User:Amgine/SG Details-T

Amgine's style guide details
0–9 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


20/20 edit
24/7 edit
-t edit

Where possible, use the -t as opposed to the -ed suffix to form the simple past or past participle of verbs. This is controversial in some cases, believed by some (primarily North American) contributors to be archaic. In fact the -t form is far more widespread than many realize, is often more succinct, occasionally avoids confusion with an adjectival form (eg, the learned scholar learnt in her youth.) The following are especially recommended:

Preferred Deprecated
  • burnt
  • crept
  • dealt
  • dreamt
  • leapt
  • learnt
  • misspelt
  • slept
  • spelt
  • spilt
  • swept
  • burned
  • creeped
  • dealed
  • dreamed
  • leaped
  • learned
  • misspelled
  • sleeped
  • spelled
  • spilled
  • sweeped
table edit

Avoid verb use; in the UK it means to bring forward or take action, while in the USA it means the opposite.

tableau edit

Singular. Plural form is tableaux.

table d'hôte edit

Although derived from French, the phrase has a specifically English sense of a complete meal for a fixed price, and so is not italicized as a foreign term.

tad edit

Overused, clichéd.

Tajikistan edit

Adjective, proper noun, and language are all Tajik.

take-off, takeoff edit

The noun.

take off edit

The verb, never hyphenated.

takeover edit

The noun.

take over edit

The verb.

take part edit

Avoid; prefer participate.

take the mickey, take the piss edit

Never use except in direct quotes (and then, never censor as take the p— or anything similar.)

Taliban edit

Not Taleban. A plural proper noun. (Translation of Pashto طالبان: "students" or "seekers")

talk show edit

Not talkshow.

Tallinn edit
tally-ho edit

Hyphenated; plural tally-hos.

tam o'shanter edit
 
Tam o'shanter's in various tartans.

The woolen hat named after Tam o'Shanter from the eponymous Robert Burns poem.

Tamiflu edit

Trade name of oseltamivir, an anti-viral drug. It is not a vaccine.

Tamil Tigers edit

Full formal title is Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but Tamil Tigers is sufficient in most cases. However, do not shorten to either Tamil or Tigers alone; either might be misleading as over-broad.

Tangier edit

No final 's'.

Tánaiste edit

The vice-executive head of the Irish government, similar to Deputy Prime Minister. Note the title is not capitalizedi in Irish Gaelic, but it is capitalised when used as a proper noun in English.

Taoiseach edit

The executive head of the Irish government, similar to Prime Minister. Note the title is not capitalized in Irish Gaelic, but it is capitalized when used as a proper noun in English.

target edit

Avoid use as a verb; prefer to aim, to direct. Attempt to restrict its use to military/hostile actions

tariff edit

Never tarriff.

tartan edit

Tartan is most commonly used to describe a plaid woolen fabric, generally one whose coloring pattern is associated with a military or Scottish association. By no means are these patterns limited to such organizations, or solely associated with the British Isles; similar patterns date from the Neolithic era.

Taser edit

Trademark; the generic term is stun gun. Note that most countries classify this weapon as deadly

tattoos, tattooed, tattooing edit

Also, tattooer, tattooist, tattooment, and tattooage. But never tattoed.

taxman, taxpayer edit

No hyphen. Taxman is cliché, and often pejorative, therefore avoid use except in direct quotes.

Tchaikovsky edit

Full name Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

tchotchke edit

Clichéd loan-word from Yiddish; avoid. Plural is tchotchkes.

tea words edit
Two words One word
  • tea bag
  • tea biscuit
  • tea break
  • tea cloth
  • tea cosy
  • tea dance
  • tea garden
  • tea kettle
  • tea lady
  • tea leaf
  • tea light
  • tea maker
  • tea party
  • tea towel
  • tea trolley
  • teabagger (pejorative, avoid)
  • teaberry
  • teabread
  • teacup
  • teacake
  • teahouse
  • teapot
  • tearoom (but, in a proper name, generally two words.)
  • teashop
  • teaspoon
  • teatime

There are regional variations and exceptions; a private Japanese-style tea house differs from a retail teahouse, for example.

teams edit

Sporting teams are generally plural, no matter the actual proper noun, in most contexts. Example: The Wild are leading in their conference. The exception is in business reporting. Example: The New York Jets reported its largest annual revenues.

team-mate, team-mates edit

Hyphenate.

techMARK edit

The FTSE techMARK 100, in that capitalization, a technology index on the London stock exchange.

teen edit

Do not use as a substitute for the adjective teenage, teenaged.

teetotal edit

Not teatotal, or other variants.

