Macmillan
style guide
Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and
the Isle of Man (604). © Macmillan Cancer Support July 2009
Introduction
Hello and welcome to Macmillan’s first style guide. We’ve developed it with love and
care so anyone writing on behalf of the organisation can do so in a consistent and
effective way. You see, whether we spell adviser with an E or an O may seem fairly
trivial, but, in fact, if we really want our communications to be trusted and seen as
authoritative, they need to be consistent at all times.
So, please use this guide regularly when creating your communications. And if you
have any questions or comments about any of its content, or you want a style point
added to it, please get in touch by sending an email to styleguide@macmillan.org.uk
PS We use ‘adviser’ not ‘advisor’, by the way. But I’m sure you knew that.
The Copywriting team
Macmillan style guide August 2009
2
Some things to remember
Style points not covered – a lot of the style points we use in our style guide are
based on the ones listed in The Guardian newspaper’s style guide. This means that
if you can’t find a style point covered in this guide, your first port of call should be
The Guardian’s online style guide at guardian.co.uk/styleguide. If they don’t cover
the point, drop us a line at styleguide@macmillan.org.uk
Points highlighted in yellow – these are key style points that you need to
remember, you may have found confusing in the past or which have changed from
what we previously listed in our editorial guidelines.
Spellings – for the correct spelling of words, always use the Oxford English
Dictionary. Different dictionaries do spell some words differently.
References in this guide – you’ll see that there are sometimes references at the
end of entries.
Any references in italics, for example, see measurement, refer to other entries in the
style guide.
References within inverted commas, for example, see ‘Punctuation guide’, refer to
sections in our editorial guidelines.
References in blue, for example, Information and support fact sheet, refer to fact
sheets on be.Macmillan that can provide further information about an entry.
References in red, for example, see the green rooms, refer to other sources that can
provide further information about an entry.
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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Contents
£ and p ....................................................................................................................... 5
0808 808 00 00 .......................................................................................................... 5
1,2 3 …....................................................................................................................... 6
A ................................................................................................................................. 7
B ............................................................................................................................... 12
C............................................................................................................................... 17
D............................................................................................................................... 24
E ............................................................................................................................... 27
F ............................................................................................................................... 29
G .............................................................................................................................. 32
H............................................................................................................................... 33
I ................................................................................................................................ 35
J ............................................................................................................................... 37
K ............................................................................................................................... 38
L ............................................................................................................................... 39
M .............................................................................................................................. 40
N............................................................................................................................... 47
O .............................................................................................................................. 50
P ............................................................................................................................... 52
Q .............................................................................................................................. 57
R............................................................................................................................... 58
S ............................................................................................................................... 63
T ............................................................................................................................... 67
U............................................................................................................................... 70
V ............................................................................................................................... 71
W .............................................................................................................................. 71
X ............................................................................................................................... 74
Y ............................................................................................................................... 74
Z ............................................................................................................................... 75
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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£ and p
1p, 2p, 50p, £1 (not £1.00), £6.50, £10, £100,000, £500,000 (not £0.5 million), £1
million, etc
See currencies
0808 808 00 00
Macmillan’s main telephone number and the one people should call if they have
questions about cancer, need support, or just want to talk to someone. No longer
direct people to CancerLine, the Macmillan Benefits Helpline, the cancer information
nurse helpline or YouthLine.
When you mention the number in a communication, never refer to it as a helpline;
use phone service instead. Also, always make sure that the double zeroes at the end
of the number have a space between them, ie 00 00.
Medium listing for 0808 808 00 00 is:
If you have any questions about cancer, ask Macmillan. If you need support, ask
Macmillan. Or if you just want someone to talk to, ask Macmillan.
Our cancer support specialists are here for everyone affected by cancer, whatever
you need.
Call free on 0808 808 00 00, Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm
www.macmillan.org.uk
We have an interpretation service in over 200 languages. Just state, in English, the
language you wish to use when you call.
If you are deaf or have a hearing impairment, you can use our textphone service on
0808 808 0121, or the Text Relay system.
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Short listing is:
Questions about living with cancer? Call free on 0808 808 00 00 (Mon–Fri, 9am–
8pm). Alternatively, visit macmillan.org.uk
Have a hearing impairment? Use textphone 0808 808 0121, or Text Relay.
Interpreters available.
1,2 3 …
Also see numbers
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 30, 40, 67, 132, etc
– spell out numbers from one to nine. Write 10 and above in figures. Also, try to
avoid starting a sentence with a number; if you can’t, spell it out, eg One hundred
and thirty-six spiders live in my garage
For units of measurement that are abbreviated, use digits, eg 3mm. See
measurement
For time, spell out numbers under 10, eg three weeks, eight years. See time
For percentages, always use digits, eg 3% of people, 69% of cats prefer Whiskers.
See percentages
When comparing numbers, use all digits, eg you may be treated for 7 to 10 days;
this affects 1 in 10 people. See comparing numbers
For ranges of numbers, use digits and an en dash (–) to separate, eg 10–12
weeks.
Note the shortcut for an en dash on a PC is Ctrl + dash on the top right of your
keyboard’s number pad. See ranges
Give page number references in digits, see page 4. See page numbers
1,500, 100,000, millions – use a comma to separate multiples of thousands and
hundreds of thousands. Millions should be written out up to nine: two million people
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are living with cancer; use figures when talking about 10 million and above, eg 23
million, 67 million. Spell out million in copy; m is fine in tables, eg £10m, 45m doses
of vaccine, etc. See millions
100 metres, 1500 metres, 10,000 metres – for sporting events, note no comma in
1500 metres. See sporting events
1800s – note no apostrophe. See centuries
1960s – note no apostrophe. See decades
A
a or an? – use ‘an’ before a silent H: an hour, an heir, an honourable man, an
honest woman; a hero, a hotel, a historian. With abbreviations, guide yourself by
pronunciation: eg, an LSE student
A&E – use accident and emergency in the first instance and then shorten to A&E
abbreviations and acronyms – do not use full points in abbreviations, or spaces
between initials: eg, ie, 4am, Dr Jones, Mrs Royle, NB, PS, US, mph, WH Smith, etc.
Use all capitals if an abbreviation is pronounced as the individual letters: UKO, NHS,
GP, CNS, BBC, VAT etc.
If it is an acronym (pronounced as a word) but has not entered the language as an
everyday word, eg LASER, EMNE, OSNI, NICE, CHAPS etc, still use all capitals.
However, if the acronym is considered to have entered the language as an everyday
word, use initial capital for organisations and lower case for common terms eg Nasa,
Nato, awol and, more recently, asbo, pin number and sim card.
When using an abbreviated term or acronym that a reader may not immediately
recognise, spell it out for its first reference and put the abbreviation or acronym in
brackets, eg the clinical nurse specialist (CNS), Mobile Macmillan Cancer
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Information Centre (MMCIC). You can then use the abbreviated term or acronym
thereafter.
Use common sense, however: it is not necessary to spell out well-known ones, such
as EU, UN, CIA, FBI, CD, Nasa, etc.
Cap up single letters in such expressions as C-list, F-word, the word assassin
contains four Ss, etc
For more information on Macmillan acronyms, refer to our acronym buster on the
green rooms
accents – use on French, German, Spanish and Irish Gaelic words. People's
names, in whatever language, should also be given appropriate accents, eg Ciarán
Devane.
Note that to access accents in Word, go to Insert and then Symbols
accessible
accommodate, accommodation
achilles heel, achilles tendon
acknowledgment not acknowledgement
acquainted
acronyms – see abbreviations and acronyms
acts and bills – use initial caps when using the full name, eg the Mental Health Act,
Criminal Just Act 1998, Autumn Bank Holiday Bill; but lower case on second
reference, eg the act, and when speaking on more general terms, ‘we need a new
health act’
acting – initial caps when in a job title and you name someone, eg Linda Smith,
Acting Head of Marketing; lower case when talking more general, eg the acting
health minister, the acting committee chair
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addresses – when used in a sentence use commas to separate different parts of an
address but not the postcode: Macmillan Cancer Support, 89 Albert Embankment,
London SE1 7UQ
On an envelope, leaflet etc use:
Macmillan Cancer Support
89 Albert Embankment
London SE1 7UQ
adjectives – see ‘Grammar guide’
administration – the Clinton administration, etc
admissible, inadmissible – not –able
adverbs – see ‘Grammar guide’
advice – when talking about our services or professionals, never say that they offer
advice. We provide information to help people make up their mind what is the best
support for them. The only service that does offer advice are our benefits advisers
adviser not advisor
affect/effect – affect is a verb meaning to influence, eg the unsettled weather
affected our plans for the day
Effect is both a noun meaning result, eg the effect of the rain was that we moved our
picnic into the kitchen, and a verb meaning to bring about, eg we hope to effect a
change in policy
African-Caribbean – preferable to Afro-Caribbean or West Indian
ageing
ages – when quoting people, there is no need to list their age unless it is particularly
relevant. This is because a person’s cancer experience is relevant to us all, whatever
their age, because cancer affects us all.
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If you do list an age, spell it out for nine and under; see numbers.
Gordon Brown, 56 (not ‘aged 56’); little Johnny, four; the woman was in her 20s (but
twentysomething, thirtysomething, etc); the six-year-olds (note hyphens); the under
3s, the over 40s. However, use hyphen for under-16 football team and compound
adjectives, eg 50th-birthday party.
When age is expressed in a fraction, use figures, eg 2½-week-old baby.
Use 24 eleven-year-olds rather than 24 11-year-olds when speaking about ten or
more people of the same age.
aggravate, to make worse, not to annoy
AGM not agm. Spell it out annual general meeting for first reference and put AGM in
brackets as many people don’t know its meaning
Aids – acquired immune deficiency syndrome, but normally no need to spell out
aka – also known as. Not AKA
A-levels
A-list celebrities
alright – no need to spell out all right
Alzheimer's disease
AM (assembly member) – member of the Welsh assembly, eg Rhodri Morgan AM
ambassador – lower case, eg the British ambassador to Brazil
America, Americans – although like most people we use to mean the United States
and its citizens, we should remember that America includes all of North and South
America
American English – in general, use British English spellings: secretary of defence,
Labour Day, World Trade Centre, etc; exceptions are place names such as Pearl
Harbor, titles of works such as The Color Purple
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among not amongst
among or between? – contrary to popular myth, between is not limited to two
parties. It is appropriate when the relationship is essentially reciprocal: fighting
between the many peoples of Yugoslavia, treaties between European countries.
