370 lines
8.7 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
370 lines
8.7 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
topics
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about-us
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style-book
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1435325
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-----
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# Telegraph style book: Ss
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1:03AM BST 12 Apr 2008
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**[A][1]** | **[B][2]** | **[C][3]** | **[D][4]** | **[E][5]** | **[F][6]** |
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**[G][7]** | **[H][8]** | **[I][9]** | **[J][10]** | **[K][11]** | **[L][12]**
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| **[M][13]** | **[N][14]** | **[O][15]** | **[P][16]** | **[Q][17]** |
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**[R][18]** | **[S][19]** | **[T][20]** | **[U][21]** | **[V][22]** |
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**[W][23]** | **[X][24]** | **[Y][25]** | **[Z][26]**
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* [Telegraph style book: introduction][27]
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Saakashvili, Mikheil, President of Georgia.
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safe haven is a tautology.
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said: is a neutral word, unlike some of the alternatives. To say that somebody
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claimed that something was true implies doubt; "pointed out that" implies
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agreement. Newspapers sometimes say that a man "admitted that", although he
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thought he had merely "agreed that" or "accepted that".
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Sainsbury's
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## Related Articles
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* [Introduction][27]
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10 Jan 2008
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Saint: Abbreviated to St (no point); plural is SS (SS Peter and Paul). (See
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[Places and Peoples][28]).
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Saint Laurent, Yves
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Saint-Saens, Camille (note umlaut)
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St Andrews
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St Bartholomew's Hospital may be shortened to Barts but never St Barts or St
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Bart's.
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St James's Palace.
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St John Ambulance.
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St John's wort
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St Thomas' Hospital
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Salt (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks): Use Salt-1, Salt-2 for rounds of
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meetings and treaties.
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Sam-5, Sam-6 for Soviet surface-to-air missiles.
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Sana'a, capital of Yemen.
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Santa: we use Father Christmas.
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Sarkozy, Nicolas
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Satan: cap S but satanic is lower case.
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satnav
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Saudi Arabia: note that Saudi on its own is an adjective and not an acceptable
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noun for the country.
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Savile for Lord, Row, Club. Saville Theatre and Inquiry.
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Scalextric
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Schiffer, Claudia
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Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, thus.
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Schonberg, Arnold - note the umlaut.
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schoolboy, schoolgirl, but school-leaver.
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Schumacher, Michael
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Schwarzenegger, Arnold
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Scorsese, Martin
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Scotch whisky, pies, pines, mists and wool shops. Scots or Scottish preferred
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in other contexts.
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Scottish offshore islands: never "the Shetlands" or "the Orkneys". "The
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Shetland Islands" or "the Orkney Islands" is acceptable, but try to name the
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specific island, e.g "the Orkney island of Hoy".
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Scots Porage Oats. Prisoners do porridge.
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Scott Thomas, Kristin
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Scouts, not Boy Scouts. Scout leaders not Scoutmasters.
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sea change is not a complete change, but an unexpected one.
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Sea Lords: they used to work at the Admiralty
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seasonable: appropriate for the time of year, opportune.
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seasonal: occurring regularly at a particular season (see spring).
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Sebag Montefiore, Simon. His wife is Santa Montefiore.
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see: only an animate object can see anything. Avoid tabloid usages such as
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"last year saw a sharp increase in the number of deaths" where saw is a lazy
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substitute for resulted in, caused or simply "there were".
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Seinfeld, Jerry
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Selfridges
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senior and junior after American names should be snr and jnr.
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Sentence construction: make sure your nouns and pronouns match up. Thus
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"Having been ill for weeks, Sir John received a visit from the Queen" is
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correct, but "having been ill for weeks, the Queen went to see John" is not -
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unless the Queen is the invalid.
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Services. the Services takes the cap S, servicemen do not.
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serviette: use napkin.
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sewerage/sewage: sewerage is the pipes, sewage the stuff.
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sex: avoid the expression "having sex". Use the full phrase "having sexual
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intercourse".
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shalwar kameez: singular, like suit.
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Shankill Road
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sharia law is a tautology: Islamic law is not.
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shear: something is shorn off, or shears off: it never sheers off.
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sheikh, sheikhdom.
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Shepard, E.H.: illustrator of Winnie the Pooh
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Shepherd, Cybill
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Shepherd's Bush
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shih-tzu
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Shi'ite is the adjective, Shia is the noun; the Shi'ite militia, he was a
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Shia.
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ships: they are of neuter gender, i.e. it. People serve in a ship, not on it.
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Remember that HMS is reserved for the Royal Navy's shore-based stations. Its
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ships are termed thus: the frigate Alderney, the destroyer Devonshire.
