paparazzi
is a plural. The singular is paparazzo - but it would read better to say one of the paparazzi...
paramilitaries
Whether police or forces, they should not be described as "troops".
paratrooper
Note that paratrooper is singular. The plural is paratroops (and not "paratroopers").
Parliament/parliament
The initial cap is always retained when referring to Westminster. Otherwise, it is used only in an official title eg: The Scottish Parliament was the scene of a fierce debate, the King visisted the Welsh Parliament. But: The parliament in Edinburgh is to be recalled for an emergency session. And: The Dutch parliament sits in The Hague. The adjective parliamentary should always be lower case, unless it is part of a proper name.
Parliamentary Commissioners/Ombudsmen
As with ministerial job titles, capped up when used in conjunction with the name of the office-holder. Otherwise, lower case. So: Philip Jones was appointed Parliamentary Commissioner to succeed Elizabeth Smith and The constituents complained to the parliamentary ombudsman that they had been inadequately represented by their MP.
Pashto/Pashtun
The Pashtun live in north-west Pakistan and south-east Afghanistan. The language they speak is Pashto.
Patriot
(missile) ie initial cap. Compare cruise missile, which is lower case because it refers to a type of weapon (low-flying, long-distance, computer-controlled winged missile), rather than a specific one.
PC
Use PC (ie both letters capped up) as an abbreviation for police constable, personal computer or politically correct.
peacekeepers, peacekeeping
ie one word, no hyphen.
Pearl Harbor
is spelt the American way (ie without a "u").
pensioner
Use it when the story is actually about pensioners (eg: Pensioners are to lose their winter fuel allowance) - but not where it is incidental, as in South African police have released British pensioner Martin Smith. Avoid "OAP" which means nothing to anyone outside the UK.
Pentagon
The Pentagon is not, strictly, in Washington DC. Like the Reagan National Airport, it is in Arlington County, Virginia.
辫别辞辫濒别鈥檚/辫别辞辫濒别蝉鈥�
Do not confuse the two. When talking about the public, we would say Government aims to measure people鈥檚 happiness or She was the people鈥檚 princess. When talking about more than one ethnic group, the apostrophe goes after the "s": They were attending the Indigenous Peoples鈥� Global Summit.
per
It is acceptable to write about mph - but the Latin "per" should be avoided as much as possible. Do not say "拢200 per capita" or even "拢200 per head". Stick to English and say 拢200 a head or 拢200 each.
Our usual style is to use digits - even with numbers we would normally write out as words (eg: 8%), but a percentage should be expressed in words if it comes at the beginning of a sentence (eg: Ten per cent of the budget will be devoted to the war effort).
There is no such thing as a percent, so don鈥檛 say "half a per cent" - it should be a half per cent or half of one per cent.
And there is a distinction between percentages and percentage points. If an exam pass rate goes up from 80% to 100%, this is a rise of 20 percentage points - and not "a rise of 20%" - because 20% of 80 is 16. Be aware that official sources often get this wrong.
Performing Right Society
ie there is no "s" at the end of "Right".
Philippines
(with a double "p") is the name of the islands - but Filipino (single "p") for male national; Filipina for female. The adjective is Philippine.
picture captions
Picture captions should be one or two lines long - ideally one on desktop. Avoid going to three on mobile. Occasionally captions in picture galleries might be longer.
The wording should follow the geography of a picture, from left to right (eg: if Smith is on the left and Jones on the right, the caption should not say "Jones and Smith").
A caption should not be a literal description of the picture - that is the function of an alt tag. It鈥檚 important to give the reader enough information to understand what they are looking at independently of the alt tag, while also adding value (eg: Smith and Jones: Lifelong friends).
In News, where space allows, use both first and second names of anyone pictured. Sport can follow the sporting convention of surnames only (eg: Robson says he鈥檚 putting in for a transfer).
For direct quotes, use a colon and double quotation marks (eg: Sheila Vine: 鈥淣othing will stop me鈥�). Any colon in a caption, whether or not introducing a quote, must be followed by a capital letter (eg: Lisa Simpson: Genius at work).
If you need to focus on one individual among several, use brackets and not commas - so a picture of a group of children might be captioned eg: Bart Simpson (centre) was never his teacher鈥檚 pet. If space is short, abbreviate such labels to their initial capital letter only ie (C) (L) or (R). But don鈥檛 be too literal if it鈥檚 obvious who is who, as in: Boy George (L) chatted to Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
There is no full stop at the end of a caption, except in picture galleries. And a caption is often not necessary at all for a map or a generic graphic.
pimp
Avoid metaphorical use (except in direct quotes).
