User:Amgine/SG Details-O

OAPs, old age pensioners
Do not use. Pensioners or old age.

oast house
Two words, unhyphenated.

Oath of Allegiance
In the USA and the Philippines a Pledge of Allegiance. In all cases define to whom/what the pledge is made. (For example, in the United Kingdom new members of Parliament make their oath to the Queen.) After first mention, the oath.

Obama Administration
Capitalized. Refers to the US President, Vice-President, and his appointees but especially to his Cabinet Secretaries:

obituaries
A brief article announcing the death of a person, and briefly commemorating that person's life, closing by mentioning the individual's next-of-kin and survivors. The next-of-kin and family have editorial control of the content of an obituary, and their wishes should generally be respected. In general an obituary is submitted by the family, excepting extraordinary individuals of popular and general interest and importance.

Family-generated obituaries should have the death verified, the article basically copy-edited, and be published expeditiously without regard to its apparent newsworthiness or timeliness.

obbligato
Not obligato.

Obiang
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea since 1979.

oblige, obligate
Interchangeable, however in the United Kingdom there is a preference for oblige.

oblivious
"oblivious of", never oblivious to. It means lacking awareness of something, being forgetful of something, and does not mean ignorant or uncomprehending.

O'Brian, Patrick
Author.

obscenity
Wikinews is not censored. Neither, however, is it gratuitously offensive. Where an image is central to a story, for example Janet Jackson's wardrobe failure at the 2004 Superbowl event, it certainly may be used. However, the less-sensational image immediately after the event is actually more illustrative of the controversy engendered.

Regarding words deemed obscene, and not images, there is no place in journalism to use language offensive to the readership except in direct quotes and, possibly but rarely, in editorials. Wikinews does not publish editorials. In direct quotes, do not alter text to appear less offensive such as f**k, *sshole, c***, etc. There is no requirement to use a quote which includes obscenity, but there is no justification for altering a quote squeamishly either.

obtuse
"Intellectually dull or dim-witted." (Wiktionary) Beware confusion with obstruse, obscure.

occurred
Not occured.

Occam's Razor
Also known as the principle of economy. Prefer this spelling to Ockham's Razor. (Broadly speaking, the simplest explanation is more likely correct.)

occurred
Two Rs.

Oceania
The geographical region composed of Pacific islands regions (Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia), Australia and New Zealand.

octopuses
Though it is nearly as common as octopuses, the argument for octopi as the plural is wrong; octopus is evolved from Greek, not Latin, and the Greek plural would be octopodes. Use the anglicized plural which is most common and avoid such silly arguments.

Oder-Neisse line
The recognized border between Poland and Germany (1990). Do not use either the Polish (Granica na Odrze i Nysie Łużyckiej) or the German (Oder-Neiße-Grenze). The name is drawn from the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, which form the majority of the border.

O'Donnell, Sir Gus
Full title Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, Sir Gus thereafter.

OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD thereafter.

oedipal
Lowercase.

of
Omit in constructions such as "half of the workers", "all of the candidates".

of all time
Verboten. See clichés.

offbeat
No hyphen, single word.

officers
In organizations which differentiate, do not confuse enlisted, ratings, or non-commissioned officers (NCOs or noncoms) with officers. These are primarily military organizations such as Army or Navy.

oh!
Not O!

oil-related terms
Some terms are formed as adjectival, others as modifier, still others as specific. Through use these have become standardized, but keep in mind that many of these words and phrases are very young as words go. The following list is of the most popular formulations by usage on the internet; there may be specific reasons to use a different formulation:


 * oil-drum
 * oilfield
 * oilman
 * oil-paint
 * oil refinery
 * oil sand
 * oil shale
 * oilskin (for the garment)
 * oilsmoke
 * oil stove
 * oiltanker
 * oil well

OK
Do not write okay, o-kay, etc. (The term is the abbreviation for the fanciful spelling oll korrect, part of a fad for deliberate misspellings in the 1830s.)

Old Boy, Old Girl
Capitalization for the Britishism (former pupil of a school.)

Old City, Old Bella Bella, etc.
Capitalize for a well-established and defined area.

Old Master
Chiefly European artist or artworks active between approximately 1450 and 1800, although the term is somewhat flexible for time. Note capitalization to avoid confusion.

