A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
pace
Latin tag meaning “by the leave of”, as a courteous nod to the views of a dissenting author, or “even acknowledging the existence of”, not a clever way to say “such as”
Pacific Ocean
PacifiCorp
part of ScottishPower
Pac-Man
paean
song of praise; paeon metrical foot of one long and three short syllables; peon peasant
page 1
etc but Page 3 girl
El País
Spanish newspaper
Palaeolithic
palate, palette or pallet?
The palate is the roof of the mouth or sense of taste; an artist mixes paint on a palette; a pallet is one of those wooden frames you see on a forklift truck
palazzo
plural palazzos
pale
The expression “beyond the pale”, meaning unacceptable, outside the boundary, has nothing to do with buckets; it is derived from the Latin palus, a stake used to support a fence, from which palisade is also derived
Palestine
is best used for the occupied territories (the West Bank and Gaza); if referring to the whole area, including Israel, use “historic Palestine” (but Palestine for historical references to the area before 1948)
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
for the campaign group
Palestinian Authority
the authority, rather than PA, on second reference
Palestinian ministry of health
manages healthcare in both the West Bank and Gaza. Therefore many of its functions and staff are not linked to Gaza or its Hamas government. Be careful not to imply that they are
Palestinians
don’t call Palestinians in Gaza “Gazans”
palindrome
A man, a plan, a canal. Panama!
Palme d’Or
at the Cannes film festival
Palme, Olof
(1927-86) Swedish prime minister who was assassinated in a Stockholm street (not Olaf)
panacea
a remedy for all ills; so it’s a misuse of the word to say (as we did) that “exercise is no panacea for depression”
panama hat
P&O
Pandora’s box
panelled, panelling, panellist
two Ls
panic buy
noun; panic-buy verb
panjandrum
a pretentious or self-important person in authority
Panjshir valley
of Afghanistan
pantyhose
not pantihose, normally tights in the UK; despite comprising one garment, they are plural
pantywaist
insult favoured by rightwing politicians and talkshow hosts in the US
paparazzo
plural paparazzi; named after a character in Fellini’s 1960 film La Dolce Vita
paperboy, papergirl
but paper round
paperclip
papier-mache
no accents
paraffin
rather than kerosene, except in relation to aircraft fuel
parallel, paralleled
Paralympic Games
or just Paralympics, or the Games
paraphernalia
takes a singular verb: I save all the paraphernalia that accompanies every box set
parent-teacher association
abbreviation PTA
parentheses
If the sentence is logically and grammatically complete without the information contained within the parentheses (round brackets), the punctuation stays outside the brackets.
(A complete sentence that stands alone in parentheses starts with a capital letter and ends with a stop.)
“Square brackets,” the grammarian said, “are used in direct quotes when an interpolation [a note from the writer or editor, not uttered by the speaker] is added to provide essential information”
parents
Partners have children with, not by, a woman ie Joe Bloggs has three children with his wife, Jo, not three children by Jo
Parkinson’s disease
is the proper name but it is acceptable to call it Parkinson’s
Parkinson’s law
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”
parkrun
lower case; free weekly running event held in parks around the world
parliament, parliamentary
but Houses of Parliament.
Initial capital for parliaments referred to by their name in the relevant language, eg Bundestag, Duma, Folketing, Knesset
parliamentary Labour party
PLP after first mention
Parma ham
but parmesan cheese
Parole Board
partakes
If you must, it is partakes of, not partakes in, but it sounds pompous and quaint
Parthenon marbles
official name, recognised by both Britain and Greece, for the Elgin marbles
partially or partly?
