The Guardian style guide Introduction

South African encampment lager beer

Bin Laden on second reference. Note: Bin Laden has been stripped of his Saudi citizenship, so can be described as Saudi-born but not as a Saudi. His organisation is known as al-Qaida (“the Base”)

not Baroness

Shostakovich opera, traditionally misspelt in the Guardian as Mtensk, with occasional variations such as Mtsenk

Islamic holy day

Islamic holy day, time for study and prayer

not italicised

state of Federal German Republic; use state, eg Hesse, the German state

government department that registers title to land in England and Wales

Canadian singer

defunct Liverpool rock band; keep apostrophe (abbreviation for Lads)

plural lassoes

often redundant since context will inform the reader: “They will meet this month” rather than “They will meet later this month”

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).

like this: 21 deg 14 min S

may be female: we don’t say “law ladies”

plural laybys

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

(cricket)

not learnt, unless you are writing old-fashioned poetry (he learned his tables, a message well learned)

nouns leftwing adjective; hard left, old left

in camera is now known as in secret and in chambers in private; a writ is a claim form and a plaintiff a claimaint; leave to appeal is permission to appeal

named after an outbreak at a conference of American Legionnaires

do not use: these days the term is regarded as inappropriate and stigmatising; prefer people affected by or people with leprosy

less means smaller in quantity, eg less money; fewer means smaller in number, eg fewer coins

nouns let down, let up verbs

plural librettos

noun license verb

plural lieder

but adjective Liégeois

abbreviate on second mention to Col or Gen: Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Mackay, subsequently Col Mackay, etc

a measure of distance, not time

not likeable

never use the former to mean the latter: “it looks as if he's finished” not “it looks like he's finished”

Like excludes; such as includes: “Cities like Manchester are wonderful” suggests the writer has in mind, say, Sheffield or Birmingham; she actually means “cities such as Manchester”

he is likely to win or he will very likely win, not “he will likely win” — if you want to use that form, say “he will probably win”

not liquify

means clear or transparent, not limp

not lynchpin

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

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”

of London; names lc

bank
Lord Lloyd-Webber

but Andrew Lloyd Webber
loan

noun; the verb is lend

detest loth unwilling, not loath

nouns lock in, lock out verbs

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”

use Derry and Co Derry

official name of the millennium wheel

like this: 149 deg 18 min E

adjective, as in longtime companion

the government announced in 2003 that this post would be abolished and the Lord Chancellor's Department replaced by the Department for Constitutional Affairs

no hyphen, plural lords lieutenant

but the house, not the House; their lordships

cricket ground

but Lotto and National Lottery Commission

not loveable

plural, lowlifes, not lowlives (for an explanation, see chapter six of Steven Pinker's Words and Rules)

(Northern Ireland)

a silly cliche; do not use

the country Luxembourgeois its inhabitants

TM; the briefly fashionable term “lycra louts”let to complaints from the Lycra lawyers

no hyphens

US rock band (named after a man called Leonard Skinner)

not Lyons