H - Editorial Style Guide

Feb 17 2010

H  

Haemorrhage: If possible use internal bleeding

Hair style: Two words

Half-time: With hyphenHalf-termHalfway: No hyphen, also midwayHalloween: No apostrophe

Hangar: For aircraft. Hanger for coats

Hanged: People are found hanged. Paintings and washing are hung

Hat-trick: HyphenatedHay fever: No hyphen

He said /She said: He said, She said or Mrs Smith said should always start a quote, never end one, and it should always begin on a new line/par. The only acceptable exception to this is in a long colour/feature piece.

Headteacher: One word, as headmaster

Healthcare: One wordHeight: See measurementsHelpline: One word as hotlineHi-tech: Not high tech

Hiccup: Not hiccoughHigh Court: Note capsHigher education: means university. All else is further education

High flyer: Not high flier. No hyphen

High Street: Lower case unless proper title

Hip-hop

Historic means noteworthy or significant whereas historical means pertaining to history as a topic. Ie. If something ha a place in history, it is historic. If something has to do with the study or subject of history, it is historical. A historic house. A historical perspective.

HIV-positive

Hoards: Are stashes of treasure, hordes are large groups

Holidaymaker: One word 


Homeowner: One word as homebuyer

Home counties: Two words

Honours: These are made twice a year, in the Birthday Honours and the New Year Honours and when a Prime Minister leaves officeCBE: Commander of the Order of the British EmpireOBE: Officer of the Order of the British EmpireMBE: Member of the Order of the British EmpireYou become an OBE, MBE or CBE but at the Palace you receive the insignia of the Order.

You are made an OBE or MBE, not awarded one, and you did not receive one.

Do not use as letters after a name

Hospitals - Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, Waterloo King’s College Hospital, Camberwell - St George’s Hospital, Tooting -         children’s ward, intensive care, ward three, ward 10. Only caps for proper nouns ie. the Derek Statham ward  

Hotshot: One word Hot spot: Two words  

Hyphens: Use to clarify. Sweet-shop girl and sweet shop-girl mean different things.

Prefixes: Only hyphenate if double e or o, e.g. re-export, re-election, co-operative. No hyphen in reassess, redevelop or reopen.

BE CAREFUL. Use a hyphen to link two words used together as a single adverb/adjective (known as compound adjectives). e.g. A well-loved woman, a dark-blue jumper, a life-threatening injury, but NO hyphen when two distinct adverbs/adjectives eg. A deep, dark hole. And sometimes you need more than one, as in ‘multi-million-pound cannabis industry’.

Note:

Joe Bloggs is a 42-year-old plumber.

but: Joe Bloggs, who is 42 years old, works as a plumber.

The heist was a set-up by undercover cops.

but: The heist was set up by undercover cops.

No need for hyphens after adverbs – e.g. The warmly lit pub – and definitely wrong when words in this order: The pub was warmly lit.

And there's a difference between nouns and verbs. Women wear 'make-up' (hyphen needed) but a child is praised for 'tidying up' (no hyphen).

Hyphens /dashes (style): When using hyphens, just tap the dash key as per usual (e.g. hen-pecked, mother-of-two). However, when using a dash (e.g. ‘They had no time left – not even for dinner’) hold down the ALT key as you press the dash key. It elongates it and differentiates it from a hyphen.

Prefixes: Only hyphenate if double e or o, eg re-export, re-election, co-operative. No hyphen in reassess, redevelop or reopen (Note pre-school)

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