G

Contents 1 G3 2 G5 3 G7 4 G8 5 G10 6 G24 7 G30 8 G77 9 GAO 10 Gaborone 11 gaff, gaffe 12 gage, gauge 13 gales 14 gallon 15 Gallup Poll 16 Gambia 17 gambit 18 Gandhi 19 gantlet, gauntlet 20 gaol 21 gas 22 gay 23 gearing 24 GDP 25 Geneva Conventions 26 gender 27 general 28 Gentile 29 generation -- first/second 30 geriatrics 31 Germany 32 German spellings 33 get, got 34 ghetto, ghetto. 35 GI, GIs 36 giant 37 gibe, gybe, jibe 38 Gibraltar, Strait of 39 gilt-edge 40 Gipsy 41 girl 42 Girl Guides 43 glamour, glamorous, glamorise 44 global 45 GMT – Greenwich Mean Time 46 GNP 47 goalkeeper 48 gobbledygook 49 go-between 50 God 51 godchild, goddaughter, godfather, godmother, godparents 52 Godthaab 53 going public 54 golden share 55 Golden Week 56 good, bad 57 goodbye 58 goodwill 59 gorilla 60 gourmand, gourmet 61 Gospel 62 governance 63 Government Accountability Office (U.S.) 64 governor-general, governors-general 65 graffiti 66 gram 67 grammar 68 granddad, granddaughter 69 grand jury 70 Grand Prix 71 grand slam 72 grass court 73 Great Britain 74 great- 75 grey, but gray in American style 76 grievous 77 grisly, grizzly 78 gross domestic product 79 ground rules 80 gross national product 81 grovel, grovelled 82 grow 83 gruelling 84 guerrilla, gorilla 85 guest 86 Gulf 87 gully, not gulley 88 gunwale 89 Gurkha 90 guttural 91 Gypsy

G3

The world’s leading capitalist economies – Germany, Japan and the USA.

G5

The five largest capitalist economies: the United States, Japan, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

G7

A forum for the world's leading industrial nations to meet and discuss policy. The G7 members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the Unites States. The G7 finance ministers and central bankers meet to discuss the economic outlook, exchange rate policy and financial markets.

G8

The G7 countries plus Russia. Russia was invited to join the 1991 G7 summit and its role has been gradually formalised. G8 meetings are limited to heads of state and government, discussing world affairs. Some issues at this level are still regarded as the preserve of the G7.

G10

The G7 leading capitalist countries plus Belgium, The Netherlands and Sweden. Subsequently joined by Switzerland to make 11 but still referred to as the G10. It works within the framework of the IMF to coordinate fiscal and monetary policies for a stable world economic system.

G24

An informal group of developing countries formed to represent their interests in negotiations on international monetary matters. Eight members each from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

G30

A private, non-profit group of industry leaders, bankers, central bankers and academics that discusses and studies international economic and financial market issues.

G77

Originally established with 77 developing countries, but now considerably expanded, to help promote the views of developing countries on international trade and development within the United Nations.

GAO

Government Accountability Office (U.S.). Formerly the General Accounting Office .Can be abbreviated to GAO in headlines or at second reference.

Gaborone

Not Gabarone, Botswana.

gaff, gaffe

Gaff is a hook, gaffe is a mistake.

gage, gauge

A gage is a pledge or to offer as a guarantee. Gauge is a standard or means of measurement.

gales

Use gales rather than gale-force winds. A gale is less powerful than a storm in nautical parlance.

gallon

To convert Imperial gallons to litres roughly multiply by 9 and divide by 2. To convert precisely multiply by 4.546.To convert US gallons to litres roughly multiply by 4. To convert precisely multiply by 3.785. To convert Imperial gallons to U.S. gallons roughly multiply by 6 and divide by 5. To convert precisely multiply by 1.201. To convert U.S. gallons to Imperial gallons roughly multiply by 5 and divide by 6. To convert precisely multiply by 0.833.

