W

It’s not whacky, if you really need to use the word. We’d argue that you don’t really need to use it; there are plenty of better alternatives including eccentric, odd, silly, or unpredictable.

Is better than ‘joining lists’ because it’s a more common term.

To waive means you don’t insist on or use a right or a claim. To waver means to hesitate (or it could mean a person who’s waving!). ‘He wavered, but then waived his rights’ means ‘he hesitated, but then didn’t use his rights’. 

Never refer to Wales as a principality. Wales is a country with its own elected body to represent the interests of Wales and its people (the National Assembly for Wales).

Laws affecting Wales can be made in the Westminster Parliament in London or the National Assembly for Wales. The National Assembly for Wales has the power to make its own laws in some areas, where law-making powers have been ‘devolved’ (moved to the National Assembly for Wales). The assembly’s laws only affect Wales and can only be about certain ‘devolved’ areas (including health, education, public services, and the environment).

Never say ‘national’ when you mean ‘UK-wide’. Make sure your writing includes Wales and Welsh people, and acknowledge any differences where they exist.

It appears in activities more often than you’d expect, but always with a hyphen.

Without a space – it’s not water skiing.

Lower case if you have to use these words – otherwise, just call it the internet.

Is one word.

Is one word. When you’re referring to links, you can miss out the www., so it reads ‘scouts.org.uk/activities’ or ‘bbc.co.uk/weather’. If you can, put URLs on one line so they’re not broken (but don’t stress, we get that it isn’t always possible).

A friendly and informal chat between a new volunteer and their Team Leader/ Lead Volunteer and a Welcome Conversation Volunteer. This will take place after a new volunteer starts at Scouts, and forms part of their joining journey.

Welcome Conversations are replacing Appointments Panels, however it’s more than just a name change! We want new volunteers to feel relaxed and receive a warmer welcome. Plus, Welcome Conversations will be much easier for local volunteers to organise and run.

Volunteers can be given the Welcome Conversation Volunteer accreditation. They'll help hold welcome conversations with new volunteers.

Is one word.

See compass points. Fun fact: western is still lowercase if you’re talking about a cowboy film.

Is one word. A person ‘uses a wheelchair’, or ‘is a wheelchair user’. They’re not ‘in a wheelchair’, and they’re never ‘confined to a wheelchair’ or ‘wheelchair bound’. Wheelchairs are mobility aids; they’re liberating and don’t confine people.

Don’t refer to a person as a ‘wheelchair’ – be especially careful when you’re making plans (for example, ‘a table for five people including one wheelchair user’, rather than ‘a table for four and a wheelchair’) or asking people to move (‘watch out, there’s a wheelchair user behind you!’, not ‘watch out, there’s a wheelchair behind you!’ unless, of course, there’s an unoccupied wheelchair there).

Remember that every wheelchair user is different. Some wheelchair users are ambulatory (they can stand or walk sometimes) while other people cannot stand or walk at all.

For more language tips, check out disability.

See that or which. Please don’t make us repeat ourselves.

OK, we’ll be real: ‘whom’ has pretty much disappeared from spoken English, and it’s not all that common in written English any more either. 

If you use ‘who’ when it should really be ‘whom’, it’s not a massive deal (but if you use ‘whom’ when it should be ‘who’, the Creative team might get a bit upset). We’d love it if you read the guidance below and tried to get it right, but if that’s a bit too much, just stick to ‘who’.

Strictly speaking, ‘who’ refers to the subject of the sentence (who or what performs the action) while ‘whom’ refers to the object of a verb or preposition (the thing that the verb or preposition happens to).

For example, ‘who wrote this style guide?’ (because ‘who’ is in the subject, the person doing the writing), but ‘for whom was this style guide written?’ (because the ‘whom’ is the object of ‘written for’). ‘I don’t know who cooked this meal’ (because ‘who’ is the person cooking the meal), but ‘I don’t know whom the letter is about’ (because ‘whom’ is the object of ‘the letter is about’).

If in doubt, ask yourself how the phrase would read if you rearranged it– would it use he, she, or they, or him, her, or them? If it would use he, she, or they, it’s who. If it would use him, her, or him, it’s whom.

For example, ‘who wrote this style guide?’ would become ‘she wrote this style guide’, so it uses who. ‘For whom was this style guide written?’ becomes ‘this style guide was written for them’, so it uses whom. ‘I don’t know who cooked this meal’ becomes ‘they cooked this meal’, so it uses who. ‘I don’t know whom the letter is about’ becomes ‘the letter is about them’, so it uses whom.

One word, please.

All one word, please.

It depends on if you’re talking about a generic camping experience in the cold (a winter camp) or the annual event at Gilwell Park in January (Wintercamp). 

Is one word. Ours contains plenty of correct apostrophes and a lot of sentence case.

Is fine on its own, it doesn’t need to have ‘together’ next to it. I wrote this style guide with Creative (and a lot of other people); I didn’t write this style guide ‘together with’ Creative.

Is one word.

Lower case, all one word. Watch out for the autocorrect causing trouble – we’ve been known to write entire activities about ‘wiggles’, oops.

Is a noun, not an adjective. It’s not always relevant to mention someone’s gender, but if you need an adjective (for example, to make the point about a country’s first female president), say ‘female president’; it’s never ‘women president’. If you’d say ‘male’ instead of ‘man’ or ‘men’, you should say ‘female’.

Since 1919, Scouts volunteers have been awarded the Wood Badge for completing their leader training. The Wood Badge is staying, however it's becoming optional and available for all roles. By 2025, it can be achieved by completing Branching Out Learning.

Is one word.

Notice the ‘z’? You do now, so use it please.

Is one word, but check whether it’s needed. ‘It has buildings in 30 countries’ says just as much as ‘it has buildings in 30 countries worldwide’, for example.

Lower case first world war and second world war, please. It’s OK to use World War I and World War II if you’re really short on characters, but spell it out in full if you can.

Another name for the Membership Award, which Scouts get once they’ve found out about their section, joined their Colony, Pack, Troop, or Unit, and become a Scout by making their Promise. The award is a round purple badge with a white fleur-de-lis, the international Scout symbol worn by Scouts all over the world. 

See rack.