Among belongs to distributive relationships: shared among, etc
ampersand – do not use as a substitute for ‘and’, eg doctors & nurses, Learning &
Development team. Only use if part of an organisation’s name, eg Marks & Spencer,
P&O
anaesthetic
analyse not analyze
and – the idea that it’s wrong to start a sentence (or a paragraph) with a joining word
like ‘and’ or ‘but’ is a myth. It can sound clumsy if you do this too much, but
occasionally it can be very effective and help to break up long sentences
any more – two words
anyone – one word when used as a pronoun, eg can anyone help? Two words in
contexts such as ‘You can pick any one you like’
anyway – one word as an adverb, eg I asked the lady to remain standing but she sat
down anyway. Two words in contexts such as ‘I can’t see any way around the
problem’
apostrophes – see ‘Punctuation guide’
appeals – use initial caps if an appeal has an official title, eg the East Cheshire
Macmillan Appeal. Use lower case if talking about an appeal in general, eg
Macmillan has a mobile phone recycling appeal to raise money
April Fools’ Day
Arial – preferred font to use in Word
arguably – overused, try to avoid
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army, the – the British army, the navy, but Royal Navy, Royal Air Force or RAF
around – about or approximately are better, eg ‘about £1 million’ or ‘approximately
2,000 people’
articles – see chapters and articles
Asian – term used to describe people from the continent of Asia, particularly those
from the sub-continent of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It shouldn't be used for
people of Asian origin who are British citizens; the correct term is British Asians
aspirin
Atlantic Ocean or just the Atlantic
Attendance Allowance
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – ADHD after first mention
attorney general – lower case, no hyphen
autumn – note all seasons are lower case
awards, prizes, medals – initial caps, eg Douglas Macmillan Award, Macmillan
Cancer Champion, Bafta Award-winning drama
awareness events – always use initials caps, Bowel Cancer Awareness Month,
Prostate Cancer Awareness Week
awol – absent without leave
axing – not axeing, but cutting jobs is less clichéd than axing them
B
BAE Systems
bank holiday – bank holiday Monday, etc
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banknote
Bank of England
barbecue
Barclays Bank
barcode
Barnado’s
Bart’s – abbreviation for St Bartholomew’s hospital, London
basically – an unnecessary word, basically
BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4 – note no spaces
BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4, Radio 5 Live, 6 Music, BBC Radio 7
behaviour
believable
be.Macmillan – note full point and cap ‘M’. be.Macmillan is a website where people
can learn more about Macmillan, create Macmillan materials and order Macmillan
resources
See be.macmillan.org.uk
benefited
benefits – initial caps for named benefits such as Disability Living Allowance,
Attendance Allowance and Carer's Allowance
benefits helpline – do not refer to the Macmillan Benefits Helpline anymore. You
should be directing people to our 0808 808 00 00 number for financial support. See
0808 808 00 00.
However, if you do need to reference the helpline, for example, when talking about
our old services, use initial caps when talking about the Macmillan Benefits Helpline
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and lower case when talking about our benefits helpline in general. Also see
helplines
Information and support fact sheet
benign – a benign tumour is not malignant, ie not cancerous
between 15 and 20 – not ‘between 15 to 20’ or ‘between 15–20’
biannual – twice a year; biennial every two years; biannual is almost always
misused, so to avoid confusion stick with the alternative twice-yearly
bid – use only in a financial or sporting sense, eg Royal Bank of Scotland has made
a bid for ABN Amro, Barcelona have put in a bid for Rooney, etc; or when writing
about an auction. Say ‘in an effort to’ rather than ‘in a bid to’
big – usually preferable to major, massive, giant, mammoth, behemoth, etc,
particularly in news copy
biological terms – Latin terms for plants and animals has initial cap for first word
(generic term), lower case for second (specific term), eg Limnea stagnolis (the great
pond snail). Note italics for Latin term.
black – this should not be used as a short-term for all non-white people. The correct
term is black and minority ethnic (BME). See ethnicity
BlackBerry – handheld wireless email device; plural BlackBerrys
Black Country
blog – (noun) collection of articles; (verb) action of publishing an article to the blog
blond – adjective and male noun; blonde female noun: the woman is a blonde,
because she has blond hair; the man has blond hair too and is, if you insist, a blond
BME – spell out black and minority ethnic communities on first mention; note
‘minority ethnic’ not ‘ethnic minority’. See ethnicity
board – use lower case in all contexts; it is outdated to capitalise ‘board’ in such
documents as annual reports
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bold font – use sparingly; mainly used for subheads and when listing websites and
phone numbers at the end of articles. Note that we use bold in Arial and heavy in
Futura, our main publishing font
book and magazine titles – always italicised; use lower case for a, an, and, at, for,
from, in, of, the, to (unless they are the first word of a title): A Tale of Two Cities, The
Pride and the Passion. See italics
Boots the chemists
both – unnecessary in most sentences that contain ‘and’; ‘both men and women
says no more than ‘men and women’
brackets – use sparingly; instead use commas or en dashes. Rounded brackets are
used for a word or phrase inserted as an explanation of afterthought into a passage
which is grammatically correct without it. Squared brackets are used only for editorial
comment within a quote: Neil said, ‘Nowadays, I still have interferon injections [these
stimulate the body’s immune system] twice a week’. See dashes and ‘Punctuation
guide’
Braille – note cap ‘B’
brand – put simply, a brand is the perception people have of a
company/organisation
brand identity – is what you use to shape people’s perception of a
company/organisation
breeds – use lower case, eg the dog was a daschund. But in some cases capitals
must be retained to avoid ambiguity: Old English sheepdog, Large White pig
(specific breed), Large blue butterfly
bric-a-brac
Britain, UK – try to always use UK, although these terms are synonymous: Britain is
the official short form of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Used
as adjectives, therefore, British and UK mean the same. Great Britain, however,
refers only to England, Wales and Scotland.
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Take care not to write Britain when you might mean only England or England and
Wales, for example, when referring to the education system
British Medical Association – BMA on second mention
bss – note lower case. External service that provides information and handles calls
for Macmillan. Calls to 0800 500 800 are handled by bss
BST – British summer time
budget, the – lower case noun and adjective, eg budget talks, budget measures,
mini-budget, pre-budget report, etc
bullet points – use bullets not numbers, unless you refer to specific bullet points
later on. All bullet points should be round.
Introduce a bulleted list with a colon. If the individual bulleted items are only parts of
a sentence, do not start with a capital letter, and do not use semi-colons or full stops
at the end of each item. The last item should end with a full stop.
For example:
The new treatment has been shown to:

give longer disease-free survival

reduce side effects

lead to better quality of life.
If bulleted items are complete sentences or paragraphs, or even if some of them are,
start each with capitals and end with full stops.
For example:
The possible advantages of new drugs are:

There will be a significant reduction in the number of side effects, or in the
severity of side effects that patients experience.
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
More people will recover fully from the cancer.

Patients will report an improved quality of life.
Do not introduce or end items with an ‘and’ or an ‘or’. It should be clear in the
introduction to the list if you are referring to an inclusive list or a number of options or
possibilities.
The most important thing is to be consistent throughout your document
Bupa – note not upper case
but – contradictory to what you may have been taught at school, ‘but’ can be used to
begin a sentence.
Also, the use of ‘but’ is sometimes confused. Use it to introduce a phrase or clause
contrasting with what has already been mentioned, eg he stumbled but didn’t fall.
Note no comma. Or use it to connect two complete sentences into a single sentence
when it follows a comma, eg the manager was initially happy with his secretary, but
now he is having second thoughts
C
café – note accent
campaigns – use initial caps for Macmillan’s campaigns: Better Deal campaign,
Working Through Cancer campaign, etc. Note that ‘campaign’ remains lower case
Campaigning for change fact sheet
cancer – see ‘Writing about cancer’ section
cancer care – support provided to someone from the time they suspect they have
cancer to when they decide they no longer need help
cancer information nurse helpline – do not refer to the cancer information nurse
helpline anymore. You should be directing people to our 0808 808 00 00 number if
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they have questions about their cancer, treatment or what the future holds. See 0808
808 00 00.
However, if you do need to reference the helpline, for example, when talking about
our old services, always use lower case. Also, for information, people could ring the
helpline to speak to cancer information nurse specialists who could provide advice
about cancer types, treatment and what to expect over the phone and by email. Also
see helplines
Information and support fact sheet
Cancer Matters – Macmillan newsletter for MPs, peers and their staff
cancer networks – lower case if talking about cancer networks in general; upper
case when naming a particular network, eg Somerset and Wiltshire Cancer Network
Cancer Support Course – note initial caps. See Macmillan courses
Cancer Voices – see Macmillan Cancer Voices
Cancer Voices fact sheet
Cancerbackup – specialist cancer information charity which merged with Macmillan
in 2008. There is no longer any need to refer to services as former Cancerbackup
services; they are now all Macmillan services
CancerLine – do not refer to CancerLine anymore. You should be directing people
to our 0808 808 00 00 number for financial support. See 0808 808 00 00.
However, if you do need to reference the helpline, for example, when talking about
our old services, always use upper case C and upper case L. Also, for information,
CancerLine can be described as helpline that provided people with emotional and
practical help, and put them in touch with other sources of support. Also see
helplines
Information and support fact sheet
Cancertalk – Macmillan resource guide for teachers and youth group leaders. There
is also a Cancertalk website
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See cancertalk.org.uk
Cancertalk Week – initial caps; Macmillan event that encourages schools to get
talking about cancer and the issues that surround the illness
capitals – the tendency is towards lower case, which reflects that Macmillan and
society in general is less formal. Our main aim is for consistency.
If you are unsure if a word should be capitalised, check for an individual entry. But
here are the main principles:
acts of parliament and bills – initial caps, eg Cancer Reform Strategy, Official Secrets Act, Autumn
Bank Holiday Bill.
airports, bridges – cap the name but lower case the generic part (if necessary at all), eg Heathrow,
Gatwick (no need for ‘airport’), Liverpool John Lennon airport, Golden Gate bridge, Waterloo bridge
etc.
artistic and cultural – names of institutions etc get initial caps, eg British Museum, National Gallery,
Royal Albert Hall, Tate Modern.
benefits – initial caps for named benefits such as Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance
and Carer's Allowance
books, films, music, works of art, etc have initial caps except a, an, and, at, for, from, in, of, the, to
(except in initial positions or after a colon).
British government departments of state – initial caps, eg Home Office, Foreign Office, Ministry of
Justice. Other countries: lower case, eg US state department, Russian foreign ministry.
campaigns – initial caps, Macmillan’s Working Through Cancer campaign, Better Deal.
definite article (the) – when part of personal titles or the names of groups, etc, do not capitalise: the
Beatles, the Queen, the Oval cricket ground.
geographical features – initial caps, River Thames, Lake Michigan, Sydney Harbour, Monterey
Peninsula, Bondi Beach, Solsbury Hill, Mount Everest.
government agencies, public bodies – initial caps, eg Commission for Equality and Human Rights,
Crown Prosecution Service, Heritage Lottery Fund, HM Revenue & Customs.
hospitals, churches and schools – cap up proper name or place name, lower case the rest, eg
Great Ormond Street hospital, St Peter’s church, Cavendish primary school, Hull.
job roles and job titles – all job roles are lower case, eg Macmillan nurse, Macmillan benefits
adviser, prime minister, editor of Staff Stuff. But when referring to a person by name and job title, cap
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up, eg Helen Jones, Macmillan Head and Neck Nurse Specialist; Ciarán Devane, Macmillan Chief
Executive. See jobs roles and job titles.
