hyphen for clarity or flow when used
adjectivally: low-income families, no-confidence motion, high-risk investment. This
is sometimes true, too, of combinations of nouns used adjectivally: market-force
economics, time-and-motion study, make-or-break effort. But restraint and
common sense must be exercised if a publication is not to break out in a rash of
hyphens. Some combinations are clear enough without hyphens. No rule will cover
all cases, so let clarity be your guide.

dangling modifiers A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies

something not clearly stated in a sentence. It can cause confusion and, on
occasion, unintended humour. Sometimes the thing being modified is missing,
sometimes it's in the wrong spot.

Example 1: Intending to leap tall buildings, his Superman costume was donned.
This reads as though the costume intends to do the leaping. The words
appearing before the comma and doing the modifying need to be immediately
followed by a mention of the subject they modify. Intending to leap tall
buildings, Linus Periwinkle donned his Superman costume.
Example 2: A favourite gift for friends and family, Jane Waters likes to fill pretty
old plates with shortbread. In this example, Jane ends up sounding like the
favourite gift. Again, the subject (plates of shortbread) needs to come
immediately after the words doing the modifying. A favourite gift for friends and
family, pretty old plates filled with shortbread have long given Jane Waters an
excuse not to have to think of more expensive presents.

if it were/if it was (subjunctive and conditional) Of all the subjunctive forms

surviving in English, the one that causes day-to-day wonderment is the subjunctive
were.
The subjunctive expresses a hypothesis, a supposition for argument’s sake: If it
were my car (it’s not, but just suppose), it would be red (I’d have it resprayed).
The conditional expresses a definite possibility: If it was my car (the one you say
you saw), it was red (so was it?). Subjunctive: I’d give you a lift if you were going.
(Too bad you’re not.)
Conditional: I’ll give you a lift if you are going. (Are you?)

its and it’s Its is the possessive form of it, as in The house was a long way from the
road, its roof barely visible from the front gates. It’s stands for it is. The confusion
between its and it’s is a common error and a source of irritation to readers. Equally
irritating is the misspelling of the possessives hers, yours and theirs by adding an
apostrophe.

passive and active voice In an active sentence, the agent or “doer” of the action is
the subject and appears before the verb. In a passive sentence, the target or “done

69
to” of the action is the subject and appears before the verb. Active: The speaker
addressed the crowd. The subject is speaker. Passive: The crowd was addressed
by the speaker. The subject is crowd.
Passive voice is longer and more convoluted in construction. Public servants and
media releases often love the passive because it can hide much.
The decision has been made to … doesn’t say who was responsible as an active
sentence would: The human resources manager has decided to …
Naturally, news media prefer active sentences.

split infinitives An infinitive is the form of a verb that has to in front of it: to run, to
cry, to laugh, to go. Many people were taught that it is wrong to place another word
between the two words: to boldly go, as they say in Star Trek; to quickly run; to
quietly ponder. This teaching is not strictly followed these days and we are not
bothered by split infinitives. People have been splitting them for centuries.

splitting verbs Constructions such as he will this week decide are common, and
clumsy. Write it as you would say it: he will decide this week. And watch out for
ambiguity with timing: “She said on Wednesday she would get a payout” is clarified
by adding a that: “She said that on Wednesday she would get a payout” or “She
said on Wednesday that she would get a payout.”

tenses Be consistent in tense throughout a story or feature, unlike this writer: Tom
Smith sips a coffee and puts his feet on the desk. “I don’t give a damn,” he said. Be
consistent, too, when quoting someone indirectly in the past tense: The former
prime minister said the government was making progress and would win the next
election.

verb number The simple rule is that a singular subject requires a singular verb and
a plural subject requires a plural verb. But English is not that simple. Collective
words such as group or the government, or entities such as a company or
department usually take singular verbs, but see collective nouns for alternatives.
A common mistake is to start in the singular and switch to plural:
Woolworths has declared a record profit for the year to June 30 and they are
confident results will be higher this year.
The Coalition is still split over the level of farm subsidies but their meeting
tonight is expected to resolve any differences.
A subject which is plural in form may take a singular verb if it signifies a single
country or organisation or a measure:
The United Nations is acting quickly to settle the dispute.
Four weeks is too long to wait.
Six tonnes of newsprint is needed for a single issue.
Nouns joined by and take a singular verb when they represent a single thing or
person:
Gin and tonic is her favourite pre-dinner drink.

70
 His main coach and mentor [the same person] has been with him for years.
The verb stays in the singular in this circumstance:
The Defence Minister, with her chief adviser, is going to the manoeuvres.
There is, there are:
There is a bottle in the bin.
There are two bottles in the bin.
There are a bottle and a can in the bin.
There are a bedroom, a study and a bathroom on the top floor.
None Whether it takes a singular or a plural verb depends on what there is (or are)
none of. If you cannot get the wood, none is available. If you cannot buy aardvarks,
none are available. It is a prevalent misconception that none is always singular; in
fact the plural, long recognised by grammar authorities, is more common.
verb number (after one in, as in one in five Australians) Although the meaning is
not literally one (but one-fifth of Australians), we treat such phrases as singular.
One in five Australians has no health insurance, not one in five have.
verb number (after one of those who and similar forms) A common error: I am one
of those who believes in three square meals a day. This should say one of those
who believe. The word believe relates to the plural those.

who/whom If in doubt as to which to use, try a mental exercise in which you

substitute he/she/they or him/her/them for who and whom. If he/she/they works,
use who. If him/her/them works, use whom.
The guests, who came in limousines, were appalling. They were appalling, so who is
correct. But, The guests, whom the chairman invited, were appalling. The chairman
invited them, so whom is correct. The man who saw the accident has left. He saw
the accident. The astronaut was a woman for whom space held no fear. Space held
no fear for her.
who/whom in questions Who has supplanted whom in questions: Who did you
see? is far more common than the stilted Whom did you see?

H
h Use a before all words beginning with a consonant sound, including an audible h:
a hotel, a historic. Use an before words beginning with a vowel sound: an heir, an
honour, an hour.

71
haematoma, haematology

haemoglobin

haemophilia

haemorrhage

haemorrhoid

Hague, The But the Netherlands.

Haj The Muslim pilgrimage.

hand down (a court decision) Prefer give decisions, judgments etc.See courts

handout (noun), to hand out (verb)

hangar/hanger A hangar is a building for housing aircraft, etc. A hanger is used for
hanging clothes.

hanged/hung Use hung unless referring to someone who had a noose around their
neck: I’ve hung the picture but Ned Kelly was hanged at the Melbourne Gaol in
1880.

Hanukkah Jewish festival of lights. Usually occurs in December, but sometimes in

late November.

happen Things occur or happen by chance or unexpectedly; things take place by

design. Accidents or disasters happen or occur; weddings, meetings take place.

hara-kiri

harass, harassed, harassment

harbour Sydney Harbour Bridge, Harbour Bridge but lower case for the bridge, the
harbour. Note that our style is Pearl Harbour.

harbourmaster

hard line (noun), hardline (adjective). Take a hard line, but a hardline policy. Also
hardliner.

72
headmaster, headmistress (one word), head teacher (two words). Generally
non-state schools have a headmaster or headmistress. The head of a state school
is the principal. Also see schools.

healthcare (noun and adjective)

heaven, hell Lower case.

headlines Headlines and precedes (standfirsts) take single quote marks.

(Homepage write-offs take double.) Puns in headlines tend not to work all that well
online, but they may be appropriate with lighter stories as long as the reader is
given a decent clue as to what the story is about. Puns can work in print but not if
they are cliched or likely to induce a groan. Steer clear of clickbait-type headlines,
which became groan-inducing long ago. Use a capital letter after a colon in a
headline unless what comes after the colon is an attribution: Accused bit head off
snake: police. If a headline consists of two sentences, a full stop is needed only
after the first.

headscarf, headscarves

heir apparent, heir presumptive No hyphen.

Hells Angels

hemisphere Lower case for northern/southern hemisphere. Also lower case for the
equator. See equator.

her majesty Lower case your majesty, your honour, your eminence, her majesty,
his excellency, her highness, etc.

Hezbollah Not Hizbollah. Hezb-ollah when breaking over two lines in print..

hiccup

hideout (noun) to hide out (verb)

high commission, high commissioner Always lower case. See diplomacy

High Country (Victoria)

high-flyer

high-income (adjective) And low-income, middle-income earners etc.

73
high jinks Not high-jinks, hi-jinks or hi-jinx.

high roller But high-roller room.

high-tech (adjective) Not hi-tech.

high-vis (adjective) As in high-vis vest.

hijab A head covering worn in public by some Muslim women.

hip-hop

hippie, hippies Also yuppie, yuppies.

his/her/their Don’t presume maleness. Often, to avoid the awkwardness of his or

her, a plural can be used. The reporter attempts to protect his or her sources
becomes Reporters attempt to protect their sources. Also, they may be used as a
singular pronoun. From the Oxford: "They as a singular pronoun is now generally
accepted where it follows an indefinite pronoun such as anyone, no one, someone
or a person as in 'anyone can join if they are a resident' and 'each to their own'."
Where a person uses they/their or other options as personal pronouns, respect this
choice.

historic/historical Historic means memorable or important in history. Historical

means relating to or belonging to history. So: historical evidence, historical novel,
historical studies, historical sex abuse charges; but a historic decision (as in
significant), historic moment, historic mansions. You can have historic events or
historical events; which you use depends on what you mean. Both words take a not
an before them. Don’t be too eager to apply historic (or history-making or
epoch-making) to any contemporary event. Important as it is today, it may be
overshadowed tomorrow.

historic (and prehistoric) ages/events/ movements Upper case for such things
as the Jurassic Age; the Stone Age; the Roman Empire; the Middle Ages; the Dark
Ages; the Modern Age; the Renaissance; the Reformation and
Counter-Reformation; the Regency; the French, American, Industrial, Russian (or
other important) Revolution; the (Great) Depression; World War II; the Falklands
War; the Gulf War; the Cold War (see wars); the Steam Age, the Nuclear Age. Time
spans other than age (e.g. era, epoch, period, times, years) should be lower case:
the Victorian era, the Edwardian era, modern era; the baroque period; classical
times, Edwardian times, modern times; the Depression years, the war years (but
upper case for such things as the Year of the Rat, the UN Year of Peace, etc). Art
movements are generally lower case except where derived from proper nouns.

74
hit list

hitman

hitch-hike, hitch-hiker

HIV/AIDS See AIDS

HMAS Ships’ names such as HMAS Adelaide do not take italics or a definite article.
‘‘The Her Majesty’s Australian Ship Adelaide’’ does not make sense.

hold-up (noun and adjective), to hold up (verb). Also see -up words

holistic Not wholistic.

Holocaust Upper case in reference to the mass slaughter by the Nazis.

Holsworthy The Sydney army camp.

Holy Communion Upper case. Also Communion (meaning the Christian

sacrament). See sacraments

home brand Use house brands for generic grocery brands. One of the house
brands is called Homebrand.

home buyer, home owner, first home owner grant, first home buyer

home in Home in on a target, not hone in.

homeopathy Homoeopathy maybe used in the spelling of some organisations’

names. See also diphthongs

home school (noun) home-school (verb and adjective) Their parents set up a
home school. To home-school for 12 hours a day is to overdo it.

home town (noun), home-town (adjective) The home-town girl returned to her
home town.

homosexual See gay

Hong Kong But Hongkongers, as per common practice.

honorifics
(Age, Herald, WAtoday, Brisbane Times) With a few exceptions, we do not use

75
honorifics. Keep them if used in direct quotes or to establish someone’s credentials
or position at first mention: Senator James Cross, then Cross; biologist Dr Wilfred
Wolf, then Wolf, Monash University’s Professor James Erudite, then Erudite.
Honorifics may be used if needed to distinguish between two people with the same
surname. The main thing is clarity for the reader. The following are the only
honorifics we would abbreviate: Mr, Mrs, Cr (for Councillor), Dr, St (for Saint); no full
points. Ms is not an abbreviation. Judges, magistrates, coroners and people with
religious titles take only a surname on second mention. The same applies to lords,
dames, baronesses, sirs, ladies, etc. People under 18 are referred to by their first
names. For royals, Prince Edward may become Edward, the prince or Prince
Edward; Princess Mary becomes Mary, the princess or Princess Mary. People with
honorary doctorates should not be called Dr. See also aristocracy and royal

honorifics (Financial Review only) As a rule, most people get honorifics in

straight news stories. The only honorifics we abbreviate are Mr, Mrs, Cr, Dr and St.
Ms (not an abbreviation) is our default honorific for women, but use something else
if that is a woman’s preference. People with honorary doctorates should not be
called Dr. Sportspeople, sports administrators, journalists, entertainers, historical
figures, celebrity chefs, models, explorers/adventurers and people engaged in
some form of the arts do not get honorifics, except in court stories. People under
18 are referred to by their first name.
Comment, analysis and op-ed pieces do not use honorifics. However, the editorial
takes honorifics. Articles appearing in features/lifestyle sections do not use
honorifics unless they are needed to establish the credentials of, say, a doctor or
professor at first mention. Discretion can be used in news articles written in a
featurish way. The more serious the tone, the more likely it is that honorifics should
be used. In court cases, people charged with offences retain their honorifics unless
they are convicted or plead guilty. (This includes people aged 18 and over who
would not have honorifics in non-court contexts.) Honorifics are reinstated when
convicted people have served their sentences or if a conviction is overturned on
appeal. Dead people retain honorifics in news stories unless they are figures from
history. Lords, ladies, sirs, etc retain honorifics in straight news stories but lose
them on second mention in pieces that would not usually have honorifics: Sir
Garfield Barnes, then Sir Garfield (news story); Sir Garfield Barnes, then Barnes
(feature.)

honours See Order of Australia.

hoof Plural hooves. (But roof, plural roofs and dwarf/dwarfs.)

horse breeds Upper case for breeds named after places: Arabian, Clydesdale, etc.
See animal breeds

horseflesh And horsehair, horseshoe, horsewhip, horsepower, horsemeat. But

76
horse owner, horse breeder, horse race.

hot-desk (verb), hot-desking

hotspot

houses (of parliament) Lower case for upper house and lower house. Upper case
for the House on its own when it is part of the full name: the House of
Representatives then the House. Note that the Houses of Parliament is the proper
name of the legislative buildings at London’s Westminster. See also capitals
(politics and government)

human growth hormone Never hormones.

humour But humorous, humorist.

hunker down Not bunker.

hung A condemned man is hanged. Clothes are hung.

hurricanes Upper case as in Hurricane Katrina (also Cyclone Pete, Typhoon

Magda). Strengths are given as category 4, etc.

hydroelectric, hydroelectricity

hyphens See the punctuation guide

I
-ible words accessible, admissible, audible, collapsible, compatible,
comprehensible, compressible, contemptible, credible, deductible, discernible,
divisible, edible, fallible, feasible, flexible, forcible, gullible, imperceptible,
incompatible, incomprehensible, incorruptible, incredible, indefensible, indelible,
indestructible, indigestible, inexhaustible, inflexible, intangible, intelligible,
irresistible, legible, negligible, ostensible, perceptible, permissible, persuasible,

77
plausible, reprehensible, reversible, submersible, suggestible, suppressible,
susceptible, tangible, transmissible, visible.

icare NSW state-owned insurer. Icare at the start of sentences or in headlines but
try to avoid.

ice Lower case for the drug.

ice-cream

iconic Avoid this overused word. Not everything that is well known should be
described as iconic.

i.e. For the Latin id est, meaning that is. Full points. Prefer that is

IKEA It’s an acronym.

immigrant An emigrant leaves a country, an immigrant enters one.

impact Overused. Try affect, influence, harm, damage, weaken etc.

impostor Not imposter.

impressionist, post-impressionist The movement in painting. Lower case. See

arts movements

in addition/in addition to Prefer also, too, and, besides, as well, as well as.

incontestable

increasing numbers of Say more.

incredible/incredulous The first means unbelievable, the second means

disbelieving.

in-depth Don’t use this cliche to describe interviews etc; we try not to publish
in-shallowness interviews.

independent Lower case in the political sense: independent MP.

Independent Commission Against Corruption (NSW) Moroni told the ICAC, not
told ICAC. Keep the the.

index Plural indexes in books, but indices in statistical use.

78
indicated Don’t use this as a routine substitute for said. It is valid only when the
source has done no more than imply something, and we are making an inference:
The prime minister indicated that the election would be held before September
next year. He said he wanted to have it over before the US president’s visit, which is
expected to take place in September.

Indigenous Upper case when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people. Lower case in relation to indigenous people of other countries. See
Aborignal and Torres Strait Islander people

indiscreet/indiscrete Indiscreet means lacking in prudence. Indiscrete means not

separated into distinct parts.

Indon Do not use. It causes offence.

in excess of Say more than.

infamous A perilous word if used of any living person. It means abominable,

notoriously vile or evil. See notorious

inflict/afflict People are afflicted with a disease, but injuries are inflicted on them.

infrared Also ultraviolet

infrastructure Where possible, be specific: roads, bridges, sewerage, water

supply, power supply.

initials Use points and a space or thin space for personal initials: C. L. Smith. Use
given names rather than initials unless a person is widely known by or prefers
initials. Don’t follow the American practice of inserting initials in the middle or at the
beginning of names. In US copy, delete the initials except where the person is
widely known as such – for Australian purposes this is almost never.

inner/outer Do not hyphenate phrases such as inner east, inner south, outer
Brisbane. But adjectivally it’s an inner-city apartment or an outer-Melbourne land
deal. Also, the Inner West local government area in Sydney.

innocuous

innovations New innovation is tautologous. The same applies to initiatives.

innuendo, innuendoes

79
inoculate

inquire, inquiry Not enquire, enquiry.

inside Not inside of. The same goes for outside.

insignia Singular and plural.

in spite of Use despite.

install Also installed, installation, instalment.

instil Also instilled, instillation, instilment.

International Labour Organisation

internet Also the net. See internet & IT guide

internet of things Abbreviated as IoT.

in the near future Use soon.

intifada

Inuit Singular and plural. Do not use Eskimo.

invite Don’t use as a substitute noun for invitation in text or headings.

in vitro Do not hyphenate, but use a thin space in print if necessary to stop the two
words breaking onto different lines.

Iron Curtain

irony Saying one thing when you mean another: Brutus is an honourable man.
There are technical variations, such as Socratic irony and dramatic irony, which are
in dictionaries, and it may also apply to an outcome contrary to what was or might
have been expected. It does not mean an odd or unusual coincidence.

irukandji The jellyfish.

-ise/-ize The suffix. Use -ise in all cases where there are options. Note that
capsize is not optional.

Islam, Islamic Call followers Muslims, not Moslems. Also see Muhammad and the

80
Islamic style guide

Islamic State We use this name for the extremist group also known as ISIL (Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant) and ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Call it Islamic
State, or IS, on subsequent references, not the Islamic State. There is usually no
need to mention it is also known as ISIS or ISIL unless someone is quoted using
these terms.

italics We italicise the titles of books (except for the Bible, Koran, etc), films, works
of art, plays, songs, concerts, tours, exhibitions, reports, newspapers, statements,
television programs, podcasts and scientific names (see scientific names). We also
italicise websites with newspaper or magazine-like names. Use italics for computer
games resembling dramatic works: Grand Theft Auto XXX, Tomb Raider, Call of
Duty. Electronic versions of mere board games or puzzles stay in roman: chess,
draughts, etc. The names of ships are not italicised. Foreign words are italicised
only if necessary to avoid ambiguity. Rarely do we need to use italics to add
emphasis to words. Acts of parliament are not italicised.

its, it’s Its is the possessive of it. (The dog scratches its ear); it’s is short for it is (It’s
scratching its ear).

INTERNET & IT GUIDE

This section contains a brief guide to style and usage for some of the more
common IT terms. whatis.techtarget.com, webopedia.com and techterms.com
are three detailed online sources for definitions.

addresses Internet addresses, or URLs, such as: http://www.theage.com.au or

http://www.smh.com.au. In copy it is not necessary to type the entire URL:
theage.com.au or smh.com.au is usually sufficient. When internet and email
addresses have to turn over to the next line in print, end the first line before a dot.
If the address falls at the end of a sentence, add a full point as usual.

analog In relation to computers, not analogue.

antivirus

bandwidth A measure of the capacity of a communications channel, such as for

broadband. The higher a channel’s bandwidth, the more information it can carry.

81
bit The smallest unit of information used on a computer. A bit – short for binary digit
– consists of either a 0 or a 1. A byte is made up of eight bits. See byte

bitcoin This and other virtual currencies are lower case. Plural bitcoins.

bits per second Refers to speed of data transfer (as in internet connection). The
standard measures are:
kilobits per second (Kbps) - 1000 bits per second.
megabits per second (Mbps) - 1 million bits per second (1Mbps = 1000 kbps)
gigabits per second (Gbps - 1 billion bits per second (1 Gbps = 1000 Mbps)
terabits per second (Tbps) - 1 trillion bits per second (1 Tbps = 1000 Gbps)

BitTorrent (one word) One of the most common peer-to-peer protocols for large
amounts of data over the internet.

black hat Malicious hacker

Bluetooth A wireless communication technology used for connecting devices over

distances of less than about 10 metres.

bot (from robot) A program that runs automated tasks over the internet. It can be
useful or a type of malware (malicious software) allowing an attacker to gain control
of an affected computer, which itself can also be known as a bot, or as a zombie.

botnet Usually refers to a group of computers hijacked by malware without the

owners' knowledge and used by the attacker to do things such as spread spam or
viruses.

byte Eight bits. Refers to the size of a file, as in a 5MB photo file. See bit
kilobyte – 1024 bytes. Abbreviate as KB.
megabyte –1024 kilobytes. Abbreviate as MB.
gigabyte – 1024 megabytes. Abbreviate as GB
terabyte _– 1024 gigabytes Abbreviate as TB
petabyte – 1024 terabytes. Abbreviate as PB

computer games Use italics for computer games resembling dramatic works:
Grand Theft Auto XXX, Tomb Raider, Call of Duty etc. Electronic versions of mere
board games or puzzles stay in roman: chess, etc.

cookie A tracking file stored on a computer user's equipment and used by websites
to learn about visitors' browsing habits.

cyber words cyberspace, cybercrime, cybercriminal, cyberattack, cybersecurity,

82
cyberterrorist, cyberbully, cyberwar, cyberwarfare.

database

disk/disc Use disk in reference to computers (hard disk, disk drive etc) and disc
(compact disc) in all other cases

domain name The part of a website address, or URL, that is listed at the right of
the www in the address, such as afr.com, smh.com.au, theage.com.au, etc.

DoS attacks Denial-of-service attacks make websites unavailable by flooding them

with potentially millions of requests for page views at once. Distributed DoS attacks are
larger, stemming from millions of computers, often bots, and locations).

dotcom One word. As in dotcom companies, dotcom boom, dotcom slump. Use
this form whether noun or adjective.

email No hyphen for email, ebook, esports, but use one for other e-words:
e-learning, e-reader, e-commerce, e-tag, e-cigarettes.

fibre optics But fibre-optic as an adjective.

flash memory Computer storage memory that has no moving parts, used in USB
drives.

FTTN Abbreviation of fibre to the node. A technique used by telcos to move

broadband equipment beyond phone exchanges to nodes (cabinets) closer to
customers’ premises, to provide faster data delivery.

FTTH/FTTP/FTTC Abbreviation of fibre to the home/premises/curb. The extension

of fibre-optic cable to customers’ premises as a replacement for copper phone
lines. A fibre-to-the-home technology when used as an adjective. Without hyphen:
The technology encompasses fibre to the home.

gigahertz A unit of communications frequency, or computer processing speed.

Abbreviate as GHz.

homepage The first page of a website.

HTML Stands for hypertext mark-up language. It appears in some internet

addresses and covers how web pages are displayed and formatted.

HTTP Stands for hypertext transfer protocol. It appears at the beginning of internet
addresses.

83
iiNet An Australian internet provider.

internet Or the net. Lower case.

internet addresses Formally URLs. Also see addresses.

internet of things IoT

IP address (internet protocol address) This is a numeric address given to a

computer connected to the internet.

measurements Screens for computers, TVs and mobile devices are measured in
inches.

megahertz A unit of communications frequency or computer processing speed.

Abbreviate as MHz at second reference.

megapixel Equal to a million pixels. Used to measure the capabilities of digital

cameras.

mouse Plural mice.

national broadband network NBN for the abbreviation, not nbn. Operated by NBN
Co.

optical fibre A glass thread that allows high-speed, reliable transmission of data.

penetration test An authorised security breach test to find vulnerabilities in a

computer system. Penetration testers are also called "ethical hackers".

screen saver, screen shot, screen grab

smart Smartcard, smartphone, smartwatch, smart TV, smart meter.

Trojan horse Or Trojan. A type of malicious software (malware) stored on a

computer or network to do harm, such as allowing unauthorised access or
damaging files. It masquerades as benign until activated.

USB Trade name that stands for Universal Serial Bus. A standard plug used to
connect electronic devices to computers..

URL Short for uniform resource locator. The formal name for an internet address
such as http://www.fxj.com.au. Also see addresses.

84
video-conferencing

VoIP Stands for voice over internet protocol. Phone calls that are transmitted as
internet data, avoiding phone networks.

website Lower case, one word. Also the web, webmaster, webcast, but the world
wide web.

white hat Security researcher (good hacker).

Wi-Fi Trade name. A wireless computer connection technology standard.

Wikipedia It should not be relied upon as a definitive reference for stories.

workstation One word.

world wide web Lower case. Also the web, website, webcast, webmaster etc.

Yahoo Without the exclamation mark. The company drops it itself in corporate
communications.

J
jackaroo

jackpot

jail, jailer Not gaol, gaoler. But Old Melbourne Gaol.

Jakarta

jamb of a door.

jargon Turn into plain English.

85
jet-ski, jet-skiers

jewel, jeweller, jewellery

Jewish There’s no such language as Jewish; the Jewish languages are Hebrew and
Yiddish. Use upper case for Jewish festivals and holy days: Day of Atonement (Yom
Kippur), Passover, etc. See bar mitzvah and Hanukkah

jibe Not gibe

jihad Although the term has come to be associated in the West with violence, the
word means struggle. It can refer to a spiritual struggle, a struggle to improve
oneself.

jihadist Not jihadi.

JobSeeker The government payment for unemployed people looking for work
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those people are job seekers not JobSeekers.

job titles Do not retain the definite article in titles at first mention unless the title is
unwieldy: Prime Minister Herbert Black, President Malia Green. But prime ministerial
adviser on women’s affairs and sport Martha Smith is too much of a mouthful. Make
it the prime minister’s adviser on women’s affairs and sport, Martha Smith. Or use
her name first.

jodhpurs

John Dory The fish.

Johnnie Walker The whisky.

Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Jonson Street (Byron Bay)

judgment

ju-jitsu

junior, senior Abbreviate as the person does.

justice of the peace

86
K
kaffir Lower case. The derogatory term used by some South African white people
for black people. Not to be used except if necessary to quote a bigot. See race,
slurs

kaftan Not caftan.

Kalashnikov

Kampuchea Name for Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled from
1975 to 1979. See also Khmer Rouge

karat Use carat for gold and gems.

Kazakhstan The former Soviet republic.

kerb/curb A kerb is a pavement edge; to curb something is to restrain it or keep it

in check.

Kerobokan The Bali prison.

Khmer Rouge Held power in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The name Khmer Rouge
cannot be abbreviated to Khmer or Khmers. Using Khmers alone indicates the
people of Cambodia, not just the Khmer Rouge.

Khost In eastern Afghanistan. (Not Khowst or Gost.)

kibbutz The plural form kibbutzim may be appropriate in some copy, but generally
prefer the Anglicised plural kibbutzes.

kid, kiddies Prefer children.

Kimberley The Kimberley Plateau in Western Australia may be abbreviated as the

Kimberley.

87
kimono, kimonos

Kings Cross Sydney

Kings Hall In Old Parliament House, Canberra. No apostrophe. Also Queens Hall,
Parliament House, Melbourne.

Kingsford Smith For Sir Charles, the federal electorate and the airport. No hyphen.

Kings Way No apostrophe. The highway through Melbourne and South Melbourne.
Kingsway all other suburbs.

Kmart

km/h Kilometres an hour. Our style is 3km/h, without a space. No need to spell out.

knockout (noun and adjective), to knock out (verb).

knots Nautical miles an hour; a measure of speed, not distance. A ship moves at 25
knots, not 25 knots an hour. Knots survived metrication; no conversion is required.
See nautical miles

KO, KO’d

koala Not koala bear. It is not related to bears.

Kokoda Track Not Trail.

Kolkata formerly Calcutta.

