The Hoorn Manual of Style

Third edition, version 2026K1

I was raised bilingual, fluent in both English and Dutch.1 I was also raised by massive pedants. This has resulted in me picking up a great many idiosyncracies in my wielding of the English tongue — a Batavian influence here, an archaism there — so many, in fact, that i thought it would be prudent to compile them all in one place, for my reference and yours. I would like to preëmptively apologise to Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Eliot for how i have massacred their language.

✦ Rules marked with a star are particularly reflective of my own personal eccentricities, and need not apply to works of fiction written from the perspective of some other git.

1. Spelling

Use British English spellings and terminology.

Prefer the endings -ise and -yse over -ize and -yze, unless it would be etymologically improper.

If a spelling of a Græco-Latinate word with ae or oe is still in use, it should generally be spelt with a ligature æ or œ. Watch out for false friends: many ae and oe words originate from other languages or originally represented two separate syllables.

When double ees and oos mark two separate sounds, the latter letter should be topped with a diæresis.2

1.1. Capitalisation

Prefer “down style” to “up style”; if something can be lowercased, it generally should be.

Titles (when used in front of names) and proper names of states and countries should be capitalised, however:

✦ Decapitalise the pronoun i when not at the start of a sentence.

Acronyms (that is, abbreviations of initial letters pronounced as one word) should be set in title case when referring to proper nouns and organisations, and in lowercase when referring to common nouns and verbs.

Initialisms (those abbreviations pronounced as the individual letters) should usually be set in small caps. Those which refer to people or states and are no longer than three letters may remain in ALL CAPS; those functioning more as phrases than as defined nouns or verbs in their own right may use italics with full stops between each letter.

Colour terms used in reference to ethnicity — black, brown, white — should usually be lowercase, but may be capped up if they form part of a compound term.

Use lowercase pagan in reference to pre-modern polytheistic faiths; use uppercase Pagan for the modern revival movement. Emperor Julian was a pagan; Gerald Gardner was a Pagan. Similarly, use lowercase witch for anyone alleged to practise the magic arts; use uppercase Witch for practitioners of Wicca or the many other related latter-day religious movements.

1.2 Foreign terms

Words of foreign origin used in English need not be italicised. The educated reader is surely already familiar with the concepts of, say, a fatwa, or a yeshiva; even for more obscure terms, there is no reason why the Kazakh “besbarmaq” should be treated any differently than the Tudor “syllabub”.

This recommendation does not extend to multi-word phrases. Je ne sais quoi has long been used in the middle of English sentences, but neither je nor ne nor sais nor quoi mean anything at all on their own; italicisation ensures the phrase is treated as a single unit, much like the title of a book or film.

When romanising foreign-language text, one should generally defer to the recommendations of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names. The two exceptions i have found so far are Ancient Greek (for which i prefer a more Latinate transcription scheme) and Russian (for which the UN’s janky solution leaves something to be desired).

Transcription table for Ancient Greek
Greek Latin G L G L
α a ᾳ ai αι æ
αυ au β b γ g
γγ ng γκ nc γξ nx
γχ nch δ d ε e
ει ei ευ eu ζ z
η ē ῃ ēi ηυ ēu
θ th ι i κ c
λ l μ m ν n
ξ x ο o οι œ, oi (final)
ου ou π p ρ, ῤ r
ῥ rh ρῥ rrh σ, ς s
τ t υ y υι yi
φ ph χ ch ψ ps
ω ō ῳ ōi αϊ aï
ά á ὰ à ῆ ê
ἀ a τἀ t’a ἁ ha
Transcription table for Russian
Cyrillic Latin C L C L
а a б b в v
г g д d е e, ye (initial or after a/e/o/u)
ё yo, o (after i) ж zh з z
и i й y к k
л l м m н n
о o п p п r
с s т t у u
ф х ц f х kh ц ts
ч ch ш sh щ sch
ъ ” ы y ь ’
э è, e (initial or after a/e/o/u) ю yu, u (after i) я ya, a (after i)

1.3 Punctuation

Use em and en dashes for their proper functions, setting off em dashes with a space on either side.3

The difference between quote marks, apostrophes, primes, and so on can get confusing quickly. There follows a short guide on their proper use.

“ ”, ‘ ’: These are quote marks, used to mark when a person is speaking or for sarcastic effect as ‘scare quotes’. In keeping with British usage, punctuation should be kept outside of the quote marks if it does not form a part of the quote itself.

In Dutch, use the traditional „ ” form, with the left side aligned beneath the text.

’: This is an apostrophe, used to mark possession and contraction.

ʻ ʼ: These are an ʻokina and a saltillo, used to denote glottal stops (like the gap in the middle of uh-oh) in various foreign language. Some of these languages, most notably Hawaiian, have imported words back into English.

