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

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СКАЧАТЬ types: nimbus produce rain; stratus resemble layers; cumulus resemble heaps; and cirrus resemble strands or filaments of hair. Prefixes denote altitude, ie strato (low-level), alto (mid-level) and cirro (high-level)

       clubbable

      co- the prefix does not normally require a hyphen even before an e or another o unless confusion or utter hideousness might result. Thus co-operate (but uncooperative), co-opt, co-ordinate (but uncoordinated), coeducation, coexist

      CO2 use subscript

      coalface, coalfield, coalmine (each one word) similarly coalminer (but prefer miner)

      coalition lower case noun or adjective, eg the coalition government

      coastguard lower case and one word, in the British context; but note the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (caps for full name), although the coastguard service (generic) retains the lower case. The US coast guard

      coasts lower case south coast, east coast, west coast and north coast in all contexts

      coats of arms see heraldry

      Coca-Cola (hyphen); note also the trademark Coke. Similarly Pepsi-Cola. If in doubt about the identity of a beverage, write the lower case generic cola

      cock a snook not snoop, please

      cockfight no hyphen, as bullfight and dogfight

      cockney lower case for the person, the dialect and adjectival use

      codebreaker, codebreaking one word

      coeducation(al) but permissible to use co-ed in headlines as coed would look hideous

       coexist

      cognoscenti roman, not italic

      Coldstream Guards may be called the Coldstream and the men Coldstreamers or Coldstream Guards; neither should be called Coldstreams

      Cold War caps

      collarbone one word

      collectibles (not -ables) items sought by collectors

      collective nouns usually use the singular verb, as with corporate bodies (the company, the government, the council etc). But this rule is not inviolable; the key is to stick to the singular or plural throughout the story: sentences such as “The committee, which was elected recently, presented their report” are unacceptable. Prefer plural use for the couple, family, music groups and bands, the public, sports teams

      Colombia is the country; Columbia is the Hollywood studio, university, river and Washington district. Also, note British Columbia and pre-Columbian

      colons throw meaning forward and introduce lists

      Colosseum in Rome; Coliseum in London

      Coloureds (in South Africa), cap; not to be used in any other context

      comedienne avoid; use comedian (or, if you must, comic) for both sexes

      comeuppance no hyphen

      commander-in-chief, officer commanding lower case

      Commandments cap in biblical context, as the Ten Commandments, the Fourth Commandment

      commando plural commandos (not -oes)

      commas Unnecessary commas interrupt the flow of a sentence; omit the comma before if, unless, before, after, as, since, when unless the rhythm or sense of the sentence demands it.

      Keith Waterhouse, as so often, had sound advice: “It is not the function of the comma to help a wheezing sentence get its breath back. That, however, is how the comma earns much of its living in journalism.” If your sentence needs a comma just to stop the reader collapsing in a heap before reaching the end, you might do better to recast it as two sentences anyway.

      There is often no need for a comma after an adverbial formation at the beginning of a sentence: “Last week we were told etc”, “Until now there has been no need etc”, “In opposition the Lib Dems said etc”, “Minutes later the announcement was made”.

      Avoid the so-called Oxford comma; write “he ate bread, butter and jam” rather than “he ate bread, butter, and jam”, except where to do so might create nonsense or confusion: “For lunch they had lamb with roast potatoes, and chocolate mousse.”

      Commas with names and descriptions may help to indicate number. If “he was accompanied by his brother John” suggests that he has other brothers who did not accompany him, then “he was accompanied by his brother, John” makes clear that John is the only brother he has. With brothers the distinction may seem too subtle to bother about; it is worth bearing in mind when naming someone’s wife.

      There is no need to put a comma between adjectives that form a kind of unit or where the last adjective is in closer relation to the noun than the preceding one(s), eg fine dry evenings, a good little boy.

      Keep commas where they should be logically in “broken” sentences. Thus, the comma goes outside in the following example: “The trouble is”, he said, “that this is a contentious issue”

      Commission when named: the European Commission, the Competition Commission; lower case in other refs

       commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

      commit do not use as an intransitive verb without a direct object, eg “he wants to commit to the reforms”; write “he wants to commit himself to the reforms” or “he wants to make a commitment to the reforms”

      committee on standards in public life examines standards of conduct of all holders of public office. It is different from the select committee on standards and privileges, which deals with the conduct of MPs (subsequent mentions, the privileges select committee or lower case the committee)

      committees are generally lower case but note 1922 Committee (cap) of Tory backbenchers, as it looks odd lower case. Cabinet and select committees should be lower case

      common agricultural policy lower case, abbreviated as CAP for clarity; similarly, common fisheries policy (CFP)

      common market usually use EU or EC (see Europe), although common market is acceptable in its historical context

      common sense (noun), but commonsense, commonsensical (adjective)

      common serjeant lower case. Note j spelling

      Commons СКАЧАТЬ