B

B&B is an OK way to talk about a bed and breakfast.

A backpack’s any bag with straps that you can carry on your back. A rucksack’s more specific: they tend to be big, strong, and waterproof, and are the sort of bag you might take on a hike. All rucksacks are backpacks, but not all backpacks are rucksacks. If you’re unsure, stick with backpack, as you won’t be wrong.

Surname of Scouts founder, Robert Baden-Powell. Baden-Powell is easier to understand than B-P, especially for people who are new to Scouts.

Specific badge or award names (and types of badges or awards) are capitalised. General use of ‘the badge’ or ‘the award’ stay lower case. Whatever you do, call badges and awards by their actual name – please check the section specific pages on the website to be sure.

Capitalise ‘Activity Badges’ and ‘Staged Activity Badges’ when you’re talking about the whole group. Capitalise the full name of any badges, too, for example, the ‘Skater Activity Badge’ or the ‘Navigator Staged Activity Badge’. If you’re speaking generally, ‘the badge’ (lowercase) is fine.

Capitalise ‘Challenge Awards’ when you’re talking about them as a whole, and capitalise individual awards too, for example, the ‘Teamwork Challenge Award’ or the ‘Our World Challenge Award’. If you’re speaking generally, ‘the award’ (lower case) is fine.

For badges and awards that are supported, name the supporter the first time you mention the badge or award. For example, the ‘Our Skills Challenge Award supported by Jaffa’, or the ‘Digital Citizen Staged Activity Badge supported by Nominet’. It’s OK to just call it ‘the badge’ or ’the award’ after that.

It depends on what you mean. You’d bail out a prisoner, company, or person in financial difficulty, but you bale out a boat or from an aircraft. If you’re confused (or you think your reader may be), it might be better to put it another way.

Founded by the Persian Baha’ullah and his son Abdul Baha in the 19th century, as a development of Babism. It emphasises the essential oneness of humankind and seeks world peace.

They’re really important, but they’re still lower case.

Not barbeques or BBQs, please.

The army has barracks, or it can mean any building(s) used to house a specific group of people in strict conditions (prisoners, for example). The RAF doesn’t have barracks; they have airfields instead.

It’s overused and pointless, basically, so usually best avoided.

Capitalise this region or community of France and Spain (the Basque people might not be thrilled if you don’t).

Bated breath is when you’re holding (or almost holding) your breath in suspense, excitement, or anxiety. Baited breath would have to involve some kind of substance that tempts fish (or another animal), which sounds pretty gross to us. 

Don’t use words like ‘battle’ or ‘fighting’ when talking about conditions or diseases such as cancer. These terms imply that people’s strength or actions can affect the outcome of the condition or disease, even when they have no control over whether it responds to treatment. You could say someone ‘has’, ‘experienced’, ‘was treated for’, or ‘died from’ something instead.

While we’re on the topic, it’s BBC News Channel, not News 24. For radio, it’s Radio 1, 2, 3, or 4, but news can also be found on 5 Live.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about the small bag for games or the big comfy seat, it’s still one word.

No puns here (on either part of Bear’s name). If you’re using apostrophes, its Bear Grylls’ without an extra ‘s’ on the end. Bear is the tenth Chief Scout and he’s been in the position since 2009.

But if you’re talking about ‘a bistro’ or ‘the bistro’, then it’s lowercase. Beaver Bistros are opportunities to show adults what Beavers is about and encourage them to lend a hand.

Call individual members Scouts whenever you can (including adults as well as young people). For example, you might say ‘Anika’s a six year old Scout. Once a week, she goes to her nearest Beavers’. This isn’t always possible, and it’s OK to refer to Beavers (and Cubs), but use Scouts where possible. At the end of the day, we’re all part of the same movement.

Capitalise this role title.

Capitalise it, whether you’re using it as a noun (a nomadic Arab of the desert) or an adjective (a Bedouin song).

One word, no hyphens. 

Berwick-upon-Tweed is in England (just under three miles from the border with Scotland), but the Berwick Rangers and Berwick RFC play in Scottish football and rugby union. Don’t ask us why.

Use the full word rather than a dash or hyphen. For example, ‘there’s space for between 25 and 30 people on the trip’, rather than ‘there’s space for 25-30 people on the trip’. The exception is age ranges. 

The Christian scriptures are made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Biblical references are written as Genesis 1:1, and so on.

Confusingly, it can mean ‘every two months’ or ‘twice a month’, so it’s best just to use whichever phrase you mean. It’s the same for biannual or biennial – just say twice a year or every two years as it’s less confusing for the reader (and the editor, too).

Write it out in full when you’re talking about people or animals. Use the abbreviation ‘bn’ when you’re talking about anything else.

Bisexual (or bi) is an umbrella term used to describe a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards more than one gender.

A blanket badge is any badge issued by Scouts, Scout Store or other supplier that isn’t to be worn on official Scout uniform. Instead, as the name suggests, it’s best placed on a badge blanket or similar.

It’s always best to ask individual people how they identify. Different people may describe themselves as blind, visually impaired, partially sighted, or with sight loss.