Use partial or partially to mean the opposite of impartial; otherwise partly is generally preferable: “I may be being partial, but booking me to stay in a partly built hotel merits a refund”
part-time
partwork
one in a series of regularly published supplements or magazines
party
lc in name of organisation, eg Conservative party, Monster Raving Loony party
Pashtuns
(singular Pashtun; they speak Pashtu) make up about 40% of the Afghan population (called Pathans during the British Raj); a significant proportion of Pakistan’s population is also Pashtun
pasodoble
not paso doble; plural pasodobles
passerby
plural passersby
passive voice
active verbs are much more effective, especially in headlines: compare “my hamster was eaten by Freddie Starr” with “Freddie Starr ate my hamster”
Passport Office
formerly the Identity and Passport Service
password
past or last?
interchangeable in such phrases as “six times in the last week”, “twice in the past year”.
But last means “most recent” in this sentence:
“United have beaten Wednesday five times in their last six meetings”
whereas past refers to the past as a whole in this sentence:
“United have beaten Wednesday five times in their past six meetings” (suggesting they have only ever played each other six times)
paté
no circumflex accent needed, but keep the acute to avoid confusion with pate
Patent Office
now the Intellectual Property Office, responsible for copyright, designs, patents and trademarks
patients
are discharged from hospital, not released
patronise
To patronise is to be condescending about someone or something. If you use it to mean shop somewhere (“I patronise my local Budgens”), you will sound like a twerp
payback, paycheck, payday, payoff, payout, payslip, paywall
pay packet
peacekeeper, peacetime
Peak District
Pearl Harbor
peccadillo
plural peccadilloes
pedaller
pedals (eg a bicycle)
pedlar
peddles (eg drugs)
pedalo
plural pedalos
pedro giménez
white grape grown in South America
pedro ximénez
white grape grown in Spain (and type of sherry)
peers
Our style is to refer to peers by the name by which they are most widely known, which in most cases will be the one they had before their peerage. Use this at first mention, a simple title (Lord or Lady) at second mention, and thereafter surname only. Some examples:
Andrew Adonis (first mention), Lord Adonis (second mention), Adonis (thereafter).
Paddy Ashdown, Lord Ashdown, Ashdown.
Sebastian Coe, Lord Coe, Coe.
Norman Foster, Lord Foster, Foster.
Tony Hall, Lord Hall, Hall.
Greville Janner, Lord Janner, Janner.
Jenny Jones, Lady Jones, Jones.
Martha Lane Fox, Lady Lane-Fox (note hyphen), Lane Fox.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lord Lloyd-Webber (note hyphen), Lloyd Webber.
Peter Mandelson, Lord Mandelson, Mandelson.
David Owen, Lord Owen, Owen.
John Prescott, Lord Prescott, Prescott.
John Reid, Lord Reid, Reid.
Richard Rogers, Lord Rogers, Rogers.
Chris Smith, Lord Smith, Smith.
Sayeeda Warsi, Lady Warsi, Warsi.
For people who were not widely known before becoming peers, or who are better known by their title, use a simple title at first mention, and thereafter surname only. Examples:
Lord Sewel (first mention), Sewel (thereafter).
Lady Stowell, Stowell.
Even if you claim to be on good terms with the peer in question, avoid such constructions as “Lady Helena Kennedy” or “Baroness Shirley Williams”: call them Helena Kennedy QC at first mention, then Lady Kennedy, then Kennedy; Shirley Williams, then Lady Williams, then Williams.
Do not use Baron, Baroness etc unless there is a particular reason to do so – for example, for satirical or ironic purposes (“Baron Mandelson of Foy in the county of Herefordshire and Hartlepool in the county of Durham”).
Where two or more peers share the same name, make it clear which one you are writing about, for example:
Lola Young, the former actor, artist and academic (first mention), Lady Young of Hornsey (second mention), thereafter Young.
Barbara Young, a former chief executive of the Environment Agency and Care Quality Commission (first mention), Lady Young of Old Scone (second mention), thereafter Young.