Koori, Kooris Aboriginal people of south-eastern Australia. Indigenous people from

other areas should not be called Kooris. See Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people

Koo Wee Rup (Victoria)

Koran Not Qur’an.

Korea There is no such place. There are North Korea and South Korea.

Ku Klux Klan

Ku-ring-gai (Sydney)

88
Kyiv No longer Kiev for the capital of Ukraine.

Kyrgyzstan The former Soviet republic.

L
Labor (ALP) and Labor Council of NSW, but British, New Zealand, Israeli and other
Labour parties and the International Labour Organisation. Upper case for the
factions of the ALP: Left, Socialist Left, Right, Centre Left, Centre Unity.

labour movement.

Lady Knights’ wives are usually called Lady Blank; they should not be called Lady
Flora Blank, Lady Arthur Blank (after the husband), or Flora, Lady Blank. When the
wife’s name is used, the following forms are acceptable: Lady (Flora) Blank; Sir
Arthur Blank and his wife, Flora; Lady Blank, wife of Sir Arthur Blank. On second
mention they are Blank. Adult daughters of senior peers (dukes, marquesses and
earls) are as follows: Lady Henrietta Knuckle, thereafter Knuckle.

Lady Bay beach (Sydney) There is no Lady Jane in directories.

lady-in-waiting To the Queen, etc. Lower case.

laissez-faire

lama/llama The holy man and the beast.

LandCruiser

Land Rover Two words. But hyphenate Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz,

Harley-Davidson.

Laos/Laotian/Lao The people and the government of Laos are Laotian. The
country’s dominant tribal group is the Lao.

89
Last Post, the No quotes, no italics.

Last Supper

Latin names See scientific names

latitude and longitude Latitude, the angular distance north or south of the equator,
is designated by parallels. Longitude, the angular distance east or west of
Greenwich, England, is designated by meridians.

Latrobe/La Trobe It’s the Latrobe Valley, Latrobe River and Latrobe Shire, but La
Trobe for the man, the electorate, the university and the Melbourne CBD street.
The town in Tasmania is Latrobe. Charles Joseph La Trobe (1801-75) was
superintendent of the Port Phillip settlement from 1839, and the first
lieutenant-governor of Victoria (1851-54). Although he never had the title of
governor, he was in sole charge of the colony and it is acceptable to describe him
as Victoria’s first governor.

lay/lie (1) To lay, meaning primarily to put something (or someone) down. I lay him
to rest. I laid the table. I have laid a charge against him.
(2) To lie, meaning to repose. I lie down. I lay down (past tense). I had lain down.
The book lies on the table. The book lay on the table. The book will lie on the table.
(3) To lie, meaning to tell an untruth. I lie sometimes. I lied to him. He has lied to me.

lead (present tense), led (past). Be alert for the common mistake of using lead in
the past tense.

leader (of a party) Upper case for the official position of Opposition Leader (or
deputy) used next to the name of an incumbent. But use lower case for Liberal
leader, Greens leader, Coalition leader, Labor leader, leader of the House,
government leader in the Senate, etc.

leant Not leaned.

leapt Not leaped.

learnt But learned gentleman.

left and right (in politics) Use lower case for the left, the right and the centre in
politics generally; also left-wing (adjective), the left wing. But upper case for the
Left and Right factions of the Australian Labor Party. This exception is necessary
because of the variety of formally organised ALP factions that require capitals:
Socialist Left, Centre Left, Centre Unity, NSW Right and the like.

90
Legionnaires’ disease Capital L. First diagnosed in members of the American
Legion.

Leichhardt The explorer, the river and other things named after him, including the
Sydney suburb.

lesbian See LGBTQ

lese-majeste

less/fewer See fewer/less.

lessor/lessee Lessors lease properties to lessees (lease holders).

levee An embankment.

LGBTQ The abbreviation taking in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,

queer/questioning people and others has many permutations and can appear with
or without a plus sign. We use LGBTQ as our default umbrella term. Variations in
direct quotes should be left as they are (LGBT, LGBTQ+, LGBTQI+, LGBTQIA, etc). If
an article also refers to other groups routinely added to LGBTQ, variations can be
used: e.g. LGBTQI encompassing intersex people. The A can stand for asexual or
ally. Don’t refer to an individual as queer unless you know they are happy with this
term. Some consider it offensive. Gay may refer to men or women but is more often
used of men, so the term gay and lesbian people is acceptable. Avoid homosexual,
particularly as a noun, as it is considered offensive and outdated. See transgender

Liberal/liberal Upper case for a member of the Liberal Party of Australia or any
other party of the name. Lower case for people described as liberals because of
their outlook or beliefs. When Liberal Party members talk about Liberalism, Liberal
philosophy, Liberal policy and the like, use cap L. But liberalism as a non-partisan
philosophy should be lower case. Also: a small-l liberal (or Liberal, i.e. one on the
left of the party).

Liberal National Party in Queensland. No hyphen. Abbreviate to LNP.

licence/license Licence is the noun: liquor licence, driver’s licence, gun licence,
licence number. License is the verb; to grant permission or authorise. Also licensee,
licensed grocer.

licence plate An Americanism. We have number plates.

Liechtenstein The principality, but Lichtenstein in Germany.

91
lifeboat Also lifebelt, lifebuoy, lifejacket, liferaft, lifetime, life preserver, lifesaver,
lifesaving, but the Surf Life Saving Association.

lifesaver, lifeguard Lifesavers are volunteer members of surf clubs; lifeguards are
professionals employed by councils etc.

lifting Lifting is defined as the reproduction in our publications of material that has
been published in other media, without first checking its authenticity. Do not do it.
You must check and ensure the accuracy of every detail you plan to reproduce.
Lifting does not include taking quotations from first-person articles published in
other news media and magazines or material contained, say, in a newly published
book (but remember Copyright Act provisions on fair use). Lifting does not include
quoting from recorded interviews on radio or television. When quoting from a
first-person article, or a book or radio or TV interview, we should take care to
source our quotation: e.g. Fahour was speaking on the ABC’s Four Corners. Care
should also be taken when reproducing references from our archives. They may not
be the last word on the subject. Be particularly careful about inserting material from
past court reports, which can land us in trouble. Our lawyers can offer guidance.

liftout

light-rail vehicle With a hyphen.

light year A unit of astronomical distance, not time. It is the distance light travels in
a year, 9460 billion kilometres. Light travels at 300,000 kilometres a second.

like Don’t use instead of as/as if: She acted as if she was angry, not like she was
angry. There is a subtle difference between like and such as depending on whether
what follows is included in the group of things being talked about. She went to
countries such as Vietnam and Thailand means those two countries were part of
her travels. She went to countries like Vietnam and Thailand could mean she went
to similar countries but not necessarily those countries.

likeable

likely Don’t use this in the American way. American: She will likely attend.
Australian: She is likely to attend or will probably attend.

linchpin

liquidambar The tree.

literally This means it actually happened. When used with a metaphor it can be
absurd: He literally ate his own words. Really? Did he add salt and pepper?

92
literati But glitterati.

liveable

live-stream Noun and verb.

loan It is not a verb. It is wrong to say Joe Blow will loan his friend $50. Rather, he
will lend him $50. Don’t use lend as a noun, as in Give me a lend of your pen.

loath/loathe The adjective means reluctant: I am loath to interfere; loathe the verb
means detest.

local Avoid such tautologies as local neighbourhood, local residents, local

inhabitants. Do not use the words local time in world copy. State the location in
brackets (Paris time) or use (AEST) or (AEDT). The reader does not know whether
local refers to the place in the report or Australian time.

lockdown (noun) to lock down (verb)

Londonderry (Northern Ireland), but Derry City Council, City of Derry Airport.

long-term A long-term (longer-term) solution, but in the long term.

Loop City Loop or the Loop in Melbourne.

lord mayor Capitals for an incumbent lord mayor, mayor, shire president when the
title is used next to their name. Otherwise lower case. The same applies to mayor.
Lord mayor is not exclusively male.

Lord’s The English cricket ground but the House of Lords.

loveable

low-income (adjective) High-income, middle-income earners, etc.

Loyalists In Northern Ireland.

Lyon (France)

93
M
Macau Not Macao.

machinegun Also, sub-machinegun

Mac.Robertson Note the full point. The confectionery maker.

Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School Melbourne

macroeconomics Also microeconomics.

mad cow disease The human variant is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

mafia Lower case in all contexts.

magistrate The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria takes an apostrophe; those of other

states do not. Lower case for magistrates courts plural, told the magistrate.
Magistrate is not used as an honorific. Magistrates should not be called judges. See
courts

Magna Carta

maharajah

makers Follow the Oxford at lexico.com when making these one or two words or
hyphenated. See the entry in this guide under one word, two words or hyphenated

Malay/Malaya/Malaysia The nation is Malaysia and its people Malaysians. Malays

are the main racial group among Malaysians; Malays should not be used of the
people as a whole. But the Malay Peninsula is geographically correct.

mandarin/Mandarin Lower case for the fruit and the official, but upper case for
the language.

manifesto(s)

Manila (Philippines), manila (folder, rope, cigar), Manilla (NSW)

man-made

94
manoeuvre, manoeuvring

man-of-war Rather than man-o’-war for old warships – and for the Portuguese
man-of-war, a venomous sea creature.

Maori (singular and plural)

Mao Zedong

march-past

marines Upper case for the US Marine Corps and the US Marines when the corps
is meant; but lower case for US marines when referring to a number, group, etc of
these seaborne soldiers. Upper case for the Royal Marine Commandos or the Royal
Marines when the unit is meant, but lower case for marines when referring to the
troops. Also see armed forces

Marseille (France)

marshal The military rank and the verb. One l, but marshalled, marshalling.

Mass Upper case for the rite. Low Mass (usually just Mass) is said, held or
celebrated. High Mass is sung, held or celebrated. But celebrated is inappropriate
for Requiem Mass (a form of Low Mass) or Solemn Requiem Mass (a form of High
Mass).

master’s degree Also bachelor’s degree.

materiel In the military sense of arms, ammunition and equipment in general.

mathematics Singular, like economics, politics. Shorten to maths, not the American
math.

matrix Plural matrixes.

maximums Not maxima.

may/can May denotes permission or authority to do something; can purely the

ability to do so.

mayday Lower case for the distress call, which has nothing to do with May Day, the
festival or holiday.

mayor See lord mayor

95
MCG No need to spell it out. Also referred to as the ’G in Melbourne media only.

measures See weights and measures

mecca Lower case in the figurative sense: a mecca for tourists.

medals (Olympic etc) Lower case for gold medal, silver, bronze. Upper case medal
as in Brownlow Medal (but Brownlow medallist).

Medecins Sans Frontieres It means Doctors Without Borders but stick with the
French name, which is widely used outside France.

medevac Short for medical evacuation.

media Plural: the media are, not is.

medical trials phase 1, phase 2, etc.

medieval Use of the diphthong in this case has largely fallen out of favour. Also see
diphthongs.

meet Not meet with. The PM will meet his ministers for pre-budget talks.

mega- This should not be used as a standalone word but with a hyphen or joined
up without a hyphen depending on what the dictionary says. We see too many
mega productions, mega bills and mega projects. Some acceptable uses:
mega-production, megabyte, megastar.

megalitre A million litres. A gigalitre is a billion litres. Readers find it easier to

understand millions and billions of litres, rather than megalitres and gigalitres, so
convert.

Melbourne Cup At first reference it is the Melbourne Cup, then the Cup, Cup Day,
Cup week, Cup fashions. Also, spring carnival.

Melbourne Writers Festival But Sydney Writers’ Festival.

Melburnian

Melway Not Melways. Street directory.

member The member (lower case) for Brisbane. Also lower case member of
parliament.

96
memento(es)

Mercedes-Benz With hyphen. Also Harley-Davidson, Rolls-Royce.

Messiah Upper case in its primary meaning, the foretold deliverer of the Jews; also
Jesus Christ as the Messiah. But lower case in figurative use, e.g. a rabble-rousing
politician being referred to as a political messiah.
.
methamphetamine Not methylamphetamine.

#MeToo for the movement against sexual abuse and harassment.

metrics See weights and measures

Metro Tunnel The Melbourne rail tunnel.

mHz (millihertz), MHz (megahertz), singular and plural.

microeconomics Also, macroeconomics.

midday And midnight, midweek, midsummer, midwinter. But mid-year, mid-autumn,

mid-spring. And midair, midterm, midflight etc. Note: it is midday, not 12 midday,
and noon, not 12 noon. Use noon and midnight rather than 12pm, 12am.

middle class (noun), middle-class (adjective).

Middle East Two words, no hyphen. Mid-East may be used in headlines.

midnight Not 12 midnight or 12am.

Mid North Coast (NSW)

Midwest Of the United States.

mid-year economic and fiscal outlook

military ranks See armed forces

millennium, millennia (plural)

million See billion and figures 1

miners/mining Two words for gold mine, gold mining, gold miner and coal mine,

97
coal mining, coal miners. Also sand mine, sand miner, sand mining.

mini-budget

miniseries

ministers Use Health Minister, Education Minister, Justice Minister, etc for short
titles when next to the name of incumbents, but Minister for Local Government and
Planning for longer titles to avoid clumsiness. Use lower case when a title is not
next to a name. Use lower case for the minister, a minister, ministers, ministerial
(and prime ministerial). If a minister has more than one portfolio, only the one
relevant to a particular story need be mentioned. See also capitals (politics and
government)

minus Spell it out (e.g. minus 10 degrees not -10 degrees), except financial credit
ratings where the plus or minus symbols are used. See credit ratings in the
business guide

minuscule

misspell, misspelt

Mohammed See Muhammad

Monaco The people are Monegasques.

money conversions See currencies

Mooloolaba and Mooloolah (Queesnland)

moon Lower case whether it’s ours or another planet’s.

Morse code

Moslem Make it Muslim. See also Muhammad and the Islamic style guide

Mosman (Sydney), Mosman Park (WA), Mossman (Queensland).

mosquito(es)

Mother Nature

Mother’s Day

98
Mount Spell out in names of mountains and places.

Mount Buller But Bulla the town near Tullamarine in Victoria.

Mount Coot-tha (Brisbane)

moveable

MPs Plural of MP. There is no need to spell out as member of parliament at first
reference. Senators are also MPs, so do not write of MPs and senators.

Mrs Macquaries Chair (Sydney)

mujahideen Islamic fighters. The singular is mujahid.

Muhammad The prophet, but individuals may spell their name in various ways. See
Islamic style guide.

multi- Words with this prefix are generally one word: multicellular, multichannel,
multicoloured, multicultural, multidimensional, multigrips, multilateral, multilingual,
multimedia, multinational, multipurpose, multiskilling, multistorey.

multimillion Also multimillion-dollar, multimillionaire, multibillion, multibillion-dollar,

multibillionaire.

multiple Steer clear of this often superfluous word. Multiple injuries simply means
injuries; multiple choices means choices. Where possible prefer few, some, several,
many, hundreds, etc.

mum, dad, kids Use with restraint. Upper case for Mum and Dad when used in
place of a name. "I told Mum to take the car,'' but "I heard his mum yelling.''

Mumbai Formerly Bombay.

Murphy’s law The law is: if something can go wrong, it will.

Murray-Darling Basin

Muslim Not Moslem. Also see Muhammad and the Islamic style guide

Muzak A trade name for a type of background recorded music.

Myanmar Formerly Burma. The capital is Naypyidaw. The largest city is Yangon,
formerly Rangoon.

99
Myer Use the apostrophe in the colloquial forms shopping at Myer’s, Myer’s
Christmas windows, etc.

myki Victorian public transport ticket system (all lower case except at the start of a
headline or sentence).

myriad Often misused. It means many, so you might say the myriad complications
but you can’t have a myriad of complications or anything else.

N
names Use a given name rather than initials unless the person prefers initials. Do
not follow the American practice of inserting initials in the middle or at the
beginning of names. In US copy, delete the initial except where the person is widely
known as such – for Australian purposes this is almost never. Don’t take the spelling
of any name for granted. Check any that are new to you.

See ethnic names, foreign name elements, honorifics, nicknames, plurals (of
proper names ending in –s, -es, -ess), possessives

names and addresses See addresses

Nanjing A city in mainland China, formerly Nanking.

Nar Nar Goon (Victoria)

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration but no need to spell out.

national anthem Advance Australia Fair is the national anthem. God Save the
Queen is used for royal and vice regal occasions and may be used for other
occasions.

National Archives The Archives on second mention.

national broadband network Spell out at first reference for clarity if referring to

100
the network rather than the company behind it. Use NBN for the abbreviation, not
nbn. It’s NBN Co for the company.

national cabinet Replaced Council of Australian Governments meetings as of 2020.

Nationals Formerly the National Party; now the Nationals. In headlines, Nats is
acceptable.

nationality See race and nationality

nationwide Also statewide, worldwide. But Australia-wide.

nautical miles Still recognised in navigation and in international law covering

fishing zones and territorial limits. Do not convert to metric. A nautical mile (1.85
kilometres) is different from a land mile (1.6 kilometres). See knots

navy, army, air force Lower case for these as short forms for the armed services of
Australia or any other nation. But upper case for full names: Australian Army, Royal
Australian Navy, US Navy etc. See armed forces

Nazi/nazi Upper case for the Nazis of Hitler’s Germany. Also neo-Nazi.

Nepal Nepalese for the people. Nepali for the language.

neo-conservative (neo-con is OK for headings).

nerve-racking Also pain-racked, rack and ruin.

net, the Lower case for the internet. Also see internet & IT guide

net zero emissions Refers to greenhouse gas emissions. Give the full term high up
in a story. It may be shortened to net zero later on. Net zero may also be used in
headlines.

Netherlands, the Lower case the. But The Hague. Holland is a region of the
Netherlands.

newlywed (noun), newly wed (adverb and adjective). The newlyweds, a newly
wed couple. Also as adverb and verb: They are newly wed.

NewQuay Melbourne waterfront precinct.

New South Wales Make it NSW at all references.

101
newspapers/website names Italicise the titles of newspapers and newspaper and
magazine-like website names. Where a publication uses The with a capital T in its
masthead, so do we: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun-Herald, The Age, The
Australian Financial Review, The Australian, The Guardian, The Observer; but the
Herald Sun. The Sydney Morning Herald becomes the Herald on second mention.
When using a title adjectivally, drop the article The: a Times reporter, a Times
article, the Times report. Also see individual entries for details on Nine metropolitan
mastheads and their associated publications and supplements. Also see medical
journals

New Year’s Day Also New Year’s Eve, New Year’s celebrations, festivities, greetings
etc. But the new year, in the new year.

New Zealand Can be abbreviated to NZ after first mention. North Island and South
Island take capitals. Use in the North Island’’, not ‘‘on’’.

nicknames Do not use upper case for the in nicknames such as Bert “the Wombat”
Smith. Do not use politicians’ nicknames in straight news reports. They may have a
place in lighter or comment pieces.

Nobel Prize Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature,
etc. Prizes are awarded in a field, not for one.

non-binary Non-binary people have a range of gender identities not exclusively

male or female. Some identify as having no gender. Respect people’s wishes as to
what pronouns they use, including if they use they as a singular. See transgender

none Whether it takes a singular or a plural verb depends on what there is (or are)
none of. If you cannot get the wood, none is available. If you cannot buy
hedgehogs, none are available.

non-English-speaking

non-profit-making A non-profit or not-for-profit organisation.

non sequitur A conclusion that does not logically follow.

no one No hyphen.

noon Not 12 noon or 12pm. Midnight, not 12 midnight or 12am

nor/or Neither always takes nor; not almost always takes or. The exception for not
is circumstances such as the following: I am not, nor have I ever been, a terrorist. I
am not a terrorist. Nor am I a sympathiser. But: I am not a terrorist, or a

102
sympathiser.

North Coast (NSW). Upper case. Also South Coast.

north-east, north-north-east

North Queensland

Northern Beaches Upper case for the Sydney local government area administered
by Northern Beaches Council, which takes in more than beaches. Lower case if
talking only about the actual strip of beaches.

northern hemisphere Also southern hemisphere

Northern Rivers (NSW)

Northern Tablelands (NSW)

north shore (Sydney) Lower case. Suburbs between Middle Harbour and
Ku-ring-gai National Park in the east; Lane Cove River and Lane Cove National Park
in the west; North Sydney in the south to Waitara in the north.

notorious This should not be used to mean well known, widely known, generally
known. If used in any unfavourable reference it aggravates the damage by implying
that the description is widely known and accepted as true, e.g. a notorious drunk
(he wasn’t just tipsy last night, he guzzles all the time and everyone knows it). See
infamous

N-test, N-bomb are acceptable in headings.

nuclear non-proliferation treaty Lower case. Its full title is the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but we prefer the shorter version.

nuke Avoid.

Nullarbor Plain

number/No. When abbreviating, use No. (with a full point and a thin space in print
between No. and the numeral). Numbers 1 to 9 are hard-up online. No.1

numbers, numerals See figures.

nunchukkas

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N-word The highly offensive nigger should not be spelt out without a compelling
reason. Consult a senior editor. The mere fact that someone uses it as a racist slur
does not mean we need to repeat it. It can be referred to as the N-word or written
with dashes if necessary (n----r), say in a quote. See black and slurs (racist,
sexist)

O
objet d’art Not object d’art.

oblique stroke (/) It should not be used in such forms as writer/director,

owner/driver, actor/manager. Use a hyphen instead: writer-director etc. Cricket
scores (9-225) take hyphens. The oblique stroke should be reserved for
presentation of alternatives: and/or, his/her.

obscenities We prefer not to swear and should certainly not do so gratuitously.

This includes in comment pieces and features. Keep swearing out of headlines and
display text. Shit, bullshit and arse may be spelt out in full in body text. If it is
necessary to quote other words, use dashes. Make fuck f---, fuckwit becomes
f---wit; fucking becomes f---ing. The same applies for the C-word: c---. If in doubt,
consult a senior editor, who may refer the matter to the editor.

occur Also occurred, occurring, occurrence. Things occur or happen by chance or

unexpectedly; things take place by design. Accidents, disasters happen or occur;
weddings, meetings take place.

o’clock Use 6am, 9.57, noon, 4pm, 8.30pm, midnight. Do not say 9pm on Tuesday
night, 4am on Thursday morning; say 9 o’clock on Tuesday night, 11.30 on Tuesday
night, 4am on Thursday. And: about 7pm, not at about 7pm. No space between the
figure and am/pm. Do not say 12pm, 12 noon, 12 midnight, 12 am.

octopus Plural octopuses.

odds, odds-on Write odds as dollar amounts. $11 not 10-1; $1.20 not 1-5 etc.

-off words Nouns such as play-off, spin-off, turn-off, take-off and stand-off take

104
hyphens. See -out words, -up words

office-bearer

OK We use OK rather than okay.

old adage All adages are old. Make it adage.

Olympic Olympic Games, the Games, Winter Games, Summer Games, the
Olympics, Olympian, an Olympian (a present or past Games competitor). Treat the
Games as a plural: the Games are underway, the Olympics are about to start. Note
that the Olympiad is the four-year period between Games. The enumeration of the
Games does not correspond with the number of Olympiads in the modern era, as
Games were not held in some years. So the Sydney 2000 Games were the Games
of the 27th Olympiad, but not the 27th Olympic Games.

Ombudsman Upper case only when the title appears next to the name of an
incumbent. This is not a gender-specific English word, but a Swedish word for legal
representative. So don’t say ombudswoman or ombudsperson, or ombud. The
plural is ombudsmen.

omelette

one word, two words or hyphenated The “doer” words (-maker, -miner, ­owner,
-taker,
-grower, -builder, -worker, -broker, -holder etc) are variously written as one word
(winemaker, stockbroker, shipbuilder, metalworker, bondholder); two words (house
builder, uranium miner, profit taker, unit holder, grain grower) or hyphenated. Our
general approach is to follow the Oxford Dictionary. If the Oxford does not list it as
a single word or hyphenated, it is usually written as two words. If it is to be used
adjectivally (e.g. pie-making skills), the hyphen is necessary only when the flow of
the sentence is interrupted without it or to avoid confusion. Hyphens are not
needed in adjectival compounds that contain immediately identifiable groups of
words, e.g. balance of payments results (rather than balance-of-payments results),
as the flow is not affected.

only Take care that the position of this word in a sentence does not create
ambiguity. Keep it as near as possible to the subject it limits and you are unlikely to
go wrong. Here are six sentences whose meaning depends on the placement of the
word only.
1. Only he dreamt of becoming the editor of The Times. (No one else wanted the
job.)
2. He only dreamt of becoming the editor of The Times. (He did nothing about it.)
3. He dreamt only of becoming the editor of The Times. (He dreamed of nothing

105
else.)
4. He dreamt of becoming only the editor of The Times. (He didn’t want to be the
managing director.)
5. He dreamt of being the only editor of The Times. (He wasn’t interested in
sharing the job.)
6. He dreamt of becoming the editor of The Times only. (He wasn’t interested in
editing The Timbuktu Post.)

onto One word as a preposition: He jumped onto the bus. But: They marched on to
victory (adverb).

op-ed Opinion pieces should have a sentence in bold at the end giving a brief
description of the author.

open-cut In mining.

Opera House (Sydney) Lower case for its venues, the concert hall, the opera
theatre, the drama theatre, the studio.

opposition Lower case for the federal/state opposition, the opposition, opposition
spokesman on, opposition policies, but upper case for the official position of
Opposition Leader next to the name of the incumbent. Shadow titles are always
lower case. We prefer opposition health spokeswoman, energy spokesman, etc, to
shadow health minister, shadow energy minister, except in cases such as shadow
treasurer, shadow attorney-general, shadow minister for women (an improvement
on opposition spokeswoman on women). For longer titles, it's the opposition
spokesman/woman/person on (not for) commerce and industrial relations, etc.

op shop

or/nor See either/neither.

-or/-our words We use the -our ending: harbour, honour, valour, candour, Saviour
(meaning Jesus Christ), the Endeavour, the British Labour Party, the New Zealand
Labour Party. It is, however, the Australian Labor Party. Other exceptions are:
(1) Titles of books, plays, films (e.g. the movie Pearl Harbor, as opposed to the
actual Pearl Harbour), newspapers, works of art etc.
(2) Registered business names and trademarks. If the name includes an -or
spelling, follow suit.

orangutan

Order of Australia The order is a “society of honour for the purpose of according
recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for

106
meritorious service”. The various levels of the order are: Companion (AC), Officer
(AO), Member (AM). There is also a Medal of the Order (OAM). Strictly speaking,
people are appointed as members, officers or companions, or they are awarded the
medal. We would usually say Penny Smith was made an officer of the Order of
Australia. Do not say she was awarded an Order of Australia.

ordinance/ordnance An ordinance is an officially promulgated regulation.

Ordnance means artillery, munitions or military supplies.

organisations (and apostrophes) See the punctuation guide

orient (verb) Not orientate.

orthopaedic

Ouija Trademark for a board used in seances.

ounce Except with gold, which is still weighed in ounces, convert to metric. Can be
used in the sense of He didn’t carry an ounce of fat.

-out words Nouns with the suffix ‘‘out’’ generally do not have hyphens: bailout,
blackout, blowout, burnout, buyout, checkout, cutout, dropout, fallout, handout,
hideout, liftout, lookout, payout, pullout, rollout, runout, sellout, shootout, stakeout,
turnout, walkout). They are two words as verbs. The employees intend to walk out
of the office in a mass walkout. See -off words, -up words.

outback Lower case.

outpatient

outside of Ditch the of. Similarly, of should not be tacked onto inside, beside or
alongside.

over-/over (In compound words.) Dictionaries do not offer a consistent approach

to the use of the hyphen. Our approach is to drop hyphens from words that are
easily read without them.

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P
Pacific Rim

package Remember there are other words, such as plan, scheme, proposal, terms,
offer.

paediatrician, paediatrics

paedophile, paedophilia

painkiller, painkilling

pain-racked Also nerve-racking, rack and ruin.

palate/palette/pallet A palate is taste or the roof of the mouth, an artist uses a

palette and cargo is stacked on a pallet.

Pandora’s box When opened, it released all the ills of the world on mankind. It is
wrong to use it of treasures, pleasures and other good things.

Pap smear, Pap test

paramedics Ambulance officers are called paramedics.

Paris Agreement A key international agreement on climate change adopted in

2015 with the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees, preferably
1.5, compared with pre-industrial levels. It was preceded by the Kyoto Protocol.

Parkinson’s disease A degenerative disorder of the central nervous system.

