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Maasai

ie with three "a"s is our preferred spelling for the nomadic people, rather than Masai. 

Macau

is our preferred style for the special administrative region of China, rather than Macao.

Macedonia/North Macedonia

Macedonia is a region of northern Greece, North Macedonia an adjacent country. North Macedonia (officially the 鈥淩epublic of North Macedonia鈥�) was renamed as part of a deal with Greece in February 2019. It had become an independent state after the break-up of Yugoslavia. As part of the agreement with Greece, a citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia is a Macedonian and the country鈥檚 official language is Macedonian.

machine-gun

ie with a hyphen. But sub-machine gun. 

Madagascar

ie every vowel is an "a". The adjective is Madagascan, although locals say it鈥檚 not a word they ever use. The language and people are Malagasy.

mad cow disease

Use inside double quotation marks at first mention in text; single marks if the first mention is inside a direct quote, or in a headline or sub-head. Either way, no quote marks subsequently.

Madras

Our style is to use Chennai rather than Madras.

madrassa

is our preferred version of the spelling for these Islamic schools or colleges.

Mafia

Capped up for the Sicilian branch, otherwise lower case (eg: The Camorra, the Naples-based mafia...). 

Magdalen/Magdalene

It is Magdalen College, Oxford - but Magdalene College, Cambridge.

magistrates鈥� court 

ie with an apostrophe after the "s". It should be capped up if part of a title (eg: Brent Magistrates鈥� Court).

mainland

is perfectly acceptable in its place (eg: An island off the west coast of Scotland has cancelled its ferry service to the mainland). But do not use it in the context of Irish stories. (eg: "The Belfast ferry company has resumed services to the mainland"). 

Majorca

and not "Mallorca".

mall

The phrase "shopping mall" is an Americanism; substitute shopping centre or shopping precinct.

mankind

is open to objections of sexism - safer to write the human race, people etc.

manned/manning/manpower

In a mixed workforce, it鈥檚 more accurate to use staffed, staffing, staffing level etc. By the same token, avoid "man in the street".  

Mao Zedong

And not "Mao Tse-tung" or any other variant.

marine

In the UK, marines are part of the navy. They are not soldiers - so don鈥檛 call them that. Lower case unless you are referring to the Royal Marines. We cap up US Marines, as it is a discrete branch of the armed forces. But individually they are also marines.

Marks & Spencer 

ie we use an ampersand in both the full name and in the abbreviated form (M&S - no gaps, no points). The corporate name is 鈥淢arks and Spencer plc鈥� but it鈥檚 sensible to use the branding audiences will recognise.

Marseille

ie no "s" at the end.

Mass

A priest officiating at Mass is celebrating Mass, and not "offering" or "giving" it (Mass being an act, not an object). When there are a number of priests involved, they are concelebrants. When the Pope is one of that number, he is the chief celebrant or principal celebrant. Some Anglican churches hold services that they refer to as "Mass".

master鈥檚 degree

lower case, but Master of Arts or similar capped.

matchplay/ match play

(in golf) is usually one word, but it is two words in the names of some tournaments (eg: the World Match Play Championship).

Mayor/mayor

For the mayor of a town/city, use a capital letter if accompanied by the name (eg: London Mayor Joe Bloggs will address the conference); lower case without the name (eg: London's mayor will arrive on Tuesday). Same rule for former mayors (eg: The former Mayor of New York, Rudi Giuliani, is best known for his leadership in the days following 9/11. The former mayor supported "zero-tolerance" policies on crime.)

惭肠顿辞苍补濒诲鈥檚

(the burger people) ie no "a" in "Mc" and an apostrophe before the "s". But: Big Mac.

ME

(myalgic encephalomyelitis) ie caps, no gap. Call it chronic fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome - but never "yuppie flu".

media

is a plural, so say eg: The media are in angry mood. Note however that the press is singular eg: The press hates the government. 

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

(Government body responsible for ensuring safety of medicines and medical devices) ie Products has initial cap - although the short form, acceptable at second reference, is MHRA.

medieval

is our preferred spelling (rather than "mediaeval"). Middle Ages has initial caps.

Megrahi 

(Libyan convicted over Lockerbie - died in May 2012) The preferred spelling of his full name is Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi. After first reference, and in keeping with our style on Arab personal names, call him Megrahi. This should also be used where appropriate in headlines.

meningitis

There are two types: viral meningitis and bacterial meningitis. They both infect the fluid of the spinal cord and brain. Vaccines are designed to give protection against the bacterial variety, not the viral. The micro-organisms which can cause bacterial meningitis can also pass into the bloodstream and cause meningococcal septicaemia.

mental health 

In general, it is best to avoid defining people by their condition or illness - a schizophrenic, for instance. Say instead that the person "has schizophrenia" etc. Instead of 鈥渕ental health patient鈥� and 鈥渟chizophrenic鈥�, consider 鈥�a person with a mental-health condition鈥� and 鈥�a person with schizophrenia鈥�.

Bipolar disorder is the accepted term for manic depression, although this is acceptable in terms of clarification.

See disabilities/illnesses

(Member of the European Parliament) ie all caps, no points, no gaps. Alternatively, Euro-MP.

Merseyside

no longer exists as a county, but is still of value in identifying the region. Say on Merseyside (and not "in Merseyside").

Meshaal, Khaled

(exiled Hamas leader) ie not "Khalid" or "Mishal".

meteor/meteorite/meteoroid

A meteoroid is a space rock, probably less than 100m across (the bigger space rocks are called asteroids).

