A-Z House Style Guide
- data #
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Use a singular verb with data. So: The data was collected over a five-year period, not ‘The data were…’
- dates #
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May 2005 (no commas); Monday 5 September, 2005. Exception is September 11, 2001 or 9/11.
Formally: the 21st century (lower case ‘c’); the 1980s (not ’80s); 1987–8 (not 1987-8), 1867–1903; 3–5 July. Informally: an eighties hairdo, a seventies party.
- Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) #
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A country in central Africa (not to be confused with the smaller, neighbouring, Republic of Congo)
Ideal: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) when spelled out the first time.
DRC can be used after first mention,
Use ‘the’ as it’s how most people would speak about the country, and so will help orientate the reader.no: Congo or The Congo
- Department for International Development (DFID) #
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Spell out at first mention. Thereafter use abbreviation.
- direct speech #
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Do respect people’s idioms; they can add colour. But it’s okay to tidy up wordiness or confusion or awkward translation, preserving the character, nationality and, above all, the views of the speaker. Check with relevant person if you need to tidy a direct quote, in case it has been or will be used elsewhere. Be especially careful if in legally dangerous waters. Attribute after a maximum of one sentence. Never leave a quote unattributed.
- disability/disabilities #
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Refer to people or a person as ‘living with a disability’.
It is acceptable to refer to ‘disabled people’ in general terms, but not ideal, so avoid this when you can.
Never refer to an individual person as ‘disabled’, or group people together as ‘the disabled.’ Likewise, don’t refer to the deaf or the blind, rather use ‘deaf people/people who are deaf’ or ‘blind people/people who are blind’.
The above refers to learning disabilities as well as physical.
Never use the following words when talking about a person: handicapped, crippled, slow, retarded, deformed.
Avoid negative phrases like ‘suffers from’. Instead, use ‘affected by’ or ‘lives with’ etc.
Don’t describe someone as confined to a wheelchair, you can just say that they, ‘use a wheelchair.’
Don’t refer to someone as able-bodied, use ‘non-disabled’ instead.
Don’t describe someone as a dwarf, use ‘a person with restricted growth’.
Use ‘seizures’ rather than fits/spells/attacks.
Remember to be inclusive and respectful at all times. Try not to use the word ‘normal’ when describing a person, we are all different from one another in some way.
- Diseases #
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Diseases are only capitalised if the are named after a person or a place eg Ebola (named after a river in Zaire) and Alzheimer’s (named after Alois Alzheimer). Most diseases are not capitalised. Check online if in doubt.
- dos and don’ts #
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Note spelling and punctuation, but avoid if possible as it can look awkward.
- dots, aka ellipsis or leader #
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Three dots, one space after, no space before: I don’t know what to do… I’ve tried everything. Avoid using at the beginning of a sentence. If used at the end of a sentence, no full stop is needed as the ellipsis is in place of it. An ellipsis can be followed by a question mark or exclamation mark.