SJC-style-and-production-guide-2012

Bbaby Mothers don’t give birth to baby girls or baby boys. They give birth to boys or girls.BAC blood alcohol content (See per cent)back yard, backyard A ‘backyard’ is as awkward as a ‘backverandah’ or a ‘frontyard’.’Backyard’ is the adjective-noun form and ‘backyard’ is the adjective. A backyard mechanic worksin the back yard. Many other combinations of ‘back’ can be happily fused, eg, backlog,backside, backslide, background.believe No journalist knows what is going on inside another person’s mind. So it is impossibleto report: ‘Mr Smith believes the course of action was correct.’ The report should read: ‘MrSmith said he believed the course of action was correct.’ That is, journalists report what peoplesay, not what they believe people are thinking.basically overused. Avoid.basis overused. Avoid in constructions such as ‘We often see uncle Simon on a needs basis’when you mean uncle Simon visits us when he needs money.bear and bare are often confused. The first is an animal, or ‘loads we must bear’; while thesecond is unadorned, uncovered.best (hyphenation) best-dressed, best-liked, best man, bestseller, best-selling.best and better are often confused. You cannot have the best of two, nor can one of two be themost something: it is ‘better’ and ‘more’ respectively. The ‘best’ of three or more is fine, as is‘most’.besties is current speak for best mates.best practice often ‘world’s best practice’. Often a hyperbolic claim. Impossible to verify. Useit only quoting sources, if then.Bible when referring to the book, initial cap, but not italic. Otherwise lower case for biblical. Butthe style guide is the journalists’ bible.billion is one thousand million. That is, 9 zeros. (Previously an English billion was 12 zeros, thatis one million million. Now standardised at 109.)bigger/biggest The ‘-er’ ending in comparative adjectives is used when comparing two thingsor qualities only. The ‘-est’ ending refers to three or more: ‘elder brother’/ ‘eldest brother’,‘deeper blue’/ ‘deepest blue’.birther (rhymes with flat earther) a conspiracy theorist who insists in the face of all availableevidence that Barack Obama was not born in the USABjelke-Petersen Note the final ‘-en’, not ‘-on’. Sir Joh was Queensland’s longest-servingPremier.black should not be used by reporters as a term describing indigenous Australians, Africans andAfrican Americans. On the other hand it is quite appropriate for those peoples to use the termthemselves to describe themselves.black (hyphenation). Blackmail, blackout (n), black out (v) black tie, black-listed, black list (n).Prefer bribe.blond (male), blonde (female).bored with, NOT ‘bored of’.botanic gardens . Only Hobart has botanical gardens.both (See only) The positioning of ‘both’ should be precise:It is incorrect to write, ‘She was eating both from a plate and a bowl’. It is either,UQ SJC STYLEBOOK 2012 – PAGE 28