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Contents 1 NAACP 2 NAFTA 3 names 4 Nanjing 5 nano- 6 naphtha 7 NASA 8 nation 9 National Guard 10 national names 11 nationalities 12 national security adviser 13 nationwide 14 Native American 15 NATO 16 naught, nought 17 nauseous, nauseated 18 nautical mile 19 naval, navel 20 nave, knave 21 navy 22 nearby, near by 23 negatives 24 neither, nor 25 NEPAD 26 Nepali 27 nerve-racking 28 Netherlands 29 nevertheless 30 new 31 news conference 32 New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day 33 newspaper titles 34 nicknames 35 nighttime 36 Nissan, Nissen 37 Nobel Prize, Nobel Prizes 38 noisome, noisy 39 no man’s land 40 no one 41 nobility 42 non- 43 none 44 nonetheless 45 Nordic countries 46 normalcy 47 Northern Ireland 48 notable 49 noted 50 now 51 nowadays 52 nuclear power 53 numbers 54 numerous 55 numskull

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (U.S.)

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement. A trade pact between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

names

See personal names, proper names, courtesy titles, nobility, religious titles, royalty.

Nanjing

Not Nanking, China.

nano-

Prefix for one-billionth of a unit.

naphtha

Not naptha.

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (U.S.). At first reference a form like the U.S. space agency NASA is acceptable. See www.nasa.gov

nation

Do not write the nation’s when you are referring to a specific country. Be specific – Britain’s largest airport or Germany’s largest airport. The nation’s capital is an American cliché for Washington. We should use the U.S. capital.

National Guard

Stories from the United States filed to the rest of the world should explain that this is a militia force. In American style, capitalize for U.S. or state forces, the National Guard, Kansas National Guard. Lower case for the national guards of other countries.

national names

You need not specify a minister’s nationality in the first paragraph of a story that names the country and comes from a dateline in that country. Under a Washington dateline, for example, write: Secretary of State Joan Smith said on Friday the United States would... not U.S. Secretary of State Joan Smith said on Friday the United States would ... There is likewise no need to specify the nationality of groups that obviously are of the nationality of the country datelined. Under an Athens dateline it is Police arrested not Greek police arrested.

nationalities

Nationalities are written out in full and not abbreviated in stories and in sports results. The only exception is U.S. for United States. Use Britain and British (not United Kingdom or Great Britain). Use The Netherlands (not Holland) and Taiwan (not Chinese Taipei). Distinguish between North and South Korea.

national security adviser

Not an official title: lower case.

nationwide

Rarely necessary in the phrase nationwide broadcast. If a head of state or government goes on television or radio we can assume the broadcast is nationwide. Specify if it is not.

Native American

The preferred term, bearing in mind that it includes e.g. Inuit who are not Indians. American Indian is acceptable. Where possible, be more specific and give the name of the tribe (eg. Navajo, Cherokee). See race

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Brussels), the Western military alliance founded in 1949. The initials may be used by themselves at first reference with the full name given lower in the story. www.nato.int

naught, nought

You come to naught, or set a naught. Nought is the number zero.

nauseous, nauseated

Nauseous is the same as nauseant, producing nausea. Nauseated is sickened. Only very objectionable people are nauseous. Ordinary people are much more likely to be nauseated.

nautical mile

1,852 metres or 1.1515 statute miles. Do not convert the nautical mile used for fishing limits, by ships when reporting distances at sea and by NASA and others reporting space shots. If using nautical miles in space stories, make this clear in text. See also knot.

naval, navel

Naval is pertaining to warships or a navy. Navel belongs to the centre of the abdomen.

nave, knave

Nave is the main part of a church. A knave is a false, deceitful person.

navy

International style is to capitalise if the word appears in the formal title, the British Navy or the Royal Navy, otherwise lower case. In American style, capitalise for U.S. Navy, lower case for other navies.

nearby, near by

Nearby is an adjective, the nearby town. Near by is an adverb. We stayed near by.

negatives

These can be troublesome, for instance if the word not is dropped in a sentence or mutilated to now. Try to avoid using not where other forms can be found, e.g.: decided against rather than decided not to … unnecessary rather than not necessary … declined to comment rather than would not comment. Try to avoid officialese euphemisms containing the word negative, e.g. negative growth is shrinking.

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.

NEPAD

New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Midrand, South Africa). An agency reporting to African Union leaders with the mission to strengthen Africa’s political and economic governance and mobilise external and African financial resources for the continent’s development. See www.nepad.org

Nepali

Not Nepalese as adjective.

nerve-racking

Netherlands

In text write the Netherlands, in datelines omit the article, e.g. ARNHEM, Netherlands, May 16 ...

nevertheless

new

Can often be omitted. Companies often announce that they will build a new plant. New is superfluous since, by definition, any plant being built must be new.

news conference

Preferred to press conference.

New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day

But good luck in the new year.

newspaper titles

Whatever the masthead says do not capitalise articles and particles in the names of English-language newspapers and magazines, e.g. the New York Times, the News of the World. The names of some non-English language newspapers begin with a word meaning the. In such cases write the newspaper O Globo/Le Monde/Die Welt not the O Globo/Le Monde/Die Welt newspaper.

nicknames

Use a nickname instead of a given name if that is the preference of the individual concerned, e.g. Tiger Woods.

nighttime

Nissan, Nissen

Nissan cars, Nissen hut.

