Guardian and Observer style guide: L (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
laager
South African encampment; lager beer
labour movement
Labour party
La Coruña
Spanish port
Lady Gaga
remains Lady Gaga on second and subsequent mentions
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Shostakovich opera, usually misspelt in the Guardian as Mtensk, with occasional variations such as Mtsenk
Lady Thatcher
(and other ladies) not Baroness
lag
pipes are lagged; other things lag behind
LaGuardia
New York airport
Lai Ching-te
president of Taiwan. You can mention that he is sometimes also known as William Lai
laid-back
He is laid-back, she is a laid-back boss
Lailat al-Miraj
Islamic holy day; Lailat al-Qadr Islamic holy day, time for study and prayer
laissez-faire
not laisser
Lake District
or the Lakes or Lakeland. Note that, with the exception of Bassenthwaite Lake, bodies of water in the Lake District do not have “lake” in their names (eg Buttermere, Derwent Water, Ullswater, Windermere)
lakes
capital L: Lake Baikal, Lake Erie, etc
lamb’s lettuce, lamb’s wool
lamp-post
lance corporal
Land
state of the Federal German Republic: we normally call them states, eg “the German state of Hesse”
landmark
overused as an adjective, randomly strewn through stories, perhaps as an alternative to flagship
landmine
Land Registry
government department that registers title to land in England and Wales; the Scottish equivalent is Registers of Scotland
Land Rover
Land’s End
but the clothing firm is Lands’ End
kd lang
Canadian singer
Laos
officially the Lao People’s Democratic Republic; the language is Lao
lapdancer, lapdancing
Lappland
the northernmost province of Sweden. Finland has a county called Lapland. However, do not use the name to refer to the cultural region of the Indigenous Sami people, which extends across national boundaries and they call Sápmi. It is considered offensive. Please reserve the terms Lappland/Lapland to refer, where necessary, to those exact regions in Sweden and Finland and not to the wider area
laptop
La Rambla preferable to Las Ramblas
Large Hadron Collider Take great care over the spelling of Hadron
largesse
larva
(plural larvae) insects; lava volcanic magma, lamp; laverbread cooked seaweed
La’s, the
defunct Liverpool rock band; keep apostrophe (abbreviation for Lads)
lasagne
laser
word dating from 1960 formed from the phrase “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”, and an example of why not all acronyms need to be capped up
lasso
noun (plural lassos) and verb: you lasso a horse with a lasso
last or past?
interchangeable in such phrases as “six times in the last week”, “twice in the past year”.
But last means “most recent” in this sentence:
“United have beaten Wednesday five times in their last six meetings”
whereas past refers to the past as a whole in this sentence:
“United have beaten Wednesday five times in their past six meetings” (suggesting they have only ever played each other six times)
Last Night of the Proms
last post
last rites
are given, not “read” (although someone might read you your rights if you were being arrested)
later
often redundant as context will inform the reader: “They will meet this month” rather than “They will meet later this month”
late-term abortion is a medically inaccurate term. Use later abortion or second- or third-trimester abortion instead, or put it in quote marks if quoting someone.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum if writing out in full, or Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum. Princess Latifa is sufficient in furniture and on first mention, followed by Latifa on subsequent mentions
Latin
“Away with him! Away with him! He speaks Latin” (Shakespeare, Henry VI Part 2)
Some people object to, say, the use of “decimate” to mean destroy on the grounds that in ancient Rome it meant to kill every 10th man; some of them are also likely to complain about so-called split infinitives, a prejudice that goes back to 19th-century Latin teachers who argued that as you can’t split infinitives in Latin (they are one word) you shouldn’t separate “to” from the verb in English. Others might even get upset about our alleged misuse of grammatical “case” (including cases such as dative and genitive that no longer exist in English).
As our publications are written in English, rather than Latin, do not worry about any of this even slightly
Latino/Latina
someone from Latin America. Latinx, a gender-neutral alternative, is not widely accepted and we should only use it if an individual or organisation prefers to identify themselves that way
latitude
like this: 21 deg 14 min S
latter
Use only in contrast with former. Saying an item is “the latter” of more than two things is not only annoying but wrong. In such cases, it should be “the last”
launderette
but Stephen Frears’ 1985 film was My Beautiful Laundrette
Sergei Lavrov
not Sergey Lavrov is the Russian foreign minister
law lords
formerly “lords of appeal in ordinary”, they became justices of the supreme court when it was established in 2009.
They are referred to as Lord Sumption, Lady Hale etc (and not “Lord Justice” or “Lady Justice”, titles applied to court of appeal judges).
