Introduction

This section contains an alphabetical list of words and phrases that cause trouble: words that are overused or often incorrectly used and Americanisms (distinguished by (US) after the word). Please note that on rare occasions the ‘prohibited’ words below can be better than their permitted alternatives. A useful website for synonyms is Thesaurus.com. See also the section on spelling.

Thesaurus

ACADEME, ACADEMIA. Replace by academic institutions, universities.

ACTORS. Avoid this vague term.

ADDITIONAL. Use extra, further, more.

ALTERNATE (US) does not mean alternative, but occurs by turns.

AMERICAN do not use, apart from in relation to the whole of the Americas.

ANTHROPOGENIC. Reword where possible, for example by saying of human origin, human driven or resulting from human activity. But avoid man-made.

APPROXIMATELY. Replace with about, roughly, around.

BETWEEN. Only use in relation to two things.

BIOACTIVE. Use biologically active.

CAUTION (verb). Replace by warn.

CHARGED. Use claimed, accused, complained, given responsibility for, as appropriate.

COMMENCE. Replace by start, begin.

COMMUNITY. Take care with this nebulous word. A more specific word is often better.

COMPARE. A is compared WITH B when you draw attention to the difference. A is compared TO B only when you want to stress their similarity: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

COMPRISED OF (US). Use consists of, or comprises.

CONVINCE … TO (US). Always replace by convince … that, persuade … to.

DATA is singular.

DETERMINE whether, not if.

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Avoid using. Replace with low- and middle-income countries, poor countries and rich countries.

DIALOGUE. Replace with debate, talk, discussion or conversation where possible.

DIFFERENT from (not ‘than’ (US).

DISAGGREGATE. Avoid using. Replace with divide, separate or break down.

DISPLAY. Things exhibit, show characteristics, they do not display them.

DUE TO. This means ‘caused by’ not ‘because of’.

EACH. Takes a singular, e.g. each squirrel is destined to be stuffed.

E.G. Replace with for example, for instance.

EITHER (… or). Use only for two items.

ELIMINATE. When talking about a disease, this means getting rid of it from a defined area. See ERADICATE.

ELUCIDATE. Do not use if you simply mean explain.

EMPLOY. Replace by use, except in the case of employment of people in a job.

ENQUIRY/INQUIRY. An enquiry is a question, an inquiry is an investigation.

ENVISAGE. Replace when possible by foresee, visualise, predict.

ERADICATE. When talking about a disease, this means wiping it off the planet. See ELIMINATE.

ETC. Replace with ‘and so on’.

EVOLUTIONARY (adj.), EVOLUTIONARILY (adv.).

EXHIBIT. Replace by show, have.

FINANCE (verb). To deliver funding. See FUND.

FLOOR. Take care when using terms such as ground floor and first floor. In countries such as the United States, the first floor of a building is at ground level. In the United Kingdom, the ground floor is at ground level, with the first floor one storey up.

FORGO means do without and it forgoes the ‘E’; FOREGO means go before.

FUND (verb). Generally this is best replaced by finance or support. ‘Fund’ is correct only in the sense that, for example, the government funds the research councils — the research councils finance individual institutions.

GIFT OF (US). Use gift from.

GLOBAL SOUTH. Avoid using. Replace with low- and middle-income countries, poor countries and rich countries.

GROW (verb). Avoid using this to mean expand, as in they grew the business.

HAJJ (Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca). Not Haj or Hadj. NB this is all lower case.

HYPOTHESIZE (US). Use propose, consider, suggest.

IDENTICAL to

I.E. replace with ‘that is’ or, preferably, rewrite.

IRONIC. This does not refer to something happening by a strange coincidence. Something is ironic if it is the opposite of what might have been expected. Often best to avoid as it is a tricky concept.

IMPACT (noun). Replace by affect, hit, strike as a verb.

IMPLY. See INFER.

IMPORTANT ROLE, PLAY AN. Replace by is important.

INCENTIVISE. Avoid if possible, but okay to use.