′ ″: These are a prime and a double prime, most often used to notate feet and inches or arcminutes and arcseconds.

' ": These are “dumb quotes”, the ones you’ll find on your keyboard. They should only be used in verbatim transcriptions of computer code.

2. Terminology

æther, ether

The æther is the emptiness of space. An ether is a type of chemical.

Americanisms

As said previously, British terminology should be preferred to its Stateside equivalent. The following table lists some words which tend to catch me out.

British English United States English
autocue teleprompter
full stop period
gherkin pickle (as a noun)
number plate license plate
series (of television) season
solicitor attorney
sledge sled
storey (of a building) story
stand (for election) run
torch flashlight
windscreen windshield
content

Avoid the word content at all costs. A filmmaker makes films, an author writes books, and yet we on the internet make content — as if our work only exists to fill up space between the ads!

counties

There are several competing standards of what counts as a “county” in the British context, and what ends up where. I prefer the oldest, that being the historic counties used until 1974(ish).

dæmon, demon

A dæmon is a good or neutral guiding spirit. A demon is a malevolent entity.

dates

Prefer CE and BCE to AD and BC.

When writing dates numerically, use the year–month–day format.

  • 1776/07/04
  • 1952·02·06
  • 1963.11.23
  • 2001-09-11

Feel free to write, alongside the Gregorian date, the equivalent date in the Attic festival calendar.

euphemisms and jargon

Avoid mealy-mouthed euphemisms unless you’re using them for comedic effect (say, answering nature’s call instead of gannin’ for a piss). Jargon — as is terribly common in the LGBT community, for whatever reason — should also be avoided and replaced with something people are more likely to understand.

Some terms to avoid:

What people say What they mean
AGAB or assigned gender at birth birth sex
Bame, people of colour, Bipoc, &c. ethnic minority, non-white, or be specific
deadname birth name
differently abled disabled
enhanced interrogation torture
gender confirmation surgery a sex change4 or be specific
the global south, the third world, or the developing world poor(er) countries
human-rights abuses be specific
problematic be specific
sunset (a product) shut down
unhoused homeless
geography

The naming of places can be a surprisingly geopolitically pernickety issue — see, for example, many Persian Gulf states’ politically correct renaming to the Arabian Gulf, or the perennial tendency of narcissistic autocrats to bestow their own names upon cities.

In general, if a place’s historic English name is still in common use today, that should be the name one uses. For example:

  • Bangalore (not Bengaluru)
  • Beijing (not Peking)
  • Brunswick (not Braunschweig)
  • Derry (not Londonderry)
  • The Hague (no matter how much i want to call it Den Haag)
  • Hanover (with one N)
  • Istanbul (neither Constantinople nor İstanbul)
  • Jaffa (not Yafo)
  • Kyiv (not Kiev)
  • Mecca (not Makkah)
  • Mumbai (not Bombay)
  • Saigon (not Ho Chi Minh City)
  • Thessalonica (it’s complicated but just pick one and stick with it)
  • Turkey (not Türkiye)
Gypsies and Roma

Gypsy (capped up, since it refers primarily to an ethnic group) is the accepted term in the UK, but likely to cause offence internationally — use Roma or Romany if referring to those outside the UK or writing for an international audience.

hedge words

Hedge words (“kind of”, “a little”, “somewhat”, “rather”) are the weeds that slip in and infect perfectly good texts. Before hitting the save button on a paragraph which includes one, take a moment to consider whether you need it.

licence, license

Licence is a noun. To license is a verb.

measurement

Either metric or imperial, as used in the UK,5 may be used on English-language pages. Dutch pages should use exclusively metric.

meter, metre

A meter is a device used to measure something. A metre is the international standard unit of length.

names

The best source for how to spell someone’s name is the person themself. If they’re long dead, don’t speak fluent English, or both… well, nobody’s going to lose sleep over Gadaffi versus Qadhafi.

✦ After the first mention of a person, they should usually be referred to with a courtesy title, such as the following.

  • Mr
  • Ms
  • Mx
  • Dr
  • Prof

Note that names differ throughout cultures. In eastern Asia and Hungary, surnames come before the given name, and Icelanders, Ethiopians, and some Indonesians don’t have surnames in the first place.

  • Cerice van Houten → Ms van Houten
  • Daði Freyr Pétursson → (Mr) Daði
  • Lisa Nandy → Ms Nandy
  • Orbán Viktor → Mr Orban
  • Sam Smith → Mx Smith
  • Stephen Hawking → Prof Hawking
  • Sukarno → Mr Sukarno
  • Takeuchi Mariya → Ms Takeuchi
  • Tedros Adhanom → Dr Tedros
  • Xi Jinping → Mr Xi

Many Commonwealth countries issue people with the titles “Sir” and “Dame” as part of an order of chivalry. Sirs and dames may be referred to either by their title and their given name or one of the above courtesy titles and their surname.

  • Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell → Dame Jocelyn or Ms Bell Burnell
  • Sir Patrick Stewart → Sir Patrick or Mr Stewart
practice, practise

Practice is a noun. To practise is a verb.

version numbering

“Semantic versioning” (1.12.3, 5.0.4, that sort of thing), as beloved by techies of all stripes, will only lead to ruin. If you’re going to keep a version number, use this more date-based scheme:

  • Version 2015J
    • 2015: Year of release
    • J: First half of May
  • Version 2023D6
    • 2023: Year of release
    • D: Second half of March
    • 6: Sixth version of 2023D
Semimonthly letter codes
Code Date Code Date
A January 1–15 B January 16–31
C February 1–15 D February 16–29
E March 1–15 F March 16–31
G April 1–15 H April 16–30
J May 1–15 K May 16–31
L June 1–15 M June 16–30
N July 1–15 P July 16–31
Q August 1–15 R August 16–31
S September 1–15 T September 16–30
U October 1–15 V October 16–31
W November 1–15 X November 16–30
Y December 1–15 Z December 16–31
who, whom

Who gives a shit?

3. Markup

Use <em> when a change of tone is implied. When the font choice is merely stylistic, use <i>.

Use sidenotes for ancillary information. If something would be too unwieldy for a sidenote, consider a <details> element instead.

Make images as lightweight as possible without sacrificing detail. It’s the kind thing to do for those of us with poor connections.

Keep CSS code nice and tidy by putting properties in the following order:

Prefer logical properties like inline-size and margin-block-start to ones like width and margin-top — they work better across languages, from English to Arabic to even vertical scripts like Mongolian.

3.1 Accessibility

All non-decorative images should have descriptive alt text or an attached transcript. (I like to think of the role of alt text as being like that guy on a podcast who has to awkwardly describe the image the rest of the crew are seeing for the audience. Don’t waste people’s time too much.)

Video files should come with subtitles and, if what people are saying within is important to the text, a transcript.

Make sure text and background colours have at least AA-grade contrast. WhoCanUse.com is a good tool for checking this sort of thing.

3.2 URLs

Page URLs should be short, but not opaque, following in the footsteps of Qntm.org’s scheme. Take the linkroll. satyrs.eu/mx-tynehornes-cabinet-of-hypertext-curiosities would be unwieldy, and satyrs.eu/l utterly unhelpful. satyrs.eu/linkroll is concise, memorable, and to the point.

4. Faith

The Gods’ names should be transcribed according to their original Ancient Greek forms, using the system outlined in §1.2.

✦ This also goes for terms derived from Their names, unless said names also refer to common nouns in the original Greek.

✦ Nouns and pronouns referring directly to a God should be capped up.

4.1. Christianity

As i have no theological dog in this race, references to Christianity should follow the traditions of the Church of England where relevant (say, in determining how many books the Bible has, or what order the ten commandments come in).

Biblical quotations should be lifted from Robert Alter’s masterful translation of the Hebrew Bible and David Bentley Hart’s studiously literal version of the New Testament, though if those are unavailable the less prosaic NRSV will do in a pinch.

5. General guidelines for the site

✦ Try to keep it the equivalent of a BBFC 15 rating. Innuendo is fine, but please don’t explicitly detail people’s sexcapades or horrible injuries.

Don’t get too deep into tech-nerdery. Making your website all about the technology you used to build it would be like Michelangelo using his talents to make a giant statue of a chisel.

Avoid politics if at all possible. I, for one, surf the ’net to get away from all of the horrible things of real life, and would rather not hear about whatever Boris Johnson has done this time. (Equal-opportunity snark about upcoming elections may be acceptable.)

There are enough miserable, cynical louts on the internet, and you mustn’t let yourself join them. It’s a beautiful wide world out there, and you’re going to spend it kvetching on your website about what someone said on the internet? No thank you!

Plain English is well and good if you’re writing an instruction manual, but for anything else, you will soon find yourself drowning in a sterility that makes the eyes glaze over. Throw out the guides of Orwell, Strunk, and White, and instead consider the advice of the theologian David Bentley Hart:

Always use the word that most exactly means what you wish to say, in utter indifference to how common or familiar that word happens to be. A writer should never fret over what his or her readers may or may not know, and should worry only about underestimating them. As Nabokov said, a good reader always comes prepared with a dictionary and never resents being introduced to a new term. I call this the “ultracrepidarian rule,” simply because an editor once tried unsuccessfully to dissuade me from writing about a certain “polemicist who stumbles across unseen disciplinary boundaries in an ultracrepidarian stupor.” The editor lost that argument because there is absolutely no other word in the English language that so exactly means what I wanted to say.

6. Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence6 is the fastest-developing technology in human history, and anything one writes about it is liable to obsolesce by the end of the month. Still — it is the elephant in a thousand rooms, and it seems worthwhile to document how i use it and how i don’t.

First of all: how not to use AI. If you let a tool such as Claude or Stable Diffusion generate text or an image for you, and let it stand unaltered in the final product, that is a clear sign that you didn’t really care about whatever it is you were working on. And that’s fine! I use them for lots of things i don’t really care about: rote translations, small decorative elements, and so on. But you must never, under any circumstances, let them supplant your own creativity — that’s how the brain worms get you.7

Where AI shines brightest is in the research phase. Like search engines, these things contain the compressed knowledge of the entire internet. Unlike search engines, you can just ask them what they know, in plain English, and they’ll answer. Tools like Google’s NotebookLM are even better: you can upload a bunch of sources and documents, and they’ll connect the dots and help you make sense of how they all fit together.8 (Note that if you do use AI tools for research, for the love of god, double-check your sources!)

Inevitably, you will encounter a voice in the back of your head while writing who tells you to avoid using some construction or another because it might make your work “look like AI”. It is vitally important that you beat this voice in the head with a wok. Any reader who takes knowledge of proper punctuation or the use of millennia-old rhetorical devices as evidence that a computer wrote something is an imbecile whose attention you neither need nor want.

I welcome crawlers and well-behaved bots of all stripes. This is not a particularly popular position, but, eh — i think copyright is a scam anyway, so i have no reason to complain. These things are among the most used consumer products in history, and if even the smallest sliver of my work, my ideas, and my values ends up incorpoated into them? To me, that’s an absolute victory.

7. The most important rule of all

If following one of these rules makes something look worse, break it!

8. Appendices

Appendix A: Countries and territories

As mentioned above, geographical names can be a surprisingly divisive issue. This handy table lists this site’s preferred names for all of them, including the terms for people from there and adjectival forms — which aren’t always neatly predictable!

