Conventions

2.1

British spelling. You should give preference in your work to English usage of the British Isles. Influences are crossing the Atlantic in both directions all the time of course (the spellings program and disk have become required British usage in data processing, for example).

2.2

Words in -ise/-ize. Use -ise. Both spellings are correct in British English, but the -ise form is much more common. It is the convention in most British book publishing, and in British newspapers. The Times converted overnight in the mid-1980s, at about the time two new broadsheets were founded (The Independent and The European), which have used -ise from the beginning. Using the -ise spelling as a general rule does away with the need to list the most common cases where it must be used anyway. (There are up to 40 exceptions to the -ize convention: the lists vary in length, most not claiming to be exhaustive.)

Temporary inconsistencies occurring when legislation is amended will be ironed out over time as texts are consolidated.

2.3

The -yse form for such words as paralyse and analyse is the only correct spelling in British English.

2.4

Judgment. Use the form without the middle -e-, in line with the European Court of Justice.

2.5

Digraphs. Keep the digraph in aetiology, caesium, foetus, oenology, oestrogen, etc. (etiology etc. are US usage).

2.6

Use -ct- not -x- in connection, reflection, etc. But note complexion, one of the few words in -exion.

2.7

Write gram, kilogram, litre, metre (not kilogramme, liter). However, use tonne, not ton, for the metric tonne, which is 1 000 kg. The spelling ton refers to the imperial ton (2 240 lb avoirdupois) and the American short ton (2 000 lb), the former unit now being obsolete.

2.8

Plurals of words of foreign origin. Follow the list below.