Macmillan publications – initial caps for newsletters: Mac News, Exchange, Teamtalk, Cancer
Matters, Staff Stuff, Macmillan Voice. Booklets, guides and leaflets have cap on first word only, The
cancer guide, Men and cancer, Help with the cost of cancer, etc.
Always give other publications initial caps, eg The Times, New Scientist, Hull Daily Mail. This applies
even if the title appears in lower case on the front of the publication.
parliamentary committees, reports and inquiries – all lower case, eg survivorship working group,
trade and industry select committee, Lawrence report.
services – initial caps for named Macmillan services, eg Macmillan Benefits Helpline, Mobile
Macmillan Cancer Information Centre. See ‘Macmillan services’ section
titles – cap up titles, eg the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Very Rev Rowan Williams, at first mention,
thereafter Williams or the archbishop; the Duke of Westminster (the duke at second mention); the
Pope; the Queen
universities and colleges of further and higher education – caps for institution, lower case for
departments, eg Sheffield University department of medieval and modern history, Oregon State
University, Free University of Queensland school of journalism, London College of Communication.
words and phrases based on proper names – lower case those that are commonly used in the
English language (alsatian, cardigan, champagne, cheddar cheese, cornish pasty, french windows,
wellington boots, yorkshire pudding, parma ham, worcestershire sauce and numerous others).
captions – no full stop at the end of captions. Try to give a message, not just a label
carer – an unpaid family member, partner or friend who helps a disabled or frail
person with the activities of daily living; not someone who works in a caring job or
profession. The term is important because carers are entitled to a range of benefits
and services that depend on them recognising themselves as carers
Carer’s Allowance
Carers Week – note no apostrophe
Catholic church
CD, CDs, CD-Rom – a CD is a disc, not a disk. See disc
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celsius – without degree symbol and with fahrenheit equivalent in brackets: 23C
(73F), -3C (27F) etc
centre not center
Centre Court – as in Wimbledon
centuries – sixth century, 21st century, etc; but sixth-century remains, 21st-century
boy, etc
chair – acceptable in place of chairman or chairwoman
challenge events – initial caps for Macmillan challenge events: China Cycling
Challenge, Iceland Hiking Challenge
Channel, the
chapters and articles – use single quotation marks to reference a chapter or article
in a publication, eg the British Medical Journal features an excellent article entitled
‘Supporting cancer patients after treatment; ‘You you you’ in Staff Stuff is a great
read
charity – use lower case in all contexts; it is outdated to capitalise ‘charity’ in such
documents as annual reports
Charity Commission
charity details – our full name and registered details must appear on all
communications: Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and
Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604). You may also
need to feature our company details on a communication as well. Contact the
Marketing team for further information. Welsh versions of these details are also
available
chief executive – only upper case when talking about the job title and not the role,
eg ‘Ciarán Devane, Macmillan Chief Executive, attended a parliamentary meeting ...’
Never use CEO
Christmas Day, Christmas Eve – never Xmas
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chronic – means lasting for a long time or constantly recurring, too often misused
when acute (short but severe) is meant
church – lower case for the established church, eg ‘the church is no longer relevant
today’; Catholic church, Anglican church, etc, but Church of England. Initial caps for
name of churches but lower case for the word ‘church’, eg St Peter’s church, Wigan
Citizens Advice – what the organisation likes to be called, though it still runs
bureaux, which can be referred to as Citizens Advice Bureaux
civilisation
civil servant, civil service – note lower case
co- – try to avoid hyphenation, although it is sometimes necessary: co-pilot, co-star,
co-worker
Coca-Cola, Coke – the generic term is cola
Coffee Morning/coffee morning – see World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
collective nouns – nouns such as committee, family and government take a
singular verb or pronoun when thought of as a single unit, but a plural verb or
pronoun when thought of as a collection of individuals:
the committee gave its unanimous approval to the plans;
the committee enjoyed biscuits with their tea
the family can trace its history back to the middle ages;
the family were sitting down, scratching their heads.
See ‘Grammar guide’
colon – see ‘Punctuation guide’
commas – see Oxford comma and ‘Punctuation guide’
committed giver – a person who donates regularly to Macmillan
committees – lower case apart from place name: Macmillan’s South Essex
committee; our Norwich committee
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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Commons, House of Commons
community – see macmillan.org.uk for the latest details about our online
community, including its name
company names – generally use the names that companies use themselves, eg
easyJet, eBay, etc. Exceptions include Adidas (not adidas), BAE Systems (not BAE
SYSTEMS)
comparing numbers – use all digits, even for numbers under 10, eg you may be
treated for 7 to 10 days; this affects 1 in 10 people. One should be treated as plural,
ie ‘1 in 3 people are likely to need surgery in their lifetime’; not ‘1 in 3 people is likely
to need surgery in their lifetime’
compass points – use initial caps for specific geographical places, regions and
countries, eg South Shields, North America, South Africa. Points of the compass
take caps only when they indicate recognised political or geographical areas: the
West Country, the Midlands, the North West, West Wales, South East England,
South East Asia. Less well-defined areas take lower case: west London, north
Devon, southern Africa.
Simple adjectives normally have lower case: northern hospitality, cold east winds.
Adjectives that use place names usually keep caps, eg West Country cooking, North
East cultural life
Competition Commission
complement/compliment/complimentary – to ‘complement’ is to make complete:
the two strikers complemented each other; to ‘compliment’ is to praise; a
‘complimentary’ copy is free
complementary therapy
compound adjectives – see ‘Grammar guide’
congestion charge – use lower case, eg Boris Johnson is thinking of scrapping the
London congestion charge
Conservative Party
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contractions – the likes of aren't, can't, couldn't, hasn't, don't, I'm, it's, there's are
fine to use, but do not overuse them, especially in more formal communications
cooperate, cooperation, cooperative – no hyphen
coordinate
coordinator not co-ordinator
copyright
copywriter
councils – lower case apart from place name: Lancaster city council, London
borough of Southwark, Kent county council; it is normally sufficient to say Lancaster
council, Southwark council, etc
courses for people affected by cancer – see Macmillan courses
courts – all lower case, eg court of appeal, court of session, high court, magistrates
court (no apostrophe), supreme court, European court of human rights, international
criminal court
CSWE&W – Central and South West England and Wales. See regions
currencies – when the whole word is used it is lower case: euro, pound, sterling,
dong, etc. Abbreviate dollars like this: $50 (US dollars); A$50 (Australian dollars);
HK$50 (Hong Kong dollars)
D
dad – lower case when talking generally, eg ‘my dad is a brilliant footballer’; upper
case when using it as a name, ‘I’ll have to ask Dad, then you can check with your
dad’
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dashes – use en dashes for ranges of time and when making an additional comment
in a sentence, eg ‘Juliet began to look for her friends – I think they were hiding – but
she gave up after 10 minutes.’ See brackets and ‘Punctuation guide’
dates – our style is 27 April 2008; we do not use ‘st’, ‘nd’ or ‘th’. Acceptable but not
preferable is 27.04.08
Use ‘in the 21st century’ and ‘a 21st-century boy’. Note that we use lower case (21st,
22nd and 23rd) rather than the automated superscript 21st, 22nd and 23rd
days and months – try to spell out days and months; but if you are tight for space,
use three-letter abbreviations, eg Mon, Tue, Fri, Jan, Feb, Apr, Nov
DCISS – Direct Cancer Information and Support Service
death – although Macmillan supports people so they can live with cancer, it does not
mean that we have to avoid the word death or the issues surrounding end of life
decades – use figures: the swinging 60s or 1960s. Note no apostrophes
decimals – use full point after whole number, eg 4.56cm. Use decimals for millions
that are not a whole number, eg 3.41 million people live in Wales
definite article (the) – when part of personal titles or the names of groups, etc, do
not capitalise: the Beatles, the Queen, the Oval cricket ground
departments (Macmillan) – use initial caps for the name of the department, but use
lower case for ‘department’ itself, eg ‘the Campaigns, Policy and Public Affairs
department believe…’
departments of state – initial caps, eg Cabinet Office, Treasury, Home Office,
Foreign Office, Ministry of Justice
dietitian not dietician
directorates (Macmillan) – there’s no need to use the word ‘directorate’ after
naming one, eg just say ‘External Affairs had an away day at …’
Disability Living Allowance
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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disabilities – use positive language about people with a disability, avoiding outdated
terms that stereotype or stigmatise. Terms to use, with unacceptable alternatives in
brackets, include:
person who has, person with (victim of, suffering from, afflicted by, crippled by)
person with a disability is preferable to disabled person (do not use invalid, the disabled,
the handicapped). Note, do not use the plural form ‘people with learning disabilities’, as most
people will have a learning disability rather than a number of them.
person with a learning disability (mentally handicapped, backward, retarded, slow).
person with sight loss or visual impairment is preferable to blind person (do not use the
blind).
person who is deaf or has a hearing impairment is preferable to deaf people.
person who is deaf and speech-impaired (not deaf and dumb).
person with mental health difficulties (not mentally ill).
people without a disability can be described as ‘not disabled’ or ‘non-disabled’, rather than
normal or able–bodied.
uses a wheelchair, wheelchair-user (wheelchair-bound, in a wheelchair)
disc not disk, unless you are talking about computing, eg floppy disk
dos and don’ts – just one apostrophe
Down's syndrome – say (if relevant) a baby with Down's syndrome, not ‘a Down's
syndrome baby’. The diagnosis is not the person
Dr – do not use full stop, eg Dr John Hastings
drug names – use generic (chemical) name first (all lower case), then brand
name(s) in brackets (initial cap) along with any relevant ® or © (make sure you
check if any of these apply as pharmaceutical companies, and their lawyers, can be
Macmillan style guide August 2009
26
very fussy). List all relevant brand names or refer to the fact if there are more than
one – paclitaxel (Taxol®), morphine (eg MST Continus®, Oramorph®).
In the body use the most commonly used name, after introducing: ‘this factsheet is
about trastuzumab, commonly called Herceptin®. We hope you will…’
due to should not be confused with ‘because of’. Due is an adjective and needs a
noun to refer to: ‘play was stopped (verb) because of rain’, ‘the stoppage (noun) in
play was due to rain’
DVD – upper case
E
earlier – often redundant; ‘they met this week’ is preferable to ‘they met earlier this
week’ and will save space
EastEnders
effect/affect – see affect/effect
eg means ‘for example’; ie means ‘that is to say’; note no full points
either/or – try to construct a sentence so it uses either/or rather than the more
archaic sounding neither/nor
e-learning – note hyphen
elderly – do not use to describe anyone under 70, and say elderly people, or even
better, older people, never ‘the elderly’
ellipsis – note there is a space before and after … See ‘Punctuation guide’
email
email addresses – do not use a full stop when an email or website address ends a
paragraph. Always use lower case for Macmillan email addresses, eg
mharland@macmillan.org.uk, not MHarland@macmillan.org.uk. There is also no
Macmillan style guide August 2009
27
need to use a colon to introduce an email address, eg in the contact details section
of a leaflet
embassy – use lower case, eg the British embassy
EMNE – East Midlands and Northern England. See regions
en dash – see dashes and ‘Punctuation guide’
endocrine – endocrine glands produce and release hormones that circulate around
the body
England, English – take care not to offend readers from other parts of the UK by
saying England or English when you mean Britain or British
enquiry – use inquiry
etc – try to avoid using as it can look like lazy shorthand. Note that it should always
be preceded by a comma
ethnicity – this is a sensitive issue. When talking about ethnicity and race, handle it
with care. First of all, the word ‘race’ can be emotive: it may be better replaced by
people, nation, group. Secondly, a person’s race should not be ignored when
relevant to a subject or mentioned when merely incidental.
