The Times Style Guide: A guide to English usage. Ian Brunskill

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СКАЧАТЬ What they must not be is pointless or dull. Do not state the obvious. Readers can see the photograph for themselves; there is no need to describe what it quite clearly shows; say something useful or interesting about it instead. Dismal local-paper caption clichés — sharing a joke, in happier times etc — are banned.

      Style in captions When a caption covers two or more images it should start with the main one. When space is tight, especially on single-column “mugshots”, the name may be just the surname, even when the person is titled, eg Sir Marcus Fox would be simply Fox, as in headlines. Where women are photographed be sensitive: readers complain about our omitting the Christian name, especially in court cases where the woman is the victim. Where possible give the woman’s full name, although this is not a hard-and-fast ruling.

      When identifying faces with left and right etc, use commas rather than brackets (eg Fred Smith, left, and his wife, Jean, leaving the court); make the identification in the caption fit the sequence of faces (left to right) in the photograph. Words such as “pictured” and “inset” should be redundant. Note that, as in text, double quotation marks are used in captions, including narrow-measure captions next to narrow-measure illustrations. Don’t tie yourself in knots trying to link lots of pictures in a single caption of continuous prose; if it can be done, and done elegantly, so much the better; if not, opt for clarity instead and link separate caption elements with semi-colons

      carabiniere (lower case), an Italian police officer; plural carabinieri

      carat a measure of purity in gold (24-carat is 100 per cent); in precious stones and pearls, a measure of weight. The international carat is standardised at 200mg (0.2g; about 7/1000th of an ounce)

      car boot sale no hyphen

       carcass

       cardholder

      cardiac arrest not synonymous with heart attack; check which is meant, and do not change one to the other

      careen to sway or cause to sway dangerously over to one side; too often confused with career, to move swiftly along, rush in an uncontrolled way

      care home company etc no need to hyphenate

      cargo prefer cargos as the plural

      carmaker one word

      car park two words; multistorey car park

      carpetbagger one word

      case was “an overworked word” in the 1959 edition of this guide; it still is

      cashcard in general sense; cashflow, cashback

      cash for honours, cash for peerages no need for quotes for these two phrases; but they do need hyphens when adjectival, eg the cash-for-honours inquiry, the cash-for-peerages affair

      Cashpoint is Lloyds Bank’s trademarked cash machine system, so takes the cap and must not be used generically; in the general sense, use cash dispenser or cash machine, or less formally, hole in the wall

      Castilian (castellano) is the standard spoken and literary Spanish of Spain; Catalan is the distinct language of Catalonia

      casualties be cautious in use of early and unconfirmed estimates of casualties in instances of terrorism, militia gunfights or disasters. Give the estimate’s source where possible, and be aware of politically inspired exaggeration

      catapult not catapault

      Catch-22 there is a hyphen in the title of Joseph Heller’s 1961 satirical novel; avoid altogether the grossly overworked cliché Catch-22 situation

      catchphrase one word

      cathedrals cap when giving the full name, eg St Paul’s Cathedral, Wells Cathedral; similarly the names of churches, eg St Mary’s Church, Ely, unless we know that the church name specifically excludes it, eg St Stephen’s, Ely

      Catherine one of those names that should always be checked: Catharine, Katherine, Katharine, Kathryn etc are all possible. cf Alistair

      Catholic in church context, say Roman Catholic at first mention if necessary to make clear that this is what is meant. Eg if there could be confusion with Eastern rite churches or with those Anglicans who call themselves Catholic. Otherwise, if context is clear, just say Catholic

      CAT scan to avoid confusion, exceptionally keep caps in this acronym; not Cat scan

      cat’s eyes should preferably be called reflecting roadstuds. Catseye is a trademark

      caviar no final e

      CBI no need to spell out as Confederation of British Industry

       ceasefire

      ceilidh social gathering (Highland)

      Cellophane is proprietary, so cap

      celsius, centigrade use either term. In news stories use centigrade first then fahrenheit in brackets at first mention, eg “The temperature rose to 16C (61F).” Take great care with conversions, which often seem to go wrong

      census lower case even in specific cases, such as the 1901 census, the 2001 census

      centenarian also septuagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian

      centenaries use centenary, bicentenary, tercentenary; after that, say four-hundredth anniversary or five-hundredth anniversary

      central Europe with lower case c; also central London etc; likewise northern Europe, southern Europe. Use lower case also for eastern and western Europe except in historical context of the Cold War, but Central America needs cap for clarity

      centre, the as with (the) left and (the) right, use lower case in political context unless clarity demands a cap. Similarly for compound nouns, the centre left, the centre right, and for adjectives, a centre-left politician with a rightwing policy

      Centre Court at Wimbledon upper case; likewise No 1 Court, No 14 Court etc

      centrepiece no hyphen

      centring but centering of arches in bridge-building

      centuries the style is the 3rd century BC, the 9th century, the 18th century etc; and adjectivally with the hyphen, eg 20th-century architecture

      Ceylon the former name for Sri Lanka. The people are Sri Lankan, the majority group are the Sinhalese

      cha-cha-cha not cha-cha

      chainsaw СКАЧАТЬ