Peers in historical pieces should be given their titles only if they had received them at the time, for example Herbert Asquith’s Liberal government and Margaret Thatcher’s Tory government (not Lord Asquith’s, Lady Thatcher’s) – they had not yet been given peerages
peewit
peking duck
pendant
noun; pendent adjective
peninsula
noun; peninsular adjective
penknife
penny, pence
1p is one penny, not “one pence”
pensioners
not “old age pensioners” or “OAPs”; older people is preferable to “elderly people” or (even worse) “the elderly”.
While this term is useful in headlines, it should be avoided in text as a description of an individual. As one of our readers notes: “This usage defines older people by their non-participation in the workforce and immediately typifies them as dependents or drains on the public purse. Rupert Murdoch and Michael Caine are never described as ‘pensioners’ because they are perceived as still contributing to the economy, so does the term only apply to the little people?” Reporters should ask what job people used to do and then describe them as a retired banker/powerboat racer or former whatever (including homemaker)
peony
flower
people-smuggling
with a hyphen. Consider the ambiguity in sentences such as: “The problem of people smuggling between north Africa and Europe has increased.” There is usually no need to hyphenate people smuggler
Pepsi-Cola
TM; a brand of cola; the company is PepsiCo
per cent
% in headlines and copy
percentage rises
seem to give us a lot of problems: an increase from 3% to 5% is a 2 percentage point increase or a 2-point increase, not a 2% increase; any sentence saying “such and such rose or fell by X%” should be considered and checked carefully
peremptory
not open to challenge; perfunctory careless: if you carry out a task in a perfunctory way, you may face peremptory dismissal
Pérez de Cuéllar, Javier
Peruvian diplomat and former UN secretary general
perfect storm
a perfect cliche, best avoided
performance-related pay
Performing Right Society
not Rights
permissible
Peronists
supporters of the nationalist/populist ideology of the late Argentinian president Juan Domingo Perón
personal equity plans
were known as Peps
personal independence payment (Pip)
persons
are people in our papers, even if they are the luckiest persons in the world
Perspex
TM
perspicacious
shrewd; perspicuous easily understood
peruse
Some maintain that to peruse is to scrutinise or study carefully, rather than browse or skim, although Samuel Johnson defined it in the latter sense. So if you use it your meaning will be unclear and, even if you are being ironic, you will sound pretentious
peshmerga
Kurdish armed fighters (it means “those who face death”)
Peterhouse, Cambridge
not “Peterhouse College”
PETN
pentaerythritol tetranitrate, a powerful explosive favoured by terrorists because its colourless crystals are hard to detect in a sealed container
petri dish
Pfas
stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Sometimes known as “forever chemicals”
pH
PhD
phenomenon
plural phenomena
the Philippines
inhabited by Filipinos (male) and Filipinas (female); adjective Filipino for both sexes, but Philippine for, say, a Philippine island or the Philippine president
Philips
electronics company; Phillips auctioneers, screwdriver
philistine
lc unless you are talking about the Old Testament Philistines
Phnom Penh
phone hacking
no hyphen for the noun, but hyphenated when used adjectivally, eg the PCC responded with its customary vigour to the phone-hacking scandal
phoney
not phony
phosphorus
not phosphorous
photocall, photocopy, photofit, photojournalism, photoshoot
photo-finish
photo opportunity
pi
the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, as every schoolgirl knows
picaresque or picturesque?
