Guardian style guide: T

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

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-t
ending for past participle: the cakes were burnt, the word was misspelt. But earned, not earnt

T
(not tee) as in it suited her to a T, he had it down to a T

tableau
plural tableaux

table d’hote

tabloid
refers to longstanding redtops such as the Sun and Daily Mirror, rather than the more recent breed of shrunken broadsheets; they are sometimes accused of writing in tabloidese

tabloid journalists
defined by Charlie Brooker as “people who waste their lives actively making the world worse”

tad
is a tad overused

Ta-dah!

tai chi

Taiwan
can be referred to as an island, an economy or a democracy, but avoid referring to it as a country, nation or state. Where relevant, provide context on the status of Taiwan in relation to China. The democratically elected leader can be referred to as Taiwan’s president, and likewise Taiwan’s government

Taiwanese names
like Hong Kong and Korean names, these are in two parts with a hyphen, eg Lee Teng-hui (Lee after first mention)

Tajikistan
adjective Tajik

take-home pay refers to net (after tax), not gross, pay; we sometimes mistakenly use it as a synonym for salary

takeoff
noun; take off verb

take-up
noun; take up verb

Takeover Panel

Taliban
plural (it means students); the singular is Talib

talisman
plural talismans, not “talismen”

talkshow
mainly American English; the British English version is chatshow

TalkSport
although the radio station’s brand is talkSPORT

TalkTV
not Talk TV

Tamiflu
trade name of oseltamivir, an antiviral drug that slows the spread of the influenza virus between cells in the body. Do not call it a vaccine – it treats, but does not pre-empt

tam o’shanter
woollen cap

Tampax
TM; say tampon

T&Cs
terms and conditions

Tangier
not Tangiers

Tannoy
TM; say public address system or just PA

Tantrism
or Tantra is a religious movement within Buddhism and Hinduism that has become more widely known in the west through practices such as Tantric sex and Tantric yoga

taoiseach
the Irish prime minister

Taoism
rather than Daoism

Tardis
the Doctor’s time machine in Doctor Who; the acronym stands for time and relative dimension in space

targeted, targeting

tariff

Tarmac
a company; tarmac formerly used to make pavements, roads and runways (we now walk and drive on asphalt)

tarot cards

tar sands
rather than oil sands

tart up
Please avoid this phrase

Taser
TM; the generic term is stun gun

taskforce

Tate
the original London gallery in Millbank, now known as Tate Britain, houses British art from the 16th century to the present day; Tate Modern, at Southwark, south London, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, in Cornwall, all house modern art

Tavener, Sir John
(1944-2013) English composer of such works as The Protecting Veil

Taverner, John
(c1490-1545) English composer of masses and other vocal works

tax avoidance
is legal; tax evasion is illegal

tax burden
a recognised term for tax revenue as a share of the overall economy, but overused in our articles in contexts where simpler, less politically loaded terms such as tax, taxation or tax bill would be better

taxi, taxiing
of aircraft

the taxman
avoid in favour of tax department, HMRC or tax collector

taxpayer
but council tax payer

TaxPayers’ Alliance
“Britain’s independent grassroots campaign for lower taxes,” or as the Guardian’s Michael White puts it: “Tory front organisation and purveyor of dodgy statistics”

Tbilisi
capital of Georgia

T-cell

Tchaikovsky

Tchiani, Gen Abdourahamane
Nigerien president

TD
an Irish MP (abbreviation of teachta dála). It’s good to use the Irish abbreviation but make it clear somewhere in the copy what it means. “Irish MP” is fine in headlines

teabag, teacup, teapot, teaspoon
all one word

teaching excellence framework (Tef)
likewise, research excellence framework (Ref)

teammate

teams
Sports teams take plural verbs: Wednesday were relegated again, Australia have won by an innings, etc; but note that in a business context, they are singular like other companies, eg Manchester United reported its biggest loss to date

Tea Party movement
named after the Boston Tea Party protest of 1773

teargas

Teasmade
TM; say teamaker

Technicolor
TM

Ted Talks
the abbreviation stands for technology, entertainment, design

teddy boys
(1950s) took their name from their Edwardian style of clothing

Teesside

teetotaller

Teflon
TM; say non-stick pan

Tehran

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

telephone numbers
should be hyphenated after three- or four-figure, but not five-figure, area codes: 020-3353 2000, 0161-832 7200; 01892 456789, 01635 123456.