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shippers are people who consign cargo. They are not ship-owners.
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Short, Clare
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shotgun: know the difference between a shotgun, a sporting weapon which fires
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lead shot and a rifle, which fires bullets. Their capabilities and the damage
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they can inflict are very different. Firearm is the generic term.
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show: be thoughtful in using this verb. Activities that we claim "show"
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something - that is, prove it beyond doubt - often do nothing of the kind.
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They might indicate, or suggest, but they are very different matters.
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Shrops is the abbreviation for Shropshire, not Salop.
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shut: avoid "shut down" as a verb. Shut-down (n) is useful for cessation of
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output.
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Sikora, Karol, cancer expert.
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Sikorsky (helicopters), Sikorski (Polish leader).
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silicon is the element from which chips are made: silicone is the Pamela
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Anderson substance.
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simply: this has become a meaningless grunt in many sentences, for example "I
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simply don't know what to do". Avoid.
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Simpson's-in-the-Strand
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Sindy doll
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ski, skier, skied, skiing.
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slashed is tabloid: use cut or reduced.
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smelt not smelled.
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Socialist: cap only in descriptions of people directly associated with parties
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calling themselves Socialist, Lower case for socialist ideals, principles etc.
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Not to be used of the Labour Party.
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somebody, someone.
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sorted is what one does to objects or abstracts when categorising them into
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groups. The resolution of a problem is when something is sorted out.
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Sotheby's: with apostrophe.
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sound bite is two words
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Speaker of the House of Commons: always capped. Note that Michael Martin is
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the current one.
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Special Boat Service
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speciality: this applies to something that is particular to a certain person,
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business or institution. The specific discipline of a doctor is a specialty.
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spelt.
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Spielberg, Steven
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spilt not spilled.
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spiralling: this term is now so overused that it is becoming meaningless, as
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in phrases such as "spiralling oil prices". Avoid.
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split infinitives are not a mortal sin, but most can and should be avoided. Be
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guided by the relative ease of understanding. To boldly go easily becomes to
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go boldly, or even boldly to go.
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spin doctor: best used only ironically, ditto the verb to spin in this
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context.
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spoilt but despoiled.
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spokesman: not spokeswoman, spokesperson. Also, foreman as in foreman of the
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jury.
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spring, summer, autumn, winter are lower-case.
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staggering: use only literally, not metaphorically.
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staging is to be preferred to hosting a big event: China stages the Olympics,
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but a person hosts a dinner party.
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state: lower case except when part of a title (State President, Council of
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State, but state-owned).
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stationary: not moving
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stationery: writing paper
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stiletto, plural stilettos.
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storm: use only in its literal sense.
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Stratford upon Avon
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strike, not strike action.
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struck off: erring doctors or solicitors should be said to be "ordered to be
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struck off" until the time allowed for appeals has expired.
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summit: lower case. Do not use for any meeting by senior politicians, but
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reserve for talks at which leaders of important nations try to solve problems
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which their subordinates have failed to overcome. "Mini-summit" should be
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avoided.
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sun: cap only in (rare) references to it as a star. The sun is out, our sun is
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one of many suns, the distance between the Sun and Alpha Major is...
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Sunni
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super: as in star, brat, mum etc is repellently tabloid.
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swap: preferred to swop.
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swashbuckler is not a dredevil but a swaggering bully.
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swath: a strip
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swathe is a verb.
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swearing: see obscenity.
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sweet is the opposite of savoury. The course before cheese (or after it in
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France) is pudding.
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[X][29] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][30]
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* Share: [Share][29] [ ][31] [ ][32]
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[Tweet][33]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/about-us/style-book/1435325/Telegraph-style-
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book-Ss.html
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Telegraph
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## [Style Book][34]
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* ### [News »][35]
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[X][29] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][30]
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Share:
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* [ ][29]
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* [ ][31]
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* [ ][32]
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* [Tweet][33]
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* Advertisement
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![][36]
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Advertisement
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[EDITOR'S CHOICE »][37]
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### [Gil Scott-Heron: 'A voice for Shakespeare'][38]
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[![Gil Scott-Heron][39]][38]
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Composer, musician, poet and author whose writing provided a vivid commentary
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on the black American experience.
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### [Beekeeping diary: the new colonies arrive][40]
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### [Spectacular light show dazzles Sydney][41]
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### [WS Gilbert: a knight for our times][42]
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### [The Telegraph's Matt is Hay Festival star][43]
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Advertisement
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Classified Advertising
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* [Services][44]
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* [Property][45]
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* [Motoring][46]
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Loading
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[Find your ideal job with Telegraph Jobs][47]
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var puffs_8120657 = new Array();
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