A picaresque novel is one in which the hero is a rogue who has a series of adventures, for example Henry Fielding’s The Adventures of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749) or John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces (1980). Nothing to do with picturesque, which means visually pleasing
picket
noun (one who pickets), not picketer; picketed, picketing
pick-me-up
You might pick yourself up with one
piecework
pigeonhole
verb or noun: I will not be pigeonholed as someone who puts everyone in a pigeonhole
Pigs
should not be used as an acronym for Portugal, Ireland (or Italy), Greece and Spain in stories about eurozone countries whose economies are deemed more embattled than others
pigsty
plural pigsties
pilates
fitness exercises developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century
the pill
contraceptive
pillbox
pilot
a maritime pilot is someone with expertise in manoeuvring vessels and knowledge of a local stretch of water who helps ships navigate their way in confined conditions. Saying someone who is inexpertly steering a small boat or dinghy is piloting it gives a misleading impression
Pimm’s
the most popular version is Pimm’s No 1 cup, which has gin as its base (the others are or were No 2, whisky; No 3, brandy; No 4, rum; No 5, rye; and No 6, vodka)
pin
or pin number (we realise pin stands for personal identification number), not Pin or PIN number
Pinocchio
pinstripe
suit, not pinstriped
pipe bomb, but pipeline
Pissarro, Camille
(1830-1903) French impressionist painter; his son Lucien (1863-1944) was also an artist
pixelated
an image divided into pixels, the basic unit of representation on a television or computer screen, or to display a person or object in pixels to disguise their identity
pixilated
drunk
PKK
Kurdistan Workers’ party
placename
plainclothes
detectives
plane
a higher plane, not a higher plain (unless literally)
planets
take initial cap: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (note that Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet, along with Ceres and Eris); the sun and the Earth’s moon are lc, but named moons are capped up,: Europa, Io, etc
planning
not “forward planning”
Planning Inspectorate
handles planning inquiries and appeals in England and Wales
plaster of paris
plateau
plural plateaux
plateglass
platform 2, platform 9¾, etc
platypus
plural platypuses
playwright
although they write
Play-Doh
TM but you can say play-dough
playing the race card
an overused phrase
playoff
noun, but two words as a verb, as in Wigan will play off against St Helens
PlayStation
plc
not PLC
plea, pledge
words used all the time by journalists (particularly when writing headlines), but only rarely by normal people
pleaded
not pled
pleasantry
a playful word or joke, not just something pleasant
plebeian
not plebian
pluses
rather than plusses
pocketbook, pocketknife
but pocket money
poet laureate
‘poet laureate of punk’
a cliche best avoided, not least because we have used it to describe the following people: Patti Smith (who has perhaps the best claim to the title), John Cooper Clarke, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, Dee Dee Ramone, Katie Harkin (Sky Larkin, Sleater-Kinney) and Tim “TV” Smith (the Adverts)
poetry
Ideally, run line by line, as it was written:
I struck the board and cry’d, ‘No more;
I will abroad.’
What, shall I ever sigh and pine?
My lines and life are free; free as the rode,
Loose as the winde, as large as store.
If you don’t have room to run it line by line, separate the lines with spaces and a slash:
I struck the board and cry’d, ‘No more; / I will abroad.’ / What, shall I ever sigh and pine? / My lines and life are free; free as the rode, / Loose as the winde, as large as store.
Italics are acceptable, though not essential
point-to-point
pointe
(ballet); on pointe, not on point or en pointe
Pokémon
singular and plural
Polari
A form of language used mostly by gay men and lesbians, derived in part from slang used by sailors, actors and prostitutes and popularised in the 1960s BBC radio comedy Round the Horne by the characters Julian and Sandy. Example: “Vada the dolly eke on the bona omee ajax” (Look at the gorgeous face on that nice man over there); “naff” is an example of Polari that has passed into more general use, as are “butch”, “camp” and “dizzy”
Polaroid
pole position
The fastest qualifier in a motor race starts from pole position or on pole, alongside one other driver (on occasion, two or more others) on the front row of the grid.
Take care if using metaphorically, and do not spell it “poll position”, even in election stories, as we have been known to do
Police Federation
Normally no need to use its full title, the Police Federation of England and Wales, but note initial caps. The style for individual force federations is Metropolitan police federation, Essex police federation, etc.
It’s fine to use “the federation” after first mention but make it clear whether you are referring to the national body or a local one
police forces
Metropolitan police (the Met after first mention), West Midlands police, New York police department (NYPD at second mention), etc, but note Royal Military Police and British Transport Police.