In the UK, almost two million people live with sight loss. Of these, around 360,000 are registered as blind or partially sighted (though people now register as sight impaired or severely sight impaired).

Don’t use ‘blind’ to mean ‘lacking awareness or judgement’ – find another word (like oblivious) instead.

Blogs are regularly updated websites, usually run by one person (or a small group) and written in an informal, conversational style.

Blu-Tack is trademarked. Use ‘sticky tack’ instead. If (for some bizarre reason) you must use the word Blu-Tack, spell it like this. 

As part of the new volunteer experience, this name has now changed. Please see Trustee Board.

No spaces needed here.

Advisory public bodies that review the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies and local authority electoral arrangements. Different bodies exist for parliamentary constituencies in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and local government boundaries in England.

A secular holiday celebrated on 26 December (the attached bank holiday usually falls on the first weekday after Christmas Day). It’s celebrated in many countries; it’s called St Stephen’s Day in the Republic of Ireland and Day of Goodwill in South Africa.

A male under 18, see young people. Don’t use to refer to men aged over 18.

If the sentence is logically and grammatically complete without the information in the brackets, then punctuation stays outside the brackets (does this make sense?). (A complete sentence that stands alone in brackets starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.)

Is lower case.

Branching Out is volunteer learning to help you develop your skills. It might become required learning if you want to do certain things in your role.

It’s being developed through 2023 to 2025, and it’ll gradually replace some modules from the Adult Training Scheme.

We’re phasing out training (as it was previously known), and we’ll slowly replace modules with Branching Out learning. There won’t be a direct replacement for all modules, so where you come across training modules, consult the Learning team to find out how to update the content.

This is what we call the wonderful selection of logos, templates, guidelines, and advice found at www.scouts.org.uk/brand. The print centre is no more.

The capital of Brazil.

Breath is the noun, to breathe is the verb. You breathe in and out, and take a breath. Looking for something to help you remember? An extra ‘e’ on the end makes the verb sound in the middle a long ‘ee’.

Capitalise their names, for example, Waterloo Bridge and O’Connell Bridge.

Britain is the official short form of ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’, so it’s synonymous with (means the same as) the UK. It’s best to use ‘UK’, though, as it’s more widely understood.

Great Britain, however, only means England, Wales, and Scotland (it doesn’t include Northern Ireland).

Think about what you mean, and choose the right word (don’t, for example, use Great Britain if you only mean England and Wales). It might seem complicated, but it’s really important. If you’re stuck, ask an editor (or a geographer).

As a geographical term, it’s taken to mean Great Britain, Ireland, and some (or all) of the adjacent island such as Orkney, Shetland, and the Isle of Man, so it’s unpopular in the Irish Republic. Just say ‘Britain and Ireland’ instead.

A UK Scout area that provides UK Scouting to UK citizens (and in some cases people of other nationalities) living overseas.

Abbreviate it to BSL after spelling it out the first time you mention it.

Girlguiding’s section for girls aged from seven to ten. When they turn ten, they may become Guides.

A buddy is an existing volunteer who’ll support a new volunteer in their first six weeks – helping them find their feet and get stuck in. It’s part of our new volunteer experience and part of the induction process. 

Not everyone will make use of a buddy, and some may pick it up later down their volunteering journey.

The grammar rules depend on the job the bullet points are doing. If they’re separate sentences related to a heading, they get a capital letter and full stop (or question mark). If they’re breaking up a single sentence, they don’t need capital letters – only the last has a full stop. If they’re listing items, they don’t need any punctuation. Each set of bullet points should be consistent, but it’s OK if different sets in a document aren’t the same.

Need some examples? We’ve got you covered.

• These bullet points are all sentences, so we’re giving them capital letters and full stops (aren’t we good?).
• This is useful if a bullet point has more than one sentence in. Using full stops also means it looks neater when you need to add a question mark to a bullet, doesn’t it?
• Bullet points make chunks of text easier to read and less daunting.
• Sometimes, bullet points aren’t appropriate. Sometimes numbered lists are better (especially for instructions). Check with an editor if you’re not sure.
  

Bullet points can also break up a single sentence. By doing so, they:

• separate lists
• make things easier to read
• add extra grammar rules to remember (and make editors’ jobs trickier).
  

To create the perfect set of bullet points, you’ll need:

• pens and paper (or a computer)
• patience
• logic
• this carefully crafted style guide

If you’re talking about an individual, businessman and businesswoman are one word with no space. Never use businessmen when you mean to talk about business people (or the business community). It’s also worth thinking about what you’re trying to imply by specifying gender. ‘Business people’ will almost always be fine, and it’s more inclusive, so why not use it instead?

Use initial capitals for the main title, but not for subheadings separated by a colon; they’re lower case. Step away from the italics please – we don’t italicise publication titles any more (even in print). 

Buddhism is a religion that started in India over 2,500 years ago.

Buddhists follow the teachings of a man called Siddhartha Gautama. He became known as the Buddha, which means enlightened. A central teaching is how people can live a life that'll lead to a liberation from suffering. 

Important Buddhist festivals include Vesak (Buddha’s birthday), Buddhist New Year, Dharma Day and Ullambana.