Countries of the world
Flag Name Demonym Adjective Code Sovereignty
Abkhazia Abkhazia an or many Abkhaz ⁓ XA Independent, claimed by Georgia
Afghanistan Afghanistan an Afghan ⁓ AF Independent, gov’t not internationally recognised
Åland Åland an Ålander Ålandic AX Finland
Albania Albania an Albanian ⁓ AL Independent
Algeria Algeria an Algerian ⁓ DZ Independent
American Samoa American Samoa an American Samoan ⁓ AS United States
Andorra Andorra an Andorran ⁓ AD Independent
Angola Angola an Angolan ⁓ AO Independent
Anguilla Anguilla an Anguillan ⁓ AI United Kingdom
Antarctica Antarctica N/A Antarctic AQ It’s complicated
Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda an Antiguan ⁓ AG Independent
Argentina Argentina an Argentinian Argentine AR Independent
Armenia Armenia an Armenian ⁓ AM Independent
Aruba Aruba an Aruban ⁓ AW Netherlands
Ascension Island Ascension Island an Ascension Islander N/A AC United Kingdom
Australia Australia an Australian ⁓ AU Independent
Austria Austria an Austrian ⁓ AT Independent
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan an Azerbaijani or Azeri ⁓ AZ Independent
the Bahamas the Bahamas a Bahamian ⁓ BS Independent
Bahrain Bahrain a Bahraini ⁓ BH Independent
Bangladesh Bangladesh a Bangladeshi ⁓ BD Independent
Barbados Barbados a Bajan Barbadian BB Independent
Belarus Belarus a Belarusian ⁓ BY Independent
Belgium Belgium a Belgian ⁓ BE Independent
Belize Belize a Belizean ⁓ BZ Independent
Benin Benin N/A Beninese BJ Independent
Bermuda Bermuda a Bermudian ⁓ BM United Kingdom
Bhutan Bhutan N/A Bhutanese BT Independent
Bolivia Bolivia a Bolivian ⁓ BO Independent
[loc.country.bq/bo] Bonaire a Bonairean ⁓ BQ-BO Netherlands
Bosnia Bosnia a Bosnian (national), a Bosniak (ethnic) ⁓ BA Independent
Botswana Botswana a Motswana, many Batswana Botswanan BW Independent
Brazil Brazil a Brazilian ⁓ BR Independent
the British Virgin Islands the British Virgin Islands a British Virgin Islander N/A VG United Kingdom
Brunei Brunei a Bruneian ⁓ BN Independent
Bulgaria Bulgaria a Bulgarian ⁓ BG Independent
Myanmar Burma N/A Burmese MM Independent, at civil war
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso a Burkinabé ⁓ BF Independent
Burundi Burundi a Burundian ⁓ BI Independent
Cambodia Cambodia a Cambodian (national), a or many Khmer (ethnic) ⁓ KH Independent
Cameroon Cameroon a Cameroonian ⁓ CM Independent
Canada Canada a Canadian ⁓ CA Independent
Cape Verde Cape Verde a Cape Verdean ⁓ CV Independent
the Cayman Islands the Cayman Islands a Caymanian ⁓ KY United Kingdom
the Central African Republic the Central African Republic a Bêafrîkan ⁓ CF Independent, at civil war
Chad Chad a Chadian ⁓ TD Independent
the Chagos Islands the Chagos Islands a Chagossian ⁓ IO United Kingdom, internationally contested
Chile Chile a Chilean ⁓ CL Independent
China China N/A Chinese CN Independent
Christmas Island Christmas Island a Christmas Islander N/A CX Australia
the Cocos Islands the Cocos Islands a Cocos Islander N/A CC Australia
Colombia Colombia a Colombian ⁓ CO Independent
the Comoros the Comoros a Comorian ⁓ KM Independent
Congo-Brazzaville Congo-Brazzaville a Congo-Brazzavillean Congo-Brazzavillean or Congolese CG Independent
Congo-Kinshasa Congo-Kinshasa a Congo-Kinshasan Congo-Kinshasan or Congolese CD Independent, at civil war
the Cook Islands the Cook Islands a Cook Islander N/A CK Aotearoan protectorate
Costa Rica Costa Rica a Costa Rican ⁓ CR Independent
Côte d’Ivoire Côte d’Ivoire an Ivorian ⁓ CI Independent
Croatia Croatia a Croatian (national, a Croat (ethnic) Croatian HR Independent
Cuba Cuba a Cuban ⁓ CU Independent
Curaçao Curaçao a Curaçaoan ⁓ CW Netherlands
Cyprus Cyprus a Cypriot ⁓ CY Independent
Czechia Czechia a Czech ⁓ CZ Independent
Denmark Denmark a Dane Danish DK Independent
Djibouti Djibouti a Djiboutian ⁓ DJ Independent
Dominica Dominica a Dominican (/dɒmɪˈniːkən/) ⁓ DM Independent
the Dominican Republic the Dominican Republic a Dominican (/dəˈmɪnɪkən/), a Quisqueyano/a (poetic) Dominican, Quisqueyan (poetic) DO Independent
East Timor East Timor N/A Timorese TL Independent
Ecuador Ecuador an Ecuadorian ⁓ EC Independent
Egypt Egypt an Egyptian ⁓ EG Independent
El Salvador El Salvador a Salvadorean ⁓ SV Independent
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea an Equatoguinean ⁓ GQ Independent
Eritrea Eritrea an Eritrean ⁓ ER Independent
Estonia Estonia a Estonian ⁓ EE Independent
Eswatini Eswatini a Swazi ⁓ SZ Independent
Ethiopia Ethiopia an Ethiopian ⁓ ET Independent
the Færoe Islands the Færoes a Færoer Færoese FO Denmark
the Falklands the Falklands a Falklander or Kelper N/A FK United Kingdom
Fiji Fiji a Fiji Islander (national), a Fijian (ethnic) Fijian FJ Independent
Finland Finland a Finn Finnish FI Independent
France France a French(wo)man French FR Independent
French Guiana French Guiana a Guianan ⁓ GF France
French Polynesia French Polynesia a French Polynesian ⁓ PF France