Police forces are normally plural: Kent police are investigating, etc, but note that while the Metropolitan police are plural, the Met is singular, as is Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI at second mention)
police ranks
Use abbreviation at first mention, then just surname, eg DCI Jane Tennison, thereafter Tennison.
Other abbreviations: PC (for both male and female police constables), Sgt, DS (Detective Sergeant), Insp, DI, Ch Insp, DCI, Supt, Ch Supt, Det Supt (Detective Superintendent), DCS.
Do not abbreviate commissioner, commander, etc
Chief constable is a job, not a title: John Smith, chief constable of Greater Manchester; Smith at second mention.
In general, use police officer rather than policewoman or policeman; if their gender is relevant to the story, use female/male police officer.
police units
lc: anti-terrorist branch, flying squad, fraud squad, special branch, vice squad, etc
policyholder, policymaker, policymaking
“Polish death camps”
and similar phrases confusing location with perpetrator should not be used when referring to countries occupied by Nazi Germany during the second world war; the appropriate phrase here would be “Nazi death camps in German-occupied Poland” or similar
politburo
political correctness
a term to be avoided on the grounds that it is, in Polly Toynbee’s words, “an empty rightwing smear designed only to elevate its user”
political language
Use quotation marks around partisan or questionable phrases such as “big society” (at first mention), “broken Britain” and “death tax”
political parties
Always lowercase for the word “party”: Labour party, Green party, Communist party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist), UK Independence party, etc.
Note that it is Scottish National (not “Nationalist”) party; Plaid Cymru; and in the US, Democratic (not “Democrat”) party, although its supporters are Democrats.
Abbreviate where appropriate (for example, election results) as follows: Con, Lab, Lib Dem, Green, SNP, PC, Ukip.
In Northern Ireland: Social Democratic and Labour party (abbreviation: SDLP), Sinn Féin (SF), Alliance party, Democratic Unionist party (DUP), Ulster Unionist party (UUP).
Political parties are normally singular, eg Labour is promising to raise taxes, the Conservative party is not very compassionate; but the Conservatives are the nasty party, the Liberal Democrats lost most of their seats, etc
pollack
not pollock
polo neck
pomp or prime?
We should say that someone is “in his prime” rather than the football commentator’s cliche “in his pomp”
poncey
not poncy
pond
not a terribly witty way to refer to the Atlantic (“on the other side of the pond”) which, in the words of one Guardian writer, is “smug, hackneyed, old-fashioned, inaccurate and generally crap”
Pontins
poo
what George W Bush’s dog did on the White House lawn, but you might pooh-pooh someone’s ideas
pop art
pope, the
and papacy, pontiff; not always necessary to give his name in full
poppadom
poppers
alkyl nitrite, not nitrate
popular
liked; populist wants to be liked: a party’s policies may be populist, but its politicians may remain unpopular
Popular Conservatism
or PopCon for short, is a rightwing grouping within the Conservative party
populism
Broadly speaking, this refers to political actions or strategies that claim to promote the interests and views of ordinary people, often in opposition to the perceived elite. Populism is often mistakenly used as a synonym for far-right politics but populists can appeal to people across the political spectrum so be clear about what kind of populism is being referred to eg leftwing populism, the far-right populist etc
pore or pour?
You might pore over the style guide after pouring a cup of coffee
pornography
is preferable, as a term, to “porn”
Portakabin, Portaloo
TM; say portable building, portable toilets, or you are certain to receive a letter from the Portakabin lawyers pointing out the error of your ways
Porthmadog
not Portmadoc
Portland stone
comes from the Isle of Portland in Dorset; portland cement doesn’t
Port of London authority
PLA on second mention
portuguese man o’war
not strictly a jellyfish, although jelly-like; lowercase P unless you are writing about the 15th-century Portuguese navy.
