The capital letter distinguishes the word from the common noun meaning cupboard, which is lowercase.

Until the summer of 1976, the format for citizens band operators was three letters and four figures: KTE9136. Licenses issued since then use four letters and four figures: KTEM1234.

Shortwave stations, which operate with greater power than citizens band stations and on different frequencies, typically mix letters and figures: K2LRX.

Both girls and boys are included in all levels of the organization. Boys and girls in kindergarten through second grades are Starflights. Children in third through fifth grades are Adventure club members. Children in sixth through eighth grades are Discovery members. Youths in ninth through 12th grades are Horizon members.

The 10 provinces of Canada are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland (includes Labrador), Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan.

The two territories are the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

The provinces have substantial autonomy from the federal government.

The territories are administered by the federal government, although residents of the territories do elect their own legislators and representatives to Parliament.

A canon is a law or rule, particularly of a church.

Canvass is a noun and a verb denoting a survey.

Although local practice may call for capitalizing the Cape when the rest of the name is clearly understood, always use the full name on first reference in wire copy. On second reference in wire copy, either repeat the full name or use the cape in lowercase.

When used in a financial sense, capital describes money, equipment or property used in a business by a person or corporation.

Many words and phrases, including special cases, are listed separately in this book. Entries that are capitalized without further comment should be capitalized in all uses.

If there is no relevant listing in this book for a particular word or phrase, consult Webster’s New World Diction-ary. Use lowercase if the dictionary lists it as an acceptable form for the sense in which the word is being used.

As used in this book, capitalize means to use uppercase for the first letter of a word. If additional capital letters are needed, they are called for by an example or a phrase such as use all caps.

Some basic principles:

PROPER NOUNS: Capitalize nouns that constitute the unique identifica-tion for a specific person, place, or thing: John, Mary, America, Boston, England.

Some words, such as the examples just given, are always proper nouns. Some common nouns receive proper noun status when they are used as the name of a particular entity: General Electric, Gulf Oil.

PROPER NAMES: Capitalize common nouns such as party, river, street and west when they are an integral part of the full name for a person, place or thing: Democratic Party, Mississippi River, Fleet Street, West Virginia.

Lowercase these common nouns when they stand alone in subsequent references: the party, the river, the street.

Lowercase the common noun elements of names in all plural uses: the Democratic and Republican parties, Main and State streets, lakes Erie and Ontario.

Among entries that provide addi-tional guidelines are:

POPULAR NAMES: Some places and events lack officially designated proper names but have popular names that are the effective equivalent: the Combat Zone (a section of downtown Boston), the Main Line (a group of Philadelphia suburbs), the South Side (of Chicago), the Badlands (of North Dakota), the Street (the financial community in the Wall Street area of New York).

The principle applies also to shortened versions of the proper names of one-of-a-kind events: the Series (for the World Series), the Derby (for the Kentucky Derby). This practice should not, however, be interpreted as a license to ignore the general practice of lower- casing the common noun elements of a name when they stand alone.

DERIVATIVES: Capitalize words that are derived from a proper noun and still depend on it for their meaning: American, Christian, Christianity, English, French, Marxism, Shakespearean.

Lowercase words that are derived from a proper noun but no longer depend on it for their meaning: french fries, herculean, manhattan cocktail, malapropism, pasteurize, quixotic, venetian blind.

TITLES: Capitalize formal titles when used immediately before a name. Lowercase formal titles when used alone or in constructions that set them off from a name by commas.

Use lowercase at all times for terms that are job descriptions rather than formal titles.

Follow the same practice when referring to state capitols: The Virginia Capitol is in Richmond. Thomas Jefferson designed the Capitol of Virginia.

Lowercase and spell out in such uses as team captain Carl Yastrzemski.

A caret is a writer’s and a proofreader’s mark.

The proportion of pure gold used with an alloy is expressed in karats.

Headquarters is in New York.

Castor is the spelling for the oil and the bean from which it is derived.

Use lowercase for the wormlike larva of various insects.