Parkinson’s Law After C. Northcote Parkinson, a British economist who came to

the satirical conclusion that work expands to fill the time allocated to it.

parliament Lower case: federal parliament, state parliament, British parliament,

New Zealand parliament, hung parliament, etc. But start with a capital for the US
Congress and other foreign legislatures: Diet, Knesset, Bundestag, etc. Use capitals
for the names of houses within parliaments: the House of Representatives,
(shortened to the House), the Senate. But upper house, lower house. Use capitals
for building names: Parliament House. See also capitals (government and politics)

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parliamentary committees All lower case: the joint committee on foreign affairs, a
Senate estimates committee. See also capitals (government and politics)

Parramatta River (Sydney) It starts (and Port Jackson ends) at Long Nose Point,
Balmain.

part-time, full-time

party Upper case only when part of a name: Labor Party, Liberal Party, etc,. Later
the party.

party room Two words.

Pashtun/Pashto The Afghan ethnic group/the language.

Passover The Jewish festival.

past The past (not last) six months if we mean the six months to now; the past few
days, year, seven years, decade, century.

payout (noun), to pay out (verb)

pay television, pay TV No hyphen, even when used adjectivally.

pedal/peddle One pedals a bicycle (pedalling) but peddles or sells goods

(peddling). A pedlar peddles goods.

peninsula (noun), peninsular (adjective). So: Mornington Peninsula (Victoria); the

19th-century Peninsular War.

per Use a/an wherever possible: $40 per hour becomes $40 an hour; $10 per
kilogram becomes $10 a kilogram; $40 per person becomes $40 a head.

per cent Two words. Always use numerals, even for figures below 10. This applies
also to percentage points: 3 percentage points. Beware the common mistake in
calculating percentage increases. If the housing interest rate rises from 4 per cent
to 5 per cent it is not a rise of 1 per cent, but 1 percentage point. (A jump from 4 per
cent to 5 per cent is in fact a rise of a quarter, or 25 per cent.) If a party lifts its
share of the vote from 50 per cent to 55 per cent at an election, it is not a rise of 5
per cent, but 5 percentage points (in percentage terms it is actually a jump of 10
per cent). Per cent or the per cent symbol % may be used in headlines, tables and
graphics.

Another way of expressing fractions below 1 per cent is to use basis points. If

109
interest rates move from 5.25 per cent to 5.75 per cent, they have risen by 50 basis
points. The correct expression for rises of less than 1 percentage point is 0.2 (or
whatever) of a percentage point. Not 0.2 per cent or 0.2 percentage points.

Be careful when calculating percentage changes. Make sure you are calculating the
change to the original figure, which is not necessarily the larger or higher figure.
You do this by:
(a) calculating the difference between the original figure and the new figure, then
(b) dividing that difference by the original figure, then (c) multiplying the result by
100 to reach the percentage figure. The less brave can ask an online calculator to
do it for them.

perestroika Russian for restructuring. The policy in the former Soviet Union of
restructuring or reforming the economy and the political system. Also see glasnost

Persian Gulf Do not use Arabian Gulf, unless it is in a quote. The Gulf is acceptable
at second mention.

persons Use people. And prefer people to individuals.

pharmacist Use this, not chemist, for the people who dispense drugs.

pharaoh This is commonly misspelt pharoah.

ayway
phenomenon Plural phenomena.

Philippines, the But Filipino or Filipina for its people. In the collective sense use
Filipinos. Adjectivally: the Philippine ambassador (not Filipino) or a Philippine
minister.

phoney Not phony.

Photoshop Capital P as a noun and a verb. Also see trade names

pill Meaning the contraceptive pill. Lower case.

place names Spell out Avenue, Boulevard, Close, Court, Crescent, Drive, Grove,
Highway, Island, Lake, Lane, Mount, Road, Street, Point, Port and any others except
St as in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. Use upper case The for such street
names as The Boulevard, The Corso, The Strand, The Esplanade when that is the
proper name. Also in names such as The Hague, The Entrance, The Gap. Lower
case the in country names: the United States, the Netherlands. As per government
policy, all Australian place names are written without apostrophes: Rushcutters Bay
(Sydney), Fishermans Bend (Melbourne), Frenchs Forest (Sydney), etc. Use

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capitals for South-East Asia, the US South, Midwest, London’s East End, etc.
American spellings in names of towns and cities can stay: Ann Arbor, Michigan,
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. However, as many non-Americans do, we add a u to
the geographical feature Pearl Harbour. Also see addresses, street, road;
apostrophes

plain-clothes Hyphenated as an adjective, plain-clothes police; but in plain

clothes.

planning Not future planning.

plaster of Paris

platypus, platypuses

pleaded The past tense is pleaded, not the American pled.

plural/singular See verb number in the grammar guide

plurals (of compounds) The principal word takes the plural form:
attorneys-general, aides-de-camp, commanders-in-chief, governors-general,
courts martial, poets laureate. But major-generals, detective sergeants, lord
mayors.

plurals (of initial abbreviations) Add s (not ’s) to form the plural: MPs, BAs, MLCs,
QCs.

plurals (of letters of the alphabet) Here are some exceptions where ’s is used to
form the plural (because otherwise there would be a reading difficulty): the A’s in
the index; dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s; minding one’s P’s and Q’s. Two other
exceptions for clarity: do’s and don’ts; so-and-so’s.

plurals (of numerals) Add s, not ’s: the 1970s, not the 1970’s; the ’70s, not the 70’s
or the Seventies; a man in his 20s, not 20’s or twenties.

plurals (of proper names ending in -s, -es, -ss) Add es (never ’s) to form the
plural: Burnses, Joneses, Baylisses.

plurals (of verbs) See verb number in the grammar guide

plurals (of words adopted from other languages) With some exceptions, to be
found below and in other alphabetical entries, prefer the anglicised options.
antennas (radio etc) but antennae (of insects)
appendixes (anatomy) but appendices (books and reports)

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 bureaus (not bureaux)
indexes (in books) but indices (statistical)
mediums (spiritualists) but media (news and other media)
millennia
referendums
curriculums
stadiums
tableaus
trousseaus
stimuli
strata
data (single and plural)

podcasts Names of podcasts are written in italics.

police Use capitals for names of forces: NSW Police Force, Victoria Police,
Queensland Police Service, Australian Federal Police but lower case for the police
force, federal police, state police. Names of organisations are treated as singular:
Police are on the scene, but Victoria Police is restructuring. Avoid giving the full
name of a force when police on its own will do, i.e. Police are at the scene of a
hold-up in Melbourne’s CBD. It is obvious in this example that the police are of the
Victoria Police variety. But Victoria Police (the organisation) has defended the
actions of senior officers. Use lower case for police stations, police area commands
(NSW), police districts. Some people consider the word cop offensive. Prefer police
in formal copy and headlines where possible.
Branches, squads, etc Use lower case for squads, units, groups, branches, etc: the
homicide squad, the critical incident response team, special operations group,
tactical response unit. Use capitals for the top-level command bodies: State Crime
Command (NSW), Crime Command (Victoria), Professional Standards Command.
Taskforce is lower case: Purana taskforce (Victoria) but Strike Force Parrabell, etc
(NSW).
Titles Use capitals for Chief Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Assistant
Commissioner for Crime, etc only when written next to the name of the incumbent.
Spell out commander, sergeant, constable, inspector. Detective is a designation
rather than a rank. Our default style is to drop honorifics, but if you need to
distinguish someone such as Detective Sergeant Pedro Smith from another Smith
in a story, he would be Sergeant Smith at subsequent mention. Detective Senior
Constable Melinda Boyle would become Senior Constable Boyle. Don’t abbreviate
ranks. Ranks that include chief or senior or leading can’t be shortened without
demoting the holders.

police (federal) The Australian Federal Police (subsequently federal police or AFP).

policymaker Also policyholder. Also see the entry under one word, two words or

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hyphenated

politics As with economics and mathematics, it is usually singular: Australian

politics is getting rougher. But colloquially: What are your politics? See capitals
(politics and government for the main entry on our style in this area.

pompom

Pope, the Upper case for all mentions when referring to the Vatican incumbent:
Pope Leo, the Pope. For a past pope, it's Pope Julius III, the 16th-century pope.
Lower case as a plural, e.g. popes through the ages. Lower case papal, pontiff.

pork-barrelling

Port Hedland (Western Australia) Not Headland

Port Phillip Bay (Victoria) Thereafter the bay (lower case).

possessives When forming the possessive of a singular proper noun ending in s,

add an apostrophe only. (Jones’ car, Williams' computer, Qantas’ planes, the Times’
online readership). An exception: St James’s for the famous district and palace in
London. Add apostrophe s for singular common nouns ending in s: the boss’s
house, the virus’s impact. Possessive pronouns such as its, theirs, hers never take
apostrophes. See also plurals (of proper names ending in -s, -es, -ss)

post-mortem (adjective and noun) But prefer autopsy.

postnatal

postwar

POW, POWs For prisoner(s) of war.

powerbroker
power line

pm/am No full points, no space: 2pm, 7.35am. Beware redundancies such as 3am in
the morning and 9pm at night. Use noon or midnight, not 12am or 12pm. Also see
times

practice (noun), to practise (verb). Sport practice, but he practises kicking. Each
can also function as an adjective. A practice shot, a practised performer.

pre-/pre (in compound words) When to use, and when not to use, the hyphen:

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pre- (with hyphen) is used when the second part of the compound begins with the
vowels e, i or u: pre-­eminent, pre-existing, pre-issue, pre-use. Also, pre-tax,
pre-wedding, pre-war, pre-race. Use the hyphen before all capitals (pre-Christian,
pre-Columbian). Use pre (no hyphen) in other cases, including: prearrange,
precaution, predetermined, prehistoric, prejudge, premarital, premeditated,
preoccupy, preordain, prepaid, preschool, preseason, preselection, presuppose.

presently It means soon, in a little while, not at the present time. When knocking
out a superfluous currently, do not substitute presently. See also currently

president Use a capital P when next to the name of an incumbent in high

government office: US President Ashleigh Moore, but the US president said … The
same applies for the president and deputy president of the Senate. Also upper case
when used with a name for the incumbent president of a court or president of the
Fair Work Commision. Lower case for all positions in the private sector. See also
capitals

preventive Not preventative unless part of a proper name.

Prime Minister-elect, President-elect Use capitals only when next to the name of
someone who has been elected and is waiting to be sworn in.

primeval See also diphthongs

prior to Make it before.

prise open Pry in this sense is American. Use pry in the sense of delving too
closely into someone’s personal affairs.

prizemoney, prizewinner

profit-making Also hyphenate profit-sharing, profit-taking, non-profit-making.

professor Never Prof, either in text or in headlines. An associate professor or

assistant professor stays that on second mention. See also university

prognosis Not the same as diagnosis; it is, in effect, a forward diagnosis, an

opinion on the probable course of a case or disease.

program

pronouns See the grammar guide for entries on its and it’s and who, which and
that

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prophecy (noun), to prophesy (verb)

prophet, the (lower case) Muhammad. See also the Islamic style guide

protagonist Strictly, it means the main character in a play, book, film, etc, but
these days it is common to talk about a number of protagonists.

Protestant, Protestantism Use capitals when referring to denominations formed

as a result of the break from the Catholic Church in the 16th century, or for
members of these denominations. Protestant is not normally used with Mormons,
Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Do not use Protestant for any of the
Orthodox churches or their members.

protester But demonstrator.

proved/proven Prefer proved in these forms: This proved to be correct; Her guilt
was proved. But adjectivally: a proven method.

public-private partnership

public service Lower case for the public service. Capitals for senior officers
appointed by governments when the title is used next to the name of the
incumbent: the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Solicitor-General, the
Auditor-General, Chief Scientist, Chief Medical Officer, the State Coroner, the Chief
Commissioner of Police, the Ombudsman, but lower case for permanent heads of
departments: Treasury secretary Dolla Moneybags.

puns Some of the most eye-catching headlines use puns. Unfortunately, a pun
works well only if it is fresh and genuinely clever. Most are not, so don’t use a pun
unless it’s a good one. Be aware that pun-style headlines often don’t work online as
readers need a decent amount of information as to what a story is about if they are
to click on it.

purchase Use buy for the verb.

pyjamas But the musical The Pajama Game.

PUNCTUATION GUIDE

apostrophes

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The government decided long ago that Australian geographical names would not
take apostrophes, making life simple for journalists around the nation (St Leonards,
Coffs Harbour, Kings Cross, Fishermans Bend, etc). Keep apostrophes in overseas
place names that use them (St James’s in London). An initial apostrophe is used
when denoting a decade: the ’70s, the ’50s. Abbreviations do not take apostrophes
in the plural (two MPs, five GPs). Phrases such as six months’ jail, a week’s holiday
take apostrophes. When forming the possessive of a name ending in s, add an
apostrophe only (Jones' car, Williams' computer, Qantas' profit, Dickens’ works).
Add apostrophe s for singular common nouns: the boss’s bonus, the virus’s toll.

colons
Used as a pause before a list or elaboration.
The following articles were found in his pockets: a wallet, a phone and a piece of
chewing gum.
Here’s my secret to success: get plenty of sleep and take frequent holidays.
Use a capital after the colon when the colon introduces a quotation
He said: “What are you doing with that crowbar in your hand?”
Question: “What are you doing?” Answer: “You tell me.”
Use a capital after caption kickers
Married to the job: Newlyweds Mila Jovavich and David Preiss tied the knot in a
car factory. See also captions
Use a capital in headlines except when what follows is an attribution
Federal budget 2030: Surplus up, taxes down
Get the buzz: Bees are back in town
Baker broke into flour mill: police

Use lower case when the colon introduces a list

The emergency services members said they needed many items: chainsaws,
tarpaulins, water, silk pillowslips …
Use lower case when the colon introduces an elaboration, an explanation, an
associated idea:
One thing is plain: we must economise.
This is the position: if we don’t economise, we’re doomed.

commas
Although there are times when they are optional, the pause commas create is often
crucial for preventing ambiguity and unintended meanings. Consider these two
sentences:
Before eating the soldiers went for a run.
Before eating, the soldiers went for a run.

Commas are used as a substitute for and in a list: Oats, corn, maize and barley.
Some people would insert a further comma (known as an Oxford comma) after
maize. Our style is to do so only if it is needed for clarity.

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They set off introductory words: John, this is not good enough.
They indicate reinforcement before short expressions: That’s not the right way, is
it?
They separate words that give extra information in a sentence but that can be
removed and still leave a grammatical sentence behind in which the overall
meaning is unchanged: Katie, normally a quiet child, threw a tantrum. Take out the
extra information provided by normally a quiet child and you are left with Katie
threw a tantrum, a grammatical sentence.

Comma missteps and confusions

Acme chief executive, Benazir Khan, said she would step down.
(Wrong. Acme chief executive said she would step down is not a grammatical
sentence.
Acme chief executive Benazir Khan said she would step down.
(Correct)
The Acme director of marketing, product placement and freebies, Ralph Khan, is
also stepping down.
(Correct. Remove the name and the sentence is grammatical). NB: Our style is to
drop the the except with long and unwieldy titles such as this one.

He and his wife Frida went to Rome.

(Wrong unless he has more than one wife.)
He and his wife, Frida, went to Rome.
(Correct. Take out Frida and there is one wife left in a grammatical sentence. The
fact her name is Frida is a bit of extra information.)

The reunion took place in October, 2023.

(Wrong)
The reunion took place in October 2023.
(Correct)

Taylor Swift dined with her parents, Mick Jagger and the Duchess of Sussex.
(Wrong as it suggests Jagger and the duchess are her parents.)
Taylor Swift dined with her parents, Mick Jagger, and the Duchess of Sussex.
(Correct as the pause created by the Oxford comma before and removes any
misinterpretation.)

He was “a tremendous social climber,” bon vivant and rare intellect in the field of
Kardashian studies.
(Wrong. Commas always go inside quote marks in American English but not our
English.)
He was “a tremendous social climber”, bon vivant and rare intellect in the field of
Kardashian studies.

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(Correct)

The hackers broke into the company’s systems, but did not steal any data.
(Comma not needed. One is usually used if the words on either side of the but (or
other conjunction such as and, or, so) can stand alone as separate sentences.
The hackers broke into the company’s systems, but they did not steal any data.
(Correct)

She danced on and he went to bed.

If the standalone clauses on either side of the conjunction (but, and or, so, etc) are
short, the comma may be dropped.

A man, who allegedly held up a service station while dressed as Napoleon, was
arrested on Tuesday.
(The problem with this lede is that in bracketing off who allegedly held up a service
station while dressed as Napoleon, it suggests this is a bit of extra information by
the way and the thrust of the sentence is that a man was arrested on Tuesday, not
in itself a notable fact.)
A man who allegedly held up a service station while dressed as Napoleon was
arrested on Tuesday.
(Correct. Mention of the robbery and the Napoleon outfit is now at the heart of the
sentence.)

As the Oxford puts it: “Commas are used to separate a part of a sentence that is an
optional ‘aside’ and not part of the main statement.”
Stephen Murray-Smith in Right Words uses this example of the misuse of commas:
Soldiers, who run away, are not welcome in any army. (The comma after soldiers
gives the unintended meaning that all soldiers always run away.)

dashes
Dashes may be used in pairs instead of parentheses:
The Australians would have been struggling if Murdoch had held a sharp chance
at slip – he seemed to be impeded by the keeper – when Collins was on only 15.
A dash may be used to indicate an abrupt break in a sentence as in an
interrupted conversation:
“Don’t tell Petra that we don’t like –” “I wouldn’t dare.”
A dash may also be used before an afterthought or interjection to give it
emphasis:
The dictator might have decided to jail his opponents – at a risk. Instead he
decided to compromise – at a price.
Don’t overuse dashes. If you use a pair instead of parenthesis don’t use another in
the same sentence; it will cause confusion.

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exclamation marks are for exclamations, thus: oh! or ouch! or, “Never!” she cried.
Otherwise, use sparingly.

full stops
Sentences marked by full stops normally represent a discrete or distinct statement;
more closely connected or complementary statements are joined by a semicolon
(as here).

hyphens
Hyphenation is one of the more fraught areas of punctuation. Like the comma, the
hyphen is often neglected but is an invaluable aid to making your meaning clear.
The trend is to use far fewer hyphens than in the past. Until early last century
even to-day, to-night and to-morrow were mainly hyphenated. If you’re not sure
whether a word or phrase takes a hyphen, check this guide or the dictionary.
When it comes to compounds, ask yourself if adding a hyphen helps clarity
and/or flow or makes no difference. No one would inject a hyphen into a phrase
such as federal government policy. There is zero ambiguity without one and the
flow is fine. Federal and government naturally go together – ask anyone in
Canberra. But consider these examples:
Arcadia has little town charm as opposed to Arcadia has little-town charm.
A man-eating flounder or a man eating flounder.
A fine-tooth comb or a fine tooth comb.
These are cases where omitting a hyphen can change the meaning or at least
cause confusion. While we don’t want to slavishly add hyphens everywhere, we
often omit them where they should be and add them where they shouldn’t be.
Here is a rundown of some common areas that can cause problems:

(1) -ly words When these words are adverbs (words that modify adjectives,
verbs or other adverbs) a hyphen should not be used.
The remarkably unattractive sponge cake did not rise to the occasion.
The brightly lit room hurt his eyes.
The poorly written article annoyed readers.

(2) re- words Use hyphens where a single word can have two meanings:
re-cover and recover, re-sent and resent, re-sign and resign, re-form and reform.

(3) ill, well, better, best, worse, worst . When used before a noun hyphenate, when
after a noun don’t.
This was a well-built house but This house was well built.
He is the worst-behaved boy in class, but I know no other boys who are worse
behaved.

(4) numbers Hyphenate in cases such as the following:

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a 12-year drought (but a drought that has lasted 12 years)
a two-metre-long fingernail
one-quarter, two-fifths
two-year jail term
a child aged 10 is a 10-year-old
a six-day war
a first-class effort

(5) -up, -out and -off words Our basic rule of thumb is to hyphenate nouns ending
in -off or -up but make those ending in -out one word. Examples can be found
throughout this guide. Verbs are always two words. A take-off, to take off; a
standout, to stand out; a hold-up, to hold up.

(6) Use a hyphen in this case: Then-prime minister Ben Chifley said he liked
hyphens. but Ben Chifley was the then prime minister.

question and answer

Here is an example of how you can write question-and-answer passages such as
those sometimes used in court reports:

Prosecutor John Smith: “Did you kill him?”

Jones: “No.”
But didn’t you fire the gun? – No. (Note that the quote marks are now dropped.)
Was the gun in your hand? – No.

quotation marks
So you've got a quote and now you want to punctuate it. A full quote is easy
enough: ''Commas are so 20th century,'' she said. It's with variations on the
theme that confusion arises. Here are some common examples and simple
ways to treat them:

Partial quotes
He said he knew of ''no salient reason to stand on his head''.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was “most unimpressed”.
The full stop goes outside the quote marks.

Partial quotes followed by a consecutive quote

The judge said Diaz’s theft of the compost was “the worst such case I have ever
seen. You are a menace to decent worm farmers everywhere.”
Or, if starting a new paragraph:

120
The judge said Diaz’s theft of the compost was “without a doubt the worst such
case I have ever seen.
''You are a menace to decent worm farmers everywhere.”

Interrupted quotes
“You are a reckless man,” the judge said, “and have shown yourself to be a
menace to decent worm farmers everywhere.”

Quotes within quotes

“The police said to me, ‘Drop the chicken.’ ”
The inner quote gets single quote marks. Note there is only one full stop at the
end. We don’t want combinations of .. ?? or .?, etc creeping in.

What if a quote within a quote is a question?

If quoting a question within a statement, the question mark goes inside the
single quote mark.
“I noted that as the worms pondered their lack of compost, they asked
themselves, ‘Should we go for Uber Eats?’ ” the witness said.
If it’s the overall statement that’s the question, the question mark goes outside
the single quote mark.
“Did you realise that as the worms pondered their lack of compost, their leader
insisted, “Let’s get Uber Eats’?”

Readers get impatient, so in a quoted passage never leave them guessing the
identity of the speaker. Source it before, during or at the end of the first sentence.
We use double quote marks in captions and body text (single for quotes within
quotes). We also use double for homepage write-offs. Use single quotation marks
in headings, precedes (standfirsts) and breakout quotes.
Don’t use unnecessary quote marks on mundane words in reported speech. This
habit is rife and serves no purpose. Rather than Smith said the fine was
“excessive”, make it: Smith said the fine was excessive. But Smith said the fine was
“humongous”. In this example the quote marks tell the reader that the speaker used
an unusual word. See quotes

semicolons
Heavier than a comma but of less weight than a full stop or colon, a semicolon
commonly connects two sentences whose thoughts the author wants to link
closely, as in:
The candidate could not be said to give a very good impression; he looked as if

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 he needed a good wash.
The enemy snipers were difficult to dislodge; they held out to the end with
complete devotion.
In both cases the semicolon could have been replaced by a full stop, but the effect
might have been too disjointed or jerky. The semicolon is also used to divide
balancing statements, as in:
Some children wanted to play cricket; others wanted to go swimming.
All the virtue and all the praise go to socialism; all that is unvirtuous and
damnable is non-socialist.
Use semicolons to separate items in lists if one or more item also has a comma.
The large cage contained three budgies, two of which were chicks; four parrots,
one of which would not stop talking; and a toy cockatoo.

square brackets
Square brackets are used to enclose explanatory information in a quote when it is
not included by the speaker.
“The whole thing [the Middle East] is on the brink of an outbreak of major
violence,” he said.
“It [the project] is way behind schedule.”
If a statement or report has inserted the explanatory information, round brackets
are correct.

Q
Queen Rarely do we need to refer to the monarch as Queen Elizabeth. The Queen
is sufficient. Use her name only when mentioning other queens: Queen Elizabeth,
like Queen Mary …

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother No comma. The late Queen Mother.

Queenscliff is in the Borough of Queenscliffe (Victoria). The Sydney suburb is

Queenscliff.

Queen’s Counsel Singular and plural. Abbreviate as QC e.g. John Smith, QC, said …
Also Senior Counsel (SC). See counsel

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Queens Hall In Parliament House, Melbourne. Also Kings Hall, Old Parliament
House, Canberra.

question time (in parliament). Lower case.

queue, queueing

quotations
The abiding principle is that readers have every right to expect accuracy in quotes.
Minor grammatical slips, however, can usually be cleaned up, particularly if made
by people who are not native English speakers. Ums and ahs and other pause
devices should be removed. Otherwise, if a quote is messy, paraphrase it – fairly
and accurately. If omitting part of a quote, use ellipses – three points with spaces
on either side – to indicate this is the case: “They don’t like to boast about their
achievements …” as opposed to “They don’t like to boast about their achievements
regardless of where they made them.” Use this device if needed to get to the
essence of a quote, but only when the meaning is not altered.

If two people are quoted in a row, the second person needs to be identified before
their quote appears. When one speaker’s quotes continue for consecutive
paragraphs, whatever attribution is required must be given with the first par, not
left until the end. Don’t leave the reader guessing or with a false impression.

Quoting a mundane word or phrase in isolation is unnecessary. The chief executive

said he was “annoyed”. The quotation marks serve no purpose and should be
omitted. The chief executive said the rival company was “overflowing with vicious
vipers”. Here, it is useful to stress that these were the exact words used. See also
quotation marks in the punctuation guide

quotations (social media) Tweets, Facebook posts and the like can generally run
without being cleaned up for spelling, punctuation and grammar, and shouldn't be
littered with sics. Clean them up too much and they may look inauthentic. But
consider context and clarity. A tweet on a serious topic by someone who obviously
has no trouble with the English language but has made a simple typo can be
corrected.

R
R&B rhythm and blues.

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R&D research and development.

R&R rest and recreation.

race and nationality Do not make gratuitous references to racial and national
origin. Unless there is an overriding justification for the identification of nationality
or race, it should be omitted. It would be relevant to say: Five Sudanese-born
people were attacked by white supremacists. It is not relevant to say: A
Sudanese-born man appeared in court on burglary charges. See also Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people, black, N-word, racist/sexist slurs

rack/racked Racked with pain. Also nerve-racking and rack and ruin. Not wracked.

racquet/racket Tennis and squash players use racquets; criminals run rackets.

radio stations Write their names as they do: ABC Classic, 2UE, triple j, 2DayFM,
smoothfm, etc. An exception: If a name is all lower case, use a capital at the start of
a sentence.

raft Overused and usually unnecessary.

raskol gangs (PNG)

razzmatazz

re-/re (in compound words) re- (with hyphen) is used when followed by an e
(re-elect). Re (no hyphen) is used in other instances: rearm, reappear, reinforce,
reiterate, reopen, reunion, reconstitute, remake, reselect. EXCEPTIONS: Use re-
(with hyphen) in re-read and where confusion would arise with another word
(between, say, recover and re-cover, reform and re-form, recreation and
re-creation, re-sent and resent).

reach out We don’t reach out to people, but we do contact them.

realpolitik

rebut See refute

referendum, referendums

reform Not all change is reform (which means a change for the better), so we
should not bias our mastheads by automatically describing every proposed or
implemented change as a reform.

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refute, rebut Refute means to disprove, not simply deny or reject. To say The
government refuted the opposition’s claims is to take a side in the argument. Rebut
can mean to claim that something is false or to disprove it. If you’re talking about
the back and forth debate and don’t mean that something has been disproved, use
reject.

reign/rein Reign is the period a ruler is on the throne. A rein is a strap used to
control a horse.

religion See churches

Renaissance Upper case for the historical era.

report Lower case in the Gowans report, the Stuart report, etc. It’s report on, not
into.

reported speech See courts (court evidence)

Reserve Bank governor Lower case governor.

restaurant But restaurateur (not restauranteur).

Reuters The news agency. A Reuters report, a Reuters correspondent.

Revelation, Book of But Revelations is the short title.

Reverend Spell out the Reverend Alex Smith at first reference. Do not abbreviate to
the Rev.

rhinoceros, rhinoceroses

Rhodes Scholar, Rhodes Scholarship

Ring, The Wagner's epic cycle of four operas is titled Der Ring des Nibelungen, or
The Ring for short. Cycle is not part of the name.

rip-off (noun or adjective) to rip off (verb)

Ripponlea The Melbourne suburb, but Rippon Lea and the Rippon Lea estate for
the house and estate administered by the National Trust.

river Use upper case when the word is part of a river’s name: The Yarra River, the
River Nile, the Hawkesbury River, but the Barwon and Darling rivers.