As with, say, bass, deer and sheep, the plural is the same word as the singular: one portuguese man o’war, two portuguese man o’war, etc, unless you really are talking about ships, in which case it’s men o’war
post office operators
gender-neutral, preferred term for postmasters, postmistresses, subpostmasters and subpostmistresses
postal workers
not postmen
postcode
Postcomm
UK postal services regulator; its full name (which you do not need to use) is Postal Services Commission
postgraduate
Post-it
TM
postmodern, postmodernist
postmortem
one word, as adjective or noun
postnatal
Post Office
cap up the organisation, but you buy stamps in a post office or sub-post office
postwar
but make it clear if you are referring to the second world war
potatoes
lower case, eg king edward, maris piper, unless a protected origin variety such as Jersey Royals
potentially
rarely necessary: verbs such as could and might already convey potentiality, so “could potentially” and “might potentially” are tautologous, as well as clumsy
pound
in text, symbol £ only when figures are used (Britain saves the pound; Oliver saved £1; pound (weight) abbreviates to lb, eg 2lb
POV
abbreviation for point of view
Pov
term coined by a Guardian journalist to depict laboured attempts to produce synonyms by writers seeking what Fowler called “elegant variation” (and Orwell “inelegant variation”), often descending into cliche or absurdity. Thus Dalí becomes “the moustachioed surrealist” and Ireland “the cockatoo-shaped landmass”. Pov, incidentally, stands for “popular orange vegetable”
PoW
abbreviation for prisoner of war
Powergen
powerpop
one word; musical genre defined by nostalgia for the 60s, in the form of chiming electric guitars and vocal harmonies. Its proponents often profess to being inspired by the Beatles and the Byrds, but are never as good as either
power sharing
but hyphenate when used adjectivally, as in the power-sharing executive
powwow
avoid using as a term for a meeting unless specifically in reference to Native American custom
practice
noun; practise verb
practising homosexual
Do not use this expression, or the equally grotesque “active homosexual”; where it is necessary to discuss someone’s sex life, for example a story about gay clergy, it is possible to use other expressions, eg the Anglican church demands celibacy from gay clergy but permits the laity to have sexually active relationships
pre-
redundant in such newly fashionable words as pre-booked, pre-reserved, pre-ordered, and even pre-rehearsed
precede
go before; proceed go ahead
precipitate
sudden; precipitous steep
precis
singular and plural
predilection
not predeliction
pre-eminent
prefab, prefabricated
preindustrial
premier
should be used only when constitutionally correct (eg leaders of Australian states or Canadian provinces), therefore not for Britain – do not use in headlines for British prime minister.
The Chinese traditionally give their prime minister the title of premier, eg Premier Wen Jiabao. Bermuda also has a premier rather than a prime minister
premiere
no accent
Premier League
(no longer FA Premier League or Premiership) in England; its equivalent in Scotland is the Scottish Premiership
premises
of buildings and logic
premium bonds
prenuptial
or (if you must) prenup
prepayment meter
prepositions
appeal against, protest against, over or at, not “appealed the sentence”, “protested the verdict”, etc.
Schoolchildren used to be told (by English teachers unduly influenced by Latin) that it was ungrammatical to end sentences with a preposition, a fallacy satirised by Churchill’s “this is the sort of English up with which I will not put” and HW Fowler’s “What did you bring me that book to be read to out of for?”
Take care after phrases following “to”: the subheading “to we Conservatives, Labour looks as if it’s heading back to the old horrors of the winter of discontent” drew numerous protests from readers pointing out that it should have been “to us Conservatives … “ (The mistake was ours, not the shadow cabinet minister who wrote the piece)
prepubescent
pre-Raphaelite
prescribe, prescriptive
do something; proscribe, proscriptive don’t: prescriptive grammarians love to tell you what to do and to proscribe things they disapprove of
presently
What exactly does this mean? I will tell you presently – soon – is the traditional British English usage, whereas in American English it means at present, and is usually redundant (“we are presently third in the table”). To avoid ambiguity, say soon when you mean soon, and don’t say anything when you mean now.