Most subsequent references may be condensed to Catholic Church, Catholic or Catholicism. Roman Catholic should continue to be used, however, if the context requires a distinction between Roman Catholics and members of other denominations who often describe themselves as Catholic. They include some high church Episcopalians (who often call themselves Anglo-Catholics), members of Eastern Orthodox churches, and members of some national Catholic churches that have broken with Rome. Among churches in this last category are the Polish National Catholic Church and the Lithuanian National Catholic Church.

Lowercase catholic where used in its generic sense of general or universal, meanings derived from a similar word in Greek.

Those who use Catholic in a religious sense are indicating their belief that they are members of a universal church that Jesus Christ left on Earth.

Divisions include CBS News, CBS Radio and CBS-TV.

CD-ROM disc is redundant.

Use celebrator for someone having a good time: The celebrators kept the party going until 3 a.m.

The Celsius scale is named for Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer who designed it. In it, zero represents the freezing point of water, and 100 degrees is the boiling point at sea level.

To convert to Fahrenheit, multiply a Celsius temperature by 9, divide by 5 and add 32 (25 x 9 equals 225, divided by 5 equals 45, plus 32 equals 77 degrees Fahrenheit).

When giving a Celsius temperature, use these forms: 40 degrees Celsius or 40 C (note the space and no period after the capital C) if degrees and Celsius are clear from the context.

To censor is to prohibit or restrict the use of something.

To censure is to condemn.

The normal form for first reference is the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC is acceptable on second reference.

There are 10 millimeters in a centimeter.

A centimeter is approximately the width of a large paper clip.

To convert to inches, multiply by .4 (5 centimeters x .4 equals 2 inches).

The formal title for the individual who heads the agency is director of central intelligence. On first reference: Director George Bush of the CIA, Director of Central Intelligence George Bush, or CIA Director George Bush.

Numerals alone, with or without a decimal point as appropriate, may be used in tabular matter.

For proper names, follow the organization’s practice: 20th Century Fox, Twentieth Century Fund, Twentieth Century Limited.

The people may be referred to as Ceylonese (n. or adj.) or Sri Lankans. The language is Sinhalese.

Do not capitalize as a casual, temporary position: meeting chairman Robert Jones.

Do not use chairperson unless it is an organization’s formal title for an office.

Also: the English Channel, but the channel on second reference.

Lowercase when standing alone.

Reputation refers to the way a person is regarded by others.

Charlestown is a section of Boston.

Charles Town is the name of a small city in West Virginia.

The terms come from Nicolas Chauvin, a soldier of Napoleon I, who was famous for his devotion to the lost cause.

Use the algebraic notation in providing tabular summaries.

In algebraic notation, the “ranks” are the horizontal rows of squares. The ranks take numbers, 1 to 8, beginning on white’s side of the board.

The “files” are the vertical rows of squares. They take letters, a through h, beginning on white’s left.

Thus, each square is identified by its file letter and rank number.

In the starting position, white’s queen knight stands on b1, the queen on d1, the king on e1; black’s queen knight stands on b8, the queen on d8, the king on e8, and so on.

Other features of the system follow:

—DESIGNATION OF PIECES: The major pieces are shown by a capital letter: K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop and N for knight. No symbol is used for the pawn.

—MOVES BY PIECES: Shown by the letter of the piece (except for the pawn) and the destination square. For instance, Bb5 means the bishop moves to square b5.

—MOVES BY PAWNS: Pawn moves are designated only by the name of the destination square. Thus, e4 means the pawn on the e file moves to e4.

—CASTLING: It is written as 0-0 for the kingside and 0-0-0 for the queenside. Kingside is the side of the board (right half from white’s point of view, left half from black’s), on which each player’s king starts. The other half is queenside.

—CAPTURES BY PIECES: A capture is recorded using an x after the letter for the capturing piece. For instance, if white’s bishop captures the black pawn at the f6 square, it is written Bxf6.

