Spelling, capitalisation and preferred terms
- 2 weeks or every 2 weeks – rather than fortnight, fortnightly or bimonthly
- twice a month, every two months or six times a year – rather than bimonthly
- advisor
- mobile (not cell phone, not cellphone)
- phone rather than call, ring or telephone
- child support
- co-operation not cooperation
- co-ordinate not coordinate
- disability (not disabled)
- district council
- district nurse, not District Nurse
- doctor, rather than GP
- driving licence, not driver’s licence
- Council
- fill in, not fill out (when referring to a form)
- full-time
- healthcare
- ID, for example, photo ID not photo identification
- illness, rather than a medical condition
- infographic
- HMRC, not Inland Revenue or IR
- out-of-date
- outside the UK, rather than overseas or abroad
- Somerset has a boundary, not a border
- parish council
- partner, rather than spouse
- part-time
- pre-paid
- print (when referring to a form that can be printed out)
- second-hand
- self-employed
- travelling
- wellbeing
Terms we do not use
We do not say
- not together – it is clearer to say that people are not in a relationship
- in order to – ‘In order’ is unnecessary, so we leave it out – ‘To use this service…’
- it’s important to or it’s vital to – it is not our job to tell people what is important to them, either they have to do something or they do not
- lets you do or allows you to – it sounds like people serve the service, not the other way around
- please – ‘please phone’, ‘please email’ should be ‘phone’ or ’email’
- sets out – we use ‘shows’
- simply – we’ll explain a simple process simply, rather than saying it’s simple
- will – when we don’t need this word, for example, you need a copy of your birth certificate not – you will need a copy of your birth certificate
- your needs – state the actual needs instead.
We also avoid using jargon like
- advancing
- agenda – unless it’s for a meeting
- collaborate – we use ‘working with’
- combating
- commit, pledge, aim – we need to be more specific – we’re either doing something or we’re not
- countering
- currently
- deliver – pizzas, post and services are delivered, not abstract concepts like ‘improvements’ or ‘priorities’
- dialogue – we speak to people
- disincentivise and incentivise
- drive – we can only drive vehicles, not schemes or people
- empower
- entity
- facilitate – instead, we say something specific about how we’re helping
- focusing
- foster – unless it is fostering children
- going forward – it’s unlikely we’re giving travel directions
- impact (as a verb)
- initiate
- key – unless it unlocks something, it’s probably just ‘important’
- land – as a verb, unless you’re talking about an aircraft
- leverage – unless in the financial sense
- liaise
- one-stop shop – we’re a local government, not a retail outlet
- outcomes
- overarching
- progress – as a verb – say what you’re actually doing
- ring-fencing
- robust
- stakeholder – this means nothing or everything, and everyone has a different definition for it – say who is involved
- streamline
- strengthening – unless it’s strengthening bridges or other structures
- tackling – unless we’re talking about contact sports
- transforming – we state what people are actually doing to change a thing
- utilise – we say ‘use’ instead.
- We write words like ‘realise’, ‘solemnisation’ and ‘standardise’ with an ‘s’ not a ‘z’.