African-Caribbean – this is preferable to Afro-Caribbean and West Indian.
Asian – use Asian people rather than Asians. The term is used to describe people from the
continent of Asia, particularly those from the sub-continent of India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh. It shouldn't be used for people of Asian origin who are British citizens; the
correct term is British Asians.
black – this should not be used as a short term for all non-white people. The preferred term
is black and minority ethnic (BME).
ethnic – on its own ‘ethnic’ is often used as shorthand for 'non-white people'. It shouldn't be
– all people are equally ethnic. BME (black and minority ethnic) is the catch-all term we use
in this situation.
half-caste – an outdated term. 'People of mixed heritage' is better.
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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immigrants – people who migrate from one country to another. The term should not be
used to describe their descendants who are born in the new country, or as a shorthand for
non-white people. British Asians or African-Caribbean British people are better alternatives.
Note that an emigrant is a person who leaves their own country to settle permanently in
another
minorities – an acceptable term.
See Tone of voice guide
every day – noun and adverb: it happens every day
everyday – adjective: an everyday mistake
events – initial caps when talking about named events, eg World’s Biggest Coffee
Morning, China Cycling Challenge, Hamleys Exclusive Shopping Morning; lower
case when talking about general events, eg ‘the committee held a big cake sale’
Exchange – Macmillan’s newsletter for Cancer Voices and self-help and support
groups. Remember to use initial cap, even though Exchange’s masthead is in lower
case. Also, when talking to an external audience about Exchange, you need to
explain what Macmillan Cancer Voices and self-help and support groups are
exclamation marks – do not use! See ‘Punctuation guide’
F
fact sheet – two separate words
fahrenheit – use in brackets, without degree symbol, after celsius figure, eg 37C
(98.6F)
FAQs – ‘commonly questions’ is friendlier
father of two, mother of two – note no hyphens
Father’s Day
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female – not ‘woman’ or ‘women’ in such phrases as female home secretary, female
voters
fewer or less? – fewer means smaller in number, eg fewer coins; less means
smaller in quantity, eg less money
figures – spell out from one to nine; numerals from 10 to 999,999; thereafter one to
nine million, 10 million, 3.2 billion. Exception is when comparing numbers. See
comparing numbers
final – lower case for in titles such as Wimbledon men’s final, FA Cup final
first, second, third – rather than firstly, secondly, thirdly, etc; spell out up to ninth,
then 10th, 21st, millionth
first aid
first ever
first-hand
first minister – head of Scottish parliament, Welsh assembly, Northern Ireland
assembly; initial caps when referenced with a name, ‘Rhodri Morgan, First Minister
of the Welsh assembly, is planning…’; lower case when spoke of in general,
‘Northern Ireland’s first minister is planning…’ See prime minister
first name, forename, given name – not Christian name
first person narrative – when it is clear that a full article comes from one person,
there is no need to use quotation marks. See quotation marks
First World War – not World War I
flu not ’flu
focus, focused, focusing
foot, feet – try to use metric measurements at all times, although when describing a
person’s height, feet and inches may be more appropriate. Also, note that in speech,
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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foot may often be used in a plural sense: ‘He stood six foot three’. See height and
measurement
footnotes – see references
for example – when you use this phrase when giving an example, remember that a
comma follows, eg ‘I like many flavours of ice cream, for example, cherry, pistachio
and chocolate’.
foreign accents – use accents on French, German, Spanish, and Irish Gaelic
words, and, if at all possible, on people's names in any language, eg Sven-Göran
Eriksson (Swedish), José Manuel Barroso (Portuguese)
Foreign Office – if necessary, abbreviate to FCO rather than FO, as its official name
is Foreign and Commonwealth Office
foreign place names – generally use the English version if one exists, eg Milan not
Milano
foreign words – generally avoid unless the word has been thoroughly absorbed into
English
forever – continually: he is forever changing his mind
for ever – for always: I will love you for ever
fractions – two-thirds, three-quarters, etc, but two and a half; use ½, ¾, ⅓ in tables,
recipes, etc
fulfil, fulfilling, fulfilment
full-time or full time – full-time staff were set to enjoy a bonus; at full time the
scores were level; the team deserved their full-time applause
Futura – our main publishing font
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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G
gay – use as an adjective rather than a noun: a gay man, gay people, gay men and
lesbians not ‘gays and lesbians’
gender – use ‘gender’ rather than ‘sex’ when referring to the state of being male or
female, eg What gender are you?
gender issues – use language that reflects Macmillan’s values, as well as changes
in society; avoid terms such as businessmen, housewives, male nurse, woman pilot,
woman doctor, etc, which reinforce outdated stereotypes. If you need to use an
adjective, it is female and not ‘woman’ in such phrases as female MPs, female
president. And male and not ‘man’ in such phrases as male nurse, male doctor
general election
geography – use initial caps for specific geographical places, regions and countries,
eg South Shields, North America, South Africa. Points of the compass take caps only
when they indicate recognised political or geographical areas: the West Country, the
Midlands, the North West, West Wales, South East England, South East Asia. Less
well-defined areas take lower case: west London, north Devon, southern Africa.
geriatrics – branch of medicine dealing with older people, not an amusing way to
describe them in an attempt to make yourself sound cool
Gift Aid – initial caps. Gift Aid is an easy way for charities to increase the value of
gifts of money from UK taxpayers by claiming back the basic rate tax paid by the
donor. Contact Supporter Services for information about how to word statements
about Gift Aid
girl – female under 18, although try to avoid using this term
God – initial cap for the Christian God (and the god of any faith that believes there is
only one god); lower case when talking about the Greek gods, etc
golf – for holes, use numbers: 1st, 2nd, 18th, etc. See Longest Day Golf Challenge
and Silverspoons
Macmillan style guide August 2009
32
goodbye – no hyphen
government – lower case in all contexts and all countries, ‘the government is in the
middle of another scandal’; the Scottish government, Welsh assembly government
and Northern Ireland assembly government, although we often talk about the
Scottish parliament, Welsh assembly and Northern Ireland assembly making
decisions as a whole, rather than the governments of these countries
government departments – see departments of state
gram not gramme; hence kilogram
grammar – see ‘Grammar guide’
grants – lower case when talking about grants in general, ‘We gave a grant to
Simon Jones’; always initial caps when talking about a Macmillan Grant. See
Macmillan Grant
Financial help fact sheet
Great Britain – England, Wales and Scotland; if you want to include Northern
Ireland, use Britain or UK
green – a green activist, the green movement, but initial caps when referring to sonamed political parties, eg the Green Party
green rooms, the – the name of Macmillan’s intranet. Note all lower case
groundbreaking – no hyphen
H
haematology
half – no hyphen when used adverbially: you look half dead; half wine, half water;
his trousers were at half mast; the scores were level at half time. Hyphen when used
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adjectivally: a half-eaten sandwich; a half-cut subeditor; hard-hearted Hannah; halftime oranges
half a dozen, half past six
Halloween – no apostrophe
handicapped – do not use to refer to people with disabilities or learning difficulties
hat-trick – note hyphen
headteacher – one word; do not use headmaster, headmistress
healthcare – one word; social care is two words
health service – see NHS
heaven – lower case
heavy font – see bold font
height – use metric except when talking about a person’s height, eg ‘the building
was 300 metres tall before the hurricane’, but ‘Janine is 5ft 7in’; note it is acceptable
to use digits and abbreviations when talking about a person’s height. See
measurement
helplines – we no longer have any helplines. Instead we direct people affected by
cancer to our 0808 808 00 00 number if they have any questions or concerns. See
0808 808 00 00
Information and support fact sheet
high court
hi-tech
HIV – a virus, not a disease, but do not call HIV ‘the Aids virus’ or an HIV test an
‘Aids test’; an HIV-positive man (hyphen) is HIV positive (no hyphen)
Hodgkin lymphoma/non-Hodgkin lymphoma – note lower case on lymphoma and
hyphen in non-Hodgkin
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holidays – capitalise all named holidays apart from bank holidays, eg New Year’s
Day, Good Friday, Easter Day, May Day Holiday, but spring bank holiday, bank
holiday Monday
Holyrood – home of Scotland’s parliament, in Edinburgh
homemade
Home Office
honours, titles and decorations – observe Sir, Dame, Lord, Lady and the
professional qualifications Dr and Professor; however, only use them if they enrich or
inform the copy, for example, there is no need to talk about ‘Sir’ Cliff Richard when
talking about his musical career.
Omit letters after the name except MP, AM, MSP, MLA, QC, VC, MBE, OBE, CBE
(which follow the name without a comma). Use these on the first reference only.
hospitals – lower case, eg Derby District General hospital, Great Ormond Street
Children’s hospital, etc
HRH – note no full points
hyphens – our style is to use one word wherever possible, as hyphens clutter copy.
If you are unsure whether a word is hyphenated, look it up in the dictionary. If you
can’t find it, use two words. Also, note that you don’t need to use hyphens with most
compound adjectives, where the meaning is clear and unambiguous without: civil
rights movement, financial services sector. See en dash and ‘Punctuation guide’
I
ID cards
ie – no full points or comma, ie means ‘that is to say’
in or on? – you are ‘in the team’ not the US version ‘on the team’; in Oxford Street,
etc not ‘on Oxford Street’
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Incapacity Benefit
incidence rate – the number of new cases (of cancer) reported per a fixed number
of the population for a given time period. Also see prevalence
Statistics fact sheet
income support
income tax
index – plural indexes, except for scientific and economic indices
infinite means without limit, not very large
information and support centres – see Macmillan information and support centres
Information and support fact sheet
initials – no spaces or points, whether businesses or individuals, eg WH Smith, MJ
Harland
Inland Revenue
inpatient, outpatient – no hyphens
inquiry not enquiry
install, instalment
instil, instilling, instilled
insure against risk; assure life; ensure make certain
internet – always lower case
into or in to? – one word if you go into a room, but two words in such sentences as
‘I called in to complain’, ‘I listened in to their conversation’ and ‘I went in to see my
friend’; on to two words
intranet – internal communications networks; Macmillan’s is called the green rooms
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introducing people – never use the following construction to introduce a speaker or
subject: ‘Macmillan Chief Executive Ciarán Devane said …’ If you’re talking about a
post that only one person holds, use commas to separate the job from the name:
‘Ciarán Devane, Macmillan’s chief executive, said …’ You can also use the definite
article and commas, eg ‘David Milliband, the foreign secretary, said …’
Commas are not used if the description is more general and could apply to more
than one person: ‘Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist Angie Law said …’
invalid – means not valid or of no worth; do not use to refer to disabled or ill people
iPod, iMac, iTunes
-ise – not -ize at end of word, eg maximise, synthesise (exception: capsize)
italics – use italics for titles of Macmillan publications, booklets, all books and films,
TV programmes, albums and song titles, biological terms, and works of art, etc
it's – shortened form of it is or it has: it's a big dog; it's been ages since I saw her
its – possessive form of it: the dog is eating its bone
ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4
J
jail not gaol
jargon – do not use it. Or if you do use any specialised vocabulary of a particular
culture or profession, explain what it means, eg you may understand what the term
‘committed giver’ means, but people who don’t work in the charity sector may not
jobcentres are run by Jobcentre Plus
Jobseeker’s Allowance
job roles and job titles – always use initial caps when referring to a person by
name and job title, eg Helen Jones, Macmillan Head and Neck Nurse Specialist, is
Macmillan style guide August 2009
37
based at Whittington Hospital; or you can also use ‘Macmillan Fundraising Manager
Sally Wright has…’ when talking about a job title which more than one person holds.