Treat mobile phone numbers as having five-figure area codes: 07911 654321 .

US numbers like this, with the area code in parentheses: (508) 362-8652

Teletubbies
Tinky Winky (purple); Laa-Laa (yellow); Dipsy (green); and Po (red)

television shows
chatshow, gameshow, quizshow, talkshow

temazepam

temperatures
thus: 30C (85F) – ie celsius, with fahrenheit in brackets on first mention; but be extremely wary (or don’t bother) converting temperature changes, eg an average temperature change of 2C was wrongly converted to 36F in an article about a heatwave (although a temperature of 2C is about the same as 36F, a temperature change of 2C corresponds to a change of about 4F)

Ten Commandments
not 10 Commandments

tending
one’s flock, etc (not “tending to”)

tendinitis
not tendonitis

tenpin bowling

tenses
We’ve Only Just Begun was playing on the radio. He began to drink; in fact he drank so much, he was drunk in no time at all. He sank into depression, knowing that all his hopes had been sunk. Finally, he sneaked away. Or perhaps snuck (according to Steven Pinker, the most recent irregular verb to enter the language).
See burned, dreamed, learned, spelled, spoiled

Terfel, Bryn
Welsh opera singer; for some reason we often describe him as a tenor, but he is a bass baritone

Terminal 5
at Heathrow may be abbreviated to T5 after first mention

terrace houses
not terraced

terracotta

terra firma

Terrence Higgins Trust

terrorism, terrorists
A terrorist act is directed against victims chosen either randomly or as symbols of what is being opposed (eg workers in the World Trade Center, tourists in Bali, Spanish commuters). It is designed to create a state of terror in the minds of a particular group of people or the public as a whole for political or social ends. Although most terrorist acts are violent, you can be a terrorist without being overtly violent (eg poisoning a water supply or gassing people on the underground).

Does having a good cause make a difference? The UN says no: “Criminal acts calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public are in any circumstances unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify them.”

Whatever one’s political sympathies, suicide bombers, the 9/11 attackers and most paramilitary groups can all reasonably be regarded as terrorists (or at least groups some of whose members perpetrate terrorist acts).

Nonetheless we need to be very careful about using the term: it is still a subjective judgment – one person’s terrorist may be another person’s freedom fighter, and there are former “terrorists” holding elected office in many parts of the world. Some critics suggest that, for the Guardian, all terrorists are militants – unless their victims are British. Others may point to what they regard as “state terrorism”. Often, alternatives such as militants, radicals, separatists, etc, may be more appropriate and less controversial, but this is a difficult area: references to the “resistance”, for example, imply more sympathy to a cause than calling such fighters “insurgents”. The most important thing is that, in news reporting, we are not seen – because of the language we use – to be taking sides.

Note that the phrase “war on terror” should always appear in quotes, whether used by us or (more likely) quoting someone else

Tesco
not Tesco’s

Tessa
tax-exempt special savings account, replaced by Isas

Test
(cricket and rugby) the third Test, etc

Tetra Pak
TM

Texan
a person; the adjective is Texas: Texas Ranger, Texas oilwells, Texas tea etc

textbook

Thaksin Shinawatra
former prime minister of Thailand; Thaksin on second mention

thalidomide

that
Do not use automatically after the word “said”, but it can be useful: you tend to read a sentence such as “he said nothing by way of an explanation would be forthcoming” as “he said nothing by way of an explanation” and then realise that it does not say that at all; “he said that nothing by way of an explanation would be forthcoming” is much clearer. A similar problem arises with verbs such as argue and warn. “He argued the case for war had not been made” and “he warned the case for war had not been made” both become much clearer if you insert “that” after the verb

that or which?
The traditional definition is that “that” defines and “which” informs (gives extra information), as in:
“This is the house that Jack built; but this house, which John built, is falling down.”
“The Guardian, which I read every day, is the paper that I admire above all others.”
“I am very proud of the sunflowers that I grew from seed” (some of them); “I am very proud of the sunflowers, which I grew from seed” (all of them).
Note that in such examples the sentence remains grammatical without “that” (“this is the house Jack built,” “The Guardian is the paper I admire above all others,” “I am very proud of the sunflowers I grew”) but not without “which” (“this house, John built, is falling down”).

A word about relative clauses: restrictive relative clauses (also known as defining, best thought of as giving essential information by narrowing it down) are not enclosed by commas, whereas non-restrictive relative clauses (non-defining, giving non-essential information) are.