—CAPTURES BY PAWNS: When a pawn captures a piece, the players name the file the pawn was on and the square where it made the capture. If white’s pawn on a g file captured black’s pawn on f6 square, the move would be gxf6. If black’s pawn on an f file captured white’s, it would be fxg5.

—CHECK: Use plus sign.

—AMBIGUITY: If more than one piece of the same type can move to a square, the rank number or file letter of the origination square is added. Thus, if a rook on d1 were to move to d4, but another rook also could move there, instead of Rd4 the move would be given as R1d4. If there are black knights on c6 and e6, and the one on e6 moves to d4, the move is given as Ned4.

The form, taken from a 1993 championship match:

Lowercase when it is not a formal title: union chief Walter Reuther.

Use People’s Republic of China, Communist China, mainland China or Red China only in direct quotations or when needed to distinguish the mainland and its government from Taiwan.

For datelines on stories from the island of Taiwan, use the name of a community and Taiwan. In the body of a story, use Nationalist China or Taiwan for references to the government based on the island. Use the formal name of the government, the Republic of China, when required for legal precision.

Note that the Chinese usually give the family name first (Deng) followed by the given name (Xiaoping). Second reference should be the family name only: Deng.

The Pinyin spelling system eliminates the hyphen and/or apostrophe previously used in many given names.

If the new Pinyin spelling of a proper noun is so radically different from the traditional American spelling that a reader might be confused, provide the Pinyin spelling followed by the traditional spelling in parentheses. For example, the city of Fuzhou (Foochow). Or use a descriptive sentence: Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian province, on China’s eastern coast.

Use the traditional American spellings for these place names: China, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Tibet.

And use the traditional American spellings for well-known deceased people such as Chou En-lai, Mao Tse-tung, Sun Yat-sen.

Follow local spellings in stories dealing with Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Some Chinese have Westernized their names, putting their given names or the initials for them first: P.Y. Chen, Jack Wang. In general, follow an individual’s preferred spelling.

Normally Chinese women do not take their husbands’ surnames. Use the courtesy titles Mrs., Miss, or Ms. only when specifically requested. Never use Madame or Mme.

The body owes its origins to an early 19th-century frontier movement to unify Christians.

The Disciples, led by Alexander Campbell in western Pennsylvania, and the Christians, led by Barton W. Stone in Kentucky, merged in 1832.

The local church is the basic organizational unit.

National policies are developed by the General Assembly, made up of representatives chosen by local churches and regional organizations.

The church lists more than 1 million members.

All members of the clergy may be referred to as ministers. Pastor applies if a minister leads a congregation.

On first reference, use the Rev. before the name of a man or woman. On second reference, use only the last name of a man; use Miss, Mrs., Ms. or no title before the last name of a woman depending on her preference.

Never abbreviate Christmas to Xmas or any other form.

Lowercase in phrases where the church is used in an institutional sense: She believes in the separation of church and state. The pope said the church opposes abortion.

Each local church is autonomous and operates under a governing board of elders. The minister is an evangelist, addressed by members as Brother. The ministers do not use clergy titles. Do not precede their names by a title.

The churches do not regard themselves as a denomination. Rather, they stress a nondenominational effort to preach what they consider basic Bible teachings. The churches also teach that baptism is an essential part of the salvation process.

The Mother Church in Boston is the international headquarters. Its government provides for a board of directors, which transacts the business of the Mother Church.

A branch church, governed by its own democratically chosen board, is named First Church of Christ, Scien-tist, or Second Church, etc., according to the order of its establishment in a community.

The terms Christian Science Church or Churches of Christ, Scientist, are acceptable in all references to the denomination.

The word Christian is used because its teachings are based on the word and works of Jesus Christ. The word Science is used to reflect the concept that the laws of God are replicable and can be proved in healing sickness and sin.

The church is composed entirely of lay members and does not have clergy in the usual sense. Both men and women may serve as readers, practi-tioners, or lecturers.

The preferred form for these titles is to use a construction that sets them off from a name with commas. Capitalize them only when used as a formal title immediately before a name. Do not continue use of the title in subsequent references.

