A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
J
joules; kJ kilojoules
Jack Daniel’s
note apostrophe; technically it is a Tennessee whiskey, not a bourbon
jack-in-the-box
but jack of all trades
jack russell
terrier first bred by the Rev John Russell in the early 19th century
Jacuzzi
TM; named after its US inventors, Roy and Candido Jacuzzi; call it a whirlpool bath unless you’re sure it really is a Jacuzzi
jail
not gaol (inexplicably, the Guardian persisted with this style well into the 1980s, long after everyone else had changed)
Jalalabad
city in Afghanistan; Jalal-Abad is in Kyrgyzstan
Janjaweed
Sudanese militia; it means “man with a gun on a horse”
jargon
Originally jargon was “the inarticulate utterance of birds, or a vocal sound resembling it; twittering, chattering”.
The modern sense – defined as “mode of speech abounding in unfamiliar terms, or peculiar to a particular set of persons, as the language of scholars or philosophers, the terminology of a science or art, or the cant of a class, sect, trade, or profession” (OED) – dates from the 17th century.
Bill Bryson describes jargon thus: “The practice of never calling a spade a spade when you might instead call it a manual earth-restructuring implement”
Jay Z
no hyphen
JCDecaux
sells outdoor advertising space, but has no spaces in its name
Jeep
TM
Jehovah’s Witness
jejune
naive or unsophisticated, not necessarily anything to do with youth. Although jeune means young in French, jejune is derived from the Latin for fasting and originally meant deficient or scanty. The OED’s first listing of it in the modern sense is from George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man, published in 1898
jellaba
loose cloak with a hood, worn especially in north Africa and the Middle East
Jerez
jerry-builder
Jerusalem
should not be referred to as the capital of Israel: it is not recognised as such by the international community. While the Knesset has designated the city as the country’s capital, a UN resolution of 1980 declared this status “null and void”. Jerusalem is the seat of government and Tel Aviv is the country’s diplomatic and financial centre
jerusalem artichoke
nothing to do with Jerusalem: this jerusalem comes from the Italian for sunflower
jetski
jewellery
in British English, not jewelry
jib
triangular sail or arm of a crane; “I don’t like the cut of his jib” means you don’t like the look or manner of someone
jibe
(not gibe) taunt
jihad
Used by Muslims to describe three different kinds of struggle: an individual’s internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible; the struggle to build a good Muslim society; and the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary
jihadi
noun (plural jihadis) and adjective
Militant, extreme or violent jihadis may be used if a general term is needed to describe members or followers of a group such as Islamic State. We should, however, strive to avoid such generalisations and identify the actual group and its affiliations.
Individuals who are not formal members of any organisation, such as the Charlie Hebdo killers or Woolwich murderers, may reasonably be described as “violent jihadis”
jobcentres
are run by Jobcentre Plus
jobseeker’s allowance
job titles
are all lc: editor of the Guardian, governor of the Bank of England, prime minister, etc
jodhpurs
Joe Public, John Doe
Johansson, Scarlett
john dory
fish
John o’Groats
although the local newspaper is the John O’Groat Journal
Johns Hopkins University
not John Hopkins
jokey
not joky
Jolie, Angelina
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (“Brangelina” only when quoting someone)
have six children, all of whom have the surname Jolie-Pitt. Their charitable foundation is the Jolie-Pitt Foundation (originally the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation, after one of the children)
Joneses
as in keeping up with the Joneses; also note the Joneses’ house (not the Jones’ house)
Jonsson, Ulrika
jubilee
diamond jubilee, etc
judgment
Try to resist the temptation to add the word “call”
judges
“Judge John Smith said” or “the judge, John Smith, said”
are both fine; “judge John Smith” is wrong.
Note that UK supreme court judges (or justices as they style themselves ) are Lord This or Lady That – hence Lady Hale, not “Lady Justice Hale”.
To call her Lady Justice Hale is to demote her to a court of appeal judge – who are (confusingly) Lord Justice This or Lady Justice That, eg Lady Justice Hallett
7 July 2005
The London suicide bombings may be referred to as 7/7 in headlines; the bombers were Hasib Hussain, Mohammad Sidique Khan, Germaine Lindsay and Shehzad Tanweer
jumbo jet
but jump-jet
the “Jungle”
Refer to it as the Calais refugee camp instead. While the “Jungle” is recognised as the camp’s name, it is a derogatory term so its use should be limited
junior
abbreviate to Jr not Jun or Jnr, eg Sammy Davis Jr
just deserts
not just desserts, unless you are saying you only want pudding
juvenile
the Criminal Justice Act 1991 replaced this term with “youth”, and raised the age at which you cease to be one from 17 to 18