In the three examples, “which John built”, “which I read every day” and “which I grew from seed” are all non-restrictive. They give extra information, they are preceded by a comma, and they use “which” rather than “that”. If you try them with “that” they sound odd (“the Guardian, that I read every day”). It’s not the same the other way round: although “that” is more common in restrictive clauses, you can use “which”: “the Guardian is the paper which I read every day”.

A formula that may help simplify things:
Restrictive clauses – “that” (desirable), no comma (essential).
Non-restrictive clauses – “which”, comma (both essential).
So a BBC radio interviewer who asked the question “should advertising, which targets children, be banned?” was suggesting that all advertising targets children. She meant “should advertising that targets children be banned?”

the
Leaving “the” out often reads like official jargon: say the conference agreed to do something, not “conference agreed”; the government has to do, not “government has to”; the Super League (rugby), not “Super League”.

Avoid the “prime minister Keir Starmer” syndrome: do not use constructions such as “prime minister Keir Starmer said”. Prominent figures can just be named, with their function at second mention: “Keir Starmer said last night” (first mention); “the prime minister said” (subsequent mentions).

If it is thought necessary to explain who someone is, write “Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, said” or “the Sheffield United manager, Chris Wilder, said”. In such cases the commas around the name indicate there is only one person in the position, so write “the Tory prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said” (only one person in the job), but “the former Tory prime minister David Cameron said” (there have been many).

lc for newspapers (the Guardian), magazines (the New Statesman), pubs (the Coach and Horses), bands (the Black Eyed Peas, the Not Sensibles, the The), nicknames (the Hulk, the Red Baron), and sports grounds (the Oval).

uc for books (The Lord of the Rings), films (The Matrix), poems (The Waste Land), television shows (The West Wing), and works of art (The Adoration of the Magi).

Names of trains take the definite article (the Flying Scotsman); names of locomotives do not (Mallard)

‘the’ in name of a country
include “the”:
the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Czech Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC on second mention), the Dominican Republic, the Gambia, the Marshall Islands, the Netherlands (but The Hague), the Northern Mariana Islands, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates (the UAE on second mention), the UK, the US.

no “the”:
Central African Republic (CAR on second mention), Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Ukraine, Vatican City (but the Vatican), Yemen

the3million
Brexit campaign group for EU citizens living in the UK

theatre
the Royal National Theatre, commonly known as the National, comprises three auditoriums: the Olivier, the Lyttelton, and the Dorfman (formerly Cottesloe) – no need to add “theatre” to these, but if you do, it’s lowercase – and the Temporary theatre (formerly the Shed). Other theatres: lowercase for “theatre”, eg Adelphi theatre, Crucible theatre (but normally just Adelphi, Crucible). Initial cap only if “Theatre” comes first, eg Theatre Royal, Stratford East

theatregoer

theirs
no apostrophe

then
no hyphen in such phrases as “the then prime minister”

Theresienstadt
Nazi concentration camp at Terezín, in what is now the Czech Republic

thermonuclear
one word

Thermos
TM; say vacuum flask

Thessaloniki
not Salonica or Salonika

thing or think?
If you think the expression is “you’ve got another thing coming”, then you have misheard the expression “you’ve got another think coming”

thinktank
one word

Third Reich

third way

third world
meaning not the west (first) or the Soviet Union (second), so today an outdated (as well as objectionable) term; use developing countries or developing nations

this and that
that was then, but this is now; this looks forward, that looks back: so the man showing his son and heir the lands lying in front of them says: “One day, son, all this will be yours.” Then he points behind him to the house and says: “But that remains mine”

thoroughbred, thoroughgoing

3D

threefold, threescore

three-line whip

throuple
a polyamorous relationship of three people

throw, throes
You might make a last throw of the dice, but if you are in your last throes, your situation is considerably more serious

thumbs up
massive or otherwise

thunderstorm
one word

Tiananmen Square
Beijing

Tianjin
not Tientsin

tic
an idiosyncratic habitual behaviour or spasm – not to be confused with tick

tick
a bloodsucking bug, correction mark or sound a clock makes – not to be confused with tic

tikka masala

TikToker
not TikTokker

till
Not an abbreviation of until, but the older word. Until sounds more natural as the first word of a sentence and before a verb (“Until you come back to me”); till works well in less formal contexts and before a noun (“till lunchtime”). Do not use til or ’til, despite such precedents as the Beach Boys’ sublime Til I Die

timebomb, timescale, timeshare

times
1am, 6.30pm, etc; 10 o’clock last night but 10pm yesterday; half past two, a quarter to three, 10 to 11, etc; 2hr 5min 6sec, etc; for 24-hour clock, 00.47, 23.59; noon, midnight (not 12 noon, 12 midnight or 12am, 12pm).