Gallup Poll

Gambia

Not the Gambia, West Africa.

gambit

Not simply an opening move (in chess or metaphorically) but one that involves a sacrifice or concession. Opening gambit is tautological.

Gandhi

Not Ghandi.

gantlet, gauntlet

Use gantlet for the military punishment ' running the gantlet', gauntlet for an iron glove.

gaol

Use jail.

gas

gases, gassing, gassed. The American gasoline, meaning motor fuel, is referred to as petrol in Europe. Do not use gas as a synonym for gasoline; it could cause ambiguity.

gay

The word is now universally used as a synonym for homosexual. Do not use it in other senses.

gearing

An indicator of a company's ability to service its debt. Explain if used in financial stories, but best avoided. See glossary of financial terms.

GDP

See gross domestic product.

Geneva Conventions

Plural.

gender

Do not use language that perpetuates sexual, racial, religious or other stereotypes. Such language is offensive, out of date and often simply inaccurate. A person’s gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or marital status should not be cited unless it is relevant to the story. Even then, consideration must be given to where in the story such information needs to be placed. It is wrong to assume that police, firefighters or soldiers are men. Police is shorter than policemen anyway. Do not describe a woman’s dress or hairstyle where you would not describe a man’s. Where possible use the same term for men and women, e.g. mayor or poet, not mayoress or poetess. Use chairman, chairwoman not chair; spokesman, spokeswoman not spokesperson.

general

Hyphenate brigadier-general, lieutenant-general, major-general. At second reference just the general. In the U.S. army a brigadier-general has one star, a major-general two, a lieutenant-general three and a general four. The British army has the rank of brigadier but not of brigadier-general.

Gentile

Anyone not a Jew, or not a Mormon. Capitalise.

generation -- first/second

Take care when using to qualify to immigrants, since both terms are ambiguous. First-generation immigrants can mean either people who have immigrated, or the children of immigrants. Similarly, second-generation immigrants may be those whose parents immigrated, or whose grandparents did so.

geriatrics

Medical care of the elderly. The noun is geriatrics, the adjective geriatric. It does not mean just elderly.

Germany

The united Germany, like the former West Germany, is formally called the Federal Republic of Germany. Write East Germany when referring to the former Communist state but eastern or western Germany when referring to the eastern and western parts of the unified Germany.

German spellings

Indicate the presence of an umlaut in German words by adding an e after the inflected vowel, e.g. von Weizsaecker not von Weizsacker, Fuehrer not Fuhrer

get, got

There is always a stronger verb. Find it and use it.

ghetto, ghetto.

GI, GIs

A U.S. soldier (from the term government issue). Use only in informal contexts.

giant

Do not use when describing companies. In general avoid this adjective.

gibe, gybe, jibe

A gibe is a taunt or sneer, to gybe is to swing a sail over or alter course, but in American style a gibe is a taunt or sneer, a jibe is to swing a sail over or alter course, or to be in accord or agree with.

Gibraltar, Strait of

Not Straits.

gilt-edge

Gipsy

See Gypsy

girl

Any female older than 18 is a woman not a girl. Use woman not lady. A male older than 18 is a man.

Girl Guides

Now simply Guides.

glamour, glamorous, glamorise

global

Beware of excessive use. Global is correct for the threat of global warming, i.e. something that affects the whole globe. However companies sometimes talk of their global network, an exaggeration unless they are represented in all the business centres on the globe. Try using world instead.

GMT – Greenwich Mean Time

As the international standard, it is not spelled out but should be capitalised. Western military forces use Zulu to mean GMT. It is only necessary to convert a local time into GMT, e.g. 8:30 a. m. (1330 GMT) when the Greenwich time is relevant to the rest of the world, such as the moment when an earthquake struck. The conversion should also be given when previewing important events or statements by major figures, e.g. Smith to hold news conference at 0800 EST (1300 GMT).