IN ORDER TO. Replace by TO where possible.

INFER. A writer implies what his readers infer.

INQUIRY. See ENQUIRY.

THE INTERNET or the Net. This is the worldwide computer network on which services such as the World Wide Web are based.

ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM. A conservative adherence to literal or traditional interpretations of the Koran.

ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST. Muslims who believe in or support a conservative adherence to literal or traditional interpretations of the Koran.

LATTER. Use to distinguish two items, otherwise use last.

LESS THAN. Use fewer with numbers of individual items or people, but “less than £200” because this is a measured quantity.

LIKE. Means similar, so do not use instead of such as, which means for example.

LIKELY (US). Do not use instead of probably.

LOCALS. Can sound patronising or overly informal. Local people is better.

LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES – This is the preferred term when referring to countries covered by SciDev.Net. It can also be replaced by terms such as “rich countries” and “poor countries”.

MAJORITY OF, THE. Replace by most where possible (but note that most means nearly all, while majority often doesn’t).

MEDIA, and SOCIAL MEDIA, are plural.

MILITATE. To militate against something is to influence it. See MITIGATE.

MITIGATE. To mitigate means to lessen an offence. See MILITATE.

MULTIPLE. Replace where possible by several.

NEITHER … NOR takes a singular verb.

NONE takes a singular verb.

NOT ONLY … BUT ALSO. The complete second phrase is required.

NOVEL. Overused so delete it or try replacing it with new.

NUMBER OF, A. Replace by several, some, various.

ONTO. Unless the on is considered part of the verb, e.g. Then the group went on to Vietnam.

OUTSIDE OF. Use outside.

PER ANNUM. Replace by a year.

PER CAPITA. Replace by per/for every person.

PER DAY/WEEK. Replace by a day/week.

PERSONS. Replace by people.

PRESENTLY means soon, not ‘at present’ (US).

PRINCIPAL, PRINCIPLE. Principal (noun and adjective) means main or chief; principle means rule of conduct.

PRIOR. Use previous if that is what is meant.

PRIOR TO. Replace by before.

QUANTITATE. Use quantify.

QUITE means completely.

RECESSED. Use adjourned if that is what is meant.

REFUTE. This used to only mean to prove falsity or error. Its use as a synonym for deny is growing, but should be avoided.

REGARDING. Use ‘about’ if appropriate.

REGULAR. Do not use for normal, usual.

REVEAL means disclose, make known. Use show if that is what you mean.

RESOURCE. Use a more precise term where possible.

SACRIFICE. Always replace by kill if that is what is meant, although euthanised may be an acceptable replacement.

SEX WORKER. Use instead of the word prostitute.

SOMEWHAT. Do not use.

SPECTRUM. Do not use if range is meant.

SPOKESPERSON. Use this rather than spokesman or woman, unless for some important reason the spokesperson is named in the piece.

STAKEHOLDER. Avoid this word.

STATES. Avoid. Use says or equivalent instead.

SUBSTITUTE X for Y, but replace Y by (or with) X.

SUFFICIENTLY THAT. Avoid this construction.

TEAM is singular.

THOUGH. Although is preferred.

THROUGH. US for range, use ‘from… to’.

TO DATE. Replace by so far, until now.

TOWARD (US). Use towards.

TRAFFICKING means dealing in; avoid misuse when moving, transporting or travelling is what is meant.

TRANSPORTATION. Replace by transport.

TROPICAL CYCLONE. These powerful storms are known by different terms around the world: hurricanes in the Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and central and northeast Pacific; typhoons in the northwest Pacific; and cyclones in the Indian Ocean and south Pacific.

TYPES OF. As in four types of particle (not particles).

USAGE, UTILIZE. Use USE if that is what is meant.

VIS-A-VIS. Replace with regarding, face to face, opposite or in relation to.

VULCANOLOGIST. Use volcanologist.

THE WEB (or the World Wide Web). A global network of hypertext files.

WITHIN. Use in unless you mean inside.

WORLD WAR I or II. Use First or Second World War.