Pin number
ie initial cap only, no hyphen. This term is acceptable, although tautological (since "Pin" stands for "personal identification number"). But Pin code is a perfectly good alternative.
places
Be consistent in giving locations. No-one in London would ever refer to "Mansfield in England" - they would say Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. So do not write "Kirkcaldy in Scotland" - it should be Kirkcaldy in Fife; similarly not "Tenby in Wales", but Tenby in Pembrokeshire. However, where a city or town shares a name with a unitary authority eg: Newport or Bridgend, it can be acceptable to say in south Wales.
plane-spotter
ie with a hyphen.
PlayStation
ie the capital in the middle is retained.
plc
lower case - stands for public limited company. But avoid unless the company鈥檚 status is relevant to the story.
plurals
Some words remain the same even as plurals, such as aircraft, cannon, sheep and fish (although you would use fishes when referring to different kinds of fish, eg He studied freshwater fishes of the UK).
Be careful with some words that are plural but often mistakenly used as singular: criteria (criterion), bacteria (bacterium), phenomena (phenomenon). Data is strictly a plural, but we follow common usage and treat it as singular, as we do with agenda.
Our preference for words ending in -ium, such as stadium, is stadiums. For index, our favoured plural form (as in stock markets) is indexes. The plural is indices only in a mathematical/scientific context.
Watch names when using the plural. If you were writing about a family called Phelps, you would say: The Phelpses were going for a day at the seaside.
For words ending in "o", there are no hard and fast rules, though the principle is that most words just add an "s" but there are exceptions. However, there are a few general patterns. If a word is a short version of a longer word, just add an "s": memos, photos, demos. The same applies to words that clearly have their roots in another language, such as stilettos, calypsos, chinos, bistros, casinos. And where a word ends with two vowels, just add an "s", as in videos and cameos.
The best way of checking is to take the first version offered by the Oxford English Dictionary, so we would use: avocados, banjos, flamingos, ghettos, manifestos, mementos. Those taking an "e" include: buffaloes, cargoes, dominoes, echoes, embargoes, haloes, heroes, mangoes, mottoes, potatoes, tomatoes, torpedoes, vetoes, volcanoes, tornadoes and mosquitoes (though Tornados and Mosquitos when talking about the planes).
PM
can be used to mean "prime minister" in headlines, but should be written out in stories.
poet laureate
ie lower case
police ranks
Chief Constable should not be abbreviated in any circumstances. Revert to "Mr", "Mrs" etc at second reference.
Assistant Chief Constable should also be written out in full at first reference - but can then be shortened to ACC. In the Met and City of London police, use Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner etc at first reference then "Mrs Smith", "Sir John" etc.
Other police ranks should be used in abbreviated form, even at first reference:
Commander - Cdr
Chief Superintendent - Ch Supt
Superintendent - Supt
Chief Inspector - Ch Insp
Inspector - Insp
Sergeant - Sgt
Police Constable - PC
For Detective ranks, put Det in front of the above ranks, except for Detective Constable - Det Con.
There is no longer a rank of WPC, so women police constables should also be PC (and women detective constables Det Con).
Write out ranks in full when not accompanied by a name (eg: It took eight police constables to restrain him).
police and crime commissioners (updated September 2024)
These elected roles in England and Wales follow the same convention as political titles - capped with the name, lower case on their own. If we鈥檝e established the abbreviation earlier, we may say Liverpool鈥檚 PCC Jim Smith has called for.... Afterwards, as politicians, surnames only.
political parties
The word "party" is capped up when giving the title (eg: the Labour Party) - but is lower case if the full name is dropped (eg: The vote represented a new low in the party鈥檚 fortunes).
Party names are also capped up if used adjectivally (eg: Portugal鈥檚 Social Democrat prime minister) provided the proper party name is used (in full or short-form) - as opposed to a label that summarises a political stance. So, French Socialists would mean paid-up party members, whereas French socialists would mean people in France of a socialist persuasion. But to avoid ambiguity it would be preferable in the first case to say members of the French Socialist Party.
political titles
Political job titles - including all members of a government - have initial caps only when the title is used next to the individual, in whatever order eg:
UK Prime Minister Glenda Goodwin (and not "British Prime Minister Glenda Goodwin")
Foreign Secretary David Jones
Harry Smith, the Home Secretary
Curran, who has been prime minister since 2015...
Any post mentioned without reference to the post-holder should be in lower case e.g: The prime minister will be out of the country for several days.
The same rule applies for former holders of political office (eg: The former President, Jimmy Carter, is to make a political comeback. The former president said he wanted to spend less time with his family).
