Association, group, organization. these terms for the same Don’t alternate entities; choose whichever is appropriate and stick to it. Biennial, bi-annual. clearly means "once in a biennium" or "once every Biennial two years". But DO NOT use the ambiguous it can be taken to mean bi-annual: either "twice a year" or "once every two years". Bi-monthly, bi-weekly. DO NOT use these ambiguous terms: can bi-monthly mean either "twice a month" or "once every two months". The same applies to or can only be used with two factors. When you have Between among. Between three or more factors, use among. Compared with or compared to. Use when comparing things: compared with like "When compared with last this harvest shows a 10-percent year’s yield, year’s increase." Use when comparing things: I compare compared to unlike “Shall thee a to summer’s day?” (Shakespeare). Concerned. Putting before the noun risks conveying the sense that the concerned parties etc. are worried. The preferable placement is after the parties – because the meaning is "the parties that are concerned, the countries concerned – concerned". False intensifiers. Do not use etc. with words such very, particularly, extremely, as or Something either is critical, crucial, decisive, fundamental, unique usual. crucial, unique, etc. or it is no degree and therefore no need for not; there’s intensifiers. In general, avoid intensifiers: they are subjective terms that dilute meaning. or Use fewer only when referring to items that are "There Fewer less. countable: are fewer people here today than there were yesterday." is used Less for quantities: "He has put less effort into this job." uncountable Level. Use before an adjective qualifying as in "At national level", the level, the not "at national level". Male/Female. Use and as adjectives when referring to people, men women not and (exception: male or female members of a family or male female headed by (NOT household): “household women” “female-headed household”). Mobilize. Does NOT mean or It means "organize animate, encourage stimulate. for service or action", "render movable", "bring into circulation".
Association, group, organization. Don’t alternate these terms for the same entities; choose whichever is appropriate and stick to it. Biennial, bi-annual. Biennial clearly means "once in a biennium" or "once every two years". But DO NOT use the ambiguous bi-annual: it can be taken to mean either "twice a year" or "once every two years". Bi-monthly, bi-weekly. DO NOT use these ambiguous terms: bi-monthly can mean either "twice a month" or "once every two months". The same applies to Between or among. Between can only be used with two factors. When you have three or more factors, use among. Compared with or compared to. Use compared with when comparing like things: "When compared with last year’s yield, this year’s harvest shows a 10-percent increase." Use compared to when comparing unlike things: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Shakespeare). Concerned. Putting concerned before the noun risks conveying the sense that the parties etc. are worried. The preferable placement is after – the parties concerned, the countries concerned – because the meaning is "the parties that are concerned". False intensifiers. Do not use very, particularly, extremely, etc. with words such as critical, crucial, decisive, fundamental, unique or usual. Something either is crucial, unique, etc. or it is not; there’s no degree and therefore no need for intensifiers. In general, avoid intensifiers: they are subjective terms that dilute meaning. Fewer or less. Use fewer only when referring to items that are countable: "There are fewer people here today than there were yesterday." Less is used for uncountable quantities: "He has put less effort into this job." Level. Use the before an adjective qualifying level, as in "At the national level", not "at national level". Male/Female. Use men and women as adjectives when referring to people, not male and female (exception: male or female members of a family or household): “household headed by women” (NOT “female-headed household”). Mobilize. Does NOT mean animate, encourage or stimulate. It means "organize for service or action", "render movable", "bring into circulation".
WFP_English_Style_Guidelines_2014_edition.docx