There is a similar problem with momentarily, which means for a moment or briefly in British English, and very soon to American (and some British) speakers. Best avoided
president
lc except in title: President Obama, but Barack Obama, the US president
president-elect
press, the
singular: eg the British press is a shining example to the rest of the world
Press Complaints Commission
PCC on second mention
Press Gazette
formerly UK Press Gazette
pressure
Use put pressure on or pressed to mean apply pressure, ie not “the Baggies pressured [or pressurised] the Wolves defence”
prestigious
For centuries this meant deceptive, as in a conjuring trick (prestidigitation). The modern meaning is having prestige or status
Pret a Manger
food
prêt-à-porter
fashion
preteen
pretext
by its nature false, so while it may or may not be true that Tony Blair went to war on a pretext, it is tautologous to say he did so on a false one
prevaricate
Can mean speaking or acting with intent to deceive as well as avoiding giving a direct answer or making a firm decision, so take care when accusing someone of doing it. Similar alternatives might include procrastinate (putting something off), equivocate (using ambiguous language to avoid speaking directly) or vacillate (being indecisive)
preventive
rather than preventative
prewar
but make clear which war you are talking about
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PwC after first mention; PwC Consulting, which for some reason was widely ridiculed for changing its name to Monday, was bought by IBM
pricey
not pricy
prima donna
plural prima donnas
prima facie
not italicised
primary care trusts
abolished in 2013 as part of the top-down reorganisation of the NHS that the Conservative party had promised would not happen; their work was taken over by clinical commissioning groups
primate
another word for archbishop; primate of All England: archbishop of Canterbury; primate of England: archbishop of York; but “the primate” on second reference
primates
higher members of the order Primates, essentially apes and humans
prime minister
David Cameron, the prime minister; not prime minister David Cameron or “prime minister Cameron”
primitive
should not be used to describe tribal people
See Stone age
Prince William
or the Prince of Wales at first mention; thereafter can be the prince or William
Prince’s Trust
the Princess of Wales
at first mention; thereafter can be referred to as the princess or Catherine. You can call her Kate in headlines
principal
first in importance; principle standard of conduct: “a vital principle, perhaps my principal rule in life, is to always split the infinitive”
principality
should not be used to describe Wales
prior to, previous to
the word you want is “before”
prise
apart, open (not prize)
prisoners
preferable term, but inmates is an acceptable alternative
prison officer
not warder, a term that the Prison Officers’ Association regards as “degrading, insulting and historically inaccurate” (the Home Office changed it from warder in 1922), and not guard
Prison Service
but immigration service lc (it is properly called the Immigration and Nationality Directorate)
Pristina
the capital of Kosovo. No accents please
pristine
If you restore something to pristine splendour, you have returned it to its original state, not just given it a bit of a clean
private finance initiative
PFI on second mention
private member’s bill
plural: private members’ bills
privy council
but privy counsellor
prizefighter series
televised boxing tournament created by Barry Hearn
prize money
prizes
Booker prize, Nobel prize, Whitbread prize, etc
prize winner
Two words for prize winners in general as well as when referring to a specific prize:
The six prize winners included a Nobel peace prize winner, a Booker prize winner and a Whitbread prize winner
prize-winning
a prize-winning author, the Nobel peace prize-winning campaigner, etc
proactive
jargon word, best avoided
probe
a dental implement, not an inquiry or investigation
pro-choice
not pro-abortion
procrastinate
to delay or defer; often confused with prevaricate
Procter & Gamble
procurator fiscal
Scottish public prosecutor; the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), in Scotland, more wide-ranging than the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, is responsible for the prosecution of crime, investigation of sudden or suspicious deaths, and investigation of complaints against the police
prodigal
means wasteful or extravagant, not a returned wanderer; the confusion arises from the biblical parable of the prodigal son, but he was prodigal because he wasted his inheritance, not because he wandered off.