The terms reverend and minister are not applicable. Do not use the Rev. in any references.

The church is based on revelations that Joseph Smith said were brought to him in the 1820s by heavenly messengers.

Today, the church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, directs more than 22,000 congregations with more than 10 million members worldwide.

Church hierarchy is composed of men known as general authorities. Among them, the policy-making body is the First Presidency, made up of a president and two or more counselors. It has final authority in all spiritual and worldly matters.

CLERGY: All faithful male mem-bers over the age of 11 are members of the priesthood. They become elders sometime after their 18th birthdays. They may later become high priests, or bishops.

The only formal titles are president (for the head of the First Presidency), bishop (for members of the Presiding Bishopric and for local bishops) and elder (for other general authorities and church missionaries). Capitalize these formal titles before a name on first reference; use only the last name on second reference.

The terms minister or the Rev. are not used.

SPLINTER GROUPS: The term Mormon is not properly applied to the other Latter Day Saints churches that resulted from the split after Smith’s death.

The largest is the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (note the lack of a hyphen and the capitalized Day), with headquarters in Independence, Mo. It has about 1,000 churches and 150,000 members.

Capitalize official titles, including separate political entities such as East St. Louis, Ill., or West Palm Beach, Fla.

The preferred form for the section of a city is lowercase: the west end, northern Los Angeles. But capitalize widely recognized names for the sections of a city: South Side (Chicago), Lower East Side (New York).

Spell out the names of cities unless in direct quotes: A trip to Los Angeles, but: “We’re going to L.A.”

Subject is the term used when the government is headed by a monarch or other sovereign.

National is applied to a person residing away from the nation of which he or she is a citizen, or to a person under the protection of a specified nation.

Native is the term denoting that an individual was born in a given location.

CB is acceptable on second reference.

The term describes a group of radio frequencies set aside by the Federal Communications Commission for local use at low power by individuals or businesses.

Until summer 1976, the format for call letters was three letters and four figures: KTE9136. Licenses issued since then use four letters and four figures: KTEM1234.

Lowercase elsewhere: a Texas city; the city government; the city Board of Education; and all city of phrases: the city of Boston.

Capitalize when part of a formal title before a name: City Manager Francis McGrath. Lowercase when not part of the formal title: city Health Commissioner Frank Smith.

Retain capitalization if the reference is to a specific council but the context does not require the city name:

Lowercase in other uses: the council, the Boston and New York city councils, a city council.

Use the proper name if the body is not known as a city council: the Miami City Commission, the City Commission, the commission; the Louisville Board of Aldermen, the Board of Aldermen, the board.

Use city council in a generic sense for plural references: the Boston, Louisville and Miami city councils.

Lowercase plural uses: the Boston and New York city halls.

Lowercase generic uses, including: You can’t fight city hall.

A criminal case is one that the state or the federal government brings against an individual charged with committing a crime.

A union shop requires workers to join a union within a specified period after they are employed.

An agency shop requires that the workers who do not want to join the union pay the union a fee instead of union dues.

A guild shop, a term often used when the union is The Newspaper Guild, is the same as a union shop.

Whenever practical, use a phrase such as closing debate or ending debate instead of the technical term.

(Several are exceptions to Webster’s New World in the interests of consis-tency.)

Use no hyphen in other combinations:

Cooperate, coordinate and related words are exceptions to the rule that a hyphen is used if a prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel.

Capitalize when referring to regions of the United States lying along such shorelines: the Atlantic Coast states, a Gulf Coast city, the West Coast, the East Coast.

Do not capitalize when referring to smaller regions: the Virginia coast.

Capitalize the Coast when standing alone only if the reference is to the West Coast.

Use lowercase for similar forces of other nations.

This approach has been adopted for consistency, because many foreign nations do not use coast guard as the proper name.

Lowercase guardsman when it stands alone.

Crack is a refined cocaine in crystalline rock form.

Some usage examples: The committee is meeting to set its agenda. The jury reached its verdict. A herd of cattle was sold.