Olympic Games
Olympics is an acceptable substitute usually after first mention, or the Games (note caps for either), but generally the -s is omitted in adjectival use, e.g. Olympic stadium, Olympic athlete. Note the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt, whose title includes the -s.

ombudsman, ombudswoman
Lower case in general, but capitals in the specific - even for the unofficial title Parliamentary Ombdusman (the United Kingdom's Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration Ann Abraham.) Avoid the use of ombudsperson; although perhaps more sex-neutral, it is clumsy and not widely accepted. In some cases ombudsman is considered the official title - check with the office before using ombudswoman unless it used in the office's own writings.

omega-3, omega-6, etc.
Lowercase and hyphen for the fatty acids.

omelette
Not omelet.

omit needless words
William Strunk's 13th rule, it's explanatory text begins with the following paragraph, which I consider required reading for every writer intending publication:
 * Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

Consider the following:

on behalf of
In the interest of or as a representative of is appropriate usage. "The statement betrays a lack of understanding on behalf of the politician" is just plain wrong, as well as excess verbiage.

on board
When in reference to any form of craft, prefer to aboard to avoid confusion. Also, indicates active alignment with a party or viewpoint, rather than simple agreement on a specific issue. e.g. Vice-President Cheney was on board the effort by the military-industrial complex to eliminate public oversight of military contract awards.

one
Use the singular verb in constructions such as "one in three says prices are high" or "one in three is feeling the pinch", just as you should use the singular verb for one as the subject: "one says prices are high" or "one is feeling the pinch".

In first-person voice, do not use both "I" and "one" as a pronoun. In general most uses of one as a pronoun can instead be stated as you, which in those cases is preferable.

one another
If more than two, each other two only.

one member, one vote
No hyphens unless used adjectivally, e.g. a one-member, one-vote system.

one-time
Do not use to indicate former.

ongoing
Avoid use. Try continuing or almost anything else.

online, offline
No hyphens.

only
Use with care; place directly before the word or phrase to be qualified. e.g. "Only he touched the switch." "He only touched the switch." "He touched the only switch."

on to
Unlike into, generally better used as two separate words. "She moved on to the floor." "She moved onto the floor." The second is acceptable, but can only refer to her physical location.

OPEC
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC thereafter.

opencast mining
In the USA, strip mining.

open skies
No quotes, hyphenate when used adjectively; e.g. open-skies policy.

openly gay
Do not use this phrase. en.Wikinews does not engage in outing so it is redundant. Only discuss a person's sexuality directly if it is specifically relevant to the story.

ophthalmologist, ophthalmic, etc.
Not optomologist nor opthalmologist.

Opposition
Capitalize as a noun, but lower case in adjectival use. e.g. "He accused the Opposition of lying." vs. "He said it was an opposition lie."

Opus Dei
A conservative organization within the Roman Catholic Church, a personal prelature of the Pope, thus it is not a "sect".

or
Does not require being preceded by "either", though it may be stronger so. Avoid it being immediately preceded by a comma.

oral
Not to be confused with verbal. Oral pertains to the mouth; verbal pertains to words.

orangutan
Do not hyphenate as orang-utan.

ordinals
Spell out first through tenth, use cardinals thereafter as 11th, 23rd, 51st.

ordinance
A local law or regulation, or a prescribed religious ceremony or practice.

ordnance
Military equipment, especially weaponry, ammunition.

organic
Do not describe products as "organic", generically. Instead, define them as "certified organic" and state the certifying body or document on first mention.

Anything which is or was once living is organic. Organic compounds involve carbon. Organic chemistry is the chemistry of organic compounds.

organic food
Never say organic foods are grown without chemicals; in fact there are often a range of chemicals, both synthetic and naturally occurring, which are used in growing and/or processing organic foods. Most organic standards do not certify GMO foods, however USA government standards do. Non-GMO standards also generally allow a percentage of the product to be GMO, due to the invasive character of many patented genes such as "Round-up Ready™" crops.

Orkney Islands
Orkney or the Orkney Islands, not the Orkneys.

OSCE
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe at first mention, OSCE thereafter.

Outback, the
Only capitalize in Australia.

outdoor, outdoors
Outdoor is adjectival, the outdoors is noun.

outed, outing
Do not use. Especially, do not use for sexual predators such as paedophiles due to the term's association with homosexualtiy; sexual minorities are not to be equated with sexual criminals. Instead, use terms such as exposed, revealed for criminals. Wikinews does not engage in outing.

outpatients, inpatients
No hyphen.

outré
With acute accent.

outside
Do not use the construction "outside of'"; e.g. outside the committee not outside of the committee.

over
Do not use as a synonym for "more" when followed by a number. That is, "more than 10,000 barrels a day" not "over 10,000 barrels a day", "delayed more than six months" not "delayed over six months".

As a prefix, use a hyphen where adjectival, no hyphen where noun, even when it results in a double r. e.g. They refunded the overpayment; despite the over-estimated price we felt it we had good value. Over-age is always hyphenated, as is under-age (the term has a different etymology and meaning from overage.)

overly
Do not use as an alternative for over or too.

Oxbridge
In general, avoid use of this "catch-all" term for all things Oxford and Cambridge.

Oxford comma
See serial comma.

oxymoron
A figure of speech involving two or more words which apparently contradict each other. Examples: "the living dead" (Wasteland), "We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!" (The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy)