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Write first as artificial intelligence (AI) then AI throughout.
B
(UKHSA) bank holiday
Capped down. If there's a season or month, then that is capped up, but the words bank and holiday are always capped down, as in: 'August bank holiday deliveries warning notice.'
See UK bank holidays.
Banned words
UKHSA) GDS calls these 'banned words'. In practice we use some of them, but take the general point that we should avoid bureaucratic cliches and jargon where possible.
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- departments (specific government departments - see below)
- the Civil Service, with lower case for ‘the’
- specific job titles
- titles like Mr, Mrs, Dr, the Duke of Cambridge (the duke at second mention); Pope Francis, but the pope
- Rt Hon (no full stops)
- buildings
- place names
- brand names
- faculties, departments, institutes and schools
- names of groups, directorates and organisations: Knowledge and Innovation Group
- Parliament, the House
- titles of specific acts or bills: Housing Reform Bill (but use ‘the act’ or ‘the bill’ after the first time you use the full act or bill title)
- names of specific, named government schemes known to people outside government: Right to Buy, King’s Awards for Enterprise
- specific select committees: Public Administration Select Committee
- header cells in tables: Annual profits
- titles of books (and within single quotes), for example, ‘The Study Skills Handbook’
- World War 1 and World War 2 (note caps and numbers)
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- government - see government
- minister, never Minister, unless part of a specific job title, like Minister for the Cabinet Office
- department or ministry - never Department or Ministry, unless referring to a specific one: Ministry of Justice, for example
- white paper, green paper, command paper, House of Commons paper
- budget, autumn statement, spring statement, unless referring to and using the full name of a specific statement - for example, “2016 Budget”
- sections or schedules within specific named acts, regulations or orders
- director general (no hyphen), deputy director, director director, unless in a specific job title
- group and directorate, unless referring to a specific group or directorate: the Commercial Directorate, for example
- departmental board, executive board, the board
- policy themes like sustainable communities, promoting economic growth, local enterprise zones
- general mention of select committees (but do cap specific ones - see above)
- the military
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devolved administrations
Lower case.
director
Like 'chair', lower case in text. Upper case only in titles: Spencer Tracy, Director, GDS.
disabled people
Not ‘the disabled’ or ‘people with disabilities’.
, GDS.
disabled people
Read more about words to use and avoid when writing about disability.
(UKHSA)
General principles:
- Avoid generalisations
- Be as specific as you can
- Attribute agency
So never write 'the' followed by a category, never write 'the deaf', 'the blind', 'the disabled'.
Humanise phrases by, at the very least, adding 'people' at the start of the phrase, so 'people with disabilities' or 'person with visual impairment'.
Consider whether you even need the term. Some people claim disability benefits but don't consider themselves disabled. Consider using ‘people with health conditions or impairments’ if more appropriate.
Never use negative language which robs people of agency – people who 'suffer from' etc. Use a neutral phrase, such as 'people with', 'people who have'...
In the same spirit, never write 'wheelchair bound', say 'wheelchair users', 'people who use wheelchairs'.
Regarding cancer and other chronic illnesses, don't use emotive language like 'fight cancer' and so no.
List of words to use and words to avoid - note how many of the approved phrases start with 'people who...', 'person who...', talking about people as individuals not anonymous parts of some sweeping categoryRead more about words to use and avoid when writing about disability.
E
the Earth
Upper case for the Earth, Planet Earth and Earth sciences, with lower case for ‘the’.
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implementation period
Always lower case.
(UKHSA) In vitro
In vitro (two words, no hyphen).
In vivo.
internet
Lower case.
Italics
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Never write United Kingdom. Always write just UK.
(UKHSA) UKHSA
Spell out Write 'the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)' on first appearance. After that just UKHSA without a 'the'', and it's a singular noun – UKHSA announcedannounces, UKHSA publishes, and so on.
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