Consult special sections of the Webster’s New World for lists of junior colleges, colleges and universities in the United States and Canadian colleges and universities.

Webster’s New World Dictionary identifies many words as colloquial with the label Colloq. The label itself, the dictionary says, “does not indicate substandard or illiterate usage.”

Many colloquial words and phrases characteristic of informal writing and conversation are acceptable in some contexts but out of place in others. Examples include bum, giveaway and phone.

Other colloquial words normally should be avoided because they are substandard. Webster’s New World notes, for example, that ain’t is colloquial and not automatically illiterate or sub- standard usage. But it also notes that ain’t is “a dialectical or substandard contraction.” Thus it should not be used in news stories unless needed to illustrate substandard speech in writing.

In some countries of Africa, it is used to denote individuals of mixed racial ancestry. Whenever the word is used, place it in quotation marks and provide an explanation of its meaning.

Do not capitalize committee in shortened versions of long committee names: the Special Senate Select Committee to Investigate Improper Labor-Management Practices, for example, became the rackets committee.

The republics (with adjective form in parentheses):

Armenia (Armenian); Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani); Belarus (Belarussian); Estonia (Estonian); Georgia (Georgian); Kazakhstan (Kazakh); Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz); Latvia (Latvian); Lithuania (Lithuanian); Russia (Russian); Tajikistan (Tajik); Turkmenistan (Turkmen); Ukraine (no the) (Ukrainian); Uzbekistan (Uzbek).

DATELINES: MOSCOW stands alone. Follow all other datelines with the name of the state. ALMA-ATA, Kazakhstan.

BALTICS: Use the city and Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia in datelines from these Baltic nations.

The members are: Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Botswana, Canada, Cyprus, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, St. Lucia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, Western Samoa and Zambia. Nauru, a special member, participates in activities but not in meetings of government heads.

Headquarters is in Washington.

If company or companies appears alone in second reference, spell the word out.

The forms for possessives: Ford Motor Co.’s profits, American Broadcasting Cos.’ profits.

THEATRICAL: Spell out company in names of theatrical organizations: the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Do not use all capital letter names unless the letters are individually pronounced: CRX, USX. Others should be uppercase and lowercase.

Use compared with when juxtaposing two or more items to illustrate similarities and/or differences: His time was 2:11:10, compared with 2:14 for his closest competitor.

Complaisant means eager to please.

Compliment is a noun or a verb that denotes praise or the expression of courtesy: The captain complimented the sailors. She was flattered by the compliments on her outfit.

Comprise means to contain, to include all or embrace. It is best used only in the active voice, followed by a direct object: The United States comprises 50 states. The jury comprises five men and seven women. The zoo comprises many animals.

Constitute, in the sense of form or make up, may be the best word if neither compose nor comprise seems to fit: Fifty states constitute the United States. Five men and seven women constitute the jury. A collection of animals can constitute a zoo.

Use include when what follows is only part of the total: The price includes breakfast. The zoo includes lions and tigers.

The guidelines, followed by a block of examples:

—Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters.

—Capitalize an article — the, a, an — or words of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in a title.

—Put quotation marks around the names of all such works except the Bible and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material. In addition to catalogs, this category includes almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks and similar publications.

—Translate a foreign title into English unless a work is known to the American public by its foreign name.

Reference works: Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft; Encyclopaedia Britannica; Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second Edi-tion.

Foreign works: Rousseau’s “War,” not Rousseau’s “La Guerre.” But: Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and “The Magic Flute.” But: “Die Walkuere” and “Gotterdammerung” from Wagner’s “The Ring of the Nibelungen.”

The U.S. comptroller of the currency is an appointed official in the Treasury Department who is responsible for the chartering, supervising and liquidation of banks organized under the federal government’s National Bank Act.

Controller generally is the proper word for financial officers of businesses and for other positions such as aircraft controller.

Capitalize comptroller and controller when used as the formal titles for financial officers. Use lowercase for aircraft controller and similar occupational applications of the word.