Note that the former Lord Justice Leveson is now Sir Brian Leveson. He is president of the Queen’s Bench division of the high court
lawsuit
lay bare
(revealed) past tense laid, not lay: so “almost a decade after the genome project lay bare ...” should have read “laid bare”
layby
plural laybys
layperson
avoid layman
lay off
does not mean to sack or make redundant, but to send workers home on part pay because of a temporary lack of demand for their product
lay waste
a hurricane can lay waste an island, or lay an island waste, but it does not lay it to waste or lay waste to it (the word comes from the same root as devastate)
lbw
leg before wicket
lc
abbreviation for lowercase
Lea or Lee?
the River Lea flows to the Thames; the Lee Navigation canal incorporates part of it; the Lee Valley park is the site for much of the 2012 Olympic development
leach or leech?
leach (verb): percolate, remove with a percolating liquid
leech (noun): a bloodsucking worm, or used figuratively to describe, say, bankers
Lead Belly
(1888-1949) US musician, real name Huddie Ledbetter
leader of the house
or leader of the Commons
Learjet
learned
not learnt, unless you are writing old-fashioned poetry (he learned his tables, a message well learned, etc)
learning disabilities
rather than learning difficulties, unless referring to education
least bad
is the least bad option, rather than “least worst”
leave, leaver, leave campaign
for those in favour of the UK leaving the EU, note lower case; see remain
Lebanon
no definite article
le Carré, John retain the lower case l on subsequent mentions
Le Corbusier
Swiss-French architect (1887-1955), real name Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris
led or lead?
In all but the present tense, the verb form is led. This does not stop otherwise normal, sensible people writing things like “he was lead to the slaughter” or “the singing will be lead by Cliff Richard”. If this is just a slip of the keyboard, it’s a frequent slip
the left, left wing, leftwinger, lefty, lefties, hard left, soft left, old left
nouns; leftwing adjective
left field, left-field
two words as a noun: “this idea comes out of left field”
hyphenated as an adjective: “a left-field idea”
legal highs are now illegal in the UK, which makes them novel psychoactive substances (NPSs), or for variation you could call them formerly legal highs
Legal Services Commission
responsible for legal aid in England and Wales; in Scotland it is the Scottish Legal Aid Board
legal terms
In England and Wales, in camera is now known as in secret and in chambers in private; a writ is a claim form and a plaintiff a claimant; leave to appeal is permission to appeal. Since the Children Act 1989, access has been known as contact and custody is known as residence; do not use the older terms
legend, legendary
Johnny Cash, say, may be a country music legend, but he is not legendary; the adjective is better reserved for mythical figures or events that have perhaps grown exaggerated in the telling: King Arthur was a legendary figure, Oliver Reed’s alcohol consumption was legendary, etc
Légion d’honneur
legionnaires’ disease
named after an outbreak at a conference of American Legionnaires
Leibovitz, Annie
US photographer
lent
past tense of lend; we sometimes misspell it as “leant” as in “a gritty drama, leant added authenticity by Jean Tournier’s monochrome photography ... “
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo on second mention; “da Vinci” refers to the Vinci district near Florence – it is not his surname
lepers
a term now regarded as inappropriate and stigmatising; say people with leprosy or, if they are being treated, leprosy patients. For figurative uses, outcasts is a good alternative
Lesbos
not Lesvos
lese-majesty
less or fewer?
less means smaller in quantity, eg less money; fewer means smaller in number, eg fewer coins.
This is not just about supermarket signs that say “7 items or less”: it can make a real difference in meaning. These statements all say something different:
For less bad things to happen, fewer bad people need to be involved.
For fewer bad things to happen, less bad people need to be involved.
For fewer bad things to happen, fewer bad people need to be involved.
For less bad things to happen, less bad people need to be involved.
Note also the difference between “do you have less able children in your class?” (children who are less able) and “do you have fewer able children in your class?” (not so many able ones)
letdown, letup
nouns
let down, let up
verbs
level crossing
levelling up no need for quotation marks, or for a hyphen in phrases such as the levelling up secretary, levelling up policies
Leveson, Sir Brian
president of the Queen’s Bench Division; no longer Lord Justice Leveson (and he never was “Lord Leveson”)
Levi’s
jeans; the company is Levi Strauss
Lévi-Strauss, Claude
(1908-2009) French anthropologist
Lévy, Bernard-Henri
French philosopher
LGBTQ+ preferred abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other identities; it is not normally necessary to spell it out
liaise, liaison
Lib Dems
for Liberal Democrats after first mention and in headlines
libra lower case for the proposed currency, which is overseen by the Libra Association
libretto
plural librettos
licence or license?