Gabon Gabon N/A Gabonese GA Independent
the Gambia the Gambia a Gambian ⁓ GM Independent
Georgia Georgia a Georgian ⁓ GE Independent
Germany Germany a German ⁓ DE Independent
Ghana Ghana a Ghanaian ⁓ GH Independent
Gibraltar Gibraltar a Gibraltarian ⁓ GI United Kingdom
Greece Greece a Greek ⁓ GR Independent
Greenland Greenland a Greenlander Greenlandic GL Denmark
Grenada Grenada a Grenadian ⁓ GD Independent
Guadeloupe Guadeloupe a Guadeloupean ⁓ GP France
Guam Guam a Guamanian ⁓ GU United Statse
Guatemala Guatemala a Guatemalan ⁓ GT Independent
Guernsey Guernsey a or many Guernesiais ⁓ GG United Kingdom
Guinea Guinea a Guinean ⁓ GN Independent
Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau a Bissau-Guinean ⁓ GW Independent
Guyana Guyana N/A Guyanese GY Independent
Haiti Haiti a Haitian ⁓ HT Independent
Honduras Honduras a Honduran ⁓ HN Independent
Hong Kong Hong Kong a Hong Konger Hongkongese HK China
Hungary Hungary a Hungarian ⁓ HU Independent
Iceland Iceland an Icelander Icelandic IS Independent
India India an Indian ⁓ IN Independent
Indonesia Indonesia an Indonesian ⁓ ID Independent
Iran Iran an Iranian Iranian, Persian (historic) IR Independent
Iraq Iraq an Iraqi ⁓ IQ Independent
Ireland Ireland an Irish(wo)man Irish IE Independent
the Isle of Man the Isle of Man a Manx(wo)man Manx IM United Kingdom
Israel Israel an Israeli ⁓ IL Independent
Italy Italy an Italian ⁓ IT Independent
Jamaica Jamaica a Jamaican ⁓ JM Independent
Japan Japan N/A Japanese JP Independent
Jersey Jersey a Jersey(wo)man Jerriais JE United Kingdom
Jordan Jordan a Jordanian ⁓ JO Independent
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan a Kazakh ⁓ KZ Independent
Kenya Kenya a Kenyan ⁓ KE Independent
Kiribati Kiribati a or many I-Kiribati Gilbertese KI Independent
Kosovo Kosovo a Kosovar Kosovan XK Independent, claimed by Serbia
Kuwait Kuwait a Kuwaiti ⁓ KW Independent
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan a or many Kyrgyz ⁓ KG Independent
Laos Laos a Laotian (national), a or many Lao (ethnic) ⁓ LA Independent
Latvia Latvia a Latvian ⁓ LV Independent
Lebanon Lebanon N/A Lebanese LB Independent
Lesotho Lesotho a Mosotho, many Basotho Basotho LS Independent
Liberia Liberia a Liberian ⁓ LR Independent
Libya Libya a Libyan ⁓ LY Independent
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein a Liechtensteiner Liechtensteinish LI Independent
Lithuania Lithuania a Lithuanian ⁓ LT Independent
Luxembourg Luxembourg a Luxembourger Luxembourgish LU Independent
Macao Macau N/A Macanese MO China
Madagascar Madagascar a or many Malagasy Madagascan or Malagasy MG Independent
Malawi Malawi a Malawian ⁓ MW Independent
Malaysia Malaysia a Malaysian ⁓ MY Independent
the Maldives the Maldives a Maldivian (national), a or many Dhivehi (ethnic) ⁓ MV Independent
Mali Mali a Malian ⁓ ML Independent
Malta Malta N/A Maltese MT Independent
the Marshall Islands the Marshall Islands N/A Marshallese MH U.S. protectorate
Martinique Martinique a Martinican ⁓ MQ France
Mauritania Mauritania a Mauritanian ⁓ MR Independent
Mauritius Mauritius a Mauritian ⁓ MU Independent
Mayotte Mayotte a Mahoran ⁓ YT France
Mexico Mexico a Mexican ⁓ MX Independent
Micronesia Micronesia a Micronesian ⁓ FM U.S. protectorate
Moldova Moldova a Moldovan ⁓ MD Independent
Monaco Monaco a Monégasque ⁓ MC Independent
Mongolia Mongolia a Mongol Mongolian MN Independent
Montenegro Montenegro a Montenegrin ⁓ ME Independent
Montserrat Montserrat a Montserratian ⁓ MS United Kingdom
Morocco Morocco a Moroccan ⁓ MA Independent
Mozambique Mozambique a Mozambican ⁓ MZ Independent
Namibia Namibia a Namibian ⁓ NA Independent
Nauru Nauru a Nauruan ⁓ NR Independent
Nepal Nepal a Nepali Nepalese or Nepali NP Independent
the Netherlands the Netherlands a Dutch(wo)man Dutch NL Independent
New Caledonia New Caledonia a New Caledonian ⁓ NC France
New Zealand New Zealand a Kiwi or New Zealander Aotearoan NZ Independent
Nicaragua Nicaragua a Nicaraguan ⁓ NI Independent
Niger Niger a Nigerien ⁓ NE Independent
Nigeria Nigeria a Nigerian ⁓ NG Independent
Niue Niue a Niuean ⁓ NU Aotearoan protectorate
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island a Norfolk Islander Norfuk NF Australia
North Korea North Korea a North Korean ⁓ KP Independent
North Macedonia North Macedonia a North Macedonian ⁓ MK Independent
Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus a Northern Cypriot ⁓ XC Independent, claimed by Cyprus
the Northern Mariana Islands the Northern Marianas a Marianan ⁓ MP United States
Norway Norway a Norwegian ⁓ NO Independent
Oman Oman a Omani ⁓ OM Independent
Pakistan Pakistan a Pakistani ⁓ PK Independent
Palau Palau a Palauan ⁓ PW U.S. protectorate
Palestine Palestine a Palestinian ⁓ PS Occupied by Israel
Panama Panama a Panamanian ⁓ PA Independent
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea a Papuan Papua New Guinean PG Independent
Paraguay Paraguay a Paraguayan ⁓ PY Independent
Peru Peru a Peruvian ⁓ PE Independent
