jail
not "gaol".
´ł˛ą˛Ô±đ’s
(yearbooks on planes, ships etc) ie capital letter, apostrophe "s".
jargon
should be weeded out - especially when, for example, creating a text version of an interview. The aim is to be absolutely unambiguous, and immediately comprehensible. If the meaning is not clear, leave it out. Indirect speech can be a valuable tool, as can phrases such as what he called, as he put it etc.
Beware, in particular, of hospital jargon (eg: "in a comfortable condition") and police jargon (eg: "helping with inquiries"), and steer clear of management jargon (eg: "ongoing", "interface", "downsizing" etc).
Jemaah Islamiah
(Islamist militant group suspected of being behind the Bali bomb attacks) ie no "y" in Islamiah. May be abbreviated at second reference to JI. It is believed to want a pan-Islamic state covering Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Its main leader is the Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir; second reference Mr Ba’asyir.
jeweller/jewellery
Do not adopt the US spelling ("jeweler/jewelry").
jihad
ie lower case - Arabic word meaning holy war or struggle. It does not always entail violence and we should be clear in instances where it does.
jihadi/jihadist
These terms have come to be associated with violent Islamism, but may offend Muslims who associate them with spiritual jihad. We should ensure the context makes clear what we are referring to - if in doubt, specifying "violent jihad" or similar can help. By the same rationale, avoid "jihadi bride" in favour of a more specifc description, eg IS bride.
JobCentre Plus/job centre
Capped up in references to the organisation – including the internal cap “C” that "JobCentre Plus" itself uses. Thus, we should say eg: A man who wants to be a professional wrestler has won a grant from JobCentre Plus. Otherwise, separate words - both lower case eg: Fifty new job centres are to be opened across north-east England.
jobseeker’s allowance
ie lower case with an apostrophe before the "s".
job titles
Politics aside, we use lower case for all job titles. So it is the chairman of Microsoft, John Thompson, the first director general of the ±«Óătv, Lord Reith, and the England captain, Brian Smith etc.
For political titles, where a government department and its corresponding secretary of state has a composite title (eg Health and Social Care Secretary), only refer to the relevant part when quoting/attributing etc.
Also, see entry on “capitalisation”.
Johns Hopkins University
(private university in Baltimore, endowed by financier Johns Hopkins in late 19th Century) ie with an "s" at the end of both names - and no apostrophes.
journalese
should in general be avoided, but is sometimes permissible in headlines. Words that fall into this category include: axe (of jobs, team members), dump (as verb), medic/op (for "operation"), probe, quiz (as verb) and rap.
Some other examples of the genre are also acceptable in text, if used sparingly. These include bid (to mean "attempt"), blast or slam (to mean criticise), bug (in a medical sense), mum, dad and kid, cabbie, gag (as a verb), smash (synonym for "crash"), vow, swoop, top (as in top policeman). Teen or teens is acceptable in headlines only. But do not use "slate" to mean "criticise" - it has a different meaning for an American reader.
Some words are best avoided altogether, unless they occur in a direct quote. These include bonk, cops, fags, ongoing and upcoming.
judgement
is our favoured spelling - and not "judgment".
judges
Titles vary, according to the court.
A Law Lord would be, eg: Lord Greening.
An Appeal Court Judge, Lord Justice Greening.
A High Court Judge, Mr Justice Greening.
A Circuit Judge, Judge Greening.
When two judges have the same surname, the forename of the junior is given: eg Lord Justice Greening and Lord Justice Simon Greening.
junctions (motorway)
Lower case "j" and numbers below 10 written out - eg: junction five, junction 11.
Junior
In distinguishing between family members with the same names, our favoured form for the younger is Jr, and we use Sr for the older party.
jury
is singular. It delivers a verdict or returns a verdict. Its members are jurors (plural).