Ian Brunskill - The Times Style Guide - A guide to English usage

bellwethernot bellweather

benchmarkno hyphen

bendy bustwo words

benefitednot benefitted

benzeneis a substance obtained from coal-tar; benzine is a spirit obtained from petroleum

Berettaa type of pistol favoured by James Bond, not to be confused with a biretta (not berretta), a hat worn by Catholic clergy

Bermudiannot Bermudan; but Bermuda-rig to describe the most common configuration of sails on modern cruising and racing boats (a fore and aft rig with a tall triangular mainsail and single headsail)

Berneuse the anglicised version of the Swiss capital’s name (not Bern)

berserknot beserk

Berwick-upon-Tweedthe northernmost town in England. North Berwick is in Scotland

beseechedprefer to besought

best loved, best-lovedetc ensure there is a hyphen if you mean a best-loved writer rather than a best loved writer

bestsellerone word; likewise, bestselling

bête noireno longer italic; final e on noire; bugbear is a good English word that you might prefer

betting oddsuse a hyphen (16–1, 6–4 etc), not a slash (16/1). For odds-on, smaller figure comes first (1–2, 4–11 and so on). The higher the odds, the less likely something is; if the chances of something happening are raised, the odds are lowered. Not everyone understands odds as well as they think they do. If in doubt, consult the racing desk

bi-take care with this difficult prefix. Its correct use is in Latin compounds, where it has the force of two, not half, such as bicentenary / bicentennial (a two-hundredth anniversary), or biennial (recurring every two years). Biannual means twice a year; to avoid confusion, write out twice a year

biased

Biblecap and roman, not italic, in the religious context; but biblical (lower case); biblical references thus: II Corinthians ii, 2; Luke iv, 5. Write bible (lower case) in a metaphorical sense, eg “For many, Vogue is the fashion bible”

Bible belt

biceps, tricepssame form for the singular and the plural of these muscles

bidprefer not to use in text as synonym of effort, attempt or try , although it may be used sparingly in headlines in this sense

big banglower case for the event postulated by cosmological theory relating to the beginnings of the universe (lower case); note big-bang theory (hyphen as modifier). But Big Bang (caps) to distinguish the modernisation of the London Stock Exchange in October 1986

bightis a curve in a coastline or river; bite involves teeth; bytes are units of digital information in computing. Do not confuse

Big Society, thephilosophy of community involvement once espoused by the Conservatives under David Cameron

Billand Act caps only when fully identified or when clarity demands

billionone thousand million, not a million million. Write £5 billion, £15 billion (£5bn, £15bn in headlines), three billion, 15 billion etc

bin Laden, Osamanote lower case “bin”, except where it is the first word of a headline or sentence. Avoid the “Mr” designation, as with Saddam Hussein etc. The organisation founded by bin Laden is al-Qaeda (not al-Qaida). Bin Laden was killed in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the early hours of Monday, May 2, 2011 (time differences mean it was still May 1 in Washington and London)

bin liner

biological termswith Latin terms, cap letter for first (genus) word, then lower case for the second (species); and italicise for all but the most common, eg Turdus merula , the blackbird

birdscap proper nouns or adjectives derived from them in names of species: Arctic skua, Montagu’s harrier, Cetti’s warbler, Slavonian grebe, etc

Birois a trade name and misuse is aggressively policed, so cap; generic alternative is ballpoint pen

birthdaypeople and animals have birthdays; everything else has anniversaries. Write 33rd birthday, 65th birthday etc (any number higher than tenth )

birthrate, birthright, birthplaceno hyphens; but birth control, birth certificate etc

bisexual pronouns he and his can no longer refer to both sexes equally; he or she will sometimes do. Always be sensitive in this contentious area. It is often easier to use the plural they , for he or she , and sometimes even the ugly their for his or her . Do this only when necessary. Do not, for instance, write “one of the Chelsea players threw their shirt into the crowd”, or “each nun has their own list of tasks” — the sex of those involved in both cases is quite clear and should be stated

bishopsonce consecrated they are bishops for life unless defrocked; retirement from a see does not make anyone “a former bishop”

bitabbreviate to b; thus kilobit (kb), megabit (Mb) etc

bite(as with teeth) must not be confused with the computing term byte or the geographical bight

blacklistone word as noun or verb

blackoutnoun, one word

black(people), lower case; do not use “non-white” or “coloured” — and never “immigrants” (which many are not). Unless you want to evoke South Africa under apartheid, prefer “black people” to “blacks”. Be sensitive to local usage: African-American is now standard usage in the United States, for instance, while Afro-Caribbean (or African-Caribbean) and Black British are widely used in the UK. See also coloureds, race

blackspot(accident, unemployment etc), one word; similarly, troublespot, hotspot

blametake care with this word; blame is attached to causes, not effects. So say “Bad weather is blamed for my bronchitis”, NOT “My bronchitis is blamed on bad weather”

blocuse in context such as the former Soviet bloc , a power bloc etc; but block vote

blond(noun and adjective) for men, blonde for women; but all should have blond hair

blood groupswrite, eg O negative (no hyphen)

bloodiedbut unbowed, a cliché best avoided, but written thus if used; but red-blooded etc

blood sportstwo words; similarly field sports, motor sports

bloody marylower case for the cocktail of tomato juice and vodka

blowsyprefer to blowzy

bluelower case for an Oxbridge sportsman or woman and for the award itself

blue-chiphyphen as modifier, eg a blue-chip company

blue-collar workersas white-collar workers

blueprintavoid this greatly overworked word when all you mean is plan, scheme or proposal

bluetongueone word for the notifiable disease afflicting ruminants

bluffersbe very cautious. The Bluffer’s Guide/Guides are trademarks, rigorously protected by their publishers. So generic phrases such as “a bluffer’s guide to …” must be avoided