‘Macmillan Chief Executive Ciarán Devane’ is not acceptable; instead use ‘Ciarán
Devane, Macmillan Chief Executive, said…’ as only one person holds this role. See
introducing people.
Always use lower case when talking about a job in general or someone’s job role, eg
‘the role of a Macmillan development manager is to…’; ‘Macmillan’s chairman, Jamie
Dundas’; ‘We have great belief that the prime minister will scrap…’
Also note that should you should refer to someone by the area of Macmillan’s work
they cover, rather than the team they manage, eg ‘Sandra Thompson is the head of
marketing’; not ‘Sandra Thompson is the head of the marketing team’. See teams
junior – abbreviate to Jr, eg Sammy Davis Jr
Justgiving – note one word
K
k or km – always use km for distances, except when talking about a sporting event,
when 10k or 10km is acceptable. The main thing to remember is to be consistent in
all communications for an event
keyring – note one word
key stage 1, 2 etc (education)
kickoff noun; kick off verb
kilogram/s, kilojoule/s, kilometre/s, kilowatt/s – abbreviate as kg, kJ, km, kW;
the abbreviation for kilometres an hour is km/h
King's Cross
km/h – kilometres an hour (not kph)
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knowhow
knowledgeable – with the E
L
Labour Party
Land’s End
laptop
laryngeal relating to the larynx
laryngectomy
LASER – London, Anglia and South East Region. See regions
last – do not confuse ‘last’ with ‘most recent’. ‘The last issue of Exchange’ means
there will never be another issue, rather than the most recent issue
layout
learned not learnt
Learn Zone – two words. Macmillan website providing online learning and
development opportunities to Macmillan professionals, staff, volunteers and people
affected by cancer
left-handed
less/fewer – less means smaller in quantity, eg less money; fewer means smaller in
number, eg fewer coins
letters – no apostrophe is needed when talking about single letters, eg mind your Ps
and Qs. Also, when referring to letters, use upper case
leukaemia
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Lib Dems – acceptable after first mention of the Liberal Democrats
licence (noun); license (verb) – ‘you might enjoy your drinks in a licensed premises’
or ‘take them home from an off-licence’
lifelong
like/such – like excludes; such as includes: ‘Cities like Manchester are wonderful’
suggests the writer has in mind, say, Sheffield or Birmingham; they actually mean
‘cities such as Manchester’
literally means literally. Use it only when it’s what you mean. You can’t be ‘literally at
the end of your tether’.
Living with Cancer Course is now called ‘New Perspectives – a course for people
living with cancer, by people living with cancer’. Note italics; also you can refer to it
just as New Perspectives after first mention. See Macmillan courses
Lloyd’s are the insurance underwriters
Lloyds TSB bank
London areas – use lower case when talking about areas of London identified by
compass points, eg south London, north-east London
Longest Day Golf Challenge – annual Macmillan event that involves people playing
four rounds of golf (72 holes) in one day
lottery, national lottery – but Lotto and National Lottery Commission
lymphoedema – illness which can be caused by cancer or its treatment. It results in
the painful swelling of a body part
M
Mac or Mc? – take the time to get this right with people’s surnames
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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Mac News – Macmillan’s quarterly magazine for its supporters
Macmillan Benefits Helpline – do not refer to the Macmillan Benefits Helpline
anymore. You should be directing people to our 0808 808 00 00 number for financial
support. See 0808 808 00 00.
However, if you do need to reference the helpline, for example, when talking about
our old services, use initial caps when talking about the Macmillan Benefits Helpline
and lower case when talking about our benefits helpline in general. Also see
helplines
Information and support fact sheet
Macmillan Cancer Support – use the charity’s full name when you initially refer to
it; thereafter you can use Macmillan. Never use MCS in external communications.
See talking about Macmillan
Macmillan Cancer Voices is a UK-wide network of people affected by cancer. We
help these people use their experiences to improve support for people affected by
cancer on a local and a national scale.
When talking about the network to external audiences, you should initially use
Macmillan Cancer Voices and then Cancer Voices for any further mentions.
The people who are part of the network should also be talked about as Cancer
Voices, eg David Hunt became a Cancer Voice in 1992
Cancer Voices fact sheet
Macmillan CancerLine – do not refer to CancerLine anymore. You should be
directing people to our 0808 808 00 00 number for financial support. See 0808 808
00 00.
However, if you do need to reference the helpline, for example, when talking about
our old services, always use upper case C and upper case L. Also, for information,
CancerLine can be described as helpline that provided people with emotional and
practical help, and put them in touch with other sources of support. Also see
helplines
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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Information and support fact sheet
Macmillan courses – initial caps for Macmillan’s two main courses for people
affected by cancer: Cancer Support Course and New Perspectives (formerly Living
with Cancer Course). When talking about Macmillan workshops, use cap for first
word and lower case for the rest, eg Be good to yourself, Listening and responding,
Cancer and its treatments
Macmillan Grant – always upper case when talking about a Macmillan Grant; lower
case when talking about grants in general, ‘We gave a grant to Simon Jones’
Financial help fact sheet
Macmillan Headline – the name of the unique typeface we use on our
communications. Note capital H
Macmillan nurse – lower case when referring to nurses in general or someone’s job
role, eg ‘the Macmillan nurses were a great help’ or ‘Jean Forrest, a Macmillan
nurse, said...’ Upper case if you talk about a job title, eg ‘Macmillan Nurse Jo Taylor
works at…’ or ‘Jo Taylor, Macmillan Lymphoedema Nurse Specialist, is based at…’
Macmillan nurses fact sheet
Macmillan professionals – do not say postholders; it is always professionals
Macmillan health and social care professionals fact sheet
Macmillan services – see ‘Macmillan services’ section in the editorial guidelines
Macmillan website – when you talk about the website within a sentence, for
example, ‘Visit us at macmillan.org.uk’, lose the www; it is not necessary. When the
address of the website stands alone, possibly with a telephone number, use
www.macmillan.org.uk
Information and support fact sheet
Macmillan YouthLine – currently do not refer to the Macmillan YouthLine. You
should be directing young people to our 0808 808 00 00 number for support. See
0808 808 00 00.
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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However, if you do need to reference the helpline, for example, when talking about
our old services, always use upper case Y and upper case L. Also, for information,
YouthLine can be described as a helpline that provided support to young people
affected by cancer aged between 12 and 21
Information and support fact sheet
magazine and book titles – always italicised; use lower case for a, an, and, at, for,
from, in, of, the, to (unless they are the first word of a title): The Economist, The Mail
on Sunday
manifesto; plural manifestos
malignant – a malignant tumour is cancerous
Marks & Spencer, M&S – use full name on first use; always use ampersand
may or might? – may implies that the possibility remains open: ‘The Mies van der
Rohe tower may have changed the face of British architecture forever’ (it has been
built); might suggests that the possibility remains open no longer: ‘The Mies tower
might have changed the face of architecture forever’ (if only they had built it).
May Day
mayor of London – cap up if the current mayor is named and you’re referring to his
job title, eg ‘Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, believes…’
MB – megabytes (storage capacity)
McDonald’s – note apostrophe
measurement – always try to use metric, although the use of imperial
measurements may be more appropriate in some circumstances.
abbreviated measurements – when it makes sense to use abbreviated measurements, for example,
in a recipe, use digits and lower case initials, without full points – 100rpm, 6mm, 4cm, 100m, 25km,
6in, 3ft, 90yd, 100g, 10kg, 12oz, 4lb, 2pt, 4tsp, 8tbsp. Note abbreviations are also closed up to
preceding figure and serve for both singular and plural.
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measurements in a sentence – when talking about a measurement in a sentence that is a full
number and under 10, spell out the number and measurement, eg ‘he drank seven pints of lager’, ‘the
journey was four kilometres long’. Over 10, use the following, ‘The bridge was 33 metres long.’
The only exception to this is when talking about a person’s height or weight; in these instances, use
abbreviated imperial measurements if you think it’s more appropriate: ‘Bob now stood 5ft 6in tall’,
‘Leanne had lost two stones and three pounds, and now weighed 10st 6lb’.
decimal measurements – if a measurement is a decimal, also use digits, although spell out the
measurement if it features in a sentence, eg ‘the Cadillac measured 3.6 metres in length’; ‘the cycling
challenge covered 450.87 kilometres’. If the measurement is simply listed, use the abbreviation, eg
‘4.5tbsp of flour’, ’10.6kg of cement’.
measurement as adjective – spell out for numbers under 10, use digits for over 10, eg ‘he caught a
four-metre long shark’ and ‘the 300km cycle left you sore’.
plural or singular – measurements should take a singular verb if a single unit (money, area, etc) is
meant: ‘three miles is a long way to walk’; ‘Is £20 enough?’
Also see height and weight
Médecins sans Frontières – international medical aid charity (don't describe it as
French)
media is plural of medium
media, the – when talking about ‘the media’, remember to think of it as a single unit
that always takes a singular verb or pronoun. So, for example, use ‘the media say’
rather than ‘the media says’
medical terms – a simple glossary of medical terms can be found at the end of our
editorial guidelines. You can also find an explanation of terms associated with cancer
and its treatment at macmillan.org.uk/glossary. If you still can’t find the term you are
looking for, use the search tool on Macmillan’s website or try the Oxford English
Dictionary
member – use lower case in all contexts; it is outdated to capitalise ‘member’ in
such documents as annual reports
menswear, womenswear
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mental handicap, mentally handicapped, mentally retarded – do not use: say
person with mental health difficulties
mental health – take care using language about mental health issues. Avoid writing
'the mentally ill’; use ‘people with mental health difficulties’ or ‘mentally ill people’
metastasis – the development of a secondary cancer; only use when audience will
fully understand this term
metres – in a sentence write 50 metres out in full rather than 50m; this avoids
confusion with millions. When using metre as an adjective, eg 100m race, it is
acceptable to use abbreviation for numbers 10 and over
metric system – try to use the metric system for measurements, although the use of
imperial will be more appropriate in many circumstances. Main exceptions are the
mile and pint
mid-90s, mid-60s
midday – use 12 noon. See noon and time
middle-aged
middle class
Middlesbrough, Teesside – not Middlesborough, Teeside
Midlands, East Midlands, West Midlands
midnight – use 12 midnight. See time
midweek
might or may? – see may or might
million – always spell out million in copy. Whole numbers under 10 are written, eg
two million; over 10 million as numbers followed by million; others as decimals, eg
4.52 million rabbits. Use m in tables and when you’re tight for space, eg £10m, 45m
germs.
