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

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 one word

      chair do not refer to anyone as a “the chair of” anything, unless in a direct quote. Neither must you use “chairperson”. A man must be referred to as a chairman and a woman as a chairwoman. Even if a person’s official title is “chair of …” use chairman or chairwoman (lower case). This is not sexist, it is simply a preference for calling things (and people) by their names, and a reluctance to allow ugly and unnecessary jargon to replace perfectly good words. A professor may, however, be said to hold the chair of theoretical physics, or whatever; a person can chair (used as a verb) a committee; and questions can be put through the chair (which is the office held). Similarly, write spokesman or spokeswoman. If the gender of the person is not clear, write spokesman

      chaise longue two words, no hyphen; plural chaises longues (s on both words)

      chamber (lower case) of the House of Commons

      champagne lower case, because we use it as an English common noun rather than a French proper name. Use only, however, for the product of the Champagne region of France, to which its proper application is restricted by law; otherwise write, eg Russian sparkling wine. The champagne producers protect their name rigorously. See wines

      Champions League (European football), no apostrophe

      chancellor of the exchequer lower case

       changeable

      Changing the Guard not … of the Guard

      Channel, the upper case. Generally, no need to write “the English Channel” for the body of water between England and France

      Channel tunnel lower case tunnel, unless there is some possibility of confusion; also, Channel tunnel rail link

      Chanukkah prefer this to variants such as Hanukkah etc, for the Jewish festival of lights

      chaos overused, and often hyperbole; confusion, disorder, upheaval, turmoil, disarray: say what is meant

      charge that an Americanism, never to be used as a synonym of allege that

      charisma has become a boring cliché; try to find an alternative such as presence, inspiration etc

      charters (as in John Major’s now forgotten initiative) lower case

      château plural châteaux

      Chatham House rule, the strictly speaking just the one, so don’t write Chatham House rules. It says that information disclosed at a meeting may be used or reported by those present on condition that neither the source nor anyone else attending is identified

      chat