GNP

See gross national product.

goalkeeper

One word in sports reporting. Keeper may be used.

gobbledygook

go-between

God

Capitalise when referring to the God of any monotheistic religion. Lower case any pronoun references. Lower case gods and goddesses for polytheistic religions.

godchild, goddaughter, godfather, godmother, godparents

Lower case, no hyphen. Similarly with godsend and godspeed.

Godthaab

Use Nuuk, Greenland.

going public

The term for a privately owned company that seeks a listing on a stock exchange and issues shares to the general public. Also known as a flotation or as issuing an IPO.

golden share

A share that confers sufficient voting rights in a company to maintain control and protect it from takeover.

Golden Week

A series of Japanese national holidays from late April to early May. Starts with Greenery Day on April 29 and ends with Children’s Day on May 5. Avoid calling it holiday-studded. Write in quotes as “Golden Week” in headlines and at first reference in the text and then without the quotes.

good, bad

For financial and commodity markets good news and bad news depends on who you are and what your position is in the market. Avoid them.

goodbye

Not good bye or goodby.

goodwill

Noun and adjective.

gorilla

Gorilla is the animal. Guerrilla, not guerilla, is a member of a small band of independent fighers which harasses an army.

gourmand, gourmet

A gourmand is a glutton, a gourmet an epicure.

Gospel

Capitalise for a specific reference to the books of the New Testament, the Gospels, the Gospel of St Luke. Lower case for gospel music.

governance

Other than in the expression corporate governance, meaning the rules governing the conduct of companies’ affairs, this is often used to mean simply government, which is preferable.

Government Accountability Office (U.S.)

Formerly the General Accounting Office .Can be abbreviated to GAO in headlines or at second reference.

governor-general, governors-general

Note hyphen

graffiti

Scribbling on a wall. This is a plural noun. The singular is graffito.

gram

Not gramme. For kilogram use kg (no full stop, same singular and plural) at all references. Convert to ounces for weights up to 400 grams, to pounds for larger weights. To convert to ounces roughly divide grams by 30, precisely multiply by 0.035. To convert grams to pounds roughly multiply by two and divide by 900, precisely multiply by 0.0022.

grammar

a, an: Use a before a word that begins with the sound of a consonant, e.g. a gun, a historian, a hotel, a hysterectomy, a NATO member, a one-armed man, a U.N. member. Use an before a word that begins with the sound of a vowel, e.g. an heir, an honour, an OPEC member.

adjectives: Use them sparingly. Avoid adjectives that imply a Reuters judgment, e.g. a hard-line speech, a glowing tribute, a staunch conservative. Some people might consider the speech moderate, the tribute fulsome or the conservative a die-hard reactionary. When using an adjective and a noun together as an adjective, hyphenate them, e.g. a blue-chip share, high-caste Hindus. When using an adjective and the past participle of a verb together adjectivally, hyphenate them, e.g. old-fashioned morality, rose-tinted spectacles. Do not hyphenate an adverb and adjective when they stand alone, e.g. The artist was well known. If the adverb and adjective are paired to form a new adjective, they are hyphenated, e.g. a well-known artist. Do not do this if the adverb ends in -ly, e.g. a poorly planned operation.

adverbs: Put the adverb between the auxiliary verb and the past participle, e.g. France has already refused... not France already has refused ...as, like: as compares verbs, like compares nouns. He fought as a hero should. But: He acted like a hero.

collective nouns: Most collective nouns and names of countries, governments, organisations and companies are followed by singular verbs and singular neuter pronouns, e.g. The government, which is studying the problem, said it... not The government, who are studying the problem, said they.. Exceptions are the police (police are), the couple (the couple are), and sports stories, teams take plural verbs and pronouns.

neither: Used on its own it always takes a singular verb. Neither is available.