Tehran edit

Not Teheran.

Telefónica edit

Full name Telefónica S.A., note acute accent.

telephone numbers edit

In general, there is no benefit, ever, to reporting a phone number on Wikinews.

If a phone number must be recorded, use the country code with prefixed '+', and the national phone number format which usually involves a city or area code number, sometimes a local exchange number, and finally the phone number. For example, a US phone number might appear as +1 123 456-7890. A UK number might appear as +44 0151-234 8464. Note that specific punctuation is the style used in the given country; hyphenation and parentheses are used as sparingly as possible.

television edit

TV is acceptable in either headlines or body text. Use full station title on first use, abbreviations are acceptable thereafter (Canadian Television Network, thereafter CTV; Australian Broadcast Company Television, ABC-TV, etc.) Where a specific broadcaster is not known, use the construction [region] television, for example, Norwegian television blah blah.

Television programme titles are italicized, as with other creative works. See #titles of works.

temperatures edit

The preferred form, except in articles specifically about weather events in the United States, is 15C (59F), minus 20C (-4F). Note the use of "minus", not negative. Outside parens, prefer the word and not the symbol. There is no need to use ° or the word degree. Do not refer to temperatures as "hot" or as "cold"; use high or low.

Avoid the use of temperature changes; they are very prone to errors. A temperature rise of 2C is not a rise of 36F - it is actually a rise of approximately 4F.

tenpin edit

Not ten-pin. Tenpin bowling is the sport, while each pin is also a tenpin, particularly in the UK.

terrace house edit

Not terraced house.

terrorist, terrorism edit

In almost all cases, avoid use except in direct quotes. In particular, avoid gratuitous use as a marketing ploy by groups attempting to spin or bias the press, such as "anti-terrorism legislation" or "war on terrorism". Terms such as guerrilla or insurgent, paramilitary, armed gangsters, or similar are generally more specific and may be more applicable to a given situation.

Be aware a government or state actor may use terror as a tool to govern or exert influence, and in fact is usually better equipped and positioned to do so than any small group of opposition.

Test match edit

For cricket or rugby, capitalised. For cricket this is used only for games between official Test nation teams (Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe.) For rugby it is used for matches between official national teams. Other matches are lower-cased test matches.

tête-à-tête edit

With circumflex and grave accents.

Texan, Texas edit

The adjectival form is Texas, as Texas Cowboys, Texas wildlife, while the noun for a person from Texas is Texan.

textbook edit

Single word, no hyphen, same as guidebook, handbook, etc.

Thaksin Shinawatra edit

The former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin at second mention. (Note: Convicted of fraud and corruption in absentia, Thaksin is now a citizen of Montenegro.)

thallium edit

Highly toxic element.

thalidomide edit

Highly teratogenic pharmaceutical.

that edit

Overused, and often incorrectly used. "That" defines, "which" gives additional information.

In news writing, use "that" to connect a subordinate indicating clause, or as a determiner to indicate a specific noun. Do not use as a pronoun, adverb. Do not assume constructions "[name] said" must be followed by "that"; only use that when necessary for clarity. He said no explanation would be forthcoming sounds like an exact quote, which might be misleading. He said that no explanation would be forthcoming is less ascriptive, however She said the effort must be made is more vigorous than She said that the effort must be made.

Acceptable usage:

  • Live simply that others may simply live.
  • The route that I take is shorter.

Questionable usage:

  • She said that the parliament was united on the issue.

Unacceptable usage:

  • He was that ill he could not get out of bed.
  • That was an exciting event.
  • Who was that you were talking with?
  • The marathon was not that challenging.