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Riverina, the

road, street, etc Spell out street, road, avenue, court, boulevard, highway, etc in all
cases. See addresses and place names

road map Not roadmap. And remember not every plan has to be a road map. In fact
plan is a good alternative.

robo-debt Centrelink automated debt recovery system scandal.

rock ’n’ roll

Rolls-Royce With hyphen. Also Mercedes-Benz, Harley-Davidson.

roman numerals It is essential that they be keyed correctly. The Roman one is a
capital I (“EYE”), not a lower case L (“ELL”) or the Arabic figure 1. Too often, World
War II appears as World War 11. A cricket XI, but a squad of 11 cricketers. A rugby
XV.

roof, roofs But hoof, hooves.

rooms Bedroom, bathroom, ballroom, boardroom, classroom, clubroom(s),

courtroom, one word. Dining room, living room, lounge room, party room two words.

royal Use capitals only in names of institutions, buildings, established events, etc
(Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Easter Show but royal wedding), in specific royal
commissions when giving the full title (the NSW Royal Commission on Drugs) and in
specific titles such as the Princess Royal when used with a name. Use lower case
for royal family, royal tour, royal commissions generally (calling for a royal
commission, etc), royal assent, royalty, the royals.

Our current monarch keeps capitals on each mention. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen.
She may be referred to as the Queen on every mention unless an article talks about
more than one queen. Full titles such as the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales,
the Duchess of Sussex are upper case at each mention. Capitals for Prince William,
Princess Mary, Prince Harry, etc, but lower case if used without the name (the
prince, the princess, the duke, the duchess). Kings and queens of other countries
are the king, the queen on second mention. Use the Duchess of Sussex or Meghan.
She is no longer Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Cambridge is, formally speaking,
Catherine. If you want to be informal, she’s Kate, not Kate Middleton. Use lower
case for forms of address such as your majesty, your royal highness, your
excellency, and the description her majesty, his majesty. See also honorifics

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Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne and Sydney. Not Botanical.

royal commissions The titles of royal commissions take capitals when used in full:
the Royal Commission into Fruitfly Eradication, the royal commission on second
reference or the fruitfly royal commission. Lower case for royal commissioners:
Justice Tamara Smith, the royal commissioner inquiring into fruitfly eradication, but
Commissioner Tamara Smith if that is her preferred honorific. Lower case for royal
commissions in general.

rustling Make it cattle stealing. Rustling is American.

S
Sabbath

sacked Be careful using this term in relation to an individual as there could be legal
ramifications. The individual may have been sacked, but also may in fact have been
stood aside, stood down, resigned, asked to resign or other distinctions. Ousted is
a good general-purpose word for situations where it is unclear or a short headline
word is needed.

Saddam Hussein Saddam at second mention.

said Said is an excellent word. Use it freely. Prefer the minister said to told (insert
masthead), declared, added, urged, argued, commented, continued, etc. We use
told (insert masthead) far too often.

St (for Saint) Use the abbreviation (no full points) for saints’ names, and for
churches, places, etc named after them.

St John Ambulance Not St John’s.

St Philip’s Church (Sydney)

salt water (noun), saltwater (adjective). Saltwater crocodiles live in salt water.

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salvo, salvos And Salvo(s) for a Salvation Army member(s).

Samoa There are two: American Samoa in the east and Samoa in the west
(formerly Western Samoa).

same-sex marriage

sanatorium, sanatoriums

sanction As a verb this means to approve. If talking about a government applying a

penalty prefer The US imposed sanctions on Iran or hit Iran with sanctions.

Sanitarium Health Food Company

SARS severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Satan/satanic. The Devil.

sat-nav

Saudi Arabia/Saudi The country/the people. The capital is Riyadh.

Saviour Upper case when meaning Jesus Christ.

sceptic Also sceptical, scepticism. But Australian Skeptics and The Skeptic
magazine.

schadenfreude

Schanck, Cape (Victoria)

schizophrenia People with schizophrenia do not have split personalities. They may
have various psychotic disorders, but only one personality. Do not use the term
figuratively (‘‘The Swans’ form has been schizophrenic.’’)

schoolies week

schools Use an apostrophe in their names if they do: Mac.Robertson Girls’ High
School, (Melbourne) Presbyterian Ladies’ College. Use numerals for grades and
years below 10: a grade 2 student. Also term 2 but second term.

scientific names Italicise. Upper case for the first word (the genus name), lower
case for the second word (the specific name): Homo sapiens, Homo erectus,
Macropus rufus (red kangaroo), Acacia elata, Eucalyptus maculata (spotted gum).

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Note: scientific names should not be referred to as Latin names.

Scot, Scottish, Scotch A Scot, a Scotsman (not Scotchman); Scottish (not Scotch)
people; Scotch whisky; Scotch egg; Scotch broth; Scotch College (Melbourne and
Adelaide), Scots College (Sydney); Scots Church (Melbourne).

Scotch tape Trade name. Use sticky tape.

script (a doctor’s prescription), scrip (shares).

Scripture Biblical. Also Holy Scripture, the Scriptures. But scriptural.

sea change, sea-changers (The original TV show was SeaChange). Also tree
change, tree-changers.

seasons Lower case summer, autumn, winter, spring.

section, article Lower case for section 3 of the Crimes Act and article 4 of the
Vienna Convention, etc.

see As in The privatisation of Parliament will see a more competitive style of

politics; The weekend saw West Coast recover from a disastrous start to the
season. A limp and hugely overused way to connect ideas. Better to say what is
meant: will lead to, will result in, will foster, will nurture, etc. Restrict see to what
humans and animals with eyeballs do.

secretary Lower case for all positions including the secretary of the Treasury,
except in titles of incumbent US or British cabinet members (the Secretary of State,
Transport Secretary).

self- Most terms beginning with self, such as self-esteem, take a hyphen.
Exceptions include selfless, selfsame.

semillon The grape and the wine. See also wines

Semitic Although anti-Semite, anti-Semitic refer to anti-Jewish feeling, Semite and

Semitic refer not only to Jewish people but to Arabs as well.

senator A senator, the senator, Labor senator Joe Tan, but use a capital as an
honorific: Senator Joe Tan, Senator Tan said. Senators are MPs. It is wrong to talk
of senators and MPs as if they are separate groups.

senior, junior Abbreviate as the person does.

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September 11, 2001 The terrorist attacks on the US are widely referred to as ‘‘the
September 11 attacks’’, but, where possible, include the year: ‘‘The attacks on the
US on September 11, 2001 …’’ 9/11 is OK for headlines.

serjeant-at-arms The parliamentary officer. But sergeant-at-arms for bikie office

bearers.

7-Eleven stores

sewage/sewerage Sewage is the waste matter; sewerage is the system that

carries it away in sewers, sewer pipes. Also sewage treatment farm.

Seychelles islands Or the Seychelles.

shake up/shake-up To shake up, but a shake-up.

sharebroker Also, shareholder. See one word, two words or hyphenated

sharemarket

sharia (Islamic law), lower case. Not shariah. It is a tautology to say sharia law. Use
sharia or Islamic law. See also the Islamic style guide

sheikh is a title of rulers of Persian Gulf principalities and can be used for religious
figures and tribal chiefs as well. Not sheik.

Shiite Muslims We use this spelling rather than Shia or Shi’ite. See also the Islamic
style guide

ships We do not italicise ships’ names. A ship is referred to as it, not her. Use
HMAS Hobart, the Hobart, or the destroyer Hobart, not just Hobart (‘‘Hobart has
sailed for Sydney’’ is ludicrous). Also, do not say the HMAS Hobart (if you do, you
are saying, in effect, the Her Majesty’s Australian ship, which is silly). Submarines,
however, are known as boats. Naval fighting vessels are warships, not battleships.
A battleship is a type of warship.

shires Upper case for the Sutherland Shire. Lower case for the shire, shires. See
councils

shih-tzu The dog breed.

shoo-in Not shoe-in.

shootout (noun)

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shops Use butcher’s shop (not butcher shop), grocer’s shop. Retail shop is a
tautology.

shortlist (noun and verb). No hyphen.

short-term A short-term (shorter-term) solution, but in the short term.

shotgun See firearms

Show It’s the Royal Melbourne Show, the Royal Easter Show (Sydney), the Show,
the Showgrounds (Melbourne), the Showground (Sydney), showbags.

side effect

sidewalk An Americanism. We have footpaths, pavements.

silicon/silicone Silicon is the mineral, silicone is the rubbery compound, Silicon

Valley is the high-tech hub.

skilful

Skype Upper case as noun and verb. See trade names

skyrail Melbourne’s level-crossing removal program.

skulduggery

slash (/) See oblique stroke

slurs (racist, sexist etc) We should not slavishly report slurs used by bigots. Often
it is enough to say Twitter trolls used a racist slur or protesters hurled racist abuse.
Reporting the exact words of someone prominent may well be valid. See also
N-word

small business Small-business man, woman, people etc, but businessman etc.

smartcard

smartphone

smartwatch

Smithsonian Institution Not Institute.

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SMS short message service. SMS message is redundant. Prefer text messaging.

Socialist/socialist Upper case when used of a member of a Socialist Party (that is,
a party bearing that name.) Otherwise lower case. The same principle applies to
conservative, liberal, communist, green, etc.

Socialist Left The Labor Party faction. See also ALP

socioeconomic

Solomon Islands Not the Solomon Islands.

Somalia/Somali The country/the people. (The adjective is Somali not Somalian.)

some time/sometime Usually two words: I’ll do it some time. As one word it means
former, erstwhile: a sometime friend.

Sotheby’s The auction house takes an apostrophe. Also Christie’s.

South The US South.

South Coast (NSW)

South-East Asia

south-east Also south-west, north-east, north-west

Southbank (Melbourne) South Bank Brisbane

southern hemisphere

Southern Highlands (NSW)

Southern Tablelands (NSW)

South Pacific

sourcing We should acknowledge the work done by our competitors by crediting

them as the source of significant news breaks that we follow up. We should try to
provide at least two on-the-record sources to indicate a news story is credible. If
we can’t name the source, we need to make it clear to the reader that the person
who gave us the information is legitimate: a senior federal bureaucrat, a source
close to the archdiocese.

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Reporters should give as much information about the source as possible (a
source with direct knowledge of the situation) and explain why they are
anonymous (... said a source who did not want to be identified because the
matter is confidential, or because they were still employed by the company).
Speculative or general comments such as the move is likely to anger the
government or The AFL/NRL has been under growing pressure over off-field
behaviour of players must be backed up by a relevant source and context. Who
exactly is putting the AFL/NRL under pressure? Otherwise, the piece becomes
comment, instead of news. Pseudonyms should be avoided.

soybean

Speaker, Deputy Speaker (of parliament) Capitals at each mention for incumbents.
Also for former office holders if needed for clarity. See also capitals (politics and
government)

special characters These can be found in Ink via the Omega (Ω) button below
embeds.

special forces Military units that conduct special operations.

Special Operations Command Formed in 2003 to unite Australian Army special

forces units. These include the Special Air Service Regiment, whose name can be
abbreviated to SAS. See also armed forces

species Singular and plural.

spelt Also misspelt.

spilt Not spilled.

spiral It can go up or down or in any direction, so a wage spiral simply means the
money is going around and around, not necessarily upward.

splitting verbs Constructions such as he will this week decide are common, and
clumsy. Say he will decide this week … See the grammar guide

spokeswoman, spokesman, spokesperson Any of these may be used. If a

preference is known, opt for that. Refer to members of shadow cabinets as
opposition agriculture spokesman, Labor industrial relations spokeswoman, etc.
Use shadow in the following cases: shadow treasurer, shadow attorney-general.

sponsors’ names The use of sponsors’ names in close association with sporting

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and cultural events should be avoided where possible.

spoonfuls, bucketfuls

spring racing carnival Lower case. See also Melbourne Cup

square brackets See punctuation guide

stadiums Not stadia.

staffer Prefer aide, assistant, worker, employee, staff member.

stakeout (noun) to stake out (verb)

standard phrases Take care with the following:

Toe (not tow) the line

Home (not hone) in on
A hard row (not road) to hoe
Pore (not pour) over a map
Bated (not baited) breath
One fell (not foul) swoop

states and territories Lower case: a state, the state, state parliament, New York
state. New South Wales is abbreviated to NSW at all times. Use the abbreviation
ACT at every reference. It’s the Northern Territory at first reference, then the
territory or the NT. Avoid Tas, Vic, Qld.

statewide Also nationwide, worldwide. But Victoria-wide, NSW-wide,

Australia-wide, etc.

stationary/stationery Stationary is not moving. Stationery is writing paper, etc.

stations Upper case as proper nouns for a city’s main train station/s: Flinders
Street Station or Southern Cross Station in Melbourne, Central Station in Sydney.
Other stations take lower case, as do police stations.

stealth Lower case when referring to aircraft such as stealth bombers.

stepmother Also stepfather, stepson, stepdaughter, stepchild, stepbrother,

stepsister. But step-parent.

stimulus, stimuli

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stockbroker Also, stockholder, stock owner. Also see one word, two words or
hyphenated

stolen generations Lower case and plural.

Stonnington The Melbourne municipality has a double N, but Stonington Mansion

does not.

storm water Two words as a noun, one as an adjective.

Story Bridge (Brisbane)

straightforward

straitjacket

straitlaced

Stratford-upon-Avon

street, road Spell out street, road, avenue, highway, freeway, etc: High Street,
Princes Highway, Eastern Freeway. In the plural, Lonsdale and Spencer streets. See
also addresses and place names

street numbers These are not usually given in news reports. If there is a reason for
including them, check carefully.

studmaster, studbreeder

sub-/sub (in compounds) Use the hyphen:

(1) Where the second part of the compound begins with b: sub-base is one of the
rare cases of this.
(2) In titles where the second part is commonly upper case: Sub-Lieutenant. Again,
the cases are rare: subdeacon and subdean are not such cases. Otherwise one
word: subagent, subaltern, subcommittee, subdeacon, subdistrict, subdivision,
subeditor, subhuman, subprime, subsection, substandard, subterranean, but
sub-machinegun.

subjunctive and conditional See if it were/if it was in the grammar guide

sub-machinegun See also firearms

Suburban Rail Loop Melbourne

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Suharto Former Indonesian president. Not Soeharto.

Sukarno Indonesia’s first president. Not Soekarno.

Sukarnoputri, Megawati Former Indonesian president, daughter of Sukarno.

suicide Noun only. The term committed suicide is seen as stigmatising given the
association committed has with crime and sin. Use died by suicide, took her own
life. killed himself. Don’t use failed suicide or successful suicide. When a story
about suicide or mental illness is running, helpline website links and/or phone
numbers should be included at the bottom.

sulphur, not sulfur.

summon, summons People are summonsed when they get a court summons.
Otherwise, they are summoned.

Sunday Age, The See Age, The

Sun-Herald, The For sections and liftouts do not use italics. The fun run is known
as the Sun-Herald City2Surf.

sun Lower case.

Surfers Paradise No apostrophe.

Surrey Hills (Melbourne), Surry Hills (Sydney)

Swanston Street (Melbourne) but Swanson Dock.

swat a fly, swot for an exam.

swath/swathe Use swath for a wide area or strip of something, as in what you get
using a scythe or mower. Broad swaths of the state were left without power. To
swathe means to wrap or bandage something.

swear words/swearing See obscenities

Sydney Airport Not Mascot.

Sydney council It’s the City of Sydney council (lower case c)

Sydney Fish Market Not Markets.

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Sydney Harbour Or the harbour.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Or the Harbour Bridge or the bridge.

Sydney Harbour Tunnel Also the Harbour Tunnel, the tunnel.

Sydney Heads Or the Heads.

Sydney Morning Herald, The The Sydney Morning Herald is owned by Nine
Entertainment Co. The legal entity listed as its publisher is Fairfax Media
Publications Pty Ltd. Do not use italics for sections of digital sites or the paper:
Green Guide, the Letters page, Spectrum, Business, Sport, Good Food, Traveller,
etc. Spin-off publications are italicised: Good Food Guide, Good Weekend. If you
need to specifically mention that someone told the masthead (aim to avoid doing
so), give the full title at first reference followed by the Herald at later reference.

T
T Use a hyphen in T-shirt, T-square, T-bone, T-junction etc, but T cell.

takeaway food

take-off As a noun. But to take off (verb).

takeover One word as a noun and adjective, but take over as a verb.

take place Things take place by design, or occur or happen by chance. Meetings
take place, accidents or disasters occur or happen.

Talib/Taliban Talib is singular, Taliban is the plural noun. The Taliban are in charge
...

Taser (trade name) Upper case as noun and verb. The generic equivalent is stun
gun. See also trade names

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Tattersall’s (with apostrophe), but Tatts (no apostrophe).

tautology Tautology is a waste of words, saying the same thing twice. Here are
some examples:
ABN number
added bonus
advocate for
brief moment
climb up
close proximity
completely full
consensus of opinion
descend down
end result
few in number
final outcome
follow after
free gift
future prospects
green-coloured
hectares of land
hoist up
invited guest
join together
little baby
merge together
new innovation
new recruit
noxious poison
old adage
passing phase
past experience
past history
past record
PIN number
raze to the ground
repeat again
retail shop
return again
revert back
safe haven
skirt around
SMS message
sufficient enough

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temporary reprieve
temporary respite
total extinction
totally destroyed
triangular shape
true facts
universal panacea
usual customs
See also wasted words.

taxes Use lower case for names of taxes: the fringe benefits tax, goods and
services tax (or GST). It’s the Australian Taxation Office, Taxation Office or Tax
Office, not the Taxation Department.

teammate, teamwork

tea-tree

tear gas But to tear-gas someone.

Tehran Not Teheran.

Telegraph, Daily To prevent confusion between the London and Sydney

publications of the same name, tag stories Telegraph, London. Daily Telegraph or
London's Daily Telegraph can be used in copy where the context is clear.

telehealth

telephone numbers They should be spaced as below, using thin spaces to avoid
line breaks. (Sometimes producers will have to reword paragraphs containing
phone numbers to avoid line breaks and loose lines.)
Metropolitan numbers: (eight digits) 9123 4567. With area code (07) 9123 4567.
1300, 1800 or 1900 numbers:
1800 123 456
13 numbers 13 25 19
Mobile phones: 0418 123 456

television stations (free to air) ABC, SBS, Seven, Nine, Ten, Channel Seven,
Channel Nine, Channel Ten, Network Ten, Seven Network, Nine Network, NITV,
Channel 31. SECONDARY CHANNELS: ABC TV Plus, ABC ME, ABC News; SBS
Viceland, SBS Movies, SBS Food; 7TWO, 7mate, 7flix; 9Go!, 9Gem, 9Life, 9Rush; 10
Bold, 10 Peach, 10 Shake. STREAMING: ABC iview, 9Now, 7plus, 10 play, SBS On
Demand. Point out in copy that Nine is our owner. In business contexts, the full

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name is Nine Entertainment Co. In copy transcribed from television (and radio)
broadcasts, always credit the station (or network) and the program: The actor was
speaking on ABC program Four Corners, or ABC TV’s 7.30.

temperature Use numerals: 2 degrees, 30 degrees, minus 2 degrees (not -2).

Australia has been using the Celsius scale for decades, so it is not necessary to say
20 degrees Celsius unless making comparisons with Fahrenheit readings.

Ten Commandments

thalidomide

thank-you As a noun and an adjective: He issued a thank-you; I received a

thank-you letter. But I wanted to thank you.

that A much-maligned word that serves a useful purpose in preventing ambiguity.

He said that on Monday he was robbed in the Perth CBD. To remove that creates
ambiguity as to whether he was robbed on Monday or merely made the comment
on that day. If there is no ambiguity, that can be dropped.

that/which See who, which, that in the grammar guide.

the Use lower case for countries (the United States, the Netherlands) and
nicknames such as Jimmy “the Weasel” Fratianno, Bert “the Wombat” Smith. Also
band names such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
Use upper case for the the as part of an official street name or place name, such as
The Avenue, The Gap, The Hague, The Rocks. Use a capital for titles of publications
and works of art if they do: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Taming of the Shrew.
In most other cases, use lower case. We prefer to go without the the when giving
someone’s title or job description, but use it if the title is a mouthful. Prime Minister
Tony Dukakis said, rather than the prime minister, Tony Dukakis, said. But the
president of the Southern HIghlands Flora and Fauna Appreciation Society Bowral
branch, Greg Bird, said.

The Domain (Sydney)

The Gap (Sydney and Brisbane)

The Hague

The Lodge (Canberra)

The Rocks (Sydney)

140
The Spit (Sydney)

The Star casino

think tank Other options include advisers, experts, panel of advisers (experts,
etc),.

Third World Prefer developing world, developing nations.

through Not to be used in the American sense Monday through Friday, January
through March. Use instead January to the end of March, January to March 31.

Tiananmen Square (Beijing) The Tiananmen massacre, the atrocity of June 4,

1989.

timing Use 6am, 9.57, noon, 4pm, midnight. Avoid redundancies such as 9pm at
night, 4am in the morning. Use about 7pm, not at about 7pm. No space between
the figure and am/pm. To avoid confusion in a multiplatform world, reporters should
not use yesterday, today or tomorrow to time stories. Name the day. The journalist
bought her fourth mansion on Wednesday, not yesterday or today. And the
preposition on must stay. Avoid the American practice of dropping it as in, The
mansion was bought Wednesday. Today, yesterday and tomorrow are used in print.
Desk editors should make the appropriate changes. Live blogs may use today,
tonight, overnight, etc to aid clarity if necessary. Write (AEST), (AEDT), not
Melbourne time or Sydney time.

titbit

to-ing and fro-ing

tortuous/torturous Torturous is to do with torture. Tortuous means twisting,

winding; a tortuous path.

towards Not toward.

town halls Capitals for the Richmond Town Hall, the Willoughby Town Hall, etc,
and at subsequent mentions the town hall (lower case). But it is the Sydney Town
Hall, Melbourne Town Hall and thereafter the Town Hall (upper case).

Toys ‘R’ Us

trade names Owners of trade names guard them closely. If necessary they will go
to court to defend their rights. Unless we intend to refer to a specific product, we
should try to avoid them. Some trade names, particularly in the tech world, have

141
become commonly used as verbs. Where this is the case, use a capital: to Google,
to Photoshop, to Taser, to Skype, to Facebook.

Trade name Alternative

Aspro………………………………...aspirin
Biro…………………………………...ballpoint pen
Bobcat………………………………..earth-moving machine
Breathalyzer………………………....breathalyser
Cellophane………………………… .(transparent) wrapping
Coca-Cola/Coke…………………….soft drink, cola
Doona………………………………...continental quilt, duvet
Duco………………………………….enamel paint
Glad Wrap…………………………...cling wrap
Hoover……………………………….vacuum cleaner
Laminex…………………………….. laminate
Laundromat……………………...….laundrette
Lycra……………………………….. stretch fabric
Mace……………………………….. tear gas
Perspex…………………………… . transparent plastic
Rollerblades…………………………inline skates
Scotch tape……………………….. ..sticky tape
Taser………………………………... stun gun
Technicolor……………………….... colour
Texta…………………………………felt pen
Thermos……………………………. vacuum flask
Vaseline………………………… … petroleum jelly

tranquil But tranquillity, tranquillise.

trans-Atlantic, trans-Tasman, trans-Pacific

transgender Trans may be used as an adjective or in headlines: a transgender

person, a trans rights activist. Respect people’s wishes as to what pronoun they
use, including they as a singular. If someone uses pronouns that are not commonly
known, explain this to the reader: Blair Cartland, who uses the pronoun zie ... Do
not refer to a transgender person’s birth name (deadnaming) unless necessary. The
term transsexual can be controversial. Do not use it unless someone wants to be
referred to in this way. See non-binary, LGBTQ

tree change, tree-changer Also sea change, sea-changer (but the initial TV series
was SeaChange).

trillion A thousand billion. Do not abbreviate in text or headlines.

142
triple zero triple 0 can be used in headlines. Use a hyphen adjectivally.

Trooping the Colour Not Trooping of.

truckie Not the American trucker.

try to do Not try and do.

tsar, tsarina Not czar, czarina.

T-shirt

Tube, the The London rail system. Also the Underground.

tug of war

turnout (noun), to turn out (verb)

Tutankhamun

twenty-something Also thirty-something, forty-something.

Twenty20 The style of cricket. Always capped.

U
U Myanmarese honorific.

ugg boots No capitals in the general sense although trademarks exist in various
logos and designs.

Uighur Ethnic group living mainly in Xinjiang, China.

Ukraine (Ukrainian) Note: not the Ukraine. The capital is Kyiv. This spelling rather
than Kiev is now used by many countries, institutions and major media

143
organisations.

ukulele

ultra-Orthodox

Uluru Formerly Ayers Rock.

un-Australian, un-American

uncharted waters Not unchartered.

under-/under (in compounds) When to use, and when not to use the hyphen:
under (no hyphen) makes a natural compound in most cases: underline, underarm,
undermanned, underbid, underplay, undercarriage, underrate, underclad, underrun,
underdone, undersized, underestimate, undertone, underfed, undervalue,
undergarment, underweight, underhung, underwrite. EXCEPTIONS: under-officer,
under-secretary, under-treasurer.

under age/under-age A child who is under age is an under-age child.

Underground, the The London rail system. Also the Tube.

underwater Underwater fishing, but The reef lay under water.

under way Two words.

unequivocal There is no such word as unequivocable.

UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, not High Commission.

uninterested Don’t confuse with disinterested. Uninterested means indifferent;

disinterested means unbiased, impartial. A judge is disinterested; a sleeping judge
may be uninterested as well.

Union Jack Not Union flag.

unique A unique thing is one of its kind; the word cannot be qualified by quite,
rather, somewhat, more, less, very, etc. Anything that is almost unique should be
called rare. Unique may be qualified in this way: unique among sea creatures;
unique in Australia.

United Kingdom Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland and Wales. The
United Kingdom also includes Northern Ireland and may be called the UK (or, more

144
loosely, Britain unless a clear distinction needs to be made).

United Nations, the Thereafter, the UN. Capitals for the UN General Assembly, the
Security Council. Capitals for Secretary-General when used next to the name of the
incumbent.

university Uni is fine in headlines. Beware of describing anyone as the professor of

education or the senior lecturer in English history at a university. Universities have
such large staffs that the definite article will almost certainly be wrong. Use
variants of these:
Professor Franz Mind, professor of education at the University of Melbourne.
Historian Professor Arthur Intellect, of Macquarie University.
Amanda Sabbatical, a lecturer in applied mathematics at the University of NSW.
La Trobe University biomedicine lecturer Leanne Semester.

University titles are lower case: chancellor, vice chancellor, dean of medicine (not
dean of the faculty of), registrar, etc. Honorifics take capitals: Professor Marcus
Wisdom, Emeritus Professor Marcus Wisdom (but he is an emeritus professor). Do
not use chancellor, vice chancellor, dean or similar titles as honorifics. Spell out
University of NSW and University of Technology Sydney at first mention.

unlikeable

-up words Nouns ending in up, such as break-up, build-up, check-up, flare-up,
hold-up, make-up, shake-up and stuff-up, should usually be hyphenated. See also
-out words and -off words

upper house (of parliament) And lower house.

up-to-date (adjective). An up-to-date dictionary, but the records are up to date.

Uruzgan A central Afghan province.

US Generally no need to spell it out, even at first reference.

V
145
vacation Use holiday instead of this Americanism.

Valium Trade name.

Van Diemens Land

venetian blind

verandah

verb number See grammar guide for entries on verb number after collective
nouns, after one in, and after who and similar forms. Also see either/neither, none

versus The contraction is v (no full point), not vs.

very Every time you use this word you should read back and consider whether it is
very justifiable, very essential or very indispensable. Even in less extreme cases, it
would not be very extravagant to say that 80 per cent of verys are very
superfluous.

vice No hyphen in titles such as vice president, vice chancellor, vice admiral, vice
chairman but keep one in pro vice-chancellor.

vice versa

Victoria Cross Abbreviate as VC at second reference.

video call

video conference

visit Not visit with.

V/Line Victorian regional public transport operator.

volcanoes

W
146
wacky

Wagga Wagga can be referred to as Wagga at second mention and in headings.

walkout (noun) to walk out (verb)

Warragul The Victorian town, but Warrigal Road in Melbourne.

wars World War I or the First World War, World War II or the Second World War; the
World Wars; the Great War (WWI) (usually only when looked back on from the
period between the wars). Upper case for the Hundred Years War, the Wars of the
Roses, the Thirty Years War, the American Civil War, the Korean War, the Vietnam
War, the Six-Day War, the Falklands War, the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War, the
Afghan War and so on. See also Gulf War and roman numerals

was/were How to handle the subjunctive and the conditional. See if it were/if it
was in the grammar guide

Washington/ Washington, DC No need to use DC, for District of Columbia, unless

there is the rare likelihood of confusion with Washington state.

wasted words See also tautology.