Thus a prodigal striker is one who misses lots of chances to score goals, not one who has played for lots of clubs (who will also invariably be described as “much-travelled”)
profession
Strictly, to enter a profession you need a specific qualification, such as that acquired by a doctor, lawyer, social worker or teacher. As anyone with a mobile, a laptop and a bit of cheek can be a journalist, or at least claim to be one, journalism is not a profession but a trade, craft or racket. Much the same applies to politics
profile
a noun, not a verb
program
in Australia and the US, and for computer programs everywhere; otherwise programme in the UK: “I saw a fascinating TV programme about computer programs”
prohibition
lc for US prohibition (1920-33), a result of the 18th Amendment
pro-life
should not be used to mean anti-abortion
prolific
means abundant or fruitful, so be careful with usage. Phrases such as “one of Britain’s most prolific paedophiles” (which we used) strike the wrong tone. However, the Ministry of Justice uses the term “prolific offender” for the most persistent offenders, defined by their number of convictions or cautions, so the word can be used in this context
Proms
concerts
proms
seafronts
prone
face down; supine face up
pronouns
Some people use they/them/their rather than he/she etc. This should be respected at the same time as avoiding creating confusion for the reader.
One option is to mention that the person uses the singular they. For example: ‘Jones, who uses they, said …’. Alternatively, although they and their are sometimes used in the singular in speech, it may be clearer to rewrite or repeat the person’s name if the use of they/them/their is not explained. For example, “They said the show was brilliant” can simply become “Jones said the show was brilliant”
proofreader, proofreading
propeller
prophecy
noun; prophesy verb
prophet
the prophet Muhammad
pros and cons
prosecco
prostitution
(see sex worker)
protagonist
The person who drives the action, from the ancient Greek meaning “first actor”. Not the same as adversary or rival, so strictly you can’t have “two protagonists”
protege
male and female, no accents
protest
against, over or about – not, for example, “protest the election result”, which has appeared on our front page
Protestant
protester
not protestor
proven
proved is the past tense of prove; beware the creeping “proven”, a term in Scottish law (“not proven”) and in certain English idioms, eg “proven record”
province
should not be used to describe Northern Ireland. Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, comprising nine counties – six in Northern Ireland, and three in the Republic of Ireland (Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan)
proviso
plural provisos
Ps and Qs
psychopathic/psychotic
A psychopath is a person with a personality disorder characterised by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts, and an inability to feel guilty about them; a person with psychosis has a mental disorder in which their contact with reality is highly distorted
publicly
not publically
public-private partnership
PPP on second mention
Public Record Office
merged with the Historical Manuscripts Commission in 2003 to form the National Archives
public schools
are actually private schools, so that is what we should call them
Puffa
TM; say padded or quilted jacket
pundit
self-appointed expert
Punjabi
for the language, rather than Panjabi
purchase
as a noun, perhaps, but the verb is buy
puree
no accent
purler
as in “an absolute purler” (not pearler)
purposely
on purpose; purposefully with determination
put
athletics; putt golf
Pwllheli
P-word
this racist term is to be spelt out only if essential to a story (for example, when quoting someone accused of using it) and only after discussion with senior editorial staff. Given the term is not universal, ensure there is adequate context for readers to understand
Pyeongchang
venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Not PyeongChang, the spelling adopted by the South Korean government as a rebranding exercise just for the Games
pygmy
a word thought to be derived from Greek to describe something that is small, it has been applied as an umbrella term for people from ethnic groups in central Africa and elsewhere, and also to describe small species of plants and animals. Please do not use it as a pejorative in phrases such as “moral pygmies”. If referring to the ethnic groups it is preferable to use their individual names, such as the Mbuti
pyjamas
not pajamas
pyrrhic
A pyrrhic victory is not a hollow one, as often assumed, but one achieved at great cost. King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated the Romans twice, in 280BC and 279BC, but suffered such heavy losses that he said one more such victory would undo him