In stories, the Congo or Congo as the construction of a sentence dictates.

The word church is correctly applied only to an individual local church. Each such church is responsible for the doctrine, ministry and ritual of its congregation.

A small body of churches that did not enter the United Church of Christ is known as the National Association of Congregational Churches. Churches in the association have more than 100,000 members.

Jesus is regarded as man’s savior, but no subscription to a set creed is required for membership.

Members of the clergy are known as ministers. Pastor applies if a minister leads a congregation.

On first reference, use the Rev. before the name of a man or woman. On second reference, use only the last name of a man; Miss, Mrs., Ms. or no title before the last name of a woman depending on her preference.

Capitalize Congress also if referring to a foreign body that uses the term, or its equivalent in a foreign language, as part of its formal name: the Argentine Congress, the Congress.

Lowercase when used as a synonym for convention or in second reference to an organization that uses the word as part of its formal name: the Congress of Racial Equality, the congress.

Lowercase district whenever it stands alone.

Headquarters is in New York.

Denote means to be explicit about the meaning: The word demolish denotes destruction.

A private, for-profit corporation, Conrail was set up by Congress in 1976 to reorganize and consolidate six bankrupt Northeast railroads — the Penn Central, the Erie Lackawanna, Reading, Central of New Jersey, Lehigh Valley, and Lehigh & Hudson River.

The legislation provided for a $2 billion federal loan to the corporation and set a phased schedule of repayments. A total of 25 million shares of common stock were created, but the shares were not made available for public trading. Instead, the shares were issued in the names of voting trustees chosen to represent the individuals designated as the ultimate recipients after the settlement of litigation over the value of the property that Conrail took over.

Do not confuse Conrail with Amtrak (see separate entry). However, the legislation that set up Conrail also provided for Amtrak to gradually acquire from Conrail some of the property that had been owned by the bankrupt railroads.

Headquarters is in Philadelphia.

When referring to constitutions of other nations or of states, capitalize only with the name of a nation or a state: the French Constitution, the Massachusetts Constitution, the nation’s constitution, the state constitution, the constitution.

Lowercase in other uses: the organization’s constitution.

Lowercase constitutional in all uses.

Capitalize with the name of a nation; lowercase without it: the French Consulate, the U.S. Consulate, the consul-ate.

Capitalize when referring to the U.S. index, issued monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an agency of the Labor Department.

The U.S. Consumer Price Index should not be referred to as a cost-of- living index, because it does not include the impact of income taxes and Social Security taxes on the cost of living, nor does it reflect changes in buying patterns that result from inflation. It is, however, the basis for computing cost-of-living raises in many union contracts.

The preferred form for second reference is the index. Confine CPI to quoted material.

Capitalize the Continent and Continental only when used as synonyms for Europe or European. Lowercase in other uses such as: the continent of Europe, the European continent, the African and Asian continents.

Headquarters is in Houston.

The continental slope begins at the point where the descent to the ocean bottom becomes very steep.

Continuous means uninterrupted, steady, unbroken: All she saw ahead of her was a continuous stretch of desert.

Avoid excessive use of contractions. Contractions listed in the dictionary are acceptable, however, in informal contexts where they reflect the way a phrase commonly appears in speech or writing.

Use contrasted with when juxtaposing two or more items to illustrate similarities and/or differences: He contrasted the Republican platform with the Democratic platform.

Lowercase in other uses: the national convention, the state convention, the convention, the annual convention of the American Medical Association.

Right: The robbers persuaded him to open the vault.

Wrong: The robbers convinced him to open the vault.

Right: The robbers convinced him that it was the right thing to do.

Wrong: The robbers persuaded him that it was the right thing to do.

Use copyrighted only as the past tense of the verb: He copyrighted the article.

Abbreviate corporation as Corp. when a company or government agency uses the word at the end of its name: Gulf Oil Corp., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Spell out corporation when it occurs elsewhere in a name: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Spell out and lowercase corporation whenever it stands alone.

