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J
joules
kJ
kilojoules
Jacuzzi
TM, named after its US inventors, Roy and Candido Jacuzzi; call it a whirlpool bath or spa bath unless you're sure it really is a Jacuzzi
jail
not gaol
al-Jazeera
jejune
naive, unsophisticated (not necessarily anything to do with being young)
jellaba
loose cloak with a hood, worn especially in north Africa and the Middle East
Jérez
jerry-builder
jewellery
jib
triangular sail or arm of a crane; “I don't like the cut of his jib" means you don't like the look or manner of someone
jibe
(not gibe)taunt
jihad
used by Muslims to describe three different kinds of struggle: an individual's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible; the struggle to build a good Muslim society; and the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary (holy war)
Jobcentre Plus
government agency that runs jobcentres
jobseeker's allowance
job titles
are all lc, editor of the Guardian, governor of the Bank of England, prime minister, etc
jodhpurs
Joe Public, John Doe
John O’Groats
Johns Hopkins University
not John Hopkins (one of our most frequent errors)
Johnson Matthey plc
metal specialist, not to be confused with Johnson Matthey Bank
jokey
not joky
Joneses
as in “keeping up with the Joneses”; also note “the Joneses’ house” (not the Jones’ house)
Jonsson, Ulrika
judgment
jumbo jet
Boeing 747
junior
abbreviate to Jr not Jun or Jnr, eg Sammy Davis Jr
just deserts
not just desserts, unless you are saying you only want pudding
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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
kapok
Kashmir
adjective Kashmiri; but cashmere fabric
Kathmandu
capital of Nepal
Kazakhstan
adjective Kazakh
Kefalonia
not Cephalonia
key
a useful headline word cheapened by tedious overuse
keyring
K-For
Nato peacekeeping force in Kosovo
khaki
Khachaturian, Aram
(1903-78) Armenian composer
Khrushchev, Nikita
(1894-1971) Soviet leader
kibbutz
plural kibbutzim
kibosh
kick-off
kilogram/s, kilojoule/s, kilometre/s, kilowatt/s
abbreviate as kg, kJ, km, kW
King Edward potatoes
King’s College, Cambridge
comma
King’s College London
no comma
King's Cross
King's Lynn
King's Road (Chelsea)
not “the King's Road"
Kirkcaldy
not Kirkaldy; a town in Fife, not Fyfe
kissogram
Kitemark
TM
knockout
knots
measure of nautical miles an hour; do not say “knots per hour"
Knowles, Beyoncé
Korean names
like Hong Kong and Taiwanese names, Korean names are written in two parts with a hyphen, eg Kim Jong-il, Kim Dae-jung
Kosovo, Kosovans
adjective Kosovan, not Kosovar
kowtow
krugerrands
kukri
Gurkha knife
Kyrgyzstan
adjective Kyrgyz
Kyrie Eleison
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