Baby Bells A collective description of the regional telephone companies formed out of the breakup of the Bell System of AT&T. Avoid except in quotes.

baby boomer Lowercase, no hyphen.

bachelor of arts, bachelor of science A bachelor’s degree or bachelor’s is acceptable in any reference.

See academic degrees for guidelines on when the abbreviations B.A. or B.S. are acceptable.

back up (v.) backup (n. and adj.)

backward Not backwards.

back yard (n.) backyard (adj.)

bad, badly Bad should not be used as an adverb. It does not lose its status as an adjective, however, in a sentence such as I feel bad. Such a statement is the idiomatic equivalent of I am in bad health. An alternative, I feel badly, could be interpreted as meaning that your sense of touch was bad.

See the good, well entry.

Bahamas In datelines, give the name of the city or town followed by Bahamas:

bail Bail is money or property that will be forfeited to the court if an accused individual fails to appear for trial. It may be posted as follows:

Bakelite A trademark for a type of plastic resin.

baker’s dozen It means 13.

Bakery and Confectionery Workers’ International Union of America The shortened form Bakery Workers union is acceptable in all references.

balance of payments, balance of trade The balance of payments is the difference between the amount of money that leaves a nation and the amount that enters it during a period of time.

baloney Foolish or exaggerated talk.

Baltimore The city in Maryland stands alone in datelines.

Band-Aid A trademark for a type of adhesive bandage.

Bank of America Acceptable in all references for Bank of America National Trust & Savings Association.

baptism See sacraments.

baptist, Baptist A person who baptizes is a baptist (lowercase).

Baptist churches It is incorrect to apply the term church to any Baptist unit except the local church.

See religious titles.

See religious movements for definitions of some descriptive terms that often apply to Baptists but are not limited to them.

barbecue Not barbeque or Bar-B-Q.

bar mitzvah The Jewish religious ritual and family celebration that marks a boy’s 13th birthday. Judaism regards the age of 13 as the benchmark of religious maturity. Bar mitzvah translates as "one who is responsible for the Commandments."

baron, baroness See nobility.

barrel A standard barrel in U.S. measure contains 31.5 gallons.

See the oil entry for guidelines on computing the volume and weight of petroleum products.

barrel-chested, barrelhouse Also: double-barreled shotgun.

barrister See lawyer.

BASIC A computer programming language. Acronym for Beginners’ All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. Use of acronym on first reference is acceptable if it is identified as a programming language. For example: That model of a personal computer uses the programming language, BASIC.

battalion Capitalize when used with a figure to form a name: the 3rd Battalion, the 10th Battalion.

battlefield Also: battlefront, battleground, battleship. But battle station.

baud A unit for measuring the speed of data transmission by com-puter.

bay Capitalize as an integral part of a proper name: Hudson Bay, San Francisco Bay.

bazaar A fair. Bizarre means unusual.

B.C. Acceptable in all references to a calendar year in the period before Christ.

See A.D.

because, since Use because to denote a specific cause-effect relationship: He went because he was told.

before Christ See B.C.

Beijing The city in China (formerly Peking) stands alone in datelines.

Belize The former British Honduras.

benefit, benefited, benefiting

Benelux Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Ben-Gurion International Airport Located at Lod, Israel, about 10 miles south of Tel Aviv.

See airport.

Benzedrine A trademark for a type of pep pill or stimulant.

Berlin Stands alone in datelines.

Berlin Wall On second reference, the wall.

beside, besides Beside means at the side of.

best seller (n.)

betting odds Use figures and a hyphen: The odds were 5-4, he won despite 3-2 odds against him.

bettor A person who bets.

between See the among, between entry.

bi- The rules in prefixes apply, but in general, no hyphen. Some examples:

biannual, biennial Biannual means twice a year and is a synonym for the word semiannual.

Bible Capitalize, without quotation marks, when referring to the Scriptures in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Capitalize also related terms such as the Gospels, Gospel of St. Mark, the Scriptures, the Holy Scriptures.

Bible Belt Those sections of the United States, especially in the South and Middle West, where fundamentalist religious beliefs prevail. Use with care, because in certain contexts it can give offense.

See religious movements.

big-bang theory The theory that the universe began with the explosion of a superdense primeval atom and has been expanding ever since.

The oscillating theory, another hypothesis, maintains that expansion eventually will stop, followed by contraction to a superdense atom, followed by another big bang.

The steady-state theory, an alternative hypothesis, maintains that the universe always has existed and that matter constantly is being created to replace matter that is constantly being destroyed.

Big Board Acceptable on second reference for the New York Stock Exchange.

big brother One’s older brother is a big brother. Big Brother (capitalized) means under the watchful eye of big government, from George Orwell’s "1984."

Big Three automakers General Motors, Ford, Chrysler.

billion A thousand million.

For forms, see the millions, billions entry.

Bill of Rights The first 10 amendments to the Constitution.

bimonthly Means every other month. Semimonthly means twice a month.

birthday Capitalize as part of the name for a holiday: Washington’s Birthday. Lowercase in other uses.

bishop See religious titles and the entry for the denomination in question.

bit Acceptable in all references as an acronym for binary digit. Actual data transmitted take the form of electrical impulses. These can be thought of as either on or off or 1 and 0. The pulses are bits.

biweekly Means every other week. Semiweekly means twice a week.

bizarre Unusual. A fair is a bazaar.

black Preferred usage for those of the Negro race. (Use Negro only in names of organizations or in quotations.) Do not use colored as a synonym. See the colored entry.