In British English, licence is the noun and license the verb. So you need a licence to run a licensed bar, or you may need to visit the off-licence
Liechtenstein
lie
(tell an untruth), past tense lied.
lie (down), past tense lay: he lay there for an hour.
lay (a table, an egg, put something down), past tense laid
lied
German musical setting for a poem, plural lieder
Liège
but the adjective is Liégeois
lifeguard, lifejacket, lifelong, lifesize
lift
Do not use as a verb to mean increase; the headline “Bank should lift interest rate next month” suggests that the Bank is going to remove interest rates altogether
lightbulb
lightening or lightning? Your hair may be lightening in colour, but that electrical stuff in the sky is lightning
lighthearted
lightsaber
as in the official Jedi spelling
light year
a measure of distance, not time; Buzz Lightyear
likable
not likeable
like or as if?
Using like as a preposition (“ride like the wind”) is uncontroversial. Using it as a conjunction, introducing a clause that contains a verb (“ride like you’re riding a motorbike”, “he behaved like he was drunk”) will annoy many readers.
The simple way to keep everyone happy is to use like when the verb is followed by a noun (“he ran like a gazelle”) and as if when the verb is followed by a clause (“he ran as if he had seen a ghost”).
Ogden Nash pointed out that it’s As You Like It, not Like You Like It, although Shakespeare in fact did use like as a conjunction
like or such as?
“Cities like Manchester are wonderful” suggests the writer has in mind, say, Sheffield or Birmingham; it’s clearer to say “cities such as Manchester” if that is what she means.
Do not, however, automatically change “like” to “such as” - the following appeared in the paper: “He is not a celebrity, such as Jesse Ventura, the former wrestler ... “
likely
In the UK, if not the US, using likely in such contexts as “they will likely win the game” sounds unnatural at best; there is no good reason to use it instead of probably. If you really must do so, however, just put very, quite or most in front of it and all will, very likely, be well.
lilliputian
lilo
something you take to the beach to lie or float on; LiLo Lindsay Lohan
Limited
Ltd is preferable
limpid
means clear or transparent, not limp
linchpin
not lynchpin
lineup, lineout
(as nouns)
link
(noun) takes the reader to a related reference on the Guardian or the web; (verb) to insert such a reference into an article or blog
LinkedIn
social networking site aimed at business people
lip-sync, lip-syncing
liquefy
not liquify
liquorice
not licorice
listed buildings
In England and Wales, Grade I-listed (note cap G, roman numeral I) buildings are of exceptional interest; Grade II* are particularly important buildings of more than special interest; Grade II are of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland these categories are replaced by the more logical Grade A, Grade B and Grade C
lists
1 Similar to bullet points.
2 Like this.
3 With no full points after the number.
literally
a term used, particularly by sports commentators, to denote an event that is not literally true, as in “Manchester City literally came back from the dead”
See ironic, ironically
Liu Xiaobo
Chinese winner of the 2010 Nobel peace prize
livable
not liveable
live blog
noun; liveblog verb
live stream
noun; livestream verb
Liverpool John Lennon
airport
Livingston is in West Lothian; Livingstone, in Zambia
living wage
as advocated by the Living Wage Foundation and paid by some employers; it is important to differentiate this from the “national living wage” (in quotes at first mention), introduced by George Osborne in the 2015 budget to replace the minimum wage for workers over 24
Lloret de Mar
not del Mar
Lloyd’s of London
Lloyd’s names are lc; Lloyds TSB bank
Lloyd Webber or Lloyd-Webber?
Andrew Lloyd Webber at first mention, Lord Lloyd-Webber (with hyphen) at second mention, thereafter Lloyd Webber
llywydd the speaker of the Senedd in Wales
loan
noun; the verb is lend
loathe
(rhymes with clothe) detest; loth (rhymes with oath) reluctant: “I’m loth to do anything he says because I loathe him so much.”