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ministers – only use initial caps if talking about a named minister and their job title,
eg ‘Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, said…’ Otherwise, ‘Jacqui Smith, the newly
appointed home secretary, said…’ or ‘the home secretary said…’
ministries – see ‘British government departments of state’ in capitals
minority ethnic – rather than ethnic minority. See ethnicity
mixed race or person of mixed heritage is the correct term. See ethnicity
MLA (member of the legislative assembly) – refers to member of the Northern
Ireland assembly
Mobile Macmillan Cancer Information Centre – please note the order and the
capitalisation. Also, if you talk about our ‘mobile cancer information centres’ in
general, eg ‘Macmillan has two mobile cancer information centres,’ please refer to
them like this, using lower case. You should not shorten this description or describe
them as ‘units’.
Information and support fact sheet
months – see days and months
morbidity – take care: can mean the state of being morbid (taking an unusual
interest in death or unpleasant events); but morbidity, also known as the morbidity
rate, also means the relative incidence of a disease in a specific locality
more than – generally preferable to over: there were more than 20,000 people at the
game, it will cost more than £100 to get it fixed; but she is over 18
Mother’s Day
motorbike, motorcar, motorcycle
motorways – just M1, etc, not M1 motorway
mph
MP (member of parliament) – plural is MPs, without apostrophe
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Mr, Ms, Mrs, Miss – there shouldn’t be any need to use titles in most
communications
MSP (member of the Scottish parliament)
multicultural, multimedia, multimillion but multi-ethnic
multidisciplinary – note no hyphen
mum or Mum? – lower case when talking generally; upper case when using it as a
name: How is your mum? I don't know, I've not spoken to Mum for two years
museums – initial caps, eg British Museum, Natural History Museum, Victoria and
Albert Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, etc
music – italicise song titles
Muslim not Moslem
N
names – prominent figures can just be named in stories, with their function at
second mention: ‘Alistair Darling said last night ...’ (first mention); ‘the chancellor
added ...’ (subsequent mentions)
Where it is thought necessary to explain who someone is, write ‘Phil Brown, the Hull
City manager, said’ or ‘the Hull City manager, Phil Brown, said…’
In such cases the commas around the name indicate there is only one person in the
position, so write ‘Ciarán Devane, Macmillan Chief Executive, said…’ (only one
person in the job), but ‘the former Macmillan chief executive Peter Cardy said’ (there
have been many).
Do not leave out the definite article in such constructions as ‘style guru David Marsh
said…’ It should be ‘The style guru David Marsh’ (if there are other style gurus) or
Macmillan style guide August 2009
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‘David Marsh, the style guru ...’ (if you feel only one person merits such a
description).
In Macmillan publications such as Mac News, Exchange and Staff Stuff refer to a
person’s name in full in the first instance, eg ‘Macmillan Dietitian Malcolm Sergeant
said …’ and then use their first name for subsequent mentions: ‘Malcolm added that
…’
Note that in some instances it may be more appropriate to refer to people with their
title in subsequent mentions, eg if the first mention is ‘Dr Liam Foster, Head of
Palliative Care, said …’ you would then use ‘Dr Foster believes that …’
Be careful when using names that also describe a relationship with someone. ‘My
Grandad is feeling unwell’ is wrong. It should be ‘My grandad is feeling unwell’
because you are speaking about the person as a subject. You would, however, say ‘I
asked Grandad how he was feeling’; this is because you are referring to him by the
name you have given him
national – be careful when using this term. ‘National’ refers to the characteristics of
a nation, so you should only apply it to England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and
Wales when you talk about them as separate nations. You should not say, ‘the
national opinion in the UK is …’ because the UK is not a nation
national curriculum
national events – initial caps for all Macmillan national events, eg World’s Biggest
Coffee Morning, The Big Sports Day, The Big Fish
National Health Service but NHS or health service are normally sufficient
national insurance – no caps
national lottery
national parks – lower case, eg Peak District national park
nations – how Macmillan refers to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Nations describe people united by language, culture and history so as to form a
distinct group within a larger territory. See national and regions
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nearby – one word, whether adjective or adverb: the pub nearby; the nearby pub
neither/nor – try to construct a sentence so it uses either/or rather than the more
archaic sounding neither/nor
nevertheless
new – often redundant, as in ‘a new report said yesterday’
New Perspectives – a course for people living with cancer, by people living
with cancer – the new name for our Living with Cancer Course; New Perspectives
after first mention
newspapers – italicise: The Guardian, The Sunday Times
new year – lower case; but New Year's Day, New Year's Eve
New Year honours list
NHS – National Health Service, but not necessary to spell out; the health service is
also okay
NICE – National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence; spell out for first
mention. Note that NICE guidance applies to different things in England, Northern
Ireland, Scotland and Wales
No 1 in the charts, the world tennis No 1, etc
No 10 (Downing Street)
no campaign, yes campaign – not No campaign, ‘no’ campaign or any of the other
variants
noon – use 12 noon. See midday and time
no one not no-one
north – north London, North West England, the North West. See compass points
Northern Ireland not Ulster
Northern Ireland assembly – note lower case
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notebook, notepaper
noticeboard
npower – all lower case
numbers – spell out from one to nine; digits from 10 to 999,999; thereafter spell out
million, billion or trillion, eg two million people, 11 billion stars, 56 trillion particles.
m (million), bn (billion) and tn (trillion) can be used in tables or when space is tight.
If you cannot avoid starting a sentence with a number, spell it out, eg Two million
people are living with cancer
For units of measurement, use digits, eg 3mm. See measurement
For time, spell out numbers under 10, eg three weeks. See time
For percentages, always use digits, eg 3% of people; 69% of cats prefer Whiskers.
See percentages
When comparing numbers, use all digits, eg you may be treated for 7 to 10 days;
this affects 1 in 10 people. See comparing numbers
For ranges of numbers, use digits, and an en dash to separate, eg 10–12 weeks.
Note the shortcut for an en dash on a PC is ‘Ctrl + dash on the top right of your
number pad on the far right of your keyboard’. See ranges
nurse – see Macmillan nurse
O
OAPs, old age pensioners – do not use: they older people; do not use elderly to
describe someone under 70
occurred
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oceans, seas – capped up, eg Atlantic Ocean, Red Sea
off – there’s no general rule for the use of ‘off’ as a prefix so check the Oxford
English Dictionary for correct spellings
Office of Fair Trading – OFT on second mention
off-licence
Ofsted – Office for Standards in Education, but normally no need to spell out
Oh! not O!
okay not OK
O-levels
Olympic Games or Olympics
oncology – the study and treatment of tumours
one-day, two-day, 15-day workshop
ongoing – use continuing, in progress or developing instead
online
online community – see macmillan.org.uk for the latest details about our online
community, including it’s name
only – avoid ambiguity by placing ‘only’ immediately before the word it qualifies.
Note the difference between ‘Only I invited him’ and ‘I invited only him’
on to not onto
or – do not use to explain or amplify
organisation not organization
OSNI – Office of Scotland and Northern Ireland. See regions
outpatient, inpatient – no hyphens
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outside – not ‘outside of’
overestimate, overstate
overreact, override, overrule
Oxford comma – a comma before the final ‘and’ in lists: straightforward ones (he
ate ham, eggs and chips) do not need one, but sometimes it can help the reader (he
ate cereal, kippers, bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade, and tea). See ‘Punctuation
guide’
P
paediatric
page numbers – preferable to spell out and use digits, eg see page 4; for spans use
an en dash, eg from pages 13–56; you can also use p5 for one page and pp for
more than one, eg pp15–23
palate – roof of the mouth; palette used by an artist; pallet hard wooden frame
moved by forklift truck
palliative care – is any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on
reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than striving to halt, delay, or
reverse progression of the disease itself or provide a cure. The goal is to prevent and
relieve suffering and to improve quality of life for people facing serious, complex
illness
P&O
parentheses – see brackets
Parkinson’s disease
parliament – lower case in all contexts apart from in the Houses of Parliament
part-time
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party – upper case in name of organisation, eg Labour Party
passive voice – strive for active sentences, compare ‘the patient was helped by the
Macmillan nurse’ and ‘the Macmillan nurse helped the patient’
patients are discharged from hospital, not released
payback, payday, payoff, payout
PDF – use upper case as abbreviation is widely accepted; it means portable
document format
peers – use lower case
pensioners – do not call them ‘old age pensioners’ or ‘OAPs’; older people is
preferable to ‘elderly people’
people affected by cancer – this covers anyone who is affected by a person’s
cancer diagnosis, eg the person with cancer, their partner, their children, etc
people living with cancer – this refers to people who have been diagnosed with the
disease and are currently receiving treatment
people living with or beyond cancer – this refers to anyone who has been
diagnosed with disease and is still alive; it does not matter whether they are
receiving treatment or their treatment has ended. This means that ‘two million people
living with or beyond cancer in the UK’ can also be stated as ‘two million people
living in the UK today have had a cancer diagnosis’. See ‘Tone of voice guide’
per – try to avoid; ‘he earns £40,000 a year’ is better than ‘per year’
percentages – use % in headlines and copy. See fractions
phone numbers – write area code then private number, eg 01483 657545. For
London numbers the correct style is 020 8123 4567 not 0208 123 4567
photo captions – do not put full stops at the end
photo-finish
pill, the – contraceptive
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pin or pin number – not Pin or PIN number
place names – when referencing a place name, remember to state a county or
country if it is unlikely that your audience knows where you are talking about. For
example, you may know that Poole is in Dorset, but many of your readers will not
planets – cap up planets of our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, etc. The sun
and the Earth’s moon are lower case
plaster of paris
play-off
plc not PLC
pleaded not pled
plurals – no apostrophe is needed when talking about single letters, eg mind your
Ps and Qs
postholder – avoid; always use Macmillan professionals when talking about our
nurses, doctors, etc
poetry – if a poem can’t be written out in full, separate lines with spaces and a slash;
italics are acceptable: A noiseless patient spider / I marked where on a promontory it
stood isolated / Marked how to explore the vacant vast surrounding, etc
police forces – Metropolitan police (the Met after first mention); West Midlands
police, etc
police ranks – PC on all references to police constable (never WPC), other ranks
full out and initial cap at first reference, eg Sergeant Bill Bixby; thereafter
abbreviation plus surname: Sgt Campbell, DC, Insp, Ch Insp, Det Supt, Ch Supt,
Cmdr, etc (or just Mr, Ms or Mrs)
police units – lower case: anti-terrorist branch, flying squad, fraud squad, special
branch, vice squad
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political parties – upper case for word ‘party’; abbreviate if necessary after first
reference, eg Liberal Democrats (Lib Dem), Scottish National Party (SNP), Ulster
Unionist Party (UUP)
Pope, the – normally no need to give his name in full
possessives – add ’s to singular words and names, including those ending in ‘s’, eg
James’s desk, Wales’s beaches. However, in some instances be guided by
pronunciation and use the plural apostrophe where it helps. For example, Waters’
rather than Waters’s; Hedges’ rather than Hedges’s.