the Philippines the Philippines a Filipino/a Filipino PH Independent
the Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn a Pitcairn Islander Pitkern PN United Kingdom
Poland Poland a Pole Polish PL Independent
Portugal Portugal N/A Portuguese PT Independent
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico a Puerto Rican ⁓ PR United States
Qatar Qatar a Qatari ⁓ QA Independent
Réunion Réunion a Réunionnais(e) Réunionese RE France
Romania Romania a Romanian ⁓ RO Independent
Russia Russia a Russian ⁓ RU Independent
Rwanda Rwanda a Rwandan ⁓ RW Independent
[loc.country.bq/sa] Saba a Saban ⁓ BQ-SA Netherlands
Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy a Barthélemois(e) Barthélemois BL France
Saint Helena Saint Helena a Saint Saint Helenian SH United Kingdom
Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis a Kittitian ⁓ KN Independent
Saint Lucia Saint Lucia a Saint Lucian ⁓ LC Independent
Saint Martin Saint Martin a Saint-Martinois(e) Saint-Martinois MF France
Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon a Saint-Pierrais(e) Saint-Pierrais PM France
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines a Vincentian ⁓ VC Independent
Samoa Samoa a Samoan ⁓ WS Independent
San Marino San Marino N/A Sammarinese SM Independent
São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe a Santomean ⁓ ST Independent
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia a Saudi ⁓ SA Independent
Senegal Senegal N/A Senegalese SN Independent
Serbia Serbia a Serbian (national), a Serb (ethnic) Serb RS Independent
Seychelles Seychelles a Seychellois(e) Seychellois SC Independent
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone a Sierra Leonean ⁓ SL Independent
Singapore Singapore a Singaporean ⁓ SG Independent
[loc.country.bq/se] Sint Eustatius a Statian ⁓ BQ-SE Netherlands
Sint Maarten Sint Maarten a Sint Maartener N/A SX Netherlands
Slovakia Slovakia a Slovak ⁓ SK Independent
Slovenia Slovenia a Slovene or Slovenian ⁓ SI Independent
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands a Solomon Islander N/A SB Independent
Somalia Somalia a Somali ⁓ SO Independent
Somaliland Somaliland a Somalilander Somalilandic XS Independent, claimed by Somalia
South Africa South Africa a South African ⁓ ZA Independent
South Korea South Korea a South Korean ⁓ KR Independent
South Ossetia South Ossetia a South Ossetian ⁓ XO Independent, claimed by Georgia
South Sudan South Sudan N/A South Sudanese SS Independent
Spain Spain Spaniard Spanish ES Independent
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka a Sri Lankan ⁓ LK Independent
Sudan Sudan N/A Sudanese SD Independent, at civil war
Suriname Suriname N/A Surinamese SR Independent
Norway Svalbard a Svalbarder Svalbardsk SJ Norway
Sweden Sweden a Swede Swedish SE Independent
Switzerland Switzerland N/A Swiss CH Independent
Syria Syria a Syrian ⁓ SY Independent
Taiwan Taiwan N/A Taiwanese TW Independent, claimed by China
Tajikistan Tajikistan a Tajik ⁓ TJ Independent
Tanzania Tanzania a Tanzanian ⁓ TZ Independent
Thailand Thailand a Thai ⁓ TH Independent
Togo Togo N/A Togolese TG Independent
Tokelau Tokelau a Tokelauan ⁓ TK New Zealand
Tonga Tonga a Tongan ⁓ TO Independent
Transnistria Transnistria a Transnistrian ⁓ XT Independent(ish), claimed by Moldova
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago a Trinidadian ⁓ TT Independent
Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha a Tristanian ⁓ TA United Kingdom
Tunisia Tunisia a Tunisian ⁓ TN Independent
Turkey Turkey a Turk Turkish TR Independent
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan a Turkmen ⁓ TM Independent
the Turks and Caicos Islands the Turks and Caicos Islands a Turks and Caicos Islander N/A TC United Kingdom
Tuvalu Tuvalu a Tuvaluan ⁓ TV Independent
the U.S. Virgin Islands the U.S. Virgin Islands a Virgin Islander N/A VI United States
Uganda Uganda a Ugandan ⁓ UG Independent
Ukraine Ukraine a Ukrainian ⁓ UA Independent, partly occupied by Russia
the United Arab Emirates the United Arab Emirates an Emirati ⁓ AE Independent
the United Kingdom the United Kingdom a Brit or Briton British GB Independent
the United States the United States an American ⁓ US Independent
Uruguay Uruguay an Uruguayan ⁓ UY Independent
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan an Uzbek ⁓ UZ Independent
Vanuatu Vanuatu a or many Ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu or Vanuatuan VU Independent
Vatican City Vatican City Pope Leo XIV Vatican VA Independent
Venezuela Venezuela a Venezuelan ⁓ VE Independent
Vietnam Vietnam N/A Vietnamese VN Independent
Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna a Wallisian ⁓ WF Independent
Western Sahara Western Sahara a Sahrawi ⁓ EH Occupied by Morocco
Yemen Yemen a Yemeni ⁓ YE Independent, at civil war
Zambia Zambia a Zambian ⁓ ZM Independent
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe a Zimbabwean ⁓ ZW Independent