The form for possessives: Gulf Oil Corp.’s profits.

Capitalize when standing alone only if it is a shortened reference to U.S. Marine Corps.

The possessive form is corps’ for both singular and plural: one corps’ location, two corps’ assignments.

The term often is treated incorrectly as a synonym for the U.S. Consumer Price Index, which does not take taxes into account and measures only price changes, keeping the quantities constant over time.

Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier: The cost of living went up, but he did not receive a cost-of-living raise.

Capitalize the full names of county governmental units: the Dade County Commission, the Orange County Department of Social Services, the Suffolk County Legislature.

Retain capitalization for the name of a county body if the proper noun is not needed in the context; lowercase the word county if it is used to distinguish an agency from state or federal counterparts: the Board of Supervisors, the county Board of Supervisors; the Department of Social Services, the county Department of Social Services. Lowercase the board, the department, etc. whenever they stand alone.

Capitalize county if it is an integral part of a specific body’s name even without the proper noun: the County Commission, the County Legislature. Lowercase the commission, the legislature, etc. when not preceded by the word county.

Capitalize as part of a formal title before a name: County Manager John Smith. Lowercase when it is not part of the formal title: county Health Commissioner Frank Jones.

Avoid county of phrases where possible, but when necessary, always lowercase: the county of Westchester.

Lowercase plural combinations: Westchester and Rockland counties.

Apply the same rules to similar terms such as parish.

The terms should be explained if they are not clear in the context.

Capitalize all references to a specific county court, and capitalize county judge when used as a formal title before a name. Do not use judge alone before a name except in direct quotations.

Examples:

In the sense of a single unit, use a singular verb: Each couple was asked to give $10.

The phrase takes a plural verb in constructions such as: A couple of tomatoes were stolen.

Do not use Mr. in any reference unless it is combined with Mrs.: Mr. and Mrs. John Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

On sports wires, do not use courtesy titles in any reference unless needed to distinguish among people of the same last name.

On news wires, use courtesy titles for women on second reference, following the woman’s preference. Use Ms. if a preference cannot be determined. If the woman says she does not want a courtesy title, refer to her on second reference by last name only. Some guidelines:

MARRIED WOMEN: The preferred form on first reference is to identify a woman by her own first name and her husband’s last name: Susan Smith. Use Mrs. on the first reference only if a woman requests that her husband’s first name be used or her own first name cannot be determined: Mrs. John Smith.

On second reference, use Mrs. unless a woman initially identified by her own first name prefers Ms.: Carla Hills, Mrs. Hills, Ms. Hills; or no title: Carla Hills, Hills.

If a married woman is known by her maiden name, precede it by Miss on second reference unless she prefers Ms.: Jane Fonda, Miss Fonda, Ms. Fonda; or no title, Jane Fonda, Fonda.

UNMARRIED WOMEN: For women who have never been married, use Miss, Ms. or no title on second reference according to the woman’s preference.

For divorced women and widows, the normal practice is to use Mrs. or no title, if she prefers, on second reference. But, if a woman returns to the use of her maiden name, use Miss, Ms. or no title if she prefers it.

MARITAL STATUS: If a woman prefers Ms. or no title, do not include her marital status in a story unless it is clearly pertinent.

Court House (two words) is used in the proper names of some communities: Appomattox Court House, Va.

Retain capitalization if U.S. or a state name is dropped: the U.S. Supreme Court, the Supreme Court, the state Superior Court, the Superior Court, Superior Court.

For courts identified by a numeral: 2nd District Court, 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

To convert to liters, multiply by .24 (14 cups x .24 = 3.36 liters, or 3,360 milliliters).

A nation’s money is devalued when its government deliberately reduces its value in relation to the currency of other nations.

When a nation devalues its currency, the goods it imports tend to become more expensive. Its exports tend to become less expensive in other nations and thus more competitive.

Lowercase elsewhere: a customs official, a customs ruling, she went through customs.

A cynic is a disbeliever.

Lowercase in all other uses.