(See also which)

the edit

Upper case in titles of books, poems, works of art, television or radio shows, place names. In most other contexts, lower case. Note especially, newspapers are lower case, the Washington Post, the Globe and Mail, or the Times.

the then edit

Do not use this construction. Use constructions such as then Prime Minister, or who was President at the time, or Mrs Clinton (then Miss Rodham). Note: no hyphen.

theatre, theater edit

In names, generally lowercase where appended as the Bolshoi theater, Shanghai Grand theater, upper case where preceding in names as Theatre Royal, Covent Gardens, Theatre Rhinoceros.

there is, there are edit

May often be omitted without any alteration to the meaning of the sentence. There are three challengers aiming to get the job vs. Three challengers aim to get the job.

theirs edit

Ownership is without an apostrophe.

thermonuclear edit
Thermos edit

This is a trade mark, and needs capitalisation.

think edit

Avoid constructions similar to think early-Edwardian. Simplest alteration is to add the word 'of': think of early-Edwardian.

think-tank edit

Preferred over thinktank or think tank.

thirdly edit

Do not use except in direct quotes. (Also do not use firstly, secondly, etc.)

they edit

Must agree with subject in number.

Third World edit

Caps. Avoid as the term is dated and objectionable (referring to countries neither aligned with the western powers nor the eastern powers during the w:Cold War.) Prefer instead newly industrialized countries, developing economies, or developing nations, or related constructions.

titles of address edit

See Social titles

titles of works edit

The title of a work may be presented typographically in several ways, and on Wikinews the title of a periodical is italicized, eg The Times of London. The title of a given article in the periodical is capitalised in the style of that periodical, and italicized, eg: Outside the Box, not Life outside the box (title case style, not sentence case style.) Note capitalisation styles do not necessarily apply to the subtitle, if any.

thorough edit

Over-used and often bombastic; avoid clichés/pleonasm use such as thorough investigation, thorough inquiry, thorough check, and thorough reform.

thoroughbred, thoroughgoing edit

Never hyphenated.

threefold, threepence, threesome edit

No hyphens.

3G edit

Third generation mobile telephony.

threshold edit

Not threshhold.

Tiananmen Square edit

Located within Beijing.

tidal wave edit

Avoid use other than related to tides. See tsunami.

time edit

General formats:

  • 6 a.m. not 6:00 a.m. nor ever 06:00 a.m.
  • 10:30 a.m., or whenever the minutes are known but are not 00.
  • 7 o'clock last night or in the morning, but 7 p.m. yesterday, 7 a.m. tomorrow.
  • noon, never 12 noon or 12 p.m. Likewise, midnight.

Weeks begin on Monday, but Sunday references to the following week are this week. Avoid starting anything with Last week...

Do not insist on placing a time reference at the start of the sentence or paragraph. You would not say "I this morning ate breakfast," so do not write "The Premier this morning announced..." Make the time element a natural part of your sentence. "The initiative announcement was one of several in the Premier's morning press conference."

time words edit
Single word Separate Hyphenated
  • timeline
  • timescale
  • timeshare
  • time being
  • time bomb
  • time frame
  • time trial
  • time warp
  • time zone
  • time-honored
  • time-honoured
  • time-lapse
  • time-tested
Timór-Leste edit

Formerly East Timor. Full title Democratic Republic of Timór-Leste. Yes, I know en.WN uses East Timor: it is wrong in doing so.

titles of works edit

Book titles, poems, songs, albums, and any other artistic work are not italicised, quoted, nor in bold font. Words in a title are capitalised, excepting a, and, at, for, from, in, of, the, to; the exception to the exceptions being when in the initial position or after a colon.

titles of people edit

Social titles are uniquely relevant to geography. The general rules described in the Style guide serve for most situations. A planned sub-section will be SG Details-Social titles.

to be fair edit

The phrase is generally over-used. However, the use as subjunctive clause preceding a statement, eg To be fair, his economic policies..., must be avoided. The phrase is unnecessary, and biasing as it introduces doubt regarding earlier statements.

today edit

In general, avoid. See rant at Relative time.

toilet edit

Refers to the room, not the lavatory

tomorrow edit

In general, avoid. See rant at Relative time.

total edit

Avoid verb use; prefer add up to, amount to, similar constructions. Noun use is normal.

See also numeracy regarding creating sums.

tsunami edit

The preferred term for a seismic-induced sea wave. Tsunami is a term borrowed from Japanese (津波, 津浪, つなみ), and usually refers to a wave caused by tectonic or volcanic forces.