The week starts on Mondays, but stories published on Sunday refer to the following week as “this week” and the six days preceding that Sunday as “last week”.

Writers must put the date in brackets when there might be ambiguity

Timor-Leste
formerly East Timor

tinfoil

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John le Carré novel adapted for television by the BBC in 1979 (starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley) and, in September 2011, released as a feature film with Gary Oldman as Smiley

tipi
closer to the original Lakota (a variety of Sioux) word thí pi, and therefore preferable to tepee

tipoff
one word as a noun

Tipp-Ex
TM; use correction fluid (not that many people do any more)

tipping point
another example of jargon that has quickly become hackneyed through overuse

Tirol
not Tyrol

titbit
not tidbit

titillate
mildly excite; titivate tidy up.

Use “tidy up” rather than titivate or readers will probably think you mean titillate

titles
Do not italicise or put in quotes titles of books, films, TV programmes, paintings, songs, albums or anything else.

Words in titles take initial caps except for a, an, and, at, for, from, in, of, on, the, to (except in initial position or after a colon): A Tale of Two Cities, Happy End of the World, Shakespeare in Love, Superman: The Early Years, I’m in Love With the Girl on a Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk, etc. This also applies to titles in foreign languages, for example Les Enfants du Paradis, Cien Años de Soledad

T-junction

toby jug
inexplicably capped up in the paper at least twice

to-do
as in “what a to-do!”

to-ing and fro-ing
You need the hyphens to stop it looking like “toyng and froyng”

told the Guardian
is used far too often: it should normally be replaced by “said” and reserved for occasions when it genuinely adds interest or authority to a story (if someone got an exclusive interview with, say, Lord Lucan)

Tolkien, JRR
(1892-1973) British author and philologist, notable for writing The Lord of the Rings and not spelling his name “Tolkein”

tomato
plural tomatoes

tomb of the Unknown Warrior
not soldier

tonnage
is measured in tons (units of volume), not tonnes (units of mass) – derived from the number of tuns (large barrels) a vessel could hold; registered tonnage is the total internal capacity of a vessel.

Displacement tonnage is its actual weight, equal to the weight of water it displaces, and is measured in tonnes

tonne
not ton (but note the above): the (metric) tonne is 1,000kg (2,204.62lb), the British ton is 2,240lb, and the US ton is 2,000lb; usually there is no need to convert.

For figurative use, write tons (I’ve had tons of birthday cards, etc)

Top 10, Top 40, etc
in reference to pop charts, but cap it down more generally if talking about, say, the top five chippies in Whitby

Topman, Topshop

Torah, the

tornado
plural tornadoes (storm); Tornado plural Tornados (aircraft)

torpid, turbid or turgid?
There’s plenty of opportunity to get these wrong, and plenty of people do: torpid means apathetic or sluggish; turbid is muddy, thick or cloudy; turgid means congested or swollen, and therefore can be handy if you want to accuse someone of using bombastic or pompous language

tortuous or torturous?
A long and winding road is tortuous.
An experience involving pain or suffering might be described as torturous

Tory party

total
Avoid starting court stories with variations on the formula “three men were jailed for a total of 19 years”, a statistic that conveys no meaningful information (in this case, they had been given sentences of nine, six and four years).

The only time this might be justified is when one person is given a series of life sentences, and “he was jailed for a total of 650 years” at least conveys how serious the crimes were

totalled
two Ls

tote, the

Tourette syndrome
TS at second mention

Toussaint, Allen
US blues musician

Toussaint, Jean
US jazz musician

Toussaint L’Ouverture, Pierre Dominique
(1743-1803) leader of Haiti’s slave revolt of 1791 and subsequent fight for independence, which was granted in 1801

town councillor, town hall

townhouse

townie
not townee

Townshend, Pete
one of the two members of the Who who didn’t die before he got old (the other is Roger Daltrey)