For plural possessives, add ’s to those that do not end in ‘s’, eg women’s, men’s,
children’s. Those that do end in ‘s’ only take the apostrophe, eg girls’ school, two
weeks’ holiday.
postal workers – not postmen
postcode
postgraduate
postmodern
postmortem
Post Office – cap up the organisation, but you buy stamps in a post office or subpost office
Powergen
practice (noun); practise (verb)
premiere – no accent
Premier League in England; in Scotland it is the Scottish Premier League or more
commonly the SPL
president – lower case except for in title: President Obama, but Barack Obama the
US president
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press, the – singular: the British press is lauded all over the world
pressured/pressurised – use put pressure on or pressed to mean apply pressure
prevalence rate – the number of people with cancer at a given time, or the total
number of cases in the population, divided by the number of individuals in the
population. Also see incidence
Statistics fact sheet
preventive not preventative
primary care trust – lower case, eg Southwark primary care trust; although can use
PCT after first mention
prime minister – write ‘Gordon Brown, the prime minister’ not ‘Prime Minister
Gordon Brown’
Prince of Wales normally in first reference, then Prince Charles
Prince’s Trust
principal – first in importance; principle – standard of conduct
principality – do not use to describe Wales
prize – initial caps, Booker Prize, Nobel Prize, Whitbread Prize
proactive – do not use
program (computer), otherwise programme
Proms (concerts)
proofreader
pros and cons
protester not protestor
province – avoid using this term for Northern Ireland
Ps and Qs
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PS – at the end of a letter, start with a capital after the PS, ie PS Please remember
to…
publications – always italicise for any publication. Initial caps for newsletters: Mac
News, Exchange, Teamtalk, Cancer Matters, Staff Stuff, Macmillan Voice. Booklets,
guides and leaflets have cap on first word only, The cancer guide, Men and cancer,
Help with the cost of cancer, etc.
Publications from outside of Macmillan also always take initial caps, eg Time Out,
The Times, The Economist
pullout quotes – see quotes
purchase as a noun, but use buy as a verb
putt (golf)
pyjamas
Q
quotes – don’t make quotes too long. Focus in on what you want to get across to
your reader. Always try to use quotes that paint a picture about an experience, eg
use quotes that feature colours, smells, sounds, tastes, etc. Quotes should also not
repeat what has been said in the main copy. They should add something different, a
more personal perspective about what you’re talking about. Also see ‘Punctuation
guide’.
quotations marks – use single quotation marks for speech. Use double quotation marks for a quote
within a quote. For example, ‘People often ask me, “How do I get a Macmillan nurse?” and I explain it
to them.’
introducing a quote – always use a comma to introduce a quote unless the quote explains what has
come before, then use a colon, eg The King said something shocking: ‘Off with his head.’
first-person articles – do not use quotation marks in an article if it is obvious that only one person is
speaking in it. This usually happens in articles when the introductory paragraph reads something like,
‘Jan Nevis, a Macmillan nurse at Whittington hospital, tells us about her day.’
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pullout quotes – if you have a full sentence in a pullout quote then use the correct punctuation to end
it, eg ‘It was a fantastic day for all of us.’ If you use an extract from a sentence, you do not need a full
stop, eg ‘fantastic day for all of us’. Try to make your pullout quotes succinct and eye-catching
punctuation at the end of quotes – if you are quoting a whole sentence, the full stop (or question or
exclamation mark) at the end of the sentence goes inside the quotation marks (as above). But if the
quote is only a fragment of the whole sentence, the full stop (or question or exclamation mark) goes
outside of the quotation marks. For example, John told Macmillan News that the event was ‘one of the
best days of his life’.
says or said – try to use ‘says’ when introducing a quote as it makes it sound more up-to-date and
fresh; you will need to use said, though, if the context used for the quote is in the past, eg Three years
ago, Jamie Dundas said, ‘Macmillan will become one the most high-profile charities in the UK.’
quotations from published sources should always be referenced using the Vancouver system. See
references
quantitative not quantitive
quarter-final – hyphenated
Queen, the – if it is necessary to say so, she is Her Majesty or HM, never HRH
Queen’s birthday honours list
queue
queueing not queuing
R
racial terminology – if you need to refer to a group of people who may be defined
by common racial, cultural, religious or linguistic characteristics, please remember
this is a sensitive issue. ‘Black and minority ethnic communities’ is currently the
accepted term for minority groups. See ethnicity
Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Five Live, 6 Music, BBC7
radiographer takes x-rays; radiologist reads them
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radius plural radii
railway station – train station is now acceptable
ranges – use en dash to separate ranges of numbers, eg 10–12 weeks. The en
dash stands for ‘to’ so you can write ‘treatment lasts from 3–5 weeks’ or ‘treatment
lasts from 3 to 5 weeks’. Do not write ‘your treatment will take between 10–12
weeks’; instead write ‘your treatment will take between 10 and 12 weeks’, or even
better ‘treatment will take 10–12 weeks’. You can also use an en dash to separate
months, eg ‘the event runs from April–December’, although spelling out ‘to’ is
preferable.
Note the shortcut for an en dash on a PC is Ctrl + dash on the top right of your
keyboard’s number pad.
rateable
re or re-? – use re- when followed by the vowels e and u, when u is not pronounced
‘yu’, eg re-energise, re-urge. Use re when followed by the vowels a, i, o, u or any
consonant, eg reorder, reuse, rebuild.
reach – we use this to describe any type of support we have been involved in
providing to someone; this could be anything from face-to-face support provided by
one of our professionals to someone using the Share section of our website. We
currently say that ‘we reach half of the two million people living or beyond cancer in
the UK’
recipes – use abbreviations of measurements, eg 4tbsp flour, 50g sugar; note
decimal numbers are closed up to the measurement, eg 4.5tsp mustard, 6.5kg
potatoes
recognise not recognize
recyclable
references – in patient information, especially booklets and fact sheets, we include
references at the end (more as a bibliography) and do not refer to articles or
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59
publications in the body of the text. Use 'Vancouver style', as this is the one most
commonly required by medical journals.
The Vancouver system uses a number series to indicate references. Bibliographies
list these in numerical order as they appear in the text. The main advantage of the
Vancouver style is that the main text reads more easily.
In reports, for example, there may be references in the text. If you do so, and are
working in Word before typesetting, indicate with a number in brackets. Starting at 1
and continuing in numerical order through the text. If more than one reference is
made together separate the number with a comma. When the text is typeset the
reference should be converted to superscript by the typesetter/designer but retaining
the comma (otherwise 2, 3 might be confused with 23).
Example: Recent studies by Professor E Ernst have shown that this is not widespread (1); however,
other studies contradict this. (2, 3)
When set and printed it should appear as below:
Recent studies by Professor E Ernst have shown that this is not widespread1; however, other studies
contradict this.2, 3
In the bibliography itself, use the formats below:
Journal article
Last name of author followed by first name or initial, with no punctuation (If there are two authors,
separate each with a comma; if there are more than two use the first author comma then et al)
Full stop
Title of article
Full stop
Name of journal, in italics
Full stop
Year of publication
Full stop
Volume number
Colon
Page range
Full stop
Example: Simpson M, et al. Doctor–patient Communication. BMJ. 1991. 303: 1385–7.
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Book
Last name of author followed by first name or initial, with no punctuation
(If more than one author, separate each with a comma)
Full stop
Title of book, italics
Full stop
Year of publication
Full stop
Publisher
Comma
Place of publication
Full stop
Example: Peters T, Waterman RH. In Search of Excellence. 1982. Macmillan, London.
Online
Organisation producing the information
Full stop
Document/article title (if there is one)
Full stop
URL – try to include full address of page/website section used
Date accessed in brackets
Example: Department of Health. National service framework for coronary heart disease.
www.doh.gov.uk/nsf/coronary.htm (accessed 6 Jun 2003).
referendum plural referendums
reflection not reflexion
reform – to change for the better, re-form to form again
refute – use this much-abused word only when an argument is disproved; otherwise
contest, deny, rebut
regime – no accent
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regions – Macmillan’s work in the UK is done within the following regional
departments: East Midlands and North England (EMNE); London, Anglia and South
East Region (LASER), Office of Scotland and Northern Ireland (OSNI), Central and
South West England and Wales (CSWE&W). In documents, write the name of the
regional departments in full for the first reference and for all other references use the
acronym
Regions and nations fact sheet
regional assemblies use lower case, eg East of England regional assembly
register office not registry office
registrar general
regrettable
reinstate
reopen
replaceable
report – Lawrence report; use ‘report on’ or ‘inquiry into’ but not ‘a report into’, ie ‘a
report into health problems’
republicans use lower case (except for US political party)
resistible not resistable
responsible not responsable
resuscitate
Rev, the at first mention, eg the Rev Joan Smith, never Reverend Smith or Rev
Smith
reversible not reversable
rheumatoid arthritis
ringfence, ringtone
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RNIB – Royal National Institute of Blind People (no longer ‘the Blind’). Note ‘of’ not
‘for’
RNID – Royal National Institute for Deaf People. Note ‘for’ not ‘of’
rock’n’roll – one word
ROI – return on investment
rollercoaster
roofs plural of roof, not roves
Rotary Club – but there are many Rotary clubs around the UK
roundup – (noun) one word
Royal Air Force or RAF
Royal Albert Hall
royal family
Royal London hospital
Royal Mail
Royal Navy or the navy
royal parks
RSPB, RSPCA do not normally need to be spelt out
S
sae stamped addressed envelope, lower case, no points, preceded by an (not a)
Sainsbury’s
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Saint – in running text should be spelt in full: Saint John is also known as John the
Baptist; abbreviated for names of towns, churches, etc: St Mirren, St Peter’s church
Samaritans – the organisation has dropped ‘the’ from its name
schools – names of schools have capitals for the specific part of the title only, eg
Grange Hill comprehensive school, Galfast high school
schoolboy, schoolchildren, schoolgirl, schoolroom, schoolteacher
scientific names – in italics, with the first name (denoting the genus) capped, the
second (denoting the species) lower case, eg Escherichia coli. The name can be
shortened by using the first initial, eg E coli; note no full point after the initial
Scottish executive, parliament and government – note lower case
Scouts – not Boy Scouts, the organisation is the Scout Association
seas, oceans – all upper case, eg the Black Sea
seasons – all lower case, ie spring, summer, autumn
second hand on a watch; but he bought it secondhand
secretary general
seize not sieze
self-help also self-esteem, self-respect, self-control, etc
self-help and support groups – note hyphen
semicolon – see ‘Punctuation guide’
sensible not sensable
serviceable not servicable
services – see ‘Macmillan services’ section in the editorial guidelines
services, the (armed forces)
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sex – use ‘gender’ rather than ‘sex’ when referring to the state of being male or
female, eg What gender are you?