Nobel Prize, Nobel Prizes

noisome, noisy

Noisome is disgusting to the sight or smell. Do not confuse with noisy, which offends the hearing.

no man’s land

Not no-man’s-land.

no one

Not noone or no-one.

nobility

Hereditary British nobility consists, in descending order of precedence, of dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts and barons. A few women are hereditary countesses or baronesses in their own right. Life peers, whose titles die with them, are also barons. If a well-known person is made a life peer or peeress, you may use their given names at first reference: Lord David Owen and Owen in subsequent references.

The nobility are known collectively as peers (and peeresses), not lords, although the upper house of Parliament is the House of Lords. Dukes get their full title at first reference, e.g. the Duke of Norfolk; second reference Norfolk or the duke. Never Lord Norfolk. His wife is the Duchess of Norfolk, the duchess, never Lady Norfolk.

Refer to all other peers simply as Lord So-and-So, whatever their precise title, and to their wives as Lady So-and-So. But more formal titles may also be used if desired, e.g. the Marquis of Zetland, Earl Cawdor, Viscount Boyd. Barons, whether hereditary or life peers, are always Lord So-and-So. At second reference simply So-and-So, Zetland, Cawdor, Boyd.

Hereditary or life peers, are always Lord So-and-So. At second reference simply So-and-So, Zetland, Cawdor, Boyd. The wife of an earl is a countess, of a viscount a viscountess and of a marquis a marchioness. The children of dukes and marquises and the daughters of earls have the courtesy title of lord or lady before their first names. Do not use the Honorable or the Hon. before the names of the untitled sons of peers.

Baronets (whose titles are hereditary) and knights (whose titles die with them) are known as Sir, e.g. Sir Reginald Barnett. At second reference Barnett. However if you had to distinguish between him and his wife, use Sir Reginald and Lady Barnett respectively. If he is a government minister the preferred style is Sir Reginald Barnett, British health minister, not British Health Minister Sir Reginald Barnett. His wife would be Lady Barnett, whether he was a baronet or a knight.

A dame, equivalent to a knight, is a woman honoured in her own right. At first reference Dame Judi Dench, then Dench.

non-

If the first element of a word is the negative non-, hyphenate, e.g. a non-aggression pact. But nonconformist.

none

As the subject of a sentence, this may be followed by either a singular or plural verb.

nonetheless

Nordic countries

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Scandinavia comprises only Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Because of the danger of confusion, list the countries even if you use Nordic or Scandinavia in a lead for the sake of brevity.

normalcy

Use normality.

Northern Ireland

Northern is always upper case. Never use Ulster except when quoting someone. The Irish Republican Army, which fought for years to oust Britain from Northern Ireland with an ultimate aim of reunifying the island of Ireland, may be referred to by its initials alone at first reference. It should not be described as a Catholic group. Describe Sinn Fein as the political ally of the IRA. Avoid the word paramilitary and use guerrillas, gunmen or bombers, depending on context. Do not use the word loyalists for Protestant guerrillas unless quoting someone.

notable

Not noteable.

noted

You can note only established facts, not claims or opinions. Avoid the word.

now

A strong and simple word that should always replace flabby phrases such as at the present time and at this time.

nowadays

nuclear power

Some frequently used terms:

becquerel -- Unit of radiation. Because a becquerel is very small, measurements may be in trillions of becquerels. If the term tera becquerel is used, say it means trillions.

criticality -- Point at which a nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining, producing a steady power output.

curie -- Unit measuring the rate at which substances lose radioactivity, or the number of disintegrations per second.

fission -- Process in which the nucleus of an atom is split in the core of a nuclear reactor. Other atoms are split in a chain reaction, releasing large amounts of energy. (The same process as in atomic bombs.) The rate of fission is controlled in a power plant by rods pushed into the core of the reactor, avoiding a runaway chain reaction. Fission increases when the control rods are raised, and the reactor shuts down when they are pushed in fully. The fuel is uranium. Heat created by fission is used to produce steam which drives turbo-generators.

fusion -- Brings atoms together and fuses their nuclei at high temperature to form a single large nucleus, releasing large amounts of energy. The process used in the H-bomb.

half-life -- The time it takes for half of a radioactive material to decay, or lose its radioactivity.

meltdown -- When a nuclear reactor’s core gets so overheated that the fuel melts, raising the possibility of a leakage of radiation.

plutonium -- An artificial metallic element formed from uranium and used as fuel in fast-breeder reactors. It forms as the isotope plutonium-239 but disintegrates to become uranium-235.

rad -- Unit that measures absorbed radiation.

radiation, radioactivity -- Radiation is energy emitted in the form of waves or particles when atomic nuclei disintegrate. Radioactivity is emitted in alpha, beta or gamma rays (the most dangerous) and neutrons. Measured by a Geiger counter. rem (roentgen equivalent man). Measurement of radiation absorbed by humans. An X-ray produces six or seven millirems.

roentgen -- Measurement of the radiation from X-rays or gamma rays.

sievert -- Measures dose of radiation absorbed by humans. One sievert is 100 rems.

uranium -- A radioactive metal. It is enriched by rapid spinning that separates uranium-235, the fuel for nuclear reactors, from uranium-238 (used to make plutonium).

numbers

See figures, fractions.

numerous

many is shorter, better.

numskull

Not numbskull.

Category: The Reuters General Style Guide

This page was last modified 16:43, 27 November 2010.