neither ... nor: Can govern only two elements e.g. Neither Norway nor Sweden voted. Do not write Neither Norway, Sweden nor Denmark voted. If both elements are singular use a singular verb, e.g. Neither France nor Germany welcomes the prospect. If one element is singular and one plural then the verb agrees with the noun nearest to it. e.g. Neither the players nor the referee is fit. Neither Joe nor his parents were able to come. Always use neither ... nor… Do not use neither…or. Always use not ... or. Do not use not…nor.

participles: There are cases in which an unattached participle is acceptable, e.g. Considering the risks involved, you were right to cancel the trip. Although it is not you who is considering the risks but the writer of the sentence, the sense is clear. But avoid the unattached participle when it makes the sentence absurd, e.g.: Having disarmed, Ruritania’s allies guaranteed its defence. Here the participle having disarmed is wrongly attached to the allies when in fact it is Ruritania that has disarmed. Fetching anything between $16,000 and $40,000, only about 2,500 women around the world can afford to buy haute couture dresses. The juxtaposition of fetching and women suggests it is the women not the dresses who are worth $16,000.

split infinitive: Avoid splitting infinitives unless the alternative is an unnatural word order. The president vowed to ruthlessly crush all armed opposition reads better than ruthlessly to crush or to crush ruthlessly.

that, which: Use that in defining clauses, e.g. the cup that cheers. Reserve which for informative clauses, e.g. the cup, which was blue, was full of water. Avoid the unnecessary use of that as in He said that he was going to ...

who, whom: who is the subject, whom the object of a verb. As a rough guide as to which word to use, substitute he or him for the who or whom and see which makes sense. But we should follow common usage and be ready to use who as the object where this sounds and looks more natural, e.g. Who she met at the midnight rendezvous was not yet known.

granddad, granddaughter

Similarly grandmother, grandfather, grandson.

grand jury

In the U.S. judicial system a grand jury's main function is to review evidence presented by a prosecutor and determine whether there is probable cause to return an indictment. Under the constitution, a grand jury indictment is required for federal criminal charges. Only about half of the states' judicial systems use grand juries. See U.S. courts

Grand Prix

Capitalise in the title of a race or event, e.g. Monaco Grand Prix, but lower case generally, e.g. Michael Schumacher won his first grand prix. The plural is grands prix.

grand slam

Lower case in description of tennis tournaments.

grass court

Two words as an adjective plus noun, e.g. Wimbledon’s grass courts are famous, but one word as an adjective, grasscourt tournament.

Great Britain

Comprises England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom comprises Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In sports reporting use Britain. See United Kingdom

great-

Hyphenate great-grandfather, great-grandmother, great-great-grandson etc.

grey, but gray in American style

grievous

grisly, grizzly

grisly means ghastly, grizzly means grey-haired. A grizzly is also a kind of North American bear.

gross domestic product

May be expressed as GDP in a headline and at first reference, but copy should spell out the full explanantion at second reference. It is the total monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country. GDP does not include income from overseas investments and earnings or from remittances from nationals working abroad. Use in preference to GNP. Usually referred to in the context of GDP growth in percent. Often just called economic growth, but this term needs to be spelled out. GDP per capita may be used to compare countries.

ground rules

Rules that apply in particular circumstances, not general or basic rules.

gross national product

The total value of goods and services produced by an economy, including income from overseas investments and remittances from nationals working abroad.

grovel, grovelled

grow

Farmers grow crops. Companies do not grow revenues.

gruelling

A cliche best avoided.

guerrilla, gorilla

Guerrilla, not guerilla, is a member of a small band of independent fighters which harasses an army. Gorilla is the animal.

guest

Do not use as a verb.

Gulf

Use for the Middle East Gulf. Do not use Arabian or Persian Gulf. Write the Gulf of Mexico in full at first reference.

gully, not gulley

Cricket fielding position.

gunwale

Gurkha

guttural

Gypsy

Do not use when referring to the Roma people. See Roma. Do not capitalise when used generically to describe someone who is constantly on the move, e.g. She led the life of a gypsy.

Category: The Reuters General Style Guide