Black Muslims See Muslim(s).

blackout, brownout A blackout is a total power failure over a large area or the concealing of lights that might be visible to enemy raiders.

blast off (v.) blastoff (n. and adj.)

blind See disabled, handicapped, impaired.

blizzard See weather terms.

bloc, block A bloc is a coalition of people, groups or nations with the same purpose or goal.

blond, blonde Use blond as a noun for males and as an adjective for all applications: She has blond hair.

Bloody Mary A drink made of vodka and tomato juice. The name is derived from the nickname for Mary I of England.

blue blood (n.) blue-blooded (adj.)

blue chip stock Stock in a company known for its long-established record of making money and paying dividends.

B’nai B’rith See the fraternal organizations and service clubs entry.

board Capitalize only when an integral part of a proper name. See capitalization.

board of aldermen See city council.

board of directors, board of trustees Always lowercase. See the organizations and institutions entry.

board of supervisors See city council.

boats, ships A boat is a watercraft of any size but generally is used to indicate a small craft. A ship is a large, seagoing vessel.

Boeing Co. Formerly Boeing Aircraft Co.

boldface Use boldface type for the slug lines, bylines and underlines for bylines atop a story, and for separate subhead lines if needed within a story.

bologna The sausage. Baloney is foolish or exaggerated talk.

bonds See loan terminology in Business guidelines and style section.

book titles See composition titles.

Books on Tape A trademark for a brand of audiotapes. Use a generic term such as audiotape or audiocassette.

borscht Exception to Webster’s New World.

Bosporus, the Not the Bosporus Strait.

Boston The city in Massachusetts stands alone in datelines.

boulevard Abbreviated only with a numbered address. See addresses.

box office (n.) box-office (adj.)

boy Applicable until 18th birthday is reached. Use man or young man afterward.

boycott, embargo A boycott is an organized refusal to buy a particular product or service, or to deal with a particular merchant or group of merchants.

Boy Scouts The full name of the national organization is Boy Scouts of America. Headquarters is in Irving, Texas.

See Girl Scouts.

bra Acceptable in all references for brassiere.

Brahman, Brahmin Brahman applies to the priestly Hindu caste and a breed of cattle.

brand names When they are used, capitalize them.

brand-new (adj.)

break in (v.) break-in (n. and adj.)

break up (v.) breakup (n. and adj.)

Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterers’ International Union of America The shortened form Bricklayers union is acceptable in all references.

bride, bridegroom, bridesmaid Bride is appropriate in wedding stories, but use wife or spouse in other circumstances.

brigadier See military titles.

Bright’s disease After Dr. Richard Bright, the London physician who first diagnosed this form of kidney disease.

Brill’s disease After Nathan E. Brill, a U.S. physician. A form of epidemic typhus fever in which the disease recurs years after the original infection.

Britain Acceptable in all references for Great Britain, which consists of England, Scotland and Wales.

See United Kingdom.

British, Briton(s) The people of Great Britain: the English, the Scottish, the Welsh.

British Airways The successor to British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corp.

British Broadcasting Corp. BBC is acceptable in all references within contexts such as a television column. Otherwise, do not use BBC until second reference.

British Columbia The Canadian province bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Do not abbreviate.

See datelines.

British Commonwealth See Commonwealth, the.

British Petroleum Co. Ltd. BP is acceptable on second reference.

British thermal unit The amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a pound of water 1 degree Fahrenheit. Btu (the same for singular and plural) is acceptable on second reference.

British ton See ton.

British Virgin Islands Use with a community name in datelines on stories from these islands. Do not abbreviate.

See datelines.

broadcast The past tense also is broadcast, not broadcasted.

Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway When applied to stage productions, these terms refer to distinctions made by union contracts, not to location of a theater.

Bromo Seltzer A trademark for a brand of bicarbonate of soda.

Bronze Age The age characterized by the development of bronze tools and weapons, from 3500 to 1000 B.C. Regarded as coming between the Stone Age and the Iron Age.

brother See Roman Catholic Church.

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers BLE is acceptable on second reference.

brothers Abbreviate as Bros. in formal company names: Warner Bros.

brownout See the blackout, brownout entry.

brunet, brunette Use brunet as a noun for males, and as the adjective for both sexes.

Btu The same in singular and plural. See British thermal unit.

Budapest The capital of Hungary. In datelines, follow it with Hungary.

Buddha, Buddhism A major religion founded in India about 500 B.C. by Buddha. Buddha, which means enlightened one, was the name given to Gautama Siddhartha by his followers.

Bufferin A trademark for buffered aspirin.

bug, tap A concealed listening device designed to pick up sounds in a room, an automobile, etc. is a bug.

building Never abbreviate. Capitalize the proper names of buildings, including the word building if it is an integral part of the proper name: the Empire State Building.

build up (v.) buildup (n. and adj.)

bullet See weapons.

bullpen One word, for the place where baseball pitchers warm up, and for a pen that holds cattle.

bureau Capitalize when part of the formal name for an organization or agency: the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Newspaper Advertising Bureau.

burglary, larceny, robbery, theft Legal definitions of burglary vary, but in general a burglary involves entering a building (not necessarily by breaking in) and remaining unlawfully with the intention of committing a crime.

bus, buses Transportation vehicles. The verb forms: bus, bused, busing.

See buss, busses.

bushel A unit of dry measure equal to 4 pecks or 32 dry quarts. The metric equivalent is approximately 35.2 liters.

See liter.

business editor Capitalize when used as a formal title before a name. See titles.

business names See company names.

buss, busses Kisses. The verb forms: buss, bussed, bussing.

See bus, buses.

by- The rules in prefixes apply, but in general, no hyphen. Some examples:

by-election A special election held between regularly scheduled elections. The term most often is associated with special elections to the British House of Commons.

bylines Use only if the reporter was in the datelined community to gather the information reported.

byte A computer "word," made up of bits. The most common size byte contains eight bits, or binary digits.