A meteor refers to the light phenomenon in the sky (a shooting star) when a space rock enters the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere and burns up.

A meteorite is the lump of rock that has survived entry and is left on the Earth鈥檚 surface. It does not become a meteorite until it is on the ground. Thus, meteorites do not "fall to earth"; nor do they hit anything.  

Middle East

ie initial caps. In headlines only, it may be abbreviated to Mid-East (with a hyphen). 

Middlesbrough

is the correct spelling (and not "Middlesborough"). The local football team can be abbreviated at second reference to Boro (no apostrophe).

Middlesex

no longer exists as a county (although there are still Middlesex organisations eg. Middlesex County Cricket Club, Middlesex Tennis etc). Usually best replaced by a London geographical reference (Harrow in north-west London; Harefield Hospital, west of London etc). 

midterms

is our style for the US midterm elections, lower case and one word, not hyphenated.

MI5

is the Security Service. It does not employ agents.

MI6

is the Secret Intelligence Service. It does employ agents.

migrant (updated September 2024)

The 麻豆官网首页入口 uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move, whether for work, family, study or asylum.

In order to explain this to audiences, you may use this explanation at the foot of relevant stories, in italicised text.

military ranks

(with abbreviations):

Ministry of Defence (MoD) 

May be abbreviated at second reference to MoD(no gaps). 

Headed by the defence secretary (title capped up if accompanied by name). 

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

(responsible for planning, housing, working with councils, community relations). 

Headed by the housing secretary who may, according to context, be referred to as communities secretary, or local-government secretary (titles capped up if accompanied by name). 

Ministry of Justice 

May be abbreviated at second reference to MoJ(no gaps). 

Headed by the justice secretary and lord chancellor (titles capped up if accompanied by name).

miracles

are best left to God - so do not write about "miraculous" escapes or, even worse, "miracle escapes". An adjective such as remarkable is preferable, although in practice it is usually best to let the facts speak for themselves.

missing

The phrase "go missing" suggests a deliberate act - better to say that someone is missing or has not been seen since...

mitigate

means "to make less severe". Do not make the mistake of saying "mitigate against", when you actually mean militate against (ie "to be a powerful factor in preventing").

MLA

(Member of the Legislative Assembly) is the abbreviation to use for a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly; plural: MLAs.

mohican

If referring to the haircut, it's mohican in lower case, rather than the US version, mohawk. But caps if referring to the indigenous tribes.

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

The full title is too much of a mouthful - even though it is the senior dignitary of an established Church, on a par with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Better to write The most senior figure in the Church of Scotland... with at second reference eg: James McTaggart, the Moderator of the General Assembly... 

Moon/moon

Upper case for the one circling the Earth - otherwise lower case (eg: By the light of the Moon, he focused his telescope on Jupiter鈥檚 moons).

Moonies

An acceptable shorthand in headlines for the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon, but we should make clear in copy that it is a term used by critics that many church members find offensive.

more than

is the correct term to use with numbers (eg: More than 100 helicopters are flying in supplies). Use over when you are writing about quantities (eg: Each one is carrying over five tonnes of aid).

mortars

You can fire mortar-bombs (or mortar-rounds) but not shells. The piece of equipment doing the firing is the mortar, so it is wrong to refer to "a mortar landing on..." but correct to speak of a target being mortared.

MoT

The vehicle test should be spelled with a lower case "o".

Motassadek, Mounir al-

(Moroccan convicted in Germany in connection with the 9/11 attacks)

His full name is Mounir al-Motassadek (ie lower case "al" - followed by a hyphen). After that, he is Motassadek.

Mother鈥檚 Day

ie both words capped up - with an apostrophe before the "s". In the UK, it is on the fourth Sunday in Lent. In the US, Canada and Australia, it falls on the second Sunday in May.

Mousavi, Mir Hossein

(reformist Iranian politician) ie not "Mirhoseyn Musavi".

MP

(Member of Parliament) ie both caps, no points, no gap. Plural: MPs. It should be lower case "member" in sentences such as She is one of seven new members from Lancashire.

mph

ie lower case, no gaps.

MS

(Member of the Senedd) ie all caps, no points, no gaps. Plural MSs.

MSP

(Member of the Scottish Parliament) ie all caps, no points, no gaps. Plural MSPs.

Muhammad

For the founder of Islam, our style is the Prophet Muhammad; at second reference Muhammad or the Prophet. For the spelling of individual Muslims named after him, there is no simple rule because the spelling (Muhammad/Mohamed/Mohammad) varies from country to country. But in the Arab world, where Arabic script rules, we should use Muhammad.

mujahideen

ie lower case - and not "-hidin", "-hedeen" etc.

multicultural

ie one word - not hyphenated.

multimillionaire

ie one word - no hyphen.

multimillion-pound

ie one hyphen when preceding a noun.

mum and dad

lower case if referring to them as parents, as in My mum and dad have been brilliant. Capped if you could replace "mum" or "dad" with a name: It鈥檚 about time Mum and Dad came to visit.

Mumbai

As Mumbai is now well known as the name for the former Bombay, it is fine to use in all contexts without the previous formulation Mumbai (Bombay). The stock exchange in the city remains the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Muslim

and not "Moslem" - always capped.

Muslim parliament

(in the UK) Always say so-called or self-styled or something similar at first mention.

mystery

is fine as a noun (eg: Police say the killing is a mystery) - and can sometimes be properly used in an adjectival sense (eg: mystery tour, mystery play, mystery guest). But avoid the tabloid usage (eg: "Police probe mystery murder"). The correct adjective is mysterious.