Unnecessary Preferred
a group of 10 people…………………………10 people
absolute perfection………………………….. perfection
added………………………………………….said
added bonus……………………………….....bonus
address an issue……………………………..handle, tackle, deal with
adjacent to…………………………………….near, by
ahead of ………………………………………before
airlift a patient to hospital……………...….…fly
approximately……………………….………..about
assistance…………………………….………help, aid
at an early date……………………………....soon
attempt ………………………………..………try
blue in colour………………………………….blue
breathalyser test……………………………...breath test
centred around………………………………..centred on
call a halt ……………………………………...stop
close proximity ………………………………..close
commence……………………………………..start, begin
completely empty …………………………….empty
completely gutted……………………………..gutted

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constructed……………………………………built
co-worker……………………………………...colleague, workmate
currently………………………………………..now
deceased………………………………………dead
disadvantaged…………………………………poor
discussions…………………………………… talks
dispatched…………………………………….. sent
facility……………………..…………………... factory, plant, depot,
fast-track……………………..……………….. speed up, accelerate, bring forward
filled to capacity…………..…………………...full
finalise………………………..………………...finish, end, make a decision,
flatly rejected………………..………………... rejected
for a period of 15 days……..………….…..... for 15 days
for the month of June…………..……………. for June
freak accident…………………..………….… accident
freak wave ……………………..……….……..big wave
funds……………………………..……….…….money
functionality…………………..…………...…...function
future prospects……………..………….….….prospects
gainfully employed……………….…………...employed
head up an organisation…………..…………head, lead
10 hectares of land ……………………….…10 hectares
in addition ………………………………….....also
inform……………………………………….….tell
in order to………………………………………to
in-depth interview…………………………......interview
in seasonally adjusted terms………..…........seasonally adjusted
in short supply…………………………….…...scarce
in spite of……………………………………….despite
in the direction of………………………..……..towards
in the lead-up to………………………..…...…before
in the near future……………………..…….... soon
in the run-up to…………………………..….... before
in the wake of………………………………….after
invited guest……………………………….......guest
knock back……………………………………..reject
less expensive ……………………….….…....cheaper
major breakthrough……………………......… breakthrough
manufacture…………………………………... make
meaningful talks………………………………. talks
meet with………………………………………. meet
mutual co-operation……………………..….....co-operation
necessitate……………………………………...require
new record……………………………………...record

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objective………………………………………...aim
old adage………………………………………..adage
ongoing……………………………………….….continuing
optimise……………………………………….…make the best use of, use effectively
passing phase …………………….…………....phase
past history ……………………………….……..history
personal experience ………………………..….experience
placed under arrest ………………………........arrested
possessed ……………………………………....had
presently …………………………………..…….soon
relocate …………………………………..……..move
raze to the ground ……………………………...raze
render assistance ………………………..….….help
resuscitate …………………………………….…revive
retail outlet ……………………………………....shop
strike action ………………………...…………...strike
subsequently …………………………...…….....later, since
take action on ………………………………...…act on
temporary reprieve………………………….…..reprieve
terminate ……………………………………..….end
the majority of ……………………………..…....most
totally destroyed ……………………………..….destroyed
track record …………………………………..…record
utilise…………………………………………......use
worst-case scenario……………………….…... at worst

water-ski Also -skis, -skied, -skier, -skiing.

-wear Menswear, womenswear, girlswear, activewear, leisurewear, loungewear,

childrenswear

weather bureau The proper name is the Bureau of Meteorology, but the weather
bureau (lower case) will do for routine references.

weather conditions Just weather.

weather events Just weather.

website Also the web, world wide web. See also internet & IT guide

wedding anniversaries 1st: paper, 2nd: cotton, 3rd: leather, 4th: linen, 5th: wood,
6th: iron, 7th: wool, copper, 8th: bronze, 9th: pottery, 10th: tin, aluminium, 11th:
steel, 12th: silk, 13th: lace, 14th: ivory, 15th: crystal, 20th: china, 25th: silver, 30th:

149
pearl, 35th: coral, jade, 40th: ruby, 45th: sapphire, 50th: gold, 55th: emerald,
60th: diamond, 70th platinum.

weekend At the weekend not on.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES In routine copy, spell out metric units: He walked six
kilometres; A is 74 kilometres from B; a five-metre fence; a six-hectare block;
7.8 centimetres; 10 square metres; 2 million square kilometres; two kilograms of
sausages. Separate numerals and their associated measure with a thin space in
print to prevent bad turns. Use km/h (for kilometres an hour) at all references
(10km/h), but other metric units may be abbreviated only in tables, graphs, lists
(such as auctions) and in cases of special need such as sport, property, Good Food
or financial market pages, where a lot of numbers, weights or distances have to be
mentioned. Common abbreviations should be written up against the figure,
although tsp and tbsp take spaces in recipe ingredient lists. The nautical mile and
the knot are recognised in the metric system. In air navigation, altitude is measured
in feet but distance in nautical miles. The principal units and contractions are:

LENGTH
metre (m)
millimetre (mm)
centimetre (cm)
kilometre (km)

AREA
square metre (sq m) not m2 or metres squared
hectare (ha)
square kilometre (sq km)

WEIGHT
gram (g)
milligram (mg)
kilogram (kg)
tonne (t)

VOLUME
cubic metre (cu m) not m3 or metres cubed
cubic centimetre (cc)

FLUID
litre (lt, not l, too easily confused with figure 1)
millilitre (ml)

150
temperature Use numerals: 2 degrees, 30 degrees, minus 2 degrees (not -2).
Australia has been using the Celsius scale for decades, so it is not necessary to say
20 degrees Celsius unless making comparisons with Fahrenheit readings.

imperial measures If these need to be used, they should be spelt out: 60 feet; six
feet two inches; 10 inches; eight square miles; 120 square yards; five pounds; four
ounces. Avoid absurd metric conversions: He wants his 453.59237 grams of flesh.
Other points: in air navigation, altitude is measured in feet and distance in nautical
miles. The nautical mile and the knot are recognised in the metric system. Also see
knots, nautical miles

wellbeing

well-known, well known A well-known story; this story is well known. Hyphenate
before the noun; no hyphen after the noun. See adverbs and adjectives in the
grammar guide, and famous

Welsh/Welch Welsh people; the Welch Regiment, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, but the
Welsh Guards.

welsh on a bet.

were/was How to handle the subjunctive and the conditional. See if it were/if it
was in the grammar guide

West, Western Upper case for the Western world, Western Europe, Western
civilisation, the West (in this sense); similarly, Eastern civilisation, Eastern
philosophies, the East, etc. And it is the Wild West (US) but a western movie.

West End London theatre district.

Western Australia, West Australian A West Australian, West Australian racing, the
West Australian government. The newspaper is The West Australian.

Western Port (Victoria) Two words. Commonly, but wrongly, called Western Port
Bay.

West Gate Bridge, West Gate Freeway (Melbourne)

WhatsApp

wheatgrower

whereabouts Singular. Their whereabouts is unknown.

151
whether or not The or not is sometimes superfluous. These are correct: It’s yours,
whether you want it or not. But: Let me know whether you want it; and Whether you
want it is up to you.

which, that See the who, which, that entry in the grammar guide

whisky For all whiskies except Irish, Canadian and American whiskey, whiskeys.

White Australia Policy

white paper Lower case. Also green paper. A green paper is a preliminary report of
government proposals published for consultation. A white paper is a statement of
government policy.

who, whom See the who, which, that entry in the grammar guide

whose/who’s See the who, which, that entry in the grammar guide

-wide words Nationwide, statewide, worldwide but Australia-wide, Victoria-wide,

NSW-wide.

WikiLeaks

wind farm But wind-farm technology

wines Lower case for all wine types, including those with regional names: riesling,
burgundy, champagne, bordeaux or chablis, etc.

winemaker

wintry Not wintery.

witch-hunt

with Not to be attached to verbs that do not need it: met, not met with; visit not
visit with. Separately, the incorrect use of with to join parts of sentences is
rampant. The problem is that with isn’t a conjunction, a word that can join
sentence parts in the way that and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet can. These
examples are wrong:

Rock legends the Knitters say they won’t perform at the table tennis grand final,
with the Crochet Quartet agreeing to rev the crowds up instead.

152
Ten out of 10 teenagers surveyed suffered from parental embarrassment
syndrome, with nine out of 10 showing extreme symptoms of cringe, a condition
characterised by screwed up faces and protracted scowling.

Often, the with construction can be avoided by writing two sentences instead
of one.

witness box Not the American witness stand.

women Do not use such descriptions as female doctor, female architect or female
pilot as if the very fact of a woman in the job were remarkable. If you do need to
highlight femaleness use female rather than woman for the adjective. Do not use
girl for anyone aged 18 or over. In stories that don’t concern family matters, do not
gratuitously describe a woman as a mother of three or grandmother of two as if
that were the most salient fact about her. Do not assume maleness in the language
you use.

Woolloongabba (Brisbane) The district (and the cricket ground) are, colloquially,
the Gabba.

word break rules Never break words of one syllable.

Never break words of fewer than five letters. Leave at least two letters at the end
or start of a line.
Try not to allow a second break in a word that is already hyphenated (i.e.
well-constructed, ill-mannered).
Where possible, the syllable following the break should begin with a consonant
(cohabi-tate, appre-ciate).
Words that have a double consonant should be broken between the consonants
(clap-ping, hum-ming, hit-ting) except where the root word has a double consonant
(fill-ing, tell-ing).
Take special care when hyphenating words including “therapist” to avoid awkward
breaks.

workers’ compensation

World Heritage List

world wide web

worldwide Also nationwide, statewide. But Australia-wide, Victoria-wide, etc.

WWF The former World Wildlife Fund now uses its initials only, but make it clear to
readers what the WWF is by referring to it as a wildlife preservation group.

153
WORDS TO WATCH

Here is a list of words that sometimes cause confusion or misunderstanding. There

are many others listed throughout this guide.

adverse/averse Adverse means contrary or hostile and is not used of people.

Examples: adverse weather, adverse opinions. Averse means disinclined. She was
averse to finishing the story that day.

aesthetic/ascetic Aesthetic means relating primarily to concepts of beauty.

Ascetic means self-denying, uninterested in material comfort.

affect/effect Affect (verb) means to influence or cause a change in. Her bad cold
affected her singing. Effect (verb) means to bring about. He effected a return to
profit by slashing the company’s costs. Effect as a noun means a result, a
consequence: the effect of heat.

alibi Latin for elsewhere. A legal term, it is a defence that an accused person was
elsewhere when an offence was committed. Don’t use it to mean excuse.

arguably When used as in He is arguably the best cricketer Australia has seen, the
meaning is not clear. The writer may mean it can be argued that the player is the
best cricketer or that he is not. Most often the writer means probably or, if he is
certain, unarguably.

bail/bale Bale of wool or hay. Bale out a boat. Bale out of an aircraft or a difficult
situation. Bail someone out of jail.

curb/kerb To curb is to restrain or keep in check; a kerb is a pavement edge.

defuse/diffuse To defuse a bomb is to take out its fuse, render it harmless. To

diffuse something is to spread it about.

dinghy/dingy A dinghy is small boat; but dingy means grubby.

discreet/discrete Discreet means prudent, circumspect. Discrete means distinct,

separate.

forebear/forbear A forebear is an ancestor. To forbear is to abstain from or be

patient.

154
forego/forgo To forego means to go before, to precede. To forgo means to give up,
to relinquish.

faze/phase Faze means to embarrass or disturb: The snub did not faze her. Phase
denotes an aspect or stage: They will phase in a new system.

lay/lie Innocent verbs that cause a lot of trouble.

1. To lay, meaning primarily to put something (or someone) down. I lay him to rest. I
laid the table. I have laid a charge against him.
2. To lie, meaning to repose. I lie down. I lay down (past tense). I had lain down.
3. To lie, meaning to tell an untruth. I lie sometimes. I lied to him. He has lied to me.
Look out for blunders such as I laid on the bed; He was laying on the floor.

When in doubt, match the problem to these examples: I lie on the bed. I lay on the
bed (past tense). I will lie on the bed. I have lain/am lying/was lying/will be lying on
the bed. The book lies on the table. The book lay on the table. The book will lie on
the table. The book has lain/is lying/was lying/will be lying on the table.

He lays the book on the table. He laid the book on the table. He will lay the book on
the table. The book is/was/will be/has been laid on the table. Lay the table. I laid
the table. I will lay the table. The table is/was/will be/has been laid.

licence/license Licence is the noun e.g. liquor licence, driver’s licence, gun licence,
licence number. License is the verb; to grant permission or authorise. Also licensee,
licensed grocer

only Keep it as near as possible to the subject it limits and you are unlikely to go
wrong: She went to the shops only twice a week. Not She only went to the shops
twice a week. Also see only in the general style section

practice (noun), to practise (verb). Sport practice, but he practises kicking. A

country practice, but a practising doctor. A practised performer reaps the rewards
of practice.

stationary/stationery Stationary is not moving. Stationery is writing paper etc.

X
155
Xmas Banned.

X-ray See also rays.

Y
yarmulka

year 3, year 12 Also grade 3.

yoghurt

Yom Kippur The (Jewish) Day of Atonement.

Yorke Peninsula (South Australia), Cape York (Queensland).

you and me Between you and me. The mistaken between you and I stems from
sincere efforts to be correct by people who have learnt that You and I are friends is
correct for the subjective case but who do not understand that me is still required
for the objective case: He wants to see you and me. (They would not say He wants
to see I.)

Young and Jackson’s Hotel Melbourne

your/you’re Do not confuse them: your is the possessive of you; you’re is the
contraction of you are. Thus: You’re right, it’s your horse.

your honour, majesty etc Lower case.

youth Applies to people aged from age 13 to 17. Those younger than 13 are
children, and those 18 or older are adults.

Yugoslavia, Yugoslav Not Yugoslavian.

156
Z
Zaire, Zairean Now Democratic Republic of Congo.

zero, zeros

Ziegfeld Follies But Folies-Bergere.

zone 1 For transport zones. Lower case, with numerals.

157
Business Style

A
ABARES Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.
Spell out at first reference.

administration A rescue mechanism for insolvent entities that allows them to carry
on running their business. See also liquidation and receivership

agriculturalist Not agriculturist.

All Ordinaries Index All Ords at second reference. Formerly the benchmark index
for the Australian sharemarket, now usually quoted in tandem with the benchmark,
the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Use a thin space in print to prevent bad turns in
S&P/ASX 200 Index and others. See index.

aluminium Watch out for the American spelling, aluminum. Alumina is the oxide of
aluminium – in other words, a different thing.

amortisation The gradual writing down of an intangible asset – tangible assets

depreciate.

analysts’ ratings Each broker has its own wording, but some common terms are
buy, hold, reduce and sell. Do not turn these words into nouns e.g. Amcor is a buy.
If you absolutely must, put quote marks around the word e.g. Amcor is rated a
“buy”. The quote marks are not needed from second reference on.

Anglo American The company does not take a hyphen.

annual general meeting Annual meeting is an acceptable alternative, and AGM at

second reference.

annualised The conversion of a monthly or quarterly figure into an annual one by

158
multiplying it by 12 or four; do not confuse with year-on-year, where the figure for
one year is compared with the figure for the previous year to find the percentage
change.

antitrust One word. It is US legislation aimed at preventing monopolies; explain

this, or refer to anti-monopoly or competition laws.

ANZ Banking Group The company may be referred to as ANZ at first reference (but
note it is not the ANZ, just ANZ).

arbitrage, arbitrageur

Arnott’s Takes the apostrophe.

auditor All auditors are accountants, but not all accountants are auditors.

ASX This abbreviation is the official name of the listed company. It stands for
Australian Securities Exchange.

Aussie The commonly used market term for the Australian dollar (by convention,
the dollar refers to the US dollar). Acceptable at second reference and in heads in
business sections only. Avoid, if possible, the term local dollar.

Australian Bureau of Statistics Bureau of Statistics acceptable at first reference,

ABS or the bureau at second.

Australian business number Lower case. Can be called ABN at each mention. Do
not say ABN number.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission It is the ACCC at second

reference (i.e. keep the definite article).

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority The prudential regulator of banks,

insurance companies and superannuation funds, credit unions, building societies
and friendly societies. Second reference is APRA, not the APRA.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission Note plural Investments.

Second reference is ASIC.

Australian Shareholders Association No apostrophe. An investor lobby group.

Shorten to the association at second reference.

AWE Average weekly earnings. Also, average weekly ordinary time earnings, which
should be abbreviated as AWOTE. These are different things; use the relevant term.

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Spell out each at first reference.

B
balance of payments Adjectivally: balance of payments figures. There is no such
thing as a balance of payments deficit; it is a current account deficit (or surplus).
The trade balance is a subset of the current account.

bancassurance Banking that encompasses insurance, lending and investment

products as well as traditional banking services. See allfinanz.

bank bill, bank bill futures

Bank for International Settlements Note for and plural Settlements. Based in
Basel, Switzerland, the BIS is the central bank for central banks. Write out at first
reference.

bankruptcy In Australia (but not the US) bankruptcy applies to people but not to
companies. A company goes into liquidation, administration or receivership.

Bankwest

Barclays No apostrophe.

bargain hunter Two words.

barrel of oil equivalent Oil plus gas measured by energy value as if it were all oil.
Abbreviate as boe (lower case) but spell out at first reference.

barrels per day Lower case for the abbreviation bpd.

basis points Use digits for basis points and percentage points. One hundred basis
points equals 1 percentage point. Use percentage points rather than basis points
where possible. A bill yield that moves from 8 per cent to 9 per cent has risen 1
percentage point or 100 basis points; from 8 per cent to 8.1 per cent is 10 basis
points; from 8 per cent to 8.01 per cent is 1 basis point. No hyphens required in the

160
adjective: a 50 basis point rise. See points and per cent.

bbl The abbreviation for barrel within the oil sector; use barrel/s.

Beige Book The common name for the US Federal Reserve’s Summary of
Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District. It is used
as a guide at the monthly Federal Open Market Committee meeting on interest rate
policy. Use words such as The monthly economic conditions report known as the
Beige Book … See Federal Reserve

bellwether A barometer; a stock or bond that is widely regarded as reflecting the

mood of a market or sector. Bellwether and benchmark are not interchangeable
terms.

benchmark An index or other measurement used to assess the risk and

performance of a portfolio. A benchmark interest rate, such as the Commonwealth
10-year bond rate, is one that is used to measure or set other market interest rates.
Bellwether and benchmark are not interchangeable terms.

Bidder’s Statement Capped. It is the formal name of the document and there is
potential for confusion if lower case is used.

big four As in the big four banks: Commonwealth, NAB, ANZ, Westpac. Lower case,
no hyphen. Also big tech, big super, big pharma, etc. Lower case.

billion Spell out in copy. Headline abbreviation is b: $1b payout

bloc, block Dollar bloc or trading bloc but a block (or large holding) of shares.

blue chip (noun) blue-chip stock (adjective)

board of directors Shorten to board or directors.

boardroom

bondholder, bondholding

bond market Two words. The key thing to remember about the bond market is that
the yield on a bond rises as its price falls, and vice versa. The bond market
strengthens when prices rise (but yields fall); and it weakens when prices fall (but
yields rise). Because we tend to refer to the percentage yield in the story it is easy
to make the mistake of saying that bonds rose – because the yield rose – when in
fact bonds weakened. Take care in phrasing stories and writing headlines. Bonds
can strengthen or weaken; bond prices and bond yields can rise or fall.

161
bonus issue An issue of free shares to existing shareholders in proportion to each
shareholder’s holding; an issue of one new share for every five held would be
expressed as a 1-for-5 bonus issue (using numerals).

book building (verb), book-build (noun) A process in which the offer price of a
float is based on demand from institutional investors, who are invited to place
orders indicating the number of shares they want and the price they are prepared
to pay. Work an explanation into the story.

book-to-bill ratio A ratio above 1 means orders for goods and services are being
received faster than items are being shipped. Explain.

bottom fisher An investor who looks for bargains among stocks whose prices have
recently dropped dramatically. Explain.

bottom line (noun), bottom-line result (adjective). Bottom-line profit is the net
profit after everything. See profit.

bourse Use stock exchange.

Bpay

break even (verb), break-even point (adjective).

Brent crude A benchmark price for North Sea oil; note capital B.

bricks-and-mortar stores Just shops or stores unless a distinction needs to be

made with online stores.

broker One word for stockbroker, sharebroker, etc but two words for commodities
broker, livestock broker etc. See one word, two words or hyphen in the general
style section

budget Lower case. Also state budget, federal budget.

bullion Not all gold, but gold or silver in the form of bars or ingots and of at least
99.95 per cent purity.

burn rate See cash burn

business activity statement Lower case at first reference, then abbreviate as

BAS. The monthly or quarterly tax statement all businesses must file, covering
goods and services tax and pay-as-you-go tax.

162
businessman/businesswoman But business person, business people.

buy now, pay later Spell out, but BNPL allowed in Financial Review headlines if
absolutely necessary.

buy rating See analysts’ ratings.

buyback (noun), to buy back (verb)

buyout (noun), to buy out (verb)

C
CAD Do not use as the abbreviation for current account deficit, even though this is
common in the financial markets – use the deficit at second reference. See balance
of payments.

calendar year Calendar years are given as 2025, and fiscal or financial years as
2025-26, to avoid any confusion between the two. See fiscal year/financial year

capex Use capital expenditure at first reference. Business investment is another

term for capital expenditure.

capital gains tax Lower case, no hyphens even as an adjective. Abbreviate as CGT.

capital-guaranteed (adjective)

capitalisation The market capitalisation of a company is the number of shares

multiplied by the current market value of those shares. Total sharemarket
capitalisation can be calculated by adding together the individual capitalisations of
each listed company. Capitalisation may be abbreviated to cap at first mention in
the context of small-cap and large-cap companies.

carat Use carat for gems and gold. Do not use karat, which is US usage.

163
car maker Two words.

cartel Suggests a group of businesses or companies that is manipulating the

market out of self-interest; use the word with great care.

cash burn Also known as the burn rate, this is the rate at which a fledgling
business uses up its capital before it gets to the point of generating positive cash
flow from operations. Ensure this is clear in the story.

cash cow Products that produce a large amount of revenue because they have a
large share of an existing market.

cash flow But cash-flow problems (adjectival).

cattle broker Two words.

CBA Commonwealth Bank of Australia, or Commonwealth Bank, at first reference.

cents Use the symbol ¢ in text and headings: 5¢, 57¢, US5¢, US57¢, bread will rise
10¢ a loaf. SHIFT + ALT + C creates the symbol in Cyber. The symbol can be found
under special characters in Ink.

certified practising accountant Abbreviate as CPA. A CPA is an accountant who is

a member of, and adheres to the code of conduct set by, CPA Australia; as
opposed to chartered accountants, who belong to the Institute of Chartered
Accountants.

CFO The abbreviation for chief financial officer. Use it at second reference only.
Lower case when spelt out.

chaebol South Korean family-run conglomerate; singular and plural – not chaebols.

chairman/chairwoman/chairperson/chair Use the title the person uses.

Chamber of Manufactures not Manufacturers.

Chapter 11 The most common form of bankruptcy in the United States. This
provision of the bankruptcy law allows a company to continue operating while
working with creditors to reorganise the business, which makes it roughly
equivalent to voluntary administration in Australia. Explain.

Chapter 7 A form of bankruptcy in the United States, sometimes referred to as

straight bankruptcy.

164
chartered accountant Chartered accountants belong to the Institute of Chartered
Accountants. Do not confuse with certified practising accountants, or CPAs.

Chinese Wall A term describing procedures used to avoid conflicts of interest

within an organisation, such as an investment bank. Note upper case W.

CIO This can stand for chief investment officer or chief information officer. Ensure
you specify which.

closing high The highest price recorded at the market’s official close; the price
may in fact have been higher during the day (sometimes known as the intraday
high but preferably the day’s high), so a record closing high may not be the record
high.

Co Acceptable abbreviation for company, but only when required. See company
names

coal mine, coal mining, coal miner

collapse Be careful using this term, including in headlines. It means a company has
gone into liquidation. This happens when a liquidator is appointed, meaning the
final destruction of the company. It does not mean a company going into
administration, which is a process to try to save it. Reasonable headings for a
company in administration could be “Administrators called in”, “Company under
microscope” or “Company books under review”. If a creditor appointed the
administrator, “Creditor takes control” may work, or name the creditor if it’s
famous: e.g. “Westpac takes control”. If the directors appointed the
administrator, “Directors surrender control” is a possibility.
Committee for Economic Development of Australia A business network; second
reference is CEDA or the committee, not the CEDA.

Commodity Research Bureau Index The CRB Index at second reference.

commodity trading adviser Use CTA at second reference. CTAs direct trading in
the commodity managed funds, using global futures markets. They have sufficient
firepower to move markets.

common stock The US term for ordinary shares – translate.

CommSec The Commonwealth Bank’s online broker.

companies Companies are collective nouns and take the singular. The company is
… and the pronouns that or which (not who).

165
company names Give the company name in full at first reference only when
necessary to avoid confusion with a company of a similar name (Australian Growth
Ltd versus Australian Growth Properties), or when the story needs to be
particularly specific, such as in legal contexts. Otherwise, Pty, Ltd, Co, Inc are
usually not required. But it’s Nine Entertainment Co if referring to our mastheads’
owner in a formal business sense. Otherwise, just Nine. Use an ampersand if a
company does.

Many companies go out of their way to make their names as distinctive as possible
through, shall we say, creative use of spelling, spacing, punctuation and mixes of
capitals and non-capitals. For the most part, do what the companies do: eBay,
adidas, lululemon, MinterEllison, etc. Some exceptions:

● Yahoo, not Yahoo!. The company itself often drops the exclamation mark.
● NIB for the health fund that has made its name awkward to read by opting
for nib.
● A name such as adidas takes a capital if it is the first word in a sentence or
headline: EBay profits soar; Adidas to open new stores.
● If a company writes its name in all capitals but the name is not an
abbreviation, use upper and lower case. NB: IKEA is an abbreviation.

Some companies present their names differently in their logos to how they write
about themselves. Prefer the latter version.

company job titles Always lower case: president, vice president, chairwoman,
chief executive, general manager, etc.

consumer price index Abbreviate at second reference as CPI. It tracks the prices
of selected goods and services to provide a measure of inflation. Note that inflation
is a measure of the change in prices expressed in percentage terms, so it is not
correct to say inflation rose by 2.5 per cent. Inflation is 2.5 per cent. If you want to
express the change in the rate of inflation, then compare it with the previous rate –
say, 2 per cent, in which case the inflation rate rose by half a percentage point.

contraction A period of general economic decline, sometimes resulting in a

recession. Not a synonym for recession.

COO The abbreviation for chief operating officer. Spell out.

corporate Use only as an adjective not a noun: Corporate profits are increasing but
not Corporates are watching their profits increase.

corporation May be abbreviated to Corp at first reference in company names, but

166
only if required: News Corp. See company names. But it should be spelt out for
government agencies and other organisations using the term.

Corporations Law

correction A strong movement in prices that reverses a previous trend. The term
usually refers to falling share prices after a sustained period of increase. Some
people define it as a move of 10 per cent or more. Do not overuse.

counter-bidder

CPA Australia Formerly the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants;

the abbreviation CPA is part of the proper name. See also certified practising
accountant

credit ratings Agencies such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service
assess the ability of governments and companies to repay debt. A nation’s credit
rating is known as its sovereign credit rating. These ratings determine the sort of
interest rate lenders or investors will seek. Moody’s generally expresses its ratings
(from highest to lowest) as Aaa, Aa, A, Baa, Ba, B, Caa, Ca and C (note upper and
lower case). S&P generally uses AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB, B, CCC, CC (upper case) and
sometimes adds a plus or minus sign e.g. AA- or B+ (use the symbols). S&P also
has a creditwatch designation that it uses when it is assessing the effect of events
– a positive creditwatch means the rating may be raised; a negative creditwatch
means it may be lowered; while a developing creditwatch means the rating may be
raised, lowered or affirmed. This is an expression of the likely movement, not an
actual upgrade or downgrade.

Crown casino Lower case for casino as it isn’t part of the name. The company is
Crown Resorts.

cum dividend Latin for with; a share sold cum dividend entitles the buyer to any
dividend that is due. See ex dividend

currencies

(1) $US, not US$. Use the ¢ symbol in text and headings: 5¢, 57¢, US5¢, US57¢,
bread will rise 10¢ a loaf.
(2) Dollar, euro and pound should be spelt out and lower case in general
references but written as $, £, and € when a specific figure is given: The US dollar
fell today; The deal was worth $US500,000 ($1 million); The euro rose in early
trading; The company spent €20 million. Other currencies are always written out: 5
billion yen, 2 billion Swiss francs.
(3) Foreign currencies should usually be converted once only. Do so at the first

167
reference but perhaps at the second or third if that is more useful: The price rose
US50¢ to $US12.50 ($23). Use yuan, not renminbi, for the Chinese currency. See
also krona; rand; rouble
(4) The Australian dollars are given in brackets. Be aware that in wire copy $
figures may refer to $US and the US will need to be inserted. Only use $A in a story
that is about several $ currencies (Hong Kong, Canadian, etc).
(5) In general, do not convert if the figure is historical.
(6) Don’t be slavish when converting – round off.
(7) When a short form is needed to refer to a currency within body copy or
headlines, the US dollar may be shortened to the $US at second reference. In
business pages, the Australian dollar may also be referred to as the Aussie at
second reference, the name by which it is known in the markets, and the NZ dollar
as the kiwi. Try to avoid the local dollar for the Australian dollar.

cyclical stocks Shares that move in line with the business cycle; they advance as
business conditions improve and decline when business slackens. Do not assume
readers understand the term.

