O

Stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Only ever say ‘OCD’ to refer to the mental health condition, never to mean someone who likes detail, organisation, or cleanliness. It’s frustrating and upsetting when people make jokes about OCD, including describing themselves as ‘a bit OCD’ or using similar-sounding letters to stand for other made-up disorders.

Remember, people have OCD, they don’t suffer from it, and they’re never ‘obsessives’ or ‘compulsives’.

OCD involves obsessions (unwelcome thoughts, images, urges, worries, or doubts) and compulsions (repetitive activities that reduce the anxiety the obsessions cause) that have a big impact on how someone lives their day-to-day life. Compulsions may involve rituals, checking things, thoughts, or seeking reassurance – they vary between people (and they’re certainly not just about cleaning or counting). Most people who get the right treatment see a significant improvement in their OCD.

Still got questions? Check out mental health and disability in this guide, then get in touch. We want to help you get it right.

Much better than saying ‘Australasia’. It’s an alternative name for the continent ‘Australia’ (so people don’t get it confused with the country) or a name for the islands of the Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas. According to the UN, it’s made up of Australia, New Zealand, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia (check out the Guardian style guide if you want the full list).  

Capitalise full names (for example, the ‘Pacific Ocean’) but not general mentions of oceans or seas.

Not octopi and platypi.

It’s only OK to say OK. It’s not OK to use okay or ok. OK?

Please hyphenate it if you’re using the adjective. The cocktail isn’t hyphenated, but we’d be surprised (and a little intrigued) if you were talking about old fashioneds in something you were writing for Scouts.

Don’t capitalise it; for example, it’s ‘the leader of the opposition’.

Treat it as though it’s a plural because you’re referring to the phrase ‘one in whatever number’, not the individual ‘one’. For example, ‘one in five Cubs are looking forward to winter’ or ‘one in five Beavers don’t like marshmallows’.

‘On to’ is the original form, though ‘onto’ is an OK alternative.

Britain’s national mapping agency. After spelling it out the first time, you can refer to an ‘OS map’.

The Explorer Scout Young Leader equivalent of the Yellow Card. Also known as ‘Young people first. Safeguarding – a code of practice for Young Leaders’.

No hyphen, please.

Note the ‘s’. 

The group of more than 70 islands off the north-eastern top of Scotland can also be called ‘the Orkney islands’, but not ‘the Orkneys’. They’re an administrative region of Scotland.

It’s only OK to say ‘outside of’ if you’re using it as a noun meaning the external side or surface of something (for example, the label on the outside of the file’). If it’s a preposition or adverb meaning something is or moving beyond the boundaries of something (or not being a member of a group), don’t put it with ‘of’ (for example, ‘critics outside the government’ or ‘the dog was outside the building’).

Most words with the prefix ‘over’ don’t need a hyphen.

A comma before the final ‘and’ in a list. If everything’s on one line, use it. It’s OK to drop it for obvious examples (‘the menu listed beans, fish and chips’) but sometimes it’s necessary to make something clear (‘my heroes are my parents, Baden-Powell, and Beyoncé’, rather than ‘my heroes are my parents, Baden-Powell and Beyoncé’).