N

No accent (and no accent on naively or naivety, either).

Don’t use this term when you mean the whole of the UK – ‘UK-wide’ is usually the best alternative. See Britain and UK for more information on how we talk about the UK.

Lower case. Remember that ‘God save the Queen’ isn’t the national anthem in all parts of the UK.

Lower case.

Many sports have National Governing Bodies (or NGBs). They’re responsible for managing their specific sport – they oversee rules, clubs, coaching, and competitions and decide how to spend income. NGBs include The Football Association, The Lawn Tennis Association, and British Canoeing.

Capitalise please, and capitalise the full titles of the sites (for example, Woodhouse Park Scout Activity Centre). It’s OK to just say ‘the centre’ after that.

Lower case for general mentions of ‘national parks’, but capitalise the names of specific parks such as the ‘Peak District National Park’.  

Naught means nothing (for example, ‘naught to worry about’). It’s pretty old fashioned though, so see if ‘nothing’ will work instead. Don’t get confused with nought (the figure 0).

But it’s Royal Navy.

No ‘w’ in sight. 

Not Holland, which is a region of the Netherlands. The adjective is ‘Dutch’. 

They’re Scout Network members.

Often, the fact something is new is obvious from the context. For example, if you’re announcing, launching, or publishing something, it’s pretty clear that it's new.

Don’t capitalise the ‘the’ in the title, and use the full titles. So, it’s the Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Express, and so on. If you just refer to ‘the Express’ you might confuse a reader in Aberdeen whose local newspaper is the Aberdeen Evening Express.

Lower case, including ‘new year’s resolutions’ and ‘happy new year’.

As part of the new volunteer experience, this role title has changed. Please see Nights Away Assessor.

This is an accreditation for those who make sure adult volunteers have the right skills and experience to get a Nights Away Permit. They can recommend that a Permit Approver or Lead Volunteer grants a Nights Away Permit.

To hold the accreditation, a volunteer needs to have an active role as a member of a team in Scouts, and meet the eligibility requirements. 

Previous role name: Nights Away Advisor.

Also known as Parinirvana Day, Nirvana Day is a Buddhist festival that remembers the death of the Buddha when he reached Nirvana (the end of the cycle of death and rebirth) at the age of 80. It’s celebrated every year, most Buddhists celebrate on the 15 February, some on the 8 February.

The plural is noes, if you have to use it.

Only capitalise the ‘Nobel’, for example the Nobel peace prize or Nobel prize in literature (anyone fancy getting their contacts to nominate us?).

Be careful, as these don’t mean the same thing.

‘There’s no doubt that the editor knows everything’ means the author knows everything; ‘there’s no question of the editor knowing everything’ means the editor definitely doesn’t know everything.

‘No question that’ is confusing, so try to avoid it.

An umbrella term for people whose gender identity doesn’t sit comfortably with ‘man’ or ‘woman’. If someone tells you to use certain pronouns, use them. Otherwise, use ‘they’ and ’their’. It’s perfectly fine grammatically; in fact, most people already use ‘they’ like this without realising it. Just think of an unknown (but forgetful) person: ‘oh no – they’ve left their umbrella behind! They’ll have no way to keep themselves dry in the rain.’

Think about how you include non-binary people in everything you write. Replace ‘girls and boys’ with ‘young people’ or ‘ladies and gentlemen’ with something appropriate to the situation such as ‘colleagues and friends’.

Takes a plural verb, for example, ‘none of the Scouts are able to attend’, ‘none of the leaders have spare socks’, or ‘none of the cats were hungry’.

Is one word.

See compass points.

This isn’t an OK way to refer to Scotland; we’re a UK-wide association.

No capitals. 

Capitalise, please. It’s a country, but it’s not a province and never an Ulster. People from Northern Ireland may refer to themselves as Northern Irish, Irish, or British. Respect someone’s choice if you know what they prefer (and if it’s relevant to mention at all); otherwise, stick with Northern Irish.

Laws affecting Northern Ireland can be made in the Westminster Parliament in London or the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Northern Ireland Assembly is an elected body that elects an Executive from among its members. The Northern Irish Assembly has the power to make its own laws in some areas, where law-making powers have been ‘devolved’ (moved to the Northern Ireland Assembly). The Northern Ireland Assembly’s laws only affect Northern Ireland and can only be about certain ‘devolved’ areas (including health, education, roads, and housing).

Never say ‘national’ when you mean ‘UK-wide’. Make sure your writing includes Northern Ireland and Northern Irish people, and acknowledge any differences where they exist. Important differences include that Northern Ireland has different school holidays, and uses the Countryside Code NI.

Means the digit 0. (Don’t get it mixed up with naught, which means ‘nothing’).

In your writing, spell out numbers from one to nine and use figures for numbers from 10 upwards. Of course, that’s just the general rule. You wouldn’t need a style guide if it were that simple.

Spell out numbers at the start of sentences (for example, ‘Fifty people read the style guide in one sitting’).

One hundred, a thousand, and one million should be spelled out.  

Use digits for the age ranges of sections (for example, Beavers are aged between 6 and 8 years old).

Use digits for Scout groups (for example, 9th Huddersfield or 1st Wymondham). The contractions (st, th, and so on) aren’t made small and high (they’re not put in superscript). 

When you’re comparing two figures in a sentence, stick to digits. For example, ‘I started by writing 3 pages; before long, I’d written 12’.

Use digits for percentages (but be careful if you’re saying something rose or fell by a percentage – you should probably check out percentage rises first).

Use digits for dimensions, distances, capacity, and other measurements.

Use digits in blog titles (for example, ‘5 reasons you should read the new style guide’) and subheadings (for example, ‘Step 1: open the style guide’).

Use commas for numbers over 999 (for example, 1,670, 4,600, and so on).

For phone numbers, where relevant, give the international code in brackets if you need to, for example, +44 (0)20 8433 7222.

Put three spaces: one between the area and dialling code, one between that and the telephone number, and one within the main number before the final four digits. For example, 020 8433 7777, or 0131 653 8287 if you’re calling a pal in Edinburgh. If the area code is longer, you don’t have to add the final space, the phone number can remain an unsplit six digits (for example, 01959 572121).

Never put a hyphen in a telephone number.