A complete sentence that stands alone in parentheses starts with a capital letter and ends with a stop. Initial capital for parliaments referred to by their name in the relevant language, eg Bundestag, Duma, Folketing, Knesset parliamentary Labour party PLP after first mention Parma ham but parmesan cheese partakes If you must, it is partakes of, not partakes in, but it sounds pompous and quaint Parthenon marbles official name, recognised by both Britain and Greece, for the Elgin marbles partially or partly? Use this at first mention, a simple title Lord or Lady at second mention, and thereafter surname only. Some examples: Andrew Adonis first mention , Lord Adonis second mention , Adonis thereafter. Paddy Ashdown, Lord Ashdown, Ashdown. Sebastian Coe, Lord Coe, Coe. Norman Foster, Lord Foster, Foster. Tony Hall, Lord Hall, Hall. Greville Janner, Lord Janner, Janner. Jenny Jones, Lady Jones, Jones. Martha Lane Fox, Lady Lane-Fox note hyphen , Lane Fox. Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lord Lloyd-Webber note hyphen , Lloyd Webber. Peter Mandelson, Lord Mandelson, Mandelson. David Owen, Lord Owen, Owen. John Prescott, Lord Prescott, Prescott. John Reid, Lord Reid, Reid. Richard Rogers, Lord Rogers, Rogers. Chris Smith, Lord Smith, Smith. Sayeeda Warsi, Lady Warsi, Warsi. For people who were not widely known before becoming peers, or who are better known by their title, use a simple title at first mention, and thereafter surname only. Examples: Lord Sewel first mention , Sewel thereafter. Where two or more peers share the same name, make it clear which one you are writing about, for example: Lola Young, the former actor, artist and academic first mention , Lady Young of Hornsey second mention , thereafter Young. Barbara Young, a former chief executive of the Environment Agency and Care Quality Commission first mention , Lady Young of Old Scone second mention , thereafter Young. While this term is useful in headlines, it should be avoided in text as a description of an individual. If you must use it, the Latin preposition is followed by another Latin word, eg per capita, not per head. My lines and life are free; free as the rode, Loose as the winde, as large as store. Italics are acceptable, though not essential point-to-point pointe ballet ; on pointe, not on point or en pointe Pokémon singular and plural Polari A form of language used mostly by gay men and lesbians, derived in part from slang used by sailors, actors and prostitutes and popularised in the 1960s BBC radio comedy Round the Horne by the characters Julian and Sandy. The style for individual force federations is Metropolitan police federation, Essex police federation, etc. Police forces are normally plural: Kent police are investigating, etc, but note that while the Metropolitan police are plural, the Met is singular, as is Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland PSNI at second mention police ranks Use abbreviation at first mention, then just surname, eg DCI Jane Tennison, thereafter Tennison. Other abbreviations: PC for both male and female police constables , Sgt, DS Detective Sergeant , Insp, DI, Ch Insp, DCI, Supt, Ch Supt, Det Supt Detective Superintendent , DCS. Do not abbreviate commissioner, commander, etc Chief constable is a job, not a title: John Smith, chief constable of Greater Manchester; Smith at second mention. Abbreviate where appropriate for example, election results as follows: Con, Lab, Lib Dem, Green, SNP, PC, Ukip. In Northern Ireland: Social Democratic and Labour party abbreviation: SDLP , Sinn Féin SF , Alliance party, Democratic Unionist party DUP , Ulster Unionist party UUP. Political parties are normally singular, eg Labour is promising to raise taxes, the Conservative party is not very compassionate; but the Conservatives are the nasty party, the Liberal Democrats lost most of their seats, etc pollack not pollock polo neck pomp or prime? The Chinese traditionally give their prime minister the title of premier, eg Premier Wen Jiabao. There is a similar problem with momentarily, which means for a moment or briefly in British English, and very soon to American and some British speakers. The modern meaning is having prestige or status Pret a Manger food prêt-à-porter fashion preteen pretext by its nature false, so while it may or may not be true that Tony Blair went to war on a pretext, it is tautologous to say he did so on a false one prevaricate or procrastinate? The former, which means speaking or acting with intent to deceive, is often confused with the latter, which means putting something off. As anyone with a mobile, a laptop and a bit of cheek can be a journalist, or at least claim to be one, journalism is not a profession but a trade, craft or racket. Not PyeongChang, the spelling adopted by the South Korean government as a rebranding exercise just for the Games pygmy plural pygmies, lc except for members of Equatorial African ethnic group pyjamas not pajamas pyrrhic A pyrrhic victory is not a hollow one, as often assumed, but one achieved at great cost. King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated the Romans twice, in 280BC and 279BC, but suffered such heavy losses that he said one more such victory would undo him.