D
David Jones The colloquial term DJs (no apostrophe required) may be used at
second reference.

data Data is singular and plural. We do not use datum.

day trader, day trading

dead-cat bounce A temporary recovery by a market after a sudden, sharp fall.

deal maker

debit, debited, debiting

deficit A deficit is a gap, therefore it does not rise or fall, it widens or narrows,
expands or shrinks. A surplus, however, can rise or fall.

168
deflation A general fall in prices; the opposite of inflation. Do not confuse with
disinflation

demerger

depreciation In currencies, do not confuse with devaluation. Depreciation is the

weakening in value of a currency against another currency in free trading.
Devaluation applies to government-controlled exchange rates. See devaluation

depression A prolonged period of low economic activity. Not to be confused with a

recession.

devaluation Governments order a devaluation of currencies for which they have

fixed the rate; the term should not be used for currencies that float freely on foreign
exchange markets, which depreciate.

disinflation A lower rate of inflation, where prices are not rising as fast as they
were, but are still rising; do not confuse with deflation

disintermediation Cutting out intermediaries. Use plain English.

divest, divestment Use words such as sell or sale, or disposal instead.

dividend Do not confuse the final (or second-half) dividend with the full-year
dividend. Use the terms first-half and second-half dividend and there will be no
danger of readers being confused. Always state whether dividends are franked,
partly franked, or unfranked.

divisions Business divisions are lower case when they are descriptive: Shell’s
petroleum division, not Petroleum division, even if the company uses upper case.

dollars Money takes the singular: He says $500,000 is needed.

Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow at second reference.

downsizing Use sackings or retrenchments.

downstream Activities that follow on from an initial operation such as oil

exploration. The opposite is upstream. But try plain English instead.

drawdown (noun), to draw down (verb)

due diligence An investigation or audit of a potential investment, particularly the

169
purchase of a business.

E
E*Trade Online broker.

earned Never earnt.

earnings multiple Earnings multiples are another expression of the price-earnings

ratio, e.g. the share price might represent a multiple of 10 times earnings, compared
with an industry average of 12 times. Do not assume the reader knows what a
multiple is – the meaning should be made clear explicitly or from the context.

earnings per share No hyphens. Abbreviate as EPS.

earnings Profit, not sales or revenue.

ease Interest rates are eased when the Reserve Bank lowers its official cash rate;
the opposite term is tighten. Use plain English.

EBIT At first reference it is earnings before interest and tax.

EBITDA At first reference it is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and

amortisation.

economics A collective noun taking the singular: Economics is known as the dismal
science.

employee share option plan No hyphens.

ended, ending In the period ended for past events, period ending for future.

equity holder Two words.

euro Use the symbol € when next to a figure. Use euros as plural.

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eurobond

eurodollar US dollars in a European bank, including foreign branches of US banks.

eurozone The zone where the euro is the currency.

ex-banks A measure of the sharemarket not including banking stocks; try to work
that description into the story rather than using the term itself.

ex dividend Means without dividend. A share that is sold ex dividend is sold on the
basis that the seller, not the buyer, will be entitled to the current dividend. Use a
hyphen for ex-dividend date, ex-dividend announcement. See cum dividend

executive share option scheme No hyphens.

expansionary A government or central bank that wants to boost the economy can
use expansionary policies such as higher government spending or lower interest
rates. Ensure the context makes the meaning clear.

extraordinary meeting It is sufficient to call an extraordinary meeting a

shareholder meeting, as long as that is qualified by the fact that it was called to
consider a particular issue, such as a merger or return of capital.

F
fair value, or fair market value The price an interested but not desperate buyer
would be willing to pay and the price a similar seller would be willing to accept on
the open market; the term is often used to describe where foreign exchange
traders and sharebrokers think a currency or sharemarket should be – its
theoretical value. Explain in the story.

Fairfax Media The former owner of our mastheads.

federal funds rate Lower case. The US equivalent of Australia’s official cash rate.

Federal Open Market Committee (US) Often referred to as the policy-making

171
FOMC, but this assumes that readers know which policy – make it clear that it is
interest rate policy.

Federal Reserve The US central bank. US Federal Reserve at first reference, then
the Fed.

fiduciary duty People or organisations entrusted with the responsibility of

managing, holding or investing assets have a fiduciary duty to act in the best
interests of the owner of the assets. Explain.

final half The final half, or the second half, is the second six months of the financial
year. Work in a reference to specific dates e.g. the six months to December 31. Be
careful not to confuse the final dividend with the annual dividend. See dividend

fintech financial technology. Also healthtech.

fiscal year/financial year The 12-month period used by a government or company

for bookkeeping purposes. It may be the year ending June 30, or March 31, or
December 31 or some other date. Calendar years are given as 2020, and fiscal or
financial years as 2019-20, to avoid any confusion between the two. Writing the
year ended March 31 is even clearer, or ending March 31 if talking about the future.
See calendar year

fitout (noun), to fit out (verb). In property, to furnish with furniture and fixtures.

fixed rate (noun), fixed-rate mortgage (adjective)

fixed-interest security

force majeure A force majeure clause in a contract excuses a party from liability if
an unforeseen event – such as a natural disaster – prevents it meeting its
obligations. Explain.

foreign exchange Also foreign exchange dealer, foreign exchange market.

forex Shorthand for foreign exchange.

401(k) In US stories, change to retirement savings plan.

franking See dividend

free on board The FOB value is the value of a commodity transported at the
supplier’s – not the buyer’s – expense. It is used by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics in working out Australia’s export earnings, excluding freight costs. Spell

172
out at first reference.

free trade agreement The convention these days is to drop the hyphen between
free and trade as there is no ambiguity.

free fall (noun), free-falling (verb) To fall sharply.

free-float basis Under a free-float methodology, the proportion of a company’s

shares freely available to the market affects the weight or importance of a
company in share indices.

fringe benefits tax No hyphens.

FTSE 100 Separate with a thin space in print.

G
gasfield, gas well, gasworks

GDP Spell out gross domestic product at first reference.

gearing The extent of borrowings against equity in an asset; the percentage of

capital a business employs that is debt, most easily calculated by dividing total
assets by total liabilities. Leverage is another word for gearing.

GmbH German abbreviation for proprietary limited company – but not usually
required. See company names

goldfield Also gold mine, gold miner, gold mining.

goods and services tax Lower case. Abbreviate as GST. Introduced on July 1,
2000.

governor, deputy governor Lower case for the Reserve Bank.

173
graingrower Also grain growing, grain-growing district.

grams per tonne Lower case, even for the abbreviation, which is g/t.

greenback Use the US dollar at first reference. Greenback and $US can be used in
heads and at second reference.

gross domestic product GDP at second reference.

gross national product GNP at second reference.

grow You grow grass, not profits, companies or the economy. Do not use.

H
half-year (adjective and noun)

Hang Seng Index Hong Kong’s main sharemarket indicator.

headhunter, headhunting

heading south (or north) Don’t use for profits, because it can be unclear.

high-net-worth individuals But wealthy or rich is a better description.

hike Not to be used for a rise in prices, taxes, rates etc.

home-loan rates

home owner, home buyer

Hutchison Whampoa Not Hutchinson.

174
I
Inc The abbreviation for Incorporated. No full point. Generally not required. See
company names

income tax rates No hyphen.

Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (NSW) not Regulation. Use tribunal
on second reference.

index Plural indices for statistical use, but indexes for books.
(1) The names of benchmark indices of each national sharemarket take capitals: the
S&P/ASX 200 Index, the Hang Seng Index.
(2) Use a thin space in print between words and numbers in index names: FTSE
100, Nikkei 225, S&P/ASX 200.
(3) Sub-indices can be described as the financials index, or the telecom index,
without capitals.
(4) Economic indices such as the consumer price index do not need capitals.

industry fund A superannuation fund that is industry or union-based.

initial public offering Offering, not offer; the initial offer of shares when a company
goes public, a float or issue. IPO at second reference.

insurance broker (noun), insurance-broking business (adjectival).

interbank

interest rate policy The plain English term for monetary policy.

intraday Within the same day; an intraday high is the highest price recorded during
the day – not necessarily at the close.

inventory Not inventories. Inventory is also known as stock.

iron ore, iron-ore miner

issue price The price at which shares are sold in the initial offer. Not to be
confused with the listing price, which is the price at which they subsequently start
trading on their first day on the stock exchange.

175
J
joint venture (noun), joint-venture partners (adjective)

JPMorgan Chase The name of the holding company behind the JP Morgan
investment bank.

K
karat Use carat for gems and gold. Karat is US usage, which we do not follow.

kiwi The market term for the NZ dollar, acceptable at second reference and in
heads on the business pages if the meaning is clear. Lower case.

Kmart The Australian retailer has no connection with the US Kmart.

krona (plural kronur) Iceland’s currency; krona (plural kronor) Sweden; krone (plural
kroner) Denmark and Norway.

176
L
landholder, landowner

lead manager The investment bank with the main responsibility for organising a
transaction such as a share or bond issue. Use plain English: The bank organising
the deal; or A group of banks led by …

leaseback

lessee The person or company that takes the lease on a property (the tenant).

lessor The person or company that grants a lease on a property (the landlord).

leverage The use of borrowed money, or financial instruments such as options and
futures, by an investor or business to increase the potential return (although also
the risk) of an investment; the ratio of a company’s debt to its issued capital. Also
known as gearing. Explain.

limited Abbreviate as Ltd, but generally not required. See company names

liquefied natural gas Not liquified. Abbreviate as LNG.

liquidation Where an enterprise is wound up and its assets are put up for sale. See
also administration and receivership
.
liquidator The person, usually appointed by a court, who winds up a company. Not
interchangeable with receiver or administrator.

listing price The price at which shares start trading on the stock exchange after
the float. Not to be confused with the issue price, which is the price at which they
were sold to investors in the float.

Lloyds Bank No apostrophe.

Lloyd’s Lloyd’s of London is not a company but a society of individual and

corporate members, each of whom accepts insurance risks as a member of one or
more underwriting syndicates. Lloyd’s members are known as Names (upper case)
and include some wealthy Australians.

London Metal Exchange The world’s leading nonferrous metals market, providing

177
benchmark prices for aluminium, copper, nickel, zinc, lead and tin.

long Traders go long when they buy something – such as Australian dollars – in
excess of the orders they actually have. They do this when they believe the value
of the asset will rise, meaning they can sell it at a profit later. The risk is that the
price will fall, rather than rise. Do not assume readers understand the term.

loss leaders Goods sold by a retailer at a loss to attract customers into a store, in
the hope they will buy other, more profitable, goods. Explain.

low interest rate loans No hyphens.

Ltd Abbreviation for Limited, but not generally required. See company names

lump sum (noun), lump-sum payment (adjectival). A one-off, large cash payment,
usually in superannuation.

M
M&A At first reference use merger and acquisition, or mergers and acquisitions
(plural) depending on the context. So, mergers and acquisitions are down this year;
but according to the merger and acquisition department of the bank. See also
mergers and acquisitions

Macquarie More than one company uses this name – Macquarie Bank and
Macquarie Telecom are two. Be specific.

macroeconomic No hyphen.

manufacturer Maker is usually sufficient, and it’s shorter.

margin A margin widens or narrows; it does not rise or fall.

market capitalisation The value of a company as measured by the number of

178
shares on issue multiplied by the share price. Use market cap only at second
reference.

McDonald’s The fast-food chain; the company is McDonald’s Corp.

mergers and acquisitions Merger is the term when the two parties amalgamate by
mutual agreement. In a takeover, an offer is sprung by one party on the other. If the
target welcomes the offer it is described as a friendly takeover; if it opposes the
offer it is described as hostile. Abbreviate as M&A.

mezzanine finance last-resort, high-interest finance, often used by property

developers.

microeconomic No hyphen.

mid-rate miners See one word, two words or hyphenated in the general style
section

mid-year economic and fiscal outlook

monetary conversions See currencies

monetary policy More simply known as interest rate policy. The RBA eases
monetary policy when it lowers interest rates – easing the burden of borrowing –
and tightens monetary policy when it increases interest rates. Use plain English.

money Money takes the singular: He says $500,000 is needed.

Moody’s Investors Service Not Investor Services.

mortgagor/mortgagee The mortgagor is the borrower; the mortgagee is the

lender.

multiple Market multiples refer to price-earnings ratios. Avoid the term; be specific.

mutual fund American term for collective investments such as our managed funds.

179
N
national broadband network Use NBN for the abbreviation, not nbn. NBN Co runs
it.

national energy guarantee NEG may be used at second reference in business

stories.

national energy market NEM may be used at second reference in business

stories.

net inflow, net outflow Over a given period, some investors place money with
investment managers while others withdraw it – the difference is the net inflow (or
net outflow) of funds. A net outflow is not a good result – more money left the
manager than came to it. Ensure the story makes the meaning clear.

net profit Net profit is after tax, therefore it is a tautology to say net profit after tax.

News Corp The Murdoch publishing business. Its Australian arm is News Corp
Australia, formerly News Ltd.

Nikkei 225 Index May be referred to simply as the Nikkei. See Topix

Nine (Channel Nine) Owned by Nine Entertainment Co, as are our mastheads.

North-West Shelf

noteholder, noteholding

O
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development at first reference

180
– or at second reference if it makes an intro unwieldy.

off balance sheet Not off-balance sheet. The transaction was off balance sheet; it
was an off-balance-sheet transaction.

official cash rate Not rates, because there is only one – the Reserve Bank’s official
cash rate.

off-market (adjective)

offshore

oil flow, oil rig, oilfield, oilwell Use hyphen and capitalise oilwells e.g. Ecanuba-1.

on stream To come on stream is to come into production.

on-market (adjective)

on-sell An unnecessary piece of jargon for the process of buying something, then
selling it to someone else.

OPEC Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries should be spelt out at first
reference – or at second reference if the full name makes an intro unwieldy. Note
there is also OPEC+, made up of OPEC member nations and non-OPEC members,
including Russia.

open-cut mining

open market operations When central banks buy and sell government securities.
Say that.

option holder

ordinary shares Known as common stock in the US – translate.

outperform A term used in broker recommendations that means the stock is

expected to achieve better than the average market return – say that. See
analysts’ ratings

overbought Analysts say a market is overbought when there has been strong
buying, in value or volume, above the level they believe justified. Work an
explanation into the story.

overhang A term that refers to stock expected to come onto the market, perhaps

181
with the result of pushing the share price down (as excess supply tends to do).
Explain.

oversold Analysts say a market is oversold when prices are weaker than they
believe justified. Work an explanation into the story.

oversupply

overweight Having a greater exposure to a particular sector or stock in an

investment portfolio than that stock’s or sector’s weighting in the overall market.
Use plain English.

P
P&O

PaperlinX

participation rate The percentage of the population of working age participating in

the labour market, either by being in work or by looking for work.

partly paid shares No hyphen.

pay as you go tax Lower case, no hyphens. This is income tax.

payee The person who receives payment.

per Use a/an wherever possible: $40 per hour becomes $40 an hour.

per annum Use a year.

per capita Use per head of population, or even better, a person, when appropriate.

per cent, percentages

(1) Spell out in text. Per cent or the % symbol can be used in headings, graphics,
tables and lists.

182
(2) Always use figures, even 1 to 9: 1 per cent, 2 percentage points, 0.25 of a
percentage point (but a quarter of a percentage point is better).
(3) Try to keep to one decimal place: 1.5 per cent..
(4) Note placement of hyphen in 50 per cent-owned.
(5) Percentage changes become meaningless once they get into territory above
200 per cent – use terms such as doubled, tripled, rose fourfold …
(6) Never use a percentage when the change is from a loss to a profit, or vice
versa.

Be careful when calculating percentage changes. Getting the calculation wrong can
result in a profit slide being painted as much worse than it really is, or a market
move being much larger or smaller than it really is. When doing the calculation,
make sure you are calculating the change to the original figure, which is not
necessarily the largest or highest figure. If you’re not using an online calculator,
here’s how it’s done:
(a) Calculate the difference between the original figure and the new figure, then
(b) divide that difference by the original figure, then
(c) multiply the result by 100 to reach the percentage figure.
For example, the All Ords ends at 2610 points, down from 2660 the previous day,
so
(a) 2660 minus 2610 equals 50
(b) 50 divided by 2660 – we are working out how much the market has fallen from
2660, our starting point – is 0.0187
(c) which multiplied by 100 (and rounded to one decimal place) comes to 1.9 per
cent.

Philips Electronics One L; the full name is Royal Philips Electronics.

players Market players are investors, traders, business people … use those words
instead.

plc Lower case, but generally not required. See company names

points Always in figures. Basis points is the term for interest rates or bond yields
(see basis points), but points is the market term for movements in a currency –
though we refer to moves in terms of cents.

preference shares Use this rather than the US term preferred stock.

preferred tenderer When a company is named preferred tenderer it has essentially

won the contract for a job, subject to final contract negotiations. Proceed on that
basis.

presales One word.

183
pre-tax profit

price fixing (verb), price-fixing board (adjective)

price maker Two words.

price-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-earnings multiple Hyphenate when spelt out,

slash in the abbreviation. Not price-to-earnings ratio. Try to express P/E ratios (or
multiples) as clearly as possible by including the current share price and the
earnings per share of the company in question. For example, if the story mentions
that a company’s stock is trading at $5 and its earnings are 40¢ a share then its P/E
ratio, or multiple, of 12.5 is easily comprehended (i.e. 12.5 times 40¢). It is not
enough to baldly state that the company has a P/E of 17 times; at least say 17 times
earnings. Also, if analysts expect the company to earn 50¢ a share in a year further
out, say two years hence, then the P/E can be expressed as 10 times [whatever the
year] earnings.

private equity Private equity covers equity investments made outside the
sharemarket, including venture capital, leveraged buyouts and mezzanine finance.
The terms private equity and venture capital are not interchangeable – venture
capital is only one form.

private sector (noun) Also, private-sector employment (adjective).

profit Profit can be expressed in many ways – net profit after significant items
(formerly known as abnormals), which is also known as bottom-line profit; or
pre-tax profit, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), earnings before interest, tax
and depreciation (EBITD), earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation (EBITDA). All are valid, just ensure the reader knows which measure is
being used.

profit margin The profit margin is profit as a percentage of turnover (or sales).
Specify profit margin, rather than saying just margin or margins.

profit sharing (noun), profit-sharing scheme (adjectival).

profit taker (noun), profit taking (verb).

property trust These trusts can be listed or unlisted – state if it is a listed property
trust.

proprietary limited Abbreviated to Pty Ltd, but not usually required. See company
names.

184
prospectus, prospectuses

prove up In mining, to establish a proven reserve, rather than a probable resource.

Say that.

Pty Ltd Abbreviate at first reference, but not generally required. See company
names

public company Not a synonym for a listed company, as not all public companies
are listed. A public company has a broad range of shareholders and is governed by
rules of disclosure, which do not apply to private companies.

public sector (noun) Also, public-sector growth (adjectival).

public-private partnership Hyphenated. It is a partnership between the

government and the private sector, usually to provide infrastructure such as roads.

patent attorney They are not lawyers, so the word lawyer should not be
substituted.

Q
quartile Top quartile or upper quartile refers to the top 25 per cent – fund
managers who achieve returns in the top 25 per cent of returns, for example. Lower
quartile is the bottom 25 per cent. Use plain English.

185
R
rally A market rallies when it makes an upward swing after a downturn – not when it
merely continues a rise.

rand The currency of South Africa.

ratings See credit ratings

ratings agency Not rating agency.

ratings outlook Not rating outlook.

receivership Where the running of an enterprise is placed into the custody of a

receiver acting on behalf of a secured lender such as a bank. See also liquidation
and administration

recession Commonly regarded as two consecutive quarterly falls in gross domestic

product; a depression is a prolonged period of low economic activity – do not
confuse the two.

reports The titles take italics and capitals.

reserve In mining, a reserve is an estimate of the amount of material in a deposit

that can be mined profitably. Where insufficient information is available to allow the
calculation to be made with reasonable certainty, or where an economic evaluation
has not been carried out, the estimate is called a resource. The terms are not
interchangeable.

Reserve Bank of Australia Reserve Bank acceptable at first reference, then the
RBA, the Reserve, the central bank. The titles governor and deputy governor are
lower case. The bank’s quarterly report, Statement on Monetary Policy, takes italics
and capitals.

resource See reserve

retail A term referring to individuals; retail investors are individuals who buy and sell
securities for their personal account, not for another company or organisation; retail
banking is primarily for individuals and small businesses; the opposite term is
wholesale, and refers to services for institutions and larger businesses. Refer
instead to individual, personal or small investors.

186
revenue Not revenues. Also known as sales or turnover, but note that while sales
are revenue, revenue does not necessarily come just from sales.

rights issue A share issue to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing

shareholding, to raise additional capital. Express with numerals and hyphens e.g. a
1-for-2 issue.

roadshow

rollover (noun and adjective) But to roll over (verb). The transfer of superannuation
from one fund to another.

rouble Not ruble.

S
S&P 500 No need to spell out as Standard and Poor’s 500 (the US share index).
Use a thin space in print.

sacked Be careful using this term in relation to an individual as there could be legal
ramifications. The individual may have been sacked, but also may in fact have been
stood aside, stood down, resigned, asked to resign or other distinctions. Ousted is
a good general-purpose word for situations where it is unclear or a short headline
word is needed, or perhaps pushed out.

sales revenue Use just sales, or revenue, not both. But note that while sales are
revenue, revenue doesn’t necessarily come just from sales.

same-store sales, same-store basis In the retail sector, a comparison that

excludes new stores, to show the true rate of sales growth. Explain.

sand miner, sand mine, sand mining ,

savings and loan The US version of a building society; also known as a thrift.

187
Abbreviate as S&L, the plural is S&Ls.

scrip Shorthand for share certificate.

seasonally adjusted Always state the basis of any economic statistic. Seasonally
adjusted tends to be used for month-by-month changes, but the trend figure is
often quoted to give the bigger picture. See trend

SEC The US Securities and Exchange Commission. Spell out at first reference.

sell-down (noun), to sell down (verb).

sell-off (noun), to sell off (verb). Use sell.

sellout (noun), to sell out (verb).

semi-government bonds Lower case. Fixed-interest securities issued by a

semi-government authority i.e. a state government agency such as the NSW
Treasury Corporation.

Seven Network Owned by Seven West Media.

shake-up, shakeout (nouns); to shake up, shake out (verbs)

sharebroker Also, sharebroking.

shareholder

share issues Express numerically – an issue of one share for every five held is a
1-for-5 issue.

sharemarket Not stockmarket.

share prices Be careful when wording share price movements. If Johnson

Pharmaceuticals rose 10₵ to close at $11 it did not add 10₵ to a record $11 (which
would actually mean it closed at $11.10).

share split A division of shares into a larger number of shares. Splits tend to be
conducted when a share price remains at a high level e.g. a $40 stock might be
split into four $10 shares. The style is 2-for-1, or 1.0651-for-1.

short Traders who go short agree to sell something – such as Australian dollars –
that they don’t have yet, in the hope of being able to meet the obligation by buying
later at a price lower than the price at which they sold. The risk is that the price

188
rises rather than falls before they complete the deal by buying in, say, the currency.
Short covering is when a trader covers a short position, i.e. buys in after having
gone short. Going short is the opposite of going long. Explain these terms for
readers. See also long
short-dated

short squeeze A squeeze occurs when there is a lack of supply but excess
demand, forcing prices up. Do not use the term.

significant items One-off items formerly known as abnormals. This term is being
used in a specific sense, not in the general sense of significant, so don’t play
around with the word if it is used – but its meaning should be clear.

small business But small-business man, small-business woman, small-business

operator.

small cap Use small capitalisation at first reference to stocks with a small market
capitalisation.

smart Smartcard, smartphone, smartwatch but smart meter, smart TV.

SpA Note lower case p, but this Italian company designation is generally not
required. See company names

spend A verb, not a noun, so the defence spend should be defence spending.

spin-off (noun), to spin off (verb)

spot price, spot market The present – as opposed to forward – market price of a
commodity. The meaning should be clear from the context.

spread The difference between buying and selling rates or, in the case of a loan,
the margin above a benchmark rate. A spread widens or narrows, rather than rises
or falls.

stakeholder One word.

Standard & Poor’s Note apostrophe. A US credit rating agency and indices
manager. Abbreviate as S&P.

start-up (noun) A new business.

steel maker, steelworks

189
sterling British pounds; use the symbol £ with figures.

sublease

subprime

T
takeover (noun), to take over (verb). See mergers and acquisitions

Takeovers Panel Note the plural.

Target’s Statement It is the formal name of a document and there is potential for
confusion if lower case is used.

taxation Tax avoidance, or tax minimisation, is legal – tax evasion is not. Use these
terms carefully.

telco Acceptable at second reference for telecommunications company. Plural is

telcos. An alternative is telecom company.

telecoms Acceptable at second reference for telecommunications. Not to be

confused with telcos, which are telecommunications companies.

tighten Interest rates are tightened when the Reserve Bank raises its official cash
rate. The opposite term is ease. Use plain English.

time periods When a reporting period ends on December 31, say, do not refer to
the six months to December (that would end November 30); it is the six months to
December 31, or the six months to the end of December, or the December half.

TPA Trade Practices Act at first reference, then the act, not the TPA.

tradeable

190
trade balance See balance of payments.

trader A person who actively buys and sells securities for his or her own account,
usually in a relatively short time. Trader is not synonymous with investor.

tranche Loans can be divided into slices or tranches, usually because different
conditions – such as interest rates – apply to each tranche. Use only when
necessary.

transferable

treasuries In the US, these are Treasury notes and bonds (upper case, as in
Treasury Department). The colloquial term treasuries (lower case) may be used at
first reference.

Treasury note

trend In statistics, the trend basis smooths out month-by-month fluctuations to

give the bigger picture. Ensure you state the basis for the statistics being quoted.
See seasonally adjusted

triple A Use AAA. See credit ratings.

turnaround A turnaround signifies a change from a loss to a profit, or vice versa,

not merely a boost to profit.

two strikes law This holds company directors accountable for executive salaries
and bonuses. A first strike occurs when a company's remuneration report receives
a ''no'' vote of 25 per cent or more by shareholders at the company's annual
meeting. A second strike occurs when a subsequent remuneration report also
receives a ''no'' vote of at least 25 per cent. When a second strike occurs,
shareholders vote on whether all directors will need to stand for re-election (other
than the managing director, who is permitted to continue to run the company).

U
191
unbundle Refers to the practice of separating the components of a business or a
product. Often used in telecommunications. Avoid this term, or ensure it is
explained in the story.

undeducted superannuation contribution The official term for a contribution that

has not attracted a tax deduction or concession.

underperform A share analyst’s recommendation meaning that a stock is expected

to do slightly worse than the market return. Say so. See analysts’ rating

undersubscribe

undervalued

underweight Having a lesser exposure to a particular sector or stock than the

stock’s or sector’s weighting in the overall market. Try to work an explanation into
the story.

unit cost The average cost, calculated by dividing the total cost by the number of
units. Use a term such as average cost.

unit holder, unit holdings

unrealised Profits or losses that are on paper, not yet crystallised by a sale.

unwind A dealer unwinds or squares his or her position by buying or selling to get
out of a short or long position. This is jargon. See short, long

upside The potential for a stock to rise.

uptick A small increase in the price of a security. Avoid the term.

V
value-add/add value A popular piece of marketing jargon. Avoid and instead be
specific about how value is being added to the product or service.

192
venture capital A subset of private equity, not a synonym. Venture capitalists
invest in start-ups and small businesses believed to have long-term growth
potential. See private equity

vertical integration The merger of businesses at different stages of the production

chain. Do not assume readers understand this term. Ensure it is clear from the
context, or explain.

vice chairman, vice president

Vodafone Not Vodaphone

vulture fund A fund that buys into distressed investments such as high-yield
bonds that are in or near default, or businesses that are in or near bankruptcy. The
goal is a high return at a bargain price. Explain.