Share – our online community that helps people affected by cancer to share their
experiences and feelings, ask questions and get support from others. Note that this
name will change following the launch of Macmillan’s new website. Visit
macmillan.org.uk/community for the latest details
side effects – not no hyphen
sign offs – ‘yours sincerely’ for people you have named in the beginning of your
letter: Dear Mr Rogers; ‘yours faithfully’ for people you have not named: Dear
Sir/Madam. However, think about your audience and try to use less formal sign offs
where appropriate, eg best wishes, kind regards, all the best. We are a friendly
charity that uses conversational language
Silverspoons – note that if you talk about the Silverspoons golf competition, only
Silverpoons has initial cap
size – family-size, fun-size
skilful not skillful
social care – note two words
social security benefits – all lower case, income support, working tax credit, etc
solar system – see planets
some – do not use before a figure; say about or approximately instead, eg ‘about 13
people signed up for the event’
span of time – see ranges
spelled/spelt she spelled it out for him: ‘the word is spelt like this’
spellings – use the Oxford English Dictionary for general words and the official
websites of organisations, events, etc for words that are unlikely to appear in the
dictionary
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spicy not spicey
split infinitives – this is a split infinitive, ‘To boldly go where no man has gone
before!’ The infinitive is ‘to go’, and it has been split by the adverb ‘boldly’. Split
infinitives have been the cause of much controversy among teachers and
grammarians, but the notion that they are ungrammatical is simply a myth. See
‘Grammar guide’
sporting events – distances are as follows, 100 metres, 1500 metres, 10,000
metres; note no comma in 1500 metres. When sporting events have a sponsor in
their name, use it for first reference in an article, eg Virgin London Marathon.
All Macmillan sporting events and challenges should have initial caps, eg China
Cycling Challenge, the Macmillan 10k Fun Run
square brackets – use for words in a quotation that are added to make things
clearer, eg John said, ‘Jamie [Dundas] quite fancies the marathon this year’. See
brackets and ‘Punctuation guide’
staff are plural
Staff Zone – area on the Learn Zone where staff can find learning resources
Staff Stuff – Macmillan’s staff newsletter
stakeholder – avoid in all external documents and try to avoid using in internal
documents
stationary not moving; stationery writing materials (there’s an ‘e’ in envelope)
statistics can make complicated information a lot easier to digest for the reader;
make sure the ones you use are accurate.
Use digits for stats that compare numbers, eg ‘1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with
cancer in their lifetime’. Use % for stats that feature percentages
Statistics fact sheet
steadfast
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stepfamily, stepfather, stepmother, etc but step-parents
straightforward
survivor and survivorship – try to avoid using these terms unless you are
specifically talking about our survivorship work or quoting someone directly. See the
‘Tone of voice guide’
swap not swop
swearwords – remember the reader and that we should not use words that are
likely to offend
T
talking about Macmillan – when you talk about the organisation, use ‘we’ and ‘us’
(first person plural pronouns). For example, you’d say, ‘We hope you enjoyed the
World’s Biggest Coffee Morning,’ ’We think it’s fantastic that you raised £1,200 for
us,’ ‘If you have any questions, just ask us.’
We use ‘we’ and ‘us’ because they reflect that we are an inclusive organisation and
that many different people make it possible for Macmillan to provide the support it
does. Also see ‘Tone of voice guide’
takeover
targeted, targeting
teams (Macmillan) – always use upper case for the name of specific Macmillan
teams, but use lower case for the word ‘team’, eg ‘the Creative Services team won
another award’. Note that when you talk about someone heading up or managing a
team, there is no need to use the word ‘team’, just name the area of Macmillan’s
work they cover, eg ‘Mike Hobday is the head of campaigns, policy and public
affairs’; don’t say ‘Mike Hobday is the head of the campaigns, policy and public
team’. Also, ampersands should not appear in team names, eg use Learning and
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Development team instead of Learning & Development team. See job roles and job
titles
team-mate
telephone numbers – see phone numbers
temazepam
temperatures – write celsius without degree symbol and fahrenheit equivalent in
brackets: 23C (73F), -3C (27F) etc
tendinitis not tendonitis
tenses – see ‘Grammar Guide’
Tesco not Tesco’s
Test – (cricket) the third Test, etc
textbook
that or which? – that defines, which gives extra information (often in a clause
enclosed by commas):
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.
Note that in these examples, the sentence remains grammatical without ‘that’, but
not without ‘which’
The Big Sports Day – Macmillan event for schools and youth groups. Not all initial
caps, including ‘The’
the green rooms– the name of Macmillan’s intranet. Not all lower case
theatre – lower case, eg Adelphi theatre, crucible theatre; initial cap ‘Theatre’ if it
comes first, eg Theatre Royal
theirs – no apostrophe
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thinktank – one word
this and that – this looks forward, that looks back: ‘one day all of this will be yours,
but for the time being that car remains mine.’
thyroid
time – 1am, 6.30pm, etc; not 10 o’clock last night but 10pm yesterday; use 12 noon,
or 12 midnight rather than 12am, 12pm. Spell out numbers under 10 for weeks,
months, years, eg, three weeks, five years
titles of works – when referring to Macmillan publications, booklets, all books and
films, albums and song titles, biological terms, and works of art, etc, use italics, with
capitals where necessary, but do not put them in inverted apostrophes
tonne not ton – the metric tonne is 1,000kg (2,204.62), the British ton is 2,240lb
Topman, Topshop
tracheostomy – an opening created in the lower part of the neck for you to breathe
through
trademarks – use a generic alternative unless there is a very good reason not to, eg
sticky tape rather than Sellotape. If you do use a trademarked product, use the
relevant symbol (™, ©, ®) on the product’s first mention and leave off for any
subsequent mentions
trustee – use lower case in all contexts; it is outdated to capitalise ‘trustee’ in such
documents as annual reports
try to – I will try to do something, not ‘try and’
T-shirt not tee-shirt
tube, the – note lower case; the underground is also lower case (London
Underground is the name of the company), as are individual lines: Jubilee line,
Northern line, etc
tumour not tumor
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TV programme titles – always italicised; use lower case for a, an, and, at, for, from,
in, of, the, to (unless they are the first word of a title): Last of the Summer Wine, The
Big Bang Theory. See italics
U
UK, Britain – see Britain, UK
unbiased
underage, underdeveloped, underprivileged, underweight
under 16s – note no hyphen, eg the under 16s football team won again
under way, not underway
underground, the – lower case; London Underground is the name of the company
uninterested means displaying a lack of interest whereas disinterested means
impartial
union flag not union jack
unique – one of a kind, so cannot be qualified as ‘absolutely unique’ or ‘very unique’
universities – use initial caps, eg Sheffield University, John Hopkins University, etc
University College London no comma, UCL after first mention
unmistakable
until not ‘up until’
upbeat, upfront, upgrade
up to date but in an up-to-date fashion
url – see web
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user involvement – note no hyphen; this term refers to the process in which people
who receive and experience services use their voice to speak out and secure
changes and improvements that reflect users’ rights and needs
USA for United States of America, not US
V
v for versus not vs: England v Australia, state v private, etc
vaccinate – note two Cs
Valentine’s Day
VAT – valued added tax; no need to spell out
verruca not verucca
verse – see poetry
veterinary
vice-chair, vice-chancellor, vice-president
vice versa
visible – not visable
vocal cords not chords
Volunteers’ Week – note apostrophe
W
Wales – avoid the word ‘principality’
Wales Office not Welsh Office
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walking stick
we statements – see talking about Macmillan
web, webpage, website, world wide web – when you reference a website/url in
running text, lose the http:// and www, eg ‘you can find news about the World’s
Biggest Coffee Morning at macmillan.org.uk/coffee’. If a url is simply listed, usually
with a phone number, keep the www:
www.macmillan.org.uk
0808 808 00 00
Note that if a url/website ends a paragraph, do not use a full stop. See ‘Writing for
the web’
weeks – spell out numbers under 10 when talking about an amount of weeks, eg the
dog ran away for four weeks; hyphenate for three-week course, etc
weight – try to use kilograms when referring to a person’s weight, although it is
acceptable to use stones and pounds when it is felt it would be more appropriate, for
example, when talking about a diet: ‘Leanne had lost two stone and three pounds in
only six months’. See measurement and recipes
well-being is hyphenated
well-known
Welsh assembly and Welsh assembly government – although note that the
official name for the assembly, the National Assembly for Wales, has initial caps
What Now? – no longer refer to this website. Visit macmillan.org.uk/community for
the latest details on Macmillan’s online community
wheelchair – someone uses a wheelchair, not ‘in a wheelchair’ or ‘wheelchairbound’
whereabouts
which or that? – see that or which?
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whizz – note two Zs
who or whom? – a tricky one. The best way to work this out is to consider how the
clause beginning who/whom would read in the form of a sentence using he, him,
she, her, they or them instead: if the who/whom person turns into he/she/they, then
‘who’ is right; if it becomes him/her/them, then it should be ‘whom’.
‘Brown was criticised for attacking Cameron, whom he despised’ – ‘whom’ is correct
because he despised ‘him’.
‘Brown attacked Cameron, who he thought was wrong’ – ‘who’ is correct, because it
is ‘he’ not ‘him’ who is considered wrong.
Note: if you are still in doubt – and you may well be – always use ‘who’ rather than
‘whom’.
wide awake
will – use lower case when talks about the gifts people leave to Macmillan in their
wills; a capitalised Will is often used in legal documents, but this is now outdated
windpipe
wines – normally lower case, eg chardonnay, chablis, champagne
winter
withhold – two Hs
woman, women are nouns, not adjectives, so say female MPs
words – when referencing words in a sentence, enclose it in single speech marks,
eg trying to spell ‘rhythm’ isn’t easy when you think there should be a vowel in the
word somewhere. See ‘Punctuation guide’
World’s Biggest Coffee Morning – our flagship fundraising event. Spell out on first
mention, avoid using WBCM, use Coffee Morning instead. When talking about
people’s coffee mornings, use lower case. Also note that if you talk about the World’s
Biggest Coffee Morning, the ‘the’ should be lower case
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Visit macmillan.org.uk/coffee for latest information
world championship
World Cup
world-famous
World Health Organisation – WHO on second mention
worldwide but world wide web
would-be
X
Xmas – avoid; always use Christmas
x-ray
Y
year – say 2007, not ‘the year 2007’; for spans, use en dash, eg 2008–09
yoghurt
Yorkshire – use East Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, etc
your or you’re – ‘your’ is possessive, ‘you’re’ is abbreviation of ‘you are’: you’re
going to need your umbrella
yours – no apostrophe: yours sincerely. See sign offs
YouthLine – currently do not refer to this helpline. See Macmillan YouthLine
YouTube
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Z
-ze endings – use –se, eg maximise, realise
zigzag
zoos – lower case, eg London zoo, San Diego zoo
zzz – it’s ze end of ze style guide
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