Guardian and Observer style guide: K (original) (raw)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Illustration: Jakob Hinrichs
Ka’bah
cube-shaped shrine in the centre of the great mosque in Mecca towards which all Muslims face in prayer; the shrine is not worshipped but used as the focal point of the worship of God
Kabbalah
Kadazan-Dusun
two culturally linked indigenous peoples in Sabah, Malaysia; Kadazandusun their language
kaffir lime
use makrut lime instead; note that it is makrut and not, as Wikipedia has it, makrud. Used in south-east Asian cooking and to flavour drinks
kafir
derogatory Arabic term for infidel or unbeliever; the plural is kuffar
Kaiser Chiefs
band from Leeds (no “the”); Kaizer Chiefs football club from Soweto
Kaiser Wilhelm II
last German emperor and king of Prussia
Kajagoogoo
80s band best known for their silly haircuts and No 1 hit Too Shy. The never-ending story resumed in 2009 when they reformed for a tour
Kaká
Brazilian footballer
Kanye West is fine for your headline and first mention, but please then note that he has changed his name to Ye and thereafter call him Ye
kapok
Kara Suu
(not Korasuv) town in Uzbekistan
Kashmir
adjective Kashmiri; but cashmere fabric
Kasparov, Garry
former world chess champion, born in Azerbaijan in 1963
Kathmandu
capital of Nepal
Kazakhstan
noun, Kazakhstani adjective. Kazakh refers to a particular ethnic group in Kazakhstan and elsewhere, and a language
KC king’s counsel. One of those lawyers who were for so long known as QCs
kebabs
a doner kebab is made using meat from a rotating spit; shish kebabs are made from skewered cubes of meat
Keir Hardie, James
(1856-1915) first leader of the Labour party
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes
but cornflakes in general
Kentish man, Kentish maid
born west of the river Medway; man of Kent, maid of Kent born east of the river Medway
key
a useful headline word, but overused
Keynes
If you need to pronounce them, John Maynard Keynes is Kaynz, Milton Keynes is Keenz
keyring
key stage 1, 2
etc (education)
keywords
used when searching for a specific item on the web: for example, putting the keywords “guardian” and “styleguide” into Google will help a user find the Guardian style guide online
KFC
not Kentucky Fried Chicken
K-For
stands for Kosovo Force, the Nato peacekeepers who entered Kosovo in June 1999 (and were still there 15 years later)
Khachaturian, Aram
(1903-78) Armenian composer
Khartoum
khaki
Khan Younis
not Khan Yunis, for the city in Gaza
khat
not qat
Khrushchev, Nikita
(1894-1971) Soviet leader
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
one of the four provinces of Pakistan, formerly known as North-West Frontier province
kibbutz
plural kibbutzim. Kibbutzim are intentional communities (not always farms). The Be’eri kibbutz (for example) is preferred, with lowercase k, to Kibbutz Be’eri
kibosh
kick-off
noun; kick off verb
kickstart
noun or verb
Kilimanjaro
not Mount Kilimanjaro
kilograms, kilojoules, kilometres, kilowatts
abbreviate as kg, kJ, km, kW
kilowatt hours
abbreviate like this: 10kWh
Kim Keon Hee the South Korean first lady
King Charles III or King Charles at first mention, thereafter King Charles, the king or Charles. If it is necessary to say so, he is his majesty or HM, never HRH
King Edward
potatoes
king’s birthday honours list
King’s College, Cambridge
comma
King’s College London
no comma
King’s Cross
London
Kings Cross
Sydney
King’s Lynn
Kings Place
home of the Guardian, Observer and theguardian.com; a building in King’s Cross, north London (it wasn’t our idea to leave out the apostrophe)
Kings Road
a road in Chelsea, west London; try not to call it “the Kings Road”; no apostrophe, although until 1830 it was a private royal road
king’s speech
Kingston upon Hull
normally just Hull
Kingston upon Thames
Kirkcaldy
not Kirkaldy, a town in Fife, not Fyfe
kir royal
kiss’n’tell
kissogram
Kitemark
TM on items approved by the British Standards Institution
KitKat
chocolate; there is a KitKatClub in Berlin, named after the fictional Kit Kat Klub in the musical Cabaret
kiwifruit sometimes called kiwis, which are not the same as Kiwis (see entry below)
Kiwis New Zealanders or New Zealand people is preferable, unless quoting people or referring to the New Zealand rugby league team, who are called the Kiwis. The plural of the native bird is Kiwi
KLF
the KLF (thought to stand for “Kopyright Liberation Front”) are perhaps best known for burning £1m and deleting their entire back catalogue. They also recorded as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and the Timelords, who had a No 1 hit with Doctorin’ the Tardis
km/h
kilometres an hour (not kph)
kneejerk
reaction
knell or knoll?
A knell is the sound of a bell, hence “death knell”. A bell can be knelled, as well as tolled. A knoll is a small hill, not necessarily grassy
knife-edge
Knightley, Keira
knockout
noun; knock out verb
knots
measure of nautical miles per hour; do not say knots per hour
knowhow
knowledgable
koala
not koala bear
Koh-i-noor
diamond
koi
not “koi carp”
Kolkata
formerly Calcutta
Korea
It’s fine to call North Korea and South Korea “the North” and “the South” in stories about both; Pyongyang and Seoul are useful alternatives
Korean names
like Hong Kong and Taiwanese names, Korean names are generally written in two parts with a hyphen, eg Kim Jong-il, Kim Dae-jung; on second mention they become Kim, etc (except in leading articles: Mr Kim, etc). Some people, however, notably the president and first lady, Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim Keon Hee (Yoon and Kim on second mention), prefer to do away with the hyphen. We should follow people’s personal preferences when we know of them
Kosovo, Kosovans
the adjective is Kosovan, not Kosovar
kowtow
Krajina
not the Krajina
Krakatoa, East of Java
Despite this 1969 film title, note that Krakatoa is, in fact, west of Java. (Unless you go round the – very – long way)
krav maga
lc; form of combat/self-defence
krona
plural kronor (Sweden); krona plural kronur (Iceland); krone plural kroner (Denmark); krone plural kroner (Norway)
krugerrands
Ku Klux Klan
kukri
Gurkha knife
kung fu
KwaZulu-Natal
Kwik Fit
Kyiv not Kiev; but chicken kiev
Kyrgyzstan
adjective Kyrgyz
Kyrie Eleison