Tpims
rather than TPIMs is the abbreviation for terrorism prevention and investigation measures; use sparingly, however: “measures” and similar terms are generally preferable

track record
record should normally be sufficient

trademarks (TM)
Take care: use a generic alternative unless there is a very good reason not to, eg ballpoint pen, not biro (unless it really is a Biro, in which case it takes a cap B); say photocopy rather than Xerox, etc; you will save our lawyers, and those of Portakabin and various other companies, a lot of time and trouble

trade union
but Trades Union Congress (TUC)

tragic
People do not need to be told that an accident is “tragic”

train
a number of things in a string, such as animals, railway carriages or wagons. In railway terms a train is hauled by an engine or locomotive, with which it is not synonymous

tranquillisers
not tranquilisers

transatlantic

transgender, trans
Where relevant, use transgender at first mention, thereafter trans, and only as an adjective: transgender person, trans person, trans woman, trans man; never “transgendered person” or “a transgender”. Avoid using the term transsexual unless someone specifically identifies as such.

The use of the birth name of a trans person should be avoided unless it is specifically relevant to the story and has been discussed with editors

translator
works with the written word; often confused with interpreter, who works with the spoken word

Transnistria
separatist region that declared its independence from Moldova in 1990, but has not been recognised by the international community; also known as Trans-Dniester

transpire
to emit vapour through the skin, so by analogy to become apparent, come to be known, not just a synonym for “occur” or “happen”; “it transpired that” usually sounds artificial and pompous in any case

Transport for London
TfL on second mention

Trans-Siberian railway

Travellers
with a capital T to refer to the ethnic group, but new age travellers (l/c)

traybake

Treasury, the
(officially HM Treasury)

treaties
lc, eg peace of Westphalia (1648), treaty of Versailles (1919)

Trekkers
how to refer to Star Trek fans unless you want to make fun of them, in which case they are Trekkies

trenchcoat

T rex
dinosaur; full name Tyrannosaurus rex

T Rex
band

tricolour
French and Irish

trickle-down economics
but no hyphen needed in constructions such as: “The prime minister believes wealth will trickle down”

trillion
a thousand billion (1 followed by 12 noughts), abbreviate like this: $25tn

Trinity College, Cambridge
not to be confused with Trinity Hall, Cambridge

Trinity College Dublin

trip-hop

Trips
trade-related intellectual property rights

triumphant or triumphal?
You might put up a triumphal arch because you are triumphant in battle

Trojan horse

trolley
plural trolleys, not trollies

trooper
soldier in a cavalry regiment (so you might “swear like a trooper”); trouper member of a troupe, or dependable worker (“the night team are real troupers”)

trooping the colour
(no “of”)

tropic of cancer, tropic of capricorn

the Troubles
(Northern Ireland)

troubleshooter, troubleshooting

trove
derived from “treasure trove” but commonly used on its own to mean a hoard or a valuable find

Trump Organization

try to
never “try and”. As Bart Simpson put it: “I can’t promise I’ll try, but I’ll try to try”

Ts
as in dotting the Is and crossing the Ts

tsar
not czar; try to avoid when referring to someone appointed to a government role

tsetse
fly

T-shirt
not tee-shirt

tsunami
wave caused by an undersea earthquake; not the same thing as a tidal wave

Tuareg
the Berber people of Saharan north Africa, and their language

tube, the
lc (London Underground is the name of the company); individual lines thus: Jubilee line, Northern line, etc; the underground

TUC
Trades Union Congress, so TUC Congress is tautological: the reference should be to the TUC conference

Tupperware
TM; say plastic container unless you are sure it is Tupperware (uc)

turkish delight

Turkmenistan
adjective Turkmen; its citizens are Turkmen, singular Turkman

Turkomans
(singular noun and adjective is Turkoman) are a formerly nomadic central Asian people who now form a minority in Iraq; they speak Turkmen

turned
the subeditor turned stylebook guru Amelia Hodsdon said … (no hyphens)

turnover
in business

turn over
in bed

Tutankhamun

21st century
but hyphenate if adjectival: newspapers of the 21st century, 21st-century newspapers

Twenty20
cricket, abbreviated to T20 or t20

twitchers
birdwatchers or birders are preferable terms

Twixmas
not Twixtmas

Twitter/X
Elon Musk’s social media platform is now called X, not Twitter, but it is still OK to refer to posts on the platform as tweets or retweets.

When quoting tweets, where the aim is normally to capture the flavour and convey the immediate impact of an event, do not correct the grammar, spelling or style

twofold

tying

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