You sometimes see loth spelt as loath, which is not incorrect, butonly adds to the confusion with loathe
lobby
requires great care: unless you are writing about, say, the parliamentary lobby or US lobby system, it will at best sound vague and patronising, and at worst pejorative or offensive (“the Jewish lobby”). If you are talking about specific pressure groups, say who they are
local
a pub, not a person: talk about local people rather than “locals”
loch
Scottish; lough Irish. In either case, capital L in the name: Loch Ness (but Loch Ness monster), Lough Neagh. In Scotland lake is only used for one natural body of water, the Lake of Menteith, and a few artificial lakes
Lockerbie bombing
in December 1988 killed 270 people; the two Libyans eventually put on trial for murder were Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifah Fhimah. Megrahi was convicted in 2001 and jailed for 27 years, but was released in 2009; his co-accused was acquitted
lock-in, lockout
nouns; lock in, lock out verbs
logbook, logjam
log in, log on, log out, log off
verbs
login, logon
nouns (“I’ve forgotten my login/logon”)
London
Surprising as it may be to some London-based journalists, most of our readers do not work or live in the capital (or, indeed, the UK). So give location, not just name: ie King’s Cross, north London, not just King’s Cross; there is a Victoria station in Manchester as well as in London, so make clear which one you mean
London assembly
elected body of 25 members whose role is to hold the mayor of London to account. Together, assembly and mayor constitute the Greater London authority (GLA); note there is no such organisation as the “Greater London assembly”
London boroughs and counties
Parts of the traditional counties of Essex, Middlesex, Kent and Surrey that are close to London retain the county link in their postal address (eg Bromley, Kent), even when they are administratively part of a London borough (eg the London borough of Bromley), and represented in the London assembly. This leads to inconsistencies, as when we refer to “Chingford, Essex” in one story and “Chingford, east London” in another.
It is hard to be totally consistent - the preferences even of people who live in such places may vary (according to how long they have lived there, for example).
In general, use London rather than the traditional counties - Ilford, east London; Bexley, south-east London, etc - unless a group or organisation specifically includes a county designation in its title
Londonderry
use Derry and County Derry (first mention, thereafter Co Derry)
London Eye
official name of the millennium wheel
London School of Economics
abbreviated to LSE after first mention
London Stock Exchange
is also abbreviated to LSE, and there is no real way round this (especially for headlines); the context should make clear which we are talking about
London Transport Users Committee
lone wolf
please don’t use this term to refer to lone killers or lone terrorists. It is acceptable to leave it in a direct quote
Long-Bailey, Rebecca
Long Island iced tea
longitude
like this: 149 deg 18 min E
longlist, shortlist
longsighted, shortsighted
longstanding, longsuffering
longtime
adjective, as in longtime companion
look to
is used too often in place of hope to or expect to
looking-glass
loophole
An unintended ambiguity or inadequacy in a set of rules that is later exploited. Do not use to describe provisions that were intentionally put into legislation
lord advocate the most senior law officer in Scotland
lord chancellor
post was abolished in 2003, then reprieved; but the Lord Chancellor’s Department was replaced by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, which in 2007 was absorbed into the new Ministry of Justice, at which point the lord chancellor also became secretary of state for justice
lord chief justice
Lord Haw-Haw
Nazi radio propagandist, real name William Joyce, hanged for treason in 1946
lord lieutenant
plural lord lieutenants: they are lieutenants, not lords (just as lord mayors are mayors, not lords). They are the representatives of the Crown in regional areas of the UK
Lords, House of Lords
but the house, not the House; their lordships
Lord’s
cricket ground
lottery, national lottery
but Lotto and National Lottery Commission
Lothario
cap up, whether you’re referring to the literary character, or those in real life who resemble him
Louis CK
is a stage name so he should not be referred to as CK on second mention. Either refer to him as Louis CK throughout, or say somewhere “Louis CK, real name Louis Székely” and then refer to him as Székely on second mention.
lovable
not loveable
Love’s Labour’s Lost
lowlife
plural lowlifes, not lowlives (for an eloquent explanation, see Steven Pinker’s Words and Rules)
loyalists
(Northern Ireland)
Ltd
preferable to Limited
luddite
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
president of Brazil 2003-10; normally known simply as Lula
lumpenproletariat
lunar new year
avoid Chinese new year
lunchtime
Lundy
not Lundy Island
luvvies
a silly cliche, best avoided
Luxembourgers
live in Luxembourg
luxuriant
lush; luxurious expensive
“He had his luxuriant moustache waxed at the most luxurious salon in Bootle”
LVMH
the luxury goods firm is, in full, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
Lycra
TM; the briefly fashionable term “lycra louts” led to complaints from the Lycra lawyers
lying in state
no hyphens
Lynyrd Skynyrd
late US rock band (named after a man called Leonard Skinner)
Lyon
not Lyons
lyrics
As with poetry, run song lyrics line by line if space permits:
Do you really want to hurt me?
Do you really want to make me cry?
If you don’t have room to do this, separate the lines with spaces and a slash:
Sex and drugs and rock’n’roll / Is all my brain and body need. / Sex and drugs and rock’n’roll / Are very good indeed.
Italics are acceptable, though not essential