Similarly, Leader of the Opposition is capped up only if accompanied by the name. Otherwise, opposition portfolios are always lower case, with or without the name (eg: The shadow chancellor, Thomas Hurn, was furious. There was jeering when the shadow chancellor left).
political parties The word "party" is capped up when giving the title (eg: the Labour Party) - but is lower case if the full name is dropped (eg: The vote represented a new low in the party鈥檚 fortunes).
Pope
Always use an initial cap for the Pope, whether or not his name is attached. But use lower case in any reference to the pontiff - also when referring to popes in general, or using the terms papal or papacy. Do not refer to the Pope as "the Holy Father" - a term which might offend some non-Catholics.
post-mortem examination
ie with a hyphen. It should not be shortened to "post-mortem" in text (although this is acceptable in headlines - but not "PM" or "pm").
practicable/practical
These are not synonyms: practicable means "capable of being carried out"; practical means "useful in practice".
practice/practise
Use with care. The noun is practice; the verb is practise - eg: The players hold a practice every Monday. They practise for two hours.
premier
Do not use "premier" as a synonym for "prime minister". It should be used only where it is the proper title eg: China, Australian states, Canadian provinces, German states and some West Indian islands.
Premier League
(The top football league in England) ie initial caps. In Scotland, it is the Premier League or SPL.
premises
This is jargon - much used by the police (eg: "A suspect has been located in premises adjacent to the town hall"). Ask the police to be more specific.
President/president (updated September 2024)
takes a capital if accompanied by the name (eg: President Porter is to visit the Middle East). Lower case without the name (eg: The president will arrive on Tuesday). The same rule applies for former presidents (eg: The former President, Bill Clinton, is starting a new career. The former president said he was very excited). But always use lower case for the president of an institution (eg: The president of the Bank of America, Ivor Fortune, has resigned).
At first reference it's US President Joe Biden, in later references President Biden or Biden or the US president, in headlines Biden.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
ie one word - and the internal capital "C" is retained. The short form PwC is acceptable in headlines - and in text at second reference.
Prime Minister鈥檚 Questions
ie initial caps.
Prince/Princess
In general, they have an initial cap if used with the name; lower case in references to the prince or the princess.
principal/principle
Principal means "first in order of importance". A school head is sometimes known as the principal; the leading role in a pantomime is often the principal boy. The word principle means "a rule or belief governing one鈥檚 personal behaviour" (eg: It is against his principles to kill animals).
prisoner of war
ie no hyphens. Abbreviated form is with lower case "o" ie PoW.
private member's bill
ie lower case. Apostrophe before the "s" where only one MP is involved (eg: A private member's bill often falls at the first hurdle). Otherwise, apostrophe after the "s" (eg: The ballot for private members' bills will be held on Monday).
probe
Try to avoid using this in the tabloid sense of "investigation". It can be used in a headline if no alternative will fit - but where possible say inquiry, investigation, or similar.
professor
In common with our style on Dr, we should abbreviate to Prof on first and subsequent references. But, when used as a generic rather than a title, full out and lower case: He was appointed as a professor of psychology last year.
profits
We generally report pre-tax profits that include any one-off gains or losses ("exceptional"). But sometimes we like to give the pre-tax profit before "exceptional" are added /subtracted in order to give a clearer picture of the underlying strength of the company.
The US agencies tend to refer to "earnings", so it is important to check whether or not these include tax and/or "exceptional". Sometimes they mention "earnings per share", which may be useful when making a comparison with the predictions of Wall Street analysts - but generally it is best to focus on the overall profit figure.
program/programme
The spelling without the final "-me" should be used only when using the noun/exact phrase "computer program/computer programs". Otherwise, always use programme as noun or verb eg: He said he wanted to programme his new computer.
prostitution
When writing about prostitutes, male or female, it's important to acknowledge that they are first and foremost individuals. To label someone simply as a prostitute tends to be derogatory and demeaning - so a news story concerning an attack might say at first reference eg: A woman has been assaulted in the King's Cross area - with a subsequent reference: She was working as a prostitute. In headlines, try to avoid the label "prostitute". Consider whether the broader term 鈥�sex worker鈥� is appropriate, but both may be contentious in the particular context.
protest
People may protest against, protest at or protest over a ruling - but never (as in the US) "protest a ruling".
Protestants
ie with an initial cap.
protester
is our favoured spelling - and not "protestor".
PSNCR
(Public Sector Net Cash Requirement) - ie all caps. The gap between government income and spending, or, in other words, the amount of money the government has to borrow. It shows whether the government is running a budget deficit or surplus.
PTSD
Spell out at first if possible - post-traumatic stress disorder (lower case and hyphenated) - then PTSD afterwards.
Pull quotes
Should not contain full-stops, either in the middle of at the end.
Pyrrhic victory
(means a victory that comes at heavy cost to the victor) ie Pyrrhic has an initial cap.