W
Wall Street The location of New York’s financial district but also acceptable
shorthand for the New York Stock Exchange or the US sharemarket generally.

weighting The proportion that a group of securities or asset classes represents

within a single investment portfolio, index or market. Use plain English.

wheat belt Also wheat field, wheat grower, wheat-growing district.

wholesale Refers to services – such as wholesale banking – primarily for

institutions and larger businesses. Ensure this is clear from context. See also retail

wildcat A speculative well drilled in the hope of finding oil or gas.

withholding tax Tax deducted from dividends paid to non-residents, i.e. people
who do not pay tax in Australia. They may be able to claim a tax credit in their home
country. Do not assume readers understand this term.

193
Woolworths (the supermarket company) Woolies (one l) may be used at second
reference or in headlines. No connection with Woolworths Holdings Ltd, the South
African retail group, which should not be referred to as Woolies. Nor should the
unrelated Woolworth Corp of the United States.

write Jargon that should be avoided. It usually means to sell, e.g. to write
insurance.

write-back (noun), to write back (verb). Use write-down, the more widely
recognised term.

write-down (noun), to write down (verb). To reduce the recorded value; do not
confuse with write off.

write-off (noun), to write off (verb). To write off the value of assets, such as
property, completely, rather than to merely reduce it. Homepage write-offs take
double quote marks.

Y
Yahoo Drop the exclamation mark, as the company does when writing about itself.

years Use the style 2025-26, not 2025-2026 or 2025/26 when referring to financial
years. Also, 2025 should be used only to refer to the calendar year.
.
year-on-year Hyphenate adjectivally. In statistics, a year-on-year change is the
figure for one year compared with the figure at the same time the previous year,
while an annualised rate involves the conversion of a monthly or quarterly figure
into an annual one by multiplying it by 12 or four. They are not interchangeable
terms. Used adverbially, remove the hyphen: Growth is stagnant year on year.

yen Spell out the Japanese currency

yield curve The curve generated on a graph when tracking interest rates for
differing terms (one year, five years, 10 years, for example). Normally, the curve
moves upwards because investors expect a higher interest rate for carrying risk for

194
a longer term. It is noteworthy when investors perceive greater risk and seek higher
interest rates in the shorter term – an inverse yield curve. Don’t assume too much
reader knowledge.

yuan/renminbi Use yuan for China’s currency. The two words denote the same
currency, but yuan is the more formal term. If necessary, say yuan, also known as
the renminbi.

195
 SPORT STYLE

This guide contains a general section, reminders and a list of banned words, but
the bulk is made up of terms used in individual sports. The entries contain specific
terms and guidelines, along with subheadings for positions, teams, leagues and
websites. Apart from the odd minor exception, spelling, usage and scoring styles
are consistent across mastheads. Teams are plural and soccer is the name we use
for the game with the round ball.

BANNED

ahead of unless describing a physical position. Instead of writing, He is training

ahead of the first Test, say, He is training for the first Test.

back in 2007 as in He won a gold back in 2007. Back is redundant for any year.

currently An unnecessary word 99 per cent of the time.

former Brownlow medallist Find the year he won the medal.

headed See headed = heading in the general sport section.

in order to Becomes to.

in the wake of Use following, unless in a sailing report.

including the likes of List the names you mean, or use for example, among others.

new world record Just set a world record.

saw as in saw them go to the top, Go to saw in the general sport section.

starts off the bench See the rugby league guide.

the win saw them go top of the ladder Rewrite.

196
REMEMBER

column names – e.g. The Fitz Files – are NOT italicised.

Hawk-Eye

player associations Use apostrophes if specific associations do.

try to Not try and.

compare with Means to compare two or more things for similarities or differences;
compare to is to liken someone or thing to something else. (Shall I compare thee to
a summer’s day?)

championship/championships See general sport section. Not champs unless in

direct quotes.

Cup, Open See general sport section.

dressing room Not hyphenated.

SANZAR, UEFA, FIFA, ARU, NRL

try line, goal line, goalkicker, leading goal scorer See individual sports for more.

goal-kicking tally, run-scoring record Hyphenated. See individual sports for

more.

baggy green

VENUES

Stadiums are to be referred to by the name in common usage, often a sponsor’s

name. Where names have changed recently, or where they are obscure or
confusion may arise, attach some geography. See also austadiums.com/stadiums.
Note: Sydney Olympic Park is a precinct within Homebush Bay, much as Darling
Harbour is a precinct within Pyrmont. Homebush Bay is a separate suburb to
Homebush.

197
GENERAL

abbreviations for weights, measures and times Use only from second
reference and make them hard-up. Metres (m), kilograms (kg), hour (hr), minutes
(min), seconds (s). For times, spell out at first reference: one hour, 20 minutes, four
seconds, and abbreviate thereafter as 1:20.04. Or 9.74 seconds; 9.74s at second
reference. If there is no doubt as to what unit is being used, abbreviations can be
left out. Boxer X weighs 75 kilograms, boxer Y 74.

Achilles heel Also Achilles tendon

Admiral’s Cup

anterior cruciate ligament Then ACL at second reference.

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency

back line, back row But back-line move or back-rower.

backmarker

blue-ribbon event Not blue riband.

carotid artery

CT scan is a computed axial tomography but CT scan is fine.

championship/championships If there is one title – e.g. the European

Championship – it is singular. If there are multiple events and winners – e.g. world
athletics championships – it is plural.

cross-country

Cup Lower case at second and subsequent references except Melbourne Cup (Cup
capped at all references).

dates To avoid confusion in a multiplatform world, reporters should not use

yesterday, today, tomorrow, this morning, tonight to time stories. Name the day.
And the preposition on must stay. Do not use the American construction The match
was played Wednesday. Today, yesterday, tomorrow, etc are used in print. Desk
editors need to make the appropriate changes. Live blogs may use today, tonight,
etc to aid clarity as they will not be running in print.

198
dressing room Also change room.

erythropoietin Later EPO.

esports

full-time, half-time, three-quarter-time, extra time (overtime for American

sports).

grand final Lower case for all grand finals, semi-finals, preliminary finals, etc.

grand prix Tennis and motor racing. Lower case except when it is part of the event
name, e.g. the Australian Grand Prix. Plural grands prix.

grand slam

halfway line

honorifics Drop them.

human growth hormone at first reference; then HGH.

ironman

King’s Cup

knockout

line breaks Dates, sporting pools, race categories and millions of dollars should be
joined by a thin space for print so they do not break over a line: September 2;
group B; group 1; $12 million.

line-up (noun), to line up (verb)

match winner, match-winning Wilson scored the match winner; the

match-winning goal came in the 90th minute.

medals (Olympics, etc) Lower case gold medal, silver, bronze. Upper case for
medal as in Brownlow Medal (but Brownlow medallist). Do not use medal as a verb.

meeting Do not use meet for athletics and swimming events.

modafinil A stimulant.

199
motocross

Open Upper case Open at all times except when referring to: (1) a generic event
that is open; (2) several opens together; (3) the open era, as in tennis.

ping-pong Use table tennis.

play-off (noun or adjective), to play off (verb)

practice, practise He was late for practice (noun); He was practising or wanted to
practise (verb).

pre-season

prizemoney

put (the shot) putt (in golf)

quarter-final

quarter-time

record-holder

repechage

round-robin

saw As in The win saw them return to the top of the table or The innings saw him
become the leading run-scorer. Do not use saw in these contexts. The sentence
must be rewritten.

semi-final

shortlist

shootout (noun)

shutout (noun)

sponsors The use of sponsors’ names in close association with sporting and
cultural events should be avoided. We do not refer to the Lexus Melbourne Cup or
similar. Use such names when needed for the sake of clarity, but avoid them in the
first paragraph. The restriction is waived when such things as yachts and stadiums

200
are named after sponsors.

sports reporter, editor, organisations and pages. Not sporting.

stadiums Not stadia.

stands Great Southern Stand, but the stand.

Super Bowl

table tennis Not ping-pong.

taekwondo

teammate

teams/club (singular AND plural) Treat team names as plural: Collingwood are
going to win the flag; Manchester United are going to be European champions.

Test match Upper case for Test. Also, first Test for any sport.

tetrahydrogestrinone After first reference abbreviate to THG.

three-quarter-time

tight end See the American football guide

titleholder

times Spell out at first reference, e.g. two hours, one minute, 26.5 seconds, then
2:01.26.5

try line, goal line, goal scorer, goal-scoring record, points scorer, points-scoring
record, goalkicker, goal-kicking fullback, run scorer, run-scoring record.

touchline, byline

touch judge

Twenty20 Always capped.

under 19s But an under-19 player.

versus Spell out at all times in copy, but the abbreviation v (NOT vs.) is acceptable

201
in headlines and tables.

women Sportswomen should never as a matter of course be referred to as female

jockey Bernadette Cooper or female all-rounder Karen Rolton. It’s patronising and
superfluous. Use female only when it is relevant to the story.

World Anti-Doping Agency At second reference it is the agency or WADA.

world championship Use when one title is on offer, such as F1 driver’s world
championship or FIFA under-23 world championship.

world championships Use when multiple titles are on offer, as in swimming or

athletics.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

website
nfl.com

end zone

field goal

first down, first-down yardage, fourth-down conversion

Hail Mary

kicker, kick-off, kick-off return (noun or adjective)

line of scrimmage

offence, defence Not offense, defense.

onside kick

play-offs

quarterback, cornerback, running back

tight end, defensive end

turnover

202
wide receiver

wildcard

yards Do not covert to metres.

ATHLETICS

websites
athletics.com.au
iaaf.org (International Association of Athletics Federations)

Athletics Australia At second reference, AA.

anchor runner

athletics meeting Not meet

backmarker

Balco

countback

distances For races, spell out metres at first reference, then abbreviate to m: 100
metres then 100m; 1500 metres then 1500m.

Gift Write out the full name of the event at first reference: Stawell Gift, then Gift
thereafter.

grand prix season, meeting

IAAF International Association of Athletics Federations.

hammer throw(er)

high jump

lead leg, lead-off leg

long jump

203
middle-distance event

NCAA National Collegiate Athletic Association.

pacemaker

pole vault, pole vaulter

shot put And put the shot.

take-off foot

times For times spell out at first reference, e.g. one hour, 20 minutes, four seconds,
and abbreviate thereafter as 1:20.04.

triple jump

AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL (Vic: FOOTBALL)

website
afl.com.au

All-Australian

AFL tribunal, the

Aussie rules

Australian Football League No need to spell out. Abbreviate as the AFL. In Victoria
it can also be referred to simply as the league (lower case). In NSW, always use AFL
rather than the league. The governing body is the AFL Commission (the
commission, and commissioners).

back line

Brownlow Medal But medallist.

captain-coach

Central District (SA)

centre line

204
coach’s box

corked As in a corked thigh, corked calf etc.

delist To drop from the team list.

dressing room

finals Lower case grand final, preliminary final, semi-final etc. Also, grand finalist.

forward line

goal words goal-scoring, goalkicker, goal sneak, goalless, goal mouth, goal post,
goal square, goal line, goal umpire.

grand final Lower case. Also, grand finalist.

half-time Also quarter-time, three-quarter-time.

handball

key-position player

league The Australian Football League, at later references, is the league (lower
case) or the AFL. Use the latter in NSW. Generally, there is no need to spell out AFL.

line words back line, forward line, centre line.

onballer

Port Adelaide NOT Port Power.

positions
full-back
back pocket
half-back
half-back flank
centre half-back
centre half-forward
half-forward flank
half-forward
forward pocket
full-forward
rover

205
 ruck-rover
ruckman

pre-season

scores The style is goals, points, total: 12.10 (82) d 10.10 (70). Please do the maths
to check they are correct.

speccy/speccies Spectacular mark/marks. To be used sparingly.

Swan Districts (WA)

tap-on

teams Logic insists there is no such thing as an interstate team in a national

competition. When the need arises to discuss teams outside Victoria, call them
non-Victorian. Teams are mostly referred to by their team name (Carlton) OR their
mascot name (the Blues), not both (Carlton Blues). The teams and mascot names
are as follows:
Adelaide (Crows)
Brisbane (Lions) (in Vic: Brisbane Lions)
Carlton (Blues)
Collingwood (Magpies)
Essendon (Bombers)
Fremantle (Dockers)
Gold Coast (Suns)
Greater Western Sydney (Giants)
Geelong (Cats)
Hawthorn (Hawks)
Melbourne (Demons)
North Melbourne (Kangaroos)
Port Adelaide (the Power)
Richmond (Tigers)
St Kilda (Saints)
Sydney (Swans)
West Coast (Eagles)
Western Bulldogs (later the Bulldogs)

time-on

umpire Not referee. Also boundary umpire.

under 19s But an under-19 player.

206
western Sydney

BASEBALL

websites
mlb.com (Major League Baseball – US)
baseball.com.au

balk

base (first)

batter, batter’s box

bullpen

bunt

catcher

clean-up hitter

competitions Baseball competitions include Major League Baseball (US), Claxton

Shield (Australia).

double play

dugout

fastball

ground ball, fly ball

homer

hitter

inning (first) Not innings.

no-hitter

207
outfielder

pitcher

plate The plate, lower case.

triple play

world series

BASKETBALL

websites
nbl.com.au (National Basketball League – Australia)
wnbl.com.au
basketball.net.au
nba.com (National Basketball Association – US)
wnba.com
fiba.com

alley-oop

backcourt, frontcourt, midcourt

buzzer beater

downtown

FIBA International Basketball Federation

fadeaway jumper, turnaround jumper

foul line

free throw line

full-court press, half-court press

goaltending

in bounds, in-bounds pass

208
key

lay-up

March Madness

National Basketball Association (American) Abbreviate thereafter as NBA.

National Basketball League (Australian) Abbreviate thereafter as NBL.

overtime

slam dunk

shot clock, shot-clock violation

three-pointer, three-point play

triple-double, double-double

tip-off

travelling

turnover

Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) American.

Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) Australian.

BOWLS

website
bowls-aust.com.au

bias, the

end

jack

lawn bowls

209
Royal Victorian Bowls Association (RVBA)

Victorian Ladies Bowling Association (VLBA)

tenpin bowling

BOXING

websites
boxrec.com
wbo-int.com
worldboxingfederation.net
wbcboxing.com
ibf-usba-boxing.com
boxing.org.au
www.secondsout.com
www.aussiebox.com.au

counterpunch

divisions This is not a complete list of divisions, but follow this as a guide to
spelling and hyphenation.
heavyweight
super-cruiserweight
cruiserweight
light-heavyweight
super-middleweight
middleweight
super-welterweight
welterweight
light-welterweight or junior-welterweight
lightweight
super-featherweight
featherweight
super-bantamweight
bantamweight
super-flyweight
flyweight
light-flyweight
minimum

210
knockout Thereafter KO.

southpaw

technical knockout Thereafter TKO.

World Boxing Association Abbreviate as WBA at second reference.

World Boxing Council Abbreviate as WBC at second reference.

World Boxing Organisation Abbreviate as WBO at second reference.

CRICKET

websites
espncricinfo.com (international)
iplt20.com (Indian Premier League)
cricketnsw.com.au
auscricket.com.au
cricket.com.au

AIS cricket academy

all-rounder

Ashes, the

Australian Cricketers’ Association

baggy green Lower case for the green cap worn by the Australian Test cricketers.

ball tampering

batsman/batter Use batsman for men and batter for women.

beamer, beam ball

cover-point, extra-cover, cover

Cricket NSW

district cricket It is Premier Cricket in Victoria, but grade cricket in NSW.

211
doosra

drive

dressing room

fast-medium

fine leg Also short leg, square leg.

first-class cricket Also, first-grade match, in first grade.

first slip

first Test, Test match

follow-on (noun), follow on (verb).

fours, sixes

grade cricket It is Premier Cricket in Victoria, but grade cricket in NSW.

hat-trick

Headingley Cricket (and rugby league) ground Leeds, Yorkshire.

Indian Premier League Use IPL after the first reference.

ICC International Cricket Council. Then ICC.

inswinger

left-arm spinner

left-handed, left-hander

leg before wicket At second reference abbreviate as lbw.

leg-break

leg-bye

leg side But leg-side trap.

212
leg-spin, leg-spinner

leg stump

limited-overs match

long hop

long-off, long-on, long-stop

Lord’s

match fixing But match-fixing inquiry.

match referee

medium pace, medium pacer

mid-off Also deep mid-off, mid-on, deep mid-on.

mid-wicket

mis-hit

nightwatchman

no-ball

off-break

off side The off side, but an off-side shot.

off-spin, off-spinner

off stump

one-day match

on side

outswinger

Oval, the (Surrey, England)

213
overarm, underarm

over rate

over the wicket

overthrow

plumb

Port of Spain No hyphens.

positions
cover, extra-cover, deep extra-cover, short extra-cover, cover point
fine-leg, deep backward fine-leg, short fine-leg
gully
long-on, long-off, wide long-off, wide long-on
mid-on, mid-off, deep mid-on, deep mid-off
mid-wicket, deep mid-wicket,
point, backward point, deep backward point, forward point, silly point
silly mid-on, silly mid-off
slips (slips cordon)
square-leg, short-leg, deep square-leg, deep backward square-leg
slips, fly slip,
sweeper
third man, short third man
wicketkeeper, then keeper (no apostrophe)

right-handed

run out The batsman was run out, but the runout decision, and the runout left the
team devastated.

scores 9-396, 9-396 declared.

second-wicket partnership

Sheffield Shield

sightscreen

silly mid-off, silly mid-on

214
square cut, square drive

sledging

slog-sweep

strokeplay

tailender

teams
NSW (Blues)
Queensland (Bulls)
Victoria (Bushrangers)
Western Australia (Warriors)
South Australia (Redbacks)
Tasmania (Tigers)

Test Upper case for the first Test, Test match etc.

third man

third umpire

tri-series The one-day triangular tournament.

Twenty20 Always upper case.

IPL Twenty 20 teams
Bangalore Royal Challengers
Chennai Super Kings
Delhi Daredevils
Hyderabad Sunrisers
Rajasthan Royals
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kings XI Punjab
Mumbai Indians

WACA Western Australian Cricket Association.

WACA Ground, the The ground in Perth. It is not simply the WACA, which is the
association.

Wanderers, the (Johannesburg)

215
wicketkeeper Then keeper (no apostrophe).

wrong ’un

CYCLING

websites
cycling.org.au
uci.ch
letour.fr

breakaway

criterium, criteriums

domestique

echelon

individual pursuit

keirin

madison

peloton

points race

repechage

teams pursuit

time trial

Tour de France Riders compete in sponsored teams. Insert team names in brackets
at a convenient spot after names if not already mentioned in text.

UCI International Cycling Union

216
GOLF

websites
pgatour.com
lpga.com
golfaustralia.com.au
rydercup.com
pgatour.com.au
europeantour.com

albatross Three under par on a hole.

back nine, front nine

backswing, upswing, downswing

birdie One under par on a hole. Also, birdieing.

bogey One over par on a hole. Also double bogey, triple bogey. The plural is
bogeys.

caddie

clubhouse

details Golf holes are 1st to 18th.

dogleg

eagle Two under par on a hole.

even par

five iron But a five-iron shot.

fourball Best ball.

grand slam, calendar slam

holes First to ninth, 10th to 18th.

hole in one (noun), holed in one (verb).

217
lay-up He played a lay-up but decided to lay up short of the water.

leaderboard

majors US Masters, British Open, US Open, US PGA Championship. References to

British Open championship, Australian Open championship are not incorrect but
should become just British Open, Australian Open. Later, the championship is
acceptable.

match play Scoring style: 7 and 6, 1 up, e.g. Norman finished one over par; Norman
had a one-over-par total of …

Mulligan A do-over of a shot.

Open Upper case when referring to a particular Open at second reference.

out of bounds

outward nine

par A par-four hole.

play-off (noun and adjective)

Presidents Cup No apostrophe.

pro-ams

Q-School

R&A

sand trap

shootout

scoring Tiger Woods birdied the par-five 18th hole. He finished with a four under
par round of 68. He was 10 under par for the tournament.

Stableford

St Andrews

stroke play

218
tee up, tee off, teed off, teeing off, a tee-off

tours

US PGA Tour But US tour.

PGA European Tour But European tour.

HOCKEY

websites
hockey.org.au
fih.ch (International Hockey Federation)

Australian Hockey League AHL at second reference.

back of the stick

centre pass

D, the

flick

mis-hit

long corner

penalty stroke, penalty corner, penalty flick

push-back, the

positions
centre-half
centre-striker
goalkeeper
inside-left
inside-right
left full-back
left-half
left-striker
right full-back
right-half

219
 right-striker

scoop

square ball

straight ball

teams
Hockeyroos (women)
Kookaburras (men)

through ball

time-wasting

MOTOR SPORT

websites
formula1.com
v8supercars.com.au
worldsbk.com
fia.com
cams.com.au (Confederation of Australian Motor Sport)
nascar.com

Australian Grand Prix The Formula 1 race.

backmarker

Brickyard, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

CAMS Confederation of Australian Motorsport, but motor sport confederation.

drive-through penalty

Formula 1 Upper case, spell out at first reference. F1 acceptable thereafter.

formula Ford

constructors’ championship

220
drivers’ championship

FIA International Automobile Federation, then FIA

grand prix, grands prix Upper case when using the full name of a specific race,
e.g. the Australian Grand Prix, then the grand prix.

Indycar

MotoGP

World Superbike Championship

Magny-Cours

motocross

Maranello

McLaren

Nurburgring

stop-go penalty

superbike, supercars

tobacco advertising It is against the law to publish articles, photographs or

cartoons that display tobacco company logos. In the past these have often been
found in motor sport photos. The tobacco company’s name must be obscured.
There are heavy fines for breaches of this law.

V8 Supercars Then V8s if necessary.

NETBALL

websites
netball.com.au
netballnz.co.nz

centrecourt, midcourt, goal circle

221
positions
centre
goal attack
goal defence
goal keeper
goal shooter
wing attack
wing defence

Silver Ferns The New Zealand national team.

super shot

umpire Not referee.

THE OLYMPICS, COMMONWEALTH GAMES

websites
olympic.org
thecgf.com (Commonwealth Games Federation)
paralympic.org

Commonwealth Games Later the Games.

International Olympic Committee Then IOC.

medal, medallist Do not use medal as a verb.

Olympiad Is the period of four years between Games. The enumeration of the
Games does not correspond with the number of Olympiads in the modern era, as
Games were not held in 1916, 1940 or 1944. So the Sydney 2000 Games were the
Games of the 27th Olympiad, but not the 27th Olympic Games. The 2020 Games
were postponed to 2021.

Olympic Use the Olympic Games, the Games, Winter Games, Summer Games, the
Olympics, Olympian, an Olympian (a present or past Games competitor).Treat the
Games as a plural: the Games are under way, the Olympics are about to start.

Paralympics

podium Do not use as a verb.

222
Winter Olympics Thereafter the Games.

RACING

Australian Jockey Club (Randwick, Warwick Farm) At second reference it is the

AJC or the club. At Randwick, the Kensington course is the inside track.

black-type race

Brisbane Amateur Turf Club At second reference it is the BATC or the club.

chaser This shortened form is acceptable for steeplechaser.

class 1, 2, etc Lower case. Also, race or group 1.

Cup Upper case when it forms part of the name, but in second and subsequent
references lower case, except Melbourne Cup, where Cup is always capped.

dead heat

derby/derbies At first reference the Victoria Derby, then the Derby. Plural: the
Victoria and WA derbies.

details btg (betting), carr (carried), pp (post position), fin (finish), scr (scratched),
divs (dividend, dividends), h (horse), m (mare), g (gelding), c (colt), f (filly), b (bay),
br (brown), gr (grey), ch (chestnut), imp (imported), len (length), ½ len (half length),
nk (neck), long nk (long neck), hd (head), sht hd (short head), abt (about), hcp
(handicap), stks (stakes), 2yo (2-year-old), 50 kg, wfa (weight-for-age), all
(allowances), no (number, numbers), SP (starting price).
In tipping panels, abbreviate the first word in horse’s name when necessary, e.g.
Black Beauty becomes B Beauty.

Doomben 10,000

erythropoietin Abbreviate as EPO after first reference.

form guide

gelding A male.

Golden Slipper Keep Slipper upper case at second and subsequent references.

223
group Lower case. As in group race.

group 1 Lower case, thin space between for print.

Guineas Upper case when a specific event.

he or she Horses are not it. See also who

horses’ names All horses’ names should have initial capitals: Show A Heart, Might
And Power.

Interdominion

Ipswich Amateur Turf Club At second reference it is the IATC or the club.

lightweight jockey

listed

Longchamp

maiden

margins Short head, half a length, three-quarters of a length, two lengths.

Melbourne Racing Club Formerly the Victorian Amateur Turf Club.

mud-runner

Moonee Valley Racing Club At second reference it is the MVRC or the club.

NSW Thoroughbred Racing Board At second reference NSW TRB. Its appeal panel
is lower case and singular.

oaks Lower case unless it forms part of the event name, in which case it would be
Oaks at second reference.

odds, odds-on

off-course betting

on-course betting

photo-finish

224
plate Lower case unless it forms part of the event name, e.g. the Cox Plate.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

racetracks

Reisling Stakes Not Riesling.

short head, half a head

St Leger

spring carnival Lower case. Also, autumn carnival.

South Australian Jockey Club At second reference it is the SAJC or the club.

stewards’ inquiry

Sydney Turf Club (Rosehill, Canterbury) At second reference it is the STC or the
club.

topweight The topweight is Black Joe, but Black Joe has the top weight of 61
kilograms.

three-quarters of a length

trackwork

trainers No honorific.

triple crown

Victoria Racing Club Abbreviate as the VRC.

who Refer to horses using who, not which.

weight-for-age At second reference abbreviate as wfa, lower case.

winner’s circle

women trainers, jockeys Unless it is pertinent to the story don't state that they
are female.

225
ROWING

website
rowingaustralia.com.au

coxless four

coxless pair

eight

lightweight sculls

Oarsome Foursome

quad sculls

repechage

scull/sculls A scull is the boat you row, sculls is the event.

single sculls

RUGBY LEAGUE

websites:
nrl.com.au
superleague.co.uk

arch-rivals

Australian Rugby League Abbreviate as ARL at all references.

blindside, blind side He was blindsided, an attempt to blindside someone; he went

on the blind side.

CT scan

chicken wing, crusher, grapple tackle

226
chip kick, grubber kick

Centenary Test

counter-attack

dead-ball line

drop goal, drop kick

dummy half

forward pass

front row, front-rower

full-time

goal line

goalkicker, goal-kicking fullback

grade-one charge, grade-four penalty

hand-off (noun)

hit-up (noun)

in-goal, in-goal area

judiciary

kick-off (noun) But The game will kick off at …

knock-on (noun)

lineout

National Rugby League Do not spell out; abbreviate as NRL at all references.

NSW Rugby League Abbreviate as NSWRL at second reference.

offload

227
off-season

offside, onside

onside

open side

Origin, Origin I, II, III But game one or game two, etc.

place kick

play-the-ball

points scorer, points-scoring record

positions
centre
five-eighth
fullback
halfback
hooker
lock
prop or front-rower
second row or second-rower
winger

premier league

pre-season

put-in

the premiership, premiership-winning coach/team

referee Not umpire.

referees’ coach, referees’ boss

rugby, rugby league Lower case for the game but upper case for the
organisations, e.g. the NSW Rugby League. By itself, rugby means rugby union, but
rugby football covers both codes.

Rugby League Players’ Association

228
sidestep

sin bin

starts off the bench Banned. He doesn’t start off the bench, he starts on the
bench. Or he is on the bench.

State of Origin Also, State of Origin I, State of Origin II, etc.

NRL teams
NSW: Do not use both the name and nickname except Wests Tigers. Victoria: Use
Melbourne Storm to avoid confusion with Melbourne (Demons).
Brisbane (Broncos)
the Bulldogs
Canberra (Raiders)
Cronulla (Sharks)
Gold Coast (Titans)
Manly-Warringah (Sea Eagles, Manly)
Melbourne (Storm)
New Zealand (Warriors)
Newcastle (Knights)
North Queensland (Cowboys)
Parramatta (Eels)
Penrith (Panthers)
South Sydney (Rabbitohs, Souths)
St George Illawarra. No hyphen. Do not omit Illawarra and do not use Saints
(Dragons)
Sydney Roosters. Do not use Sydney alone
Wests Tigers. Do not omit Tigers.

try line

try-scorer

RUGBY UNION

22-metre line, 22-metre dropout

back line, back-line coach

229
Bledisloe Cup

dead-ball line

drop kick

forward pass

front row, front-rower

full-time

goal line

half-time

intercept pass An interception.

kick-off

knock-on

lineout

Maori (singular and plural)

NSW Rugby Union First reference, then NSWRU.

offside

onside

positions In Victoria, the rugby positions of half-back and full-back are

hyphenated; in NSW they are to be treated as one word. All other positions are the
same for both states. Also, convert English definitions, below in capitals in
brackets, to Australian.
front row, front-rowers, loose-head, tight-head
hooker back row, back-rowers, breakaway, No. 8
second row, second-rower (NOT lock)
blindside, blindside breakaway, openside
breakaway (NOT flanker)
halfback (NOT scrum-half)
five-eighth (NOT fly-half or stand-off)
outside-centre

230
 inside-centre
winger
fullback

referee Not umpire.