Appendix B: Country, province, and state abbreviations

In addition to the international standard letter codes, many Anglosphere nations have traditional, written abbreviations of varying length for their various subnational divisions. I have reproduced those for the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia here.

Country abbreviations
County, state, or province Abbreviation
EnglandHistoric and ceremonial counties of EnglandEngland
Bedfordshire Beds.
Berkshire Berks.
Buckinghamshire Bucks.
Cambridgeshire Cambs.
Cheshire Ches.
City of London (non-historic) C. of L.
Cornwall Corn.
Cumberland Cumb.
Cumbria (non-historic) Cum.
Derbyshire Derbys.
Devon Devon
Dorset Dor.
County Durham Co. Dur.
Essex Essex
Gloucestershire Glos., Gloucs.
Greater London (non-historic) G. L.
Greater Manchester (non-historic) G. M.
Hampshire Hants.
Herefordshire Here.
Hertfordshire Herts.
Huntingdonshire Hunts.
Isle of Wight (non-historic) I. of W.
Kent Kent
Lancashire Lancs.
Leicestershire Leics.
Lincolnshire Lincs.
Middlesex Middx.
Norfolk Norf.
Northamptonshire Northants.
Northumberland Northd.
Notthinghamshire Notts.
Oxfordshire Oxon.
Rutland Rut.
Shropshire Salop
Somerset Som.
Staffordshire Staffs.
Suffolk Suff.
Surrey Sy.
Sussex Ssx.
Tyne and Wear (non-historic) T. &W.
Warwickshire Warks.
Westmorland Westm.
Wiltshire Wilts.
Worcestershire Worcs.
Yorkshire Yorks.
ScotlandHistoric counties of ScotlandScotland
Aberdeenshire Aber.
Argyll Arg.
Ayrshire Ayr.
Banffshire Banf.
Berwickshire Berw.
Bute Bute
Caithness Caith.
Clackmannanshire Clack.
Cromartyshire Crom.
Dumfriesshire Dumfrie.
Dunbartonshire Dunbar.
Edinburghshire Edin.
Elginshire Elg.
Fife Fife
Forfarshire Forf.
Haddingtonshire Hadd.
Inverness-shire Inver.
Kincardineshire Kincar.
Kinross-shire Kin.
Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkud.
Lanarkshire Lan.
Linlithgowshire Lin.
Nairnshire Nairn.
Orkney Orkney
Peeblesshire Peeb.
Perthshire Per.
Renfrewshire Renf.
Ross-shire Ross.
Roxburghshire Roxb.
Selkirkshire Selk.
Shetland Zet.
Stirlingshire Stirl.
Sutherland Suther.
Wigtownshire Wig.
WalesHistoric counties of WalesWales
Anglesey Angle.
Brecknockshire Breck.
Caernarfonshire Caern.
Cardiganshire Card.
Carmarthenshire Carm.
Denbighshire Denb.
Flintshire Fl.
Glamorganshire Glam.
Merionethshire Meri.
Monmouthshire Monm.
Montgomeryshire Mont.
Pembrokeshire Pembs.
Radnorshire Rad.
IrelandCounties of the island of IrelandNorthern Ireland
County Antrim Co. Ant.
County Armagh Co. Arm.
County Carlow Co. Carl.
County Cavan Co. Cav.
County Clare Co. Clare
County Cork Co. Cork
County Derry / County Londonderry Co. Derry / Co. Londy.
County Donegal Co. Dngl.
County Down Co. Down
County Dublin Co. Dub.
County Fermanagh Co. Ferm.
County Galway Co. Gal.
County Kerry Co. Kerry
County Kildare Co. Kild.
County Kilkenny Co. Kilk.
County Laois Co. Laois
County Leitrim Co. Leit.
County Limerick Co. Lim.
County Longford Co. Long.
County Louth Co. Louth
County Mayo Co. Mayo
County Meath Co. Meath
County Monaghan Co. Mongh.
County Offaly Co. Ofly.
County Roscommon Co. Rosc.
County Sligo Co. Sligo
County Tipperary Co. Tipp.
County Tyrone Co. Tyr.
County Waterford Co. Wat.
County Westmeath Co. Wmth.
County Wexford Co. Wex.
County Wicklow Co. Wklw.
the United StatesStates of the United States of Americathe United States
Alabama Ala.
Alaska Alaska
Arizona Ariz.
Arkansas Ark.
California Calif.
Colorado Colo.
Connecticut Conn.
Delaware Del.
District of Columbia D.C.
