O - Editorial Style Guide

Feb 17 2010

O

Occur: One r but occurred with two rs

Ofsted: And Ofwat

OK: Use OK, not okay

On to: Is two separate words. Avoid ‘onto’ at all costs.

Online: One word, no hyphen

Only: Put it in front of the word it qualifies e.g. he waited only three weeks, not he only waited three weeks

Opposition: Is lower case, as is government

Open-heart surgery: Hyphen as open-plan room

Organisations, companies and councils are always a singular it, not a they, whether in copy or quotes.

Therefore, ‘The council has claimed it is in love with daffodils.’

not ‘The council have claimed they are in love with daffodils.’

Ouija: Note spelling

Over: Not a substitute for ‘more than’. When we are talking in terms of quantity, or numbers, it is always ‘more than’ or ‘fewer than’.  See numbers

Overreact: No hyphen as overrule, override

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