Rugby/union The Herald uses union in subheads to differentiate from league. But
rugby is acceptable in copy. Rugby football covers both rugby codes.

SANZAR South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby.

semi-finals

set-piece

Six Nations

Super 15

Super 15 teams
NB: There are 16 teams in the following list, but only 15 participate annually.
Brumbies (ACT)
Reds (Queensland)
Waratahs (NSW)
Rebels (Melbourne)
Western Force (WA)
Bulls (Pretoria)
Cheetahs (Bloemfontein)
Lions (Johannesburg)
Sharks (Durban)
Stormers (Cape Town)
Southern Kings (Port Elizabeth)
Blues (Auckland)
Chiefs (Waikato)
Crusaders (Canterbury)
Highlanders (Dunedin)
Hurricanes (Wellington)

teams (club)
Eastern Suburbs (Tricolours, Beasts, Easts)
Eastwood (Woods NOT Woodies)
Gordon (Highlanders)
Manly (Marlins)
Northern Suburbs (Shoremen, Norths)

231
 Parramatta (Two Blues)
Penrith (Emus)
Randwick (Galloping Greens)
Southern Districts (Rebels, NOT Southern)
Sydney Uni (Students)
Warringah (Green Rats)
West Harbour (Pirates, Wests)

touch judge

Tri Nations

Wallabies The Australian men’s team.

Wallaby and Wallabies The Wallaby has played 100 Tests; the Wallabies
five-eighth has played 100 Tests

Wallaroos The Australian women’s team.

SAILING

18-footer

470

49er

America’s Cup It is possessive because it was first won by the yacht America.

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia

knot

monohull

mistral

multihull

skiff

soling

232
Sydney to Hobart No hyphens.

Sydney Flying Squadron

tornado

SOCCER
(not football except in quotes and organisation names)

websites
footballaustralia.com.au
a-league.com.au
bbc.co.uk/football
theworldgame.sbs.com.au
soccerbase.com (for results, goals scored, player fact files)
fifa.com

4-4-2, 3-5-1, 4-3-3, etc

Asian Champions League Second reference Champions League NOT ACL

assistant referee Not linesman.

back four, flat back four

backheel

back post

back pass

byline, sideline, goal line, touchline

clean sheet

CONCACAF Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association

Football

CONMEBOL South American Football Confederation

233
Copa America

Copa Libertadores

Club World Cup Not Club World Championship or World Club Cup.

crossbar

crossfield

dead ball, dead-ball specialist

European Champions League European Cup is acceptable when referring to

knockout rounds of the competition.

extra time

FIFA The football governing body known in English as the International Federation
of Association Football.

50-50 ball

free kick

goal kick

goal scorer, goal-scoring

Golden Boot

golden goal A method used to decide the winner in drawn elimination matches at
the end of regulation time.

halfway line

half-volley

handball

hat-trick

injury time, stoppage time

Joeys The Australian under-17 male youth team.

234
keeper no apostrophe

leagues
A-League
English Premier League, the Championship, League One, League Two
Scottish Premier League, first division
Primera Liga (La Liga)
Serie A (no itals)
Bundesliga
Major League Soccer

linesman Use assistant referee rather than linesman.

Matildas The Australian women’s team.

miskick

offside, onside

Olyroos The Australian men’s under-23 team.

penalty, penalty kick, spot-kick

positions
centre-back
centre forward or striker
centre midfield
goalkeeper
left full-back
left midfield
right full-back
right midfield
striker
sweeper

Queens Park Rangers

scissors kick

sending off NOT send-off

six-yard box

235
Socceroos The national men’s team, but not Olympic team.

St James’ Park

through ball

total football

UEFA Union of European Football Associations but use UEFA in copy.

Young Matildas The Australian women’s under-19 team.

Young Socceroos The Australian men’s under-20 team.

World Cup Cup is upper case at all times when referring to the World Cup.

SPORTS BETTING

odds Generally, write as dollar amounts. $11 (not 10-1); $1.20 (not 1-5) etc, except
in quotes. When quoting odds for overseas events use the style 10-1, etc, rather
than the dollar amount, to avoid discrepancies in currency conversions.

odds-on

off-course betting

on-course betting

points spreads Should be expressed as fractions, e.g. 1½ points starts not 1.5,
especially in quotes.

SQUASH

website
squash.org.au

racquet

SURFING

236
website
aspworldtour.com

backhand, backdoor

Bells Beach

goofy-footer

re-entry

repechage

SWIMMING

websites
swimming.org.au
fina.org

backstroke

breaststroke

butterfly

championships

false start

freestyle

individual medley Abbreviate thereafter as IM. Note it is medley relay.

kick turn

lane rope

longcourse

luteinising hormone

medallist

237
open water, open-water swimming

shortcourse

starting blocks

swimming meeting Not meet.

swimming coach/team Not swim coach/team.

times See times in the General sport section.

tumble turn

TENNIS

websites
wtatour.com
atptour.com
frenchopen.org
usopen.org
wimbledon.org
australianopen.org
masters-series.com
daviscup.com

All England club Lower case c, as the proper name is the All England Lawn Tennis
and Croquet Club.

Australian hardcourt championships

Australian indoor championships

Australian Open championships or the singles championship

backcourt

backhand

backspin

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baseline, baseliner

break point

centre court

claycourt (noun and adjective)

counterpuncher

crosscourt

double fault

drop shot

Fed Cup

fifth-set win

Flushing Meadows

forehand

grand slam

grand prix Lower case.

grasscourt (noun and adjective)

groundstroke

half-volley

hardcourt

Hawk-Eye

International Tennis Federation Abbreviate as ITF at second reference.

left-handed, left-hander

let cord

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lineball But a line-ball decision.

line call

masters series Lower case unless part of the event name, as in Madrid Masters.

match-fixing

Melbourne Park Home of the Australian Open.

midcourt

nationalities Player’s nationalities should be included in all copy, unless they are
Australian.

Newk Former champion John Newcombe’s nickname.

Open Upper case at all times when referring to a particular tournament.

open era

overhead

quarter-final, semi-final

Queen’s For the tournament and the club.

racquet

rankings The Champions Race is a week-to-week ranking reflecting the

performance of a player in that calendar year. The ATP entry ranking is a
year-to-year mark reflecting performance relative to the preceding year. The entry
ranking is the preferred ranking unless the story relates, for example, to a particular
purple patch a player may be enjoying in any given season.

right-handed

Roland Garros

scoring 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4) indicates third-set tie-breaker. Always include tie-breaker
scores. In game scores, tennis is the only sport in which the loser’s score can go
first. For example, if necessary, “Hewitt trailed 15-30 in the ninth game of the third
set, but with pressure mounting he …” In other words, the player who is serving

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needs to be identified.

seedings Always check with the tournament website as seedings can often differ
slightly from world rankings.

’s-Hertogenbosch Home of the Ordina Open in the Netherlands.

straight-sets win But won in straight sets.

Sydney International

tie-breaker Not tie-break.

top seed, top-seeded

topspin

two-handed backhand

wildcard

the world No. 2, world No. 8, the Australian No.1 A hair space between the No.
and the figure for print please.

world group

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A GUIDE TO ARABIC
AND ISLAMIC TERMS AND NAMES

TERMS
1.1 Arabs Arabs was initially a name given to people from Arabia, but with time the
word has come to encompass anyone whose native tongue is Arabic and who
identifies as Arab. The adjective varies:
(a) Arabian is a geographic term that applies to Arabia (Arabian Peninsula, Arabian
Sea).
(b) The language and all things relating to it are Arabic.
(c) A person is Arab, as are things relating to the people in a non-Arabian
geographic setting. Not all present-day Arabs live in Arabia, which is why we speak
of the Arab world rather than the Arabian one, i.e. in terms of people, rather than
geography. The Arab world stretches from Morocco and Mauritania on North
Africa’s Atlantic coast in the west to Iraq in the east. Details of the member states
of the Arab League, founded in 1945, can be found here:
http://www.arab.de/arabinfo/league.htm and at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League
(d) References to Arabs as a ‘‘race’’ should be avoided. Before the Islamic period,
the Arabs lived solely in Arabia, but the Islamic conquests changed that and they
assimilated many other peoples in the process. A person from Sudan and a
Caucasian from Lebanon might both describe themselves as Arabs, so standard
conceptions of race do not apply.

1.2 Islam and Muslims

(a) The religion is Islam. Its adherents are Muslims. Anything else associated with
Islam (thought, architecture, law) is Islamic. Muslim should not be used as an
adjective for anything other than a person or group of people, with one exception
(see b).
b) When we talk about states, Muslim should be used to describe a state in which
the majority of inhabitants are Muslim but which is not governed along religious
lines (e.g. Indonesia, Libya). Islamic should be used where the state is governed
along religious lines (e.g. Iran, Saudi Arabia).
(c) An Islamist is a Muslim who advocates Islamism, or the organisation of the state
according to religious principles. In some cases, this person may advocate
theocracy. Islamist is preferable to (and shorter than) Islamic/Muslim
fundamentalist, a term that many Muslims find offensive and unacceptable, since it
implies they are somehow deviating from the ‘‘fundamentals’’ of their own faith.
(d) An Islamicist (as opposed to an Islamist) is a specialist in the study of Islam and
not necessarily a Muslim.

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(e) Most Muslims are not Arab. Of the eight countries with Muslim populations of
more than 50 million, only one, Egypt, is an Arab country. About 15 to 20 per cent
of the world’s Muslims are Arab. By the same token, although most Arabs are
Muslim, and Arabic is the sacred language of Islam and the Koran, there remains a
significant minority of Arabs who profess Christianity and other faiths.

1.3 Religious titles

In stories about Muslims, the Western terms ‘‘cleric’’, ‘‘clergy’’ and ‘‘priest’’ should be
avoided. While Shiite Islam has a hierarchy of religious scholarship (see b, below)
there is no priesthood in the Christian sense, and Sunni Islam, the most prevalent
form of the religion, does not have a hierarchy of any kind. Imams (see a below) are
senior figures in the community appointed by individual mosques on a contractual
basis to lead religious observance. While it is not an exact comparison, the situation
in mainstream Islam is similar to that of Congregationalism in Christianity.
(a) While there are Arabs and Muslims with the surname ‘‘Imam’’, it is more
commonly seen as a title. Some early leaders of the Shiites (see 1.4) were given the
title Imam with a capital I and this title has also been applied by some Shiites to the
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900-1989). The term ‘‘imam’’ with a
small i is used by all Muslims to refer to the person who conducts worship in a
mosque.
(b) Ayatollah is a Shiite Muslim title meaning ‘‘sign from God’’. Religious scholars
gain the rank of ayatollah through selection by existing ayatollahs. The rank of
Shiite religious scholarship below that of ayatollah is Hojatoleslam, or ‘‘proof of
Islam’’.
(c) The honorific Haj or Haji is sometimes used in front of the name of a person who
has made the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
(d) The title sheikh can signify a temporal ruler (the rulers of the Gulf states are
often referred to as sheikhs) but is also used for religious and tribal elders.
(e) Mufti is a title given by Sunni Muslims to an attorney of sharia, or Islamic law
(not ‘‘sharia law’’, a tautology), who is capable of issuing opinions, or fatwas, on
matters of religious law. Under the Ottoman Empire, muftis were officials of the
state, a position in which some muftis were later maintained by the British, but
today the title does not confer any political authority.
(f) Some Muslims use the honorific Sayyid (spelt Syed in the Asian subcontinent),
which is a little like the British ‘‘sir’’ and signifies that the user traces his ancestry to
the prophet Muhammad. In Iran and Iraq, sayyids often wear a black turban to
indicate their status. For a woman, the honorific is Sayyida/Syeda. Other titles that
may be encountered are:
Emir (sometimes amir), meaning ‘‘prince’’ or ‘‘commander’’. The Gulf states of Kuwait
and Qatar are both ruled by an emir, as are each of the seven United Arab
Emirates. In Islam, Amir al-Mumineen (‘‘commander of the faithful’’) was a title
given to the prophet Muhammad and subsequently by most Muslims to the
Caliph (see 1.4).
Maulana or (in Turkish) Mevlana or (in Urdu) Maulvi, meaning ‘‘our master’’ or ‘‘our

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 lord’’, often used to refer to a spiritual leader.
Pir, which refers to a ‘‘living saint’’ to whom some communities of Muslims owe
allegiance. The most famous example is the Pir Pagaro or ‘‘turbaned Pir’’, who is
revered as a descendant of the prophet Muhammad by the Hur community in the
Pakistani province of Sindh.

1.4 Sunnis and Shiites

(a) Shiite and Shia are different spellings of the same word. Our style is Shiite.
Shiite can be translated as ‘‘partisans’’. Sunni can be translated as ‘‘traditional’’ or
‘‘orthodox’’. Sunnis often refer to themselves formally as Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamaa
(‘‘the people of tradition and the community’’), while Shiites often refer to
themselves formally as Ahl al-Beit (‘‘people of the house’’, i.e. the house of the
prophet Muhammad).
History: The tension that led to the split between Sunni and Shiite Muslims
emerged during the lifetime of the prophet Muhammad and in the aftermath of his
death in AD632. The Sunnis believed that any senior figure in the Muslim
community could become Caliph (successor to Muhammad as leader of the
Muslims). The Shiites, however, believed that the prophet’s son-in-law and cousin,
Ali bin Abi Talib (600-661), and his
descendants had a special place as successors to the prophet, or Imams. These
Muslims became known as ‘‘the partisans of Ali’’. Although Ali was briefly Caliph
himself, rule passed from him to a Sunni dynasty, the Umayyads. The definitive split
occurred in AD680, when the Imam Hussein (a son of Ali) fell in battle with the
forces of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid I at Karbala, now in Iraq and a sacred Shiite
city. Today Sunnis form about 85 per cent of the global Muslim population and
Shiites most of the remaining 15 per cent. Significant Shiite minorities exist in
Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Shiites are a majority in
Azerbaijan, Iran and Bahrain.
(b) Generalisations about what Shiites believe should be avoided as, like
Protestants, the Shiites have in turn split into smaller factions, each with differing
beliefs. Most Shiites in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon are what is known as 12er Shiites,
because they recognise 12 Imams, the last of whom disappeared about AD873. The
12ers expect this Imam, whom they call the Awaited Mahdi (al-Mahdi al-Muntathir),
to return and guide the Muslims on the Day of Judgment. Another sect of Shiites,
the Ismailis, are mostly found in Syria, the Asian subcontinent and places where
Asians have settled in Africa. They recognise seven imams and their spiritual leader
is the Aga Khan, who traces his descent from the prophet Muhammad. Zaydis
recognise five imams and are mostly found in Yemen and parts of North Africa.
(c) There is a tendency in Western media to associate Shiite Islam with political and
social radicalism, largely as a result of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the
Lebanese group Hezbollah. However, two of the most puritan Islamic regimes of
recent times, the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Wahhabis who, in tandem with the
House of Saud, rule Saudi Arabia, are Sunnis. Although Wahhabi is a term used by
many Muslims to refer to the type of Islam propagated by Saudi Arabian religious

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leaders (from the school’s founder, Mohammed ibn Abdel Wahhab), Wahhabis
themselves do not use this term. They call themselves Salafis (followers of the
Salaf) or Muwwahidun (monotheists). The term Salafi is a contested one that refers
to the Islam of the earliest era, and is often also used by Islamists who are in
conflict with the Saudi regime.
(d) One sect that may also come up in news stories is that of the Druze. The Druze
consider themselves Muslims, but their belief in reincarnation and other secret
practices mean they are considered a heretical group by most Sunnis and Shiites
and are not recognised by them to be Muslims at all. The Druze are native to only
three countries: Syria, Lebanon and Israel/Palestine. The Druze also often refer to
themselves as Muwwahidun or monotheists.
(e) Sufi Muslims can be found all over the Islamic world and in both the Sunni and
Shiite sects of Islam. They follow a mystical form of Islam that often involves song,
dance and poetry. They are often viewed at best uneasily and at worst as heretics
by more traditional Muslims. The most famous Sufis in the West are the whirling
dervishes.

1.5 The prophet Muhammad

Although the name can be spelt in many different ways – Mohammed, Mohamed,
Mohammad, even the Turkish Mehmet – our style for the prophet is Muhammad.
Most Australians are aware that for many Aboriginal people the use of images of a
dead person is highly problematic. Similar sensitivities exist in all Muslim
communities surrounding images of the prophet Muhammad (c.570-632). Islam is
an iconoclastic faith and images of the prophet Muhammad’s face do not exist for
this reason. Even Western artists’ impressions should not be used if offence is to be
avoided. In the 1976 film
The Message, starring Anthony Quinn and Irene Papas and dealing with the early
history of the Muslims under Muhammad, the prophet’s face was never shown and
his voice never heard, despite the fact that he was the film’s pivotal character.

1.6 Dress
In recent years, the dress codes of Muslim women have become a frequent topic in
Western media. The most common Arabic word used in such stories is hijab, which
is often translated as ‘‘veil’’ or ‘‘headscarf’’. However, this word does not refer to a
specific item of dress but to the whole concept of modesty in personal attire, so
that we may say someone has ‘‘assumed hijab’’. Purdah, a Persian word that literally
means ‘‘curtain’’ but refers to the seclusion of women from men’s eyes, functions in
the same way. Where a Muslim woman wears a headscarf as hijab, we should
simply call it a headscarf (plural: headscarves). However, there are terms that apply
to specific items of dress which may pop up, and these are our preferred spellings
for them:
Burqa is a word that has different meanings in different languages used by
Muslims. For Arabs, a burqa is a mask tied over a headscarf that veils the face
apart from the eyes. However, in the culture of the Pathans (a non-Arab ethnic

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group found mainly in Pakistan and Afghanistan and sometimes called Pashtuns)
the word burqa is used to mean a robe that covers the entire body and includes a
net panel over the face.
Chador is an outer robe that covers the wearer from head to toe but leaves the
hands and face exposed. The word is Persian.
Dupatta is an Urdu word for a headscarf that usually also covers the breasts.
Jilbab is an overcoat designed to hide the shape of the body. It does not cover the
head.
Khimar is similar to the chador in that it covers the head, leaving the face exposed,
but falls only to a woman’s waist.
Niqab is a word for a veil that covers the face, sometimes leaving the eyes
exposed.
Individual Muslim women will interpret the requirements of hijab in different ways
according to their specific cultural background and personal experience, and that
interpretation may involve only one of these items or a combination of them, but
will usually at least involve covering their hair and legs (some young Muslims may
even wear bandannas or beanies to conceal their hair).

2.1 Reading Arabic/Islamic names

Arabic and Islamic names will often look just like Western ones, i.e. they will consist
of a given name and a surname in that order. However, they will sometimes have
three or more elements, for example: Edreiss Abdul Rahman Mohammed Salih.
Abdul Rahman is an example of a compound name (see 2.4). As more Arabs and
Muslims have come into contact with Western conventions, many have started
referring to themselves in Western ways, so that this person might call himself
‘‘Edreiss Salih’’ or “Salih’’. The older form relates to Muslim conventions, where a
person was known by their given name, the names of their forefathers and then a
family or tribal name: Edreiss (son of) Abdul Rahman (son of) Mohammed (of the)
Salih, or rather: Edreiss bin Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed al-Salih. We can
certainly eliminate the middle names for brevity’s sake, though in the case of
dignitaries and people accused of crimes (see 2.5) it may be a good idea to use the
full name at first reference. What can confuse these matters is that some Arabs
have chosen a forefather’s name rather than their tribal name as a surname, for
example: Saddam (son of) Hussein (the) Tikriti, who was known to the world as
Saddam Hussein. But as a rule of thumb, when faced with several names, we can
presume that the last is the surname and the first is the given name, bearing in
mind that either may be a compound name (see 2.4) and that the given name may
be preceded by a title (see 1.3).
An exception to this rule is the case of Malay and Indonesian names. In these
cultures, people do not have surnames in the Western sense, and are often known
by only one name. Where two names appear, the first is usually the given name and
the second the father’s name, with the ‘‘bin’’ (son of) increasingly left out as
conventions change. In these cases, we use the person’s given name at second
reference, so Mahathir (bin) Mohamed becomes Mahathir and Anwar (bin) Ibrahim

246
becomes Anwar.
In Islam, there is no tradition of wives taking their husband’s surname. Although
the spread of Western norms, especially in former colonies, means this does now
happen, many married Muslim women will have a different surname to their
husband’s.
Note: The prefix ‘‘al’’, which is dealt with in more detail in 2.3, does not
necessarily mark the beginning of a surname. Some compound names, such as Abd
al-Rahim and Abu al-Qasim, have an ‘‘al’’ in the middle, and even middle and first
names can begin with ‘‘al’’.

2.2 Spelling
(a) Arabic names can, due to the spread of Islam, be found in every corner of the
globe. The main problem we face in reporting them accurately is rendering the very
different sounds of the Arabic alphabet of 28 letters into English letters, a process
called transliteration.
(b) Many Muslims have made up their own ‘‘Latin’’ spellings of their names, or had
them made up for them, and these spellings are now a fixture of their lives (in
passports etc). Thus we can have three men who spell their surname
Shamsuddeen, Shamseddine and Shams al-Din, a name which, in Arabic, has only
one spelling.
(c) Another source of variation is the colonial past. Arabs once ruled by the French
(e.g. Algerians, Lebanese) tend to adopt French spellings for Arabic sounds: Cheikh
instead of Sheikh, Said instead of Saeed, Moussaoui instead of Musawi, Achcar
instead of Ashkar.
(d) In countries of sub-Saharan Africa, familiar Arabic names may carry an extra
final vowel sound, for example Ibrahima, Abdullahi and Muhammadou.
(e) A final and most important source of variation is transition to other languages.
Not all Muslims speak Arabic or use the same letters. So in Turkey, for example,
Najmuddin becomes Necmettin, and in countries where Persian languages are
spoken (e.g. Iran, Afghanistan) names may feature the letter ‘‘v’’ instead of ‘‘w’’, or
‘‘p’’ instead of ‘‘b’’. Arabic has no letter ‘‘p’’ or ‘‘v’’.
(f) When someone with an Arabic name has a well-established way of spelling it in
roman characters, this must be allowed to stand. However, where we are dealing
with inhabitants of Islamic and Arab countries who are unlikely to have given any
thought to how their name might be spelt using Latin characters, we should try to
keep spelling variations to a minimum (Ahmed, Mohammed, Mahmoud and Ali are
all best versions of common names).
Important exceptions to this rule are Turkey, Indonesia/Malaysia and Somalia,
where spellings must never be altered as the written languages of these countries
use Latin characters and so the spellings are not transliterations.
(g) In some Arabic names and words, you may come across the use of an
apostrophe. This can be used to indicate the letter ayn, which is difficult to
represent in Latin script and difficult for non-Arabophones to pronounce, or to
represent the glottal stop, which is also a feature of Arabic. An example is the word
al-Qaeda, which some newspapers render as al-Qa’ida because there is an ayn in

247
the middle. Under our style, we should remove apostrophes that we come across in
Arabic words. They do not really aid pronunciation and are meaningless to
Anglophone readers.

2.3 About ‘al’

(a) ‘‘al’’ is not a word. It is a prefix and so usually attached by a hyphen to the
following word.
(b) ‘‘al’’ is the Arabic equivalent of the English word ‘‘the’’. Arabic has no indefinite
article.
(c) except in well-established names and brands‘‘al’’ should be capped only at the
beginning of a sentence.
(d) Where ‘‘al’’ is used in reference to things (the terrorist network al-Qaeda, the
newspaper al-Ahram), it should be kept throughout.
(e) Where ‘‘al’’ is used at the beginning of a person’s family name, it can and should
be dropped on second reference (in other words, Fayed instead of al-Fayed).
(f) In some instances we will come across ‘‘el’’, ‘‘ul’’ and ‘‘il’’ instead of ‘‘al’’ in Arabic
names. We might also see prefixes such as ‘‘ar’’ or ‘‘as’’ or ‘‘an’’. This is primarily to
do with names being recorded by ear. In all these cases, the Arabic written spelling
is ‘‘al’’, and this is how the article should be rendered. The one exception is that of
Islamic names from the Asian subcontinent. Here the ‘‘ul’’ and ‘‘ur’’ forms have
become standard in many names (e.g. Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mujibur Rahman) and
should be kept. As can be seen, the way this form attaches to words is also
different, with ‘‘ul’’ having hyphens before and after, and the ‘‘ur’’ form (most
common in Bangladesh) attaching without a hyphen to the preceding word. In
these cases, the first part of the name (Inzamam, Mujibur) is often used at second
reference.

2.4 Compound names

Compound names exist in Western life, e.g. Holmes a Court, van der Merwe and
Jean-Paul. In Arabic and Islamic names, four types of compound are particularly
common:
(a) Abu/Bin Abu means ‘‘father of’’ and Bin/Ben/Ibn means ‘‘son of’’. These are not
separate names but the first article of a name (e.g. Bin Laden, Abu Ali). As we saw
in 2.1, bin/ben/ibn may be used in a name to indicate lineage. However, it can also
become a fixed part of a surname. It is hardly ever used in given names. In
Mauritania, another form meaning ‘‘son of’’, Ould (pronounced wuld), is often the
first article of a surname, and is always capped. Abu may be part of a surname, but
if the first name in a series begins with it, this is usually a sign that it is not actually
that person’s given name (see 2.5, Identities). There are female equivalents for all
these articles. Umm means ‘‘mother of’’ and bint/ibnat means ‘‘daughter of’’. In
Mauritania, there is another form for ‘‘daughter of’’, Mint, which we should treat in
the same way as Ould.
(b) Abdul Sometimes written as Abd al- or Abdel or even Abed, it means ‘‘servant
of’’ and is always the first element of a name in which the second element usually

248
refers to God. Remember that if someone’s name is given as ‘‘Abdul’’, your
immediate reaction should be ‘‘Abdul what?’’ If a person’s name is given as Abdul
Aziz, for example, you are looking either at a given name or a family name, but not
both. There are dozens of Abdul names, but common examples include
Abdulhamid, Abdullah, Abdul Karim and Abdel Mahdi. In each of these cases,
spelling might vary, for example Abd al-Hamid, Abdel Karim and Abdul Mahdi.
(c) Ghulam This also means ‘‘servant of’’ and is the first element of a name in which
the second element refers to a religious figure. This name is more common among
non-Arab Shiites, especially from the Indian subcontinent and Persian-speaking
countries. The most common examples are Ghulam Hussein (sometimes written as
one word, Gholamhosein) and Ghulam Reza (Gholamreza).
(d) al-Din Sometimes written as -uddin or -edine or -eddine, it means ‘‘the faith’’
and is almost always the second element of a single name.
Note: When used as given names, names of types (b), (c) and (d) would be used
only for males.

2.5 Identities
(a) In Arab culture, there are two ways to refer to any adult person. The obvious
one is that person’s given name. However, all Arab men and women may also be
referred to in terms of their eldest child, or more traditionally their eldest son. They
will often be referred to in this way as a mark of respect even if they have no sons
or no children. For example, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is
known as Abu Mazen (father of Mazen). His eldest son was called Mazen.
Mahmoud Abbas' wife would be called Umm Mazen.
(b) As the Abu Mazen example illustrates, this name is not necessarily an
alias or nom de guerre (‘‘name of war’’), though it may be. Where caution
does need to be employed is when dealing with people suspected of
terrorism. In the case of “Abu’’ names in particular, we should be aware
that both this name and any name that follows it may be aliases. For
example, the real name of the al-Qaeda leader known as Abu Hafs
al-Masri is Mohammed Atef. The real name of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is
believed to be Fadeel al-Khalayleh. In both cases, the second name
(Masri, Zarqawi) refers to that person’s origins: Mohammed Atef is from
Egypt (Masr in Arabic) and so he is called ‘‘Abu Hafs the Egyptian’’ (which
should remind us of gangland sobriquets like ‘‘Nick the Greek’’ or ‘‘Tony
the Bulgarian’’). In such cases, we may have to use final names at second
reference even when they clearly are not authentic, either because we
lack the person’s real name or their real name is unfamiliar to readers.
Sometimes we may use an ‘‘Abu’’ name at second reference for the same
reasons. The notorious Palestinian terrorist Sabri al-Banna was always
known in media reports as Abu Nidal. As was explained in 2.4 a, this
name should not be split subsequently, in other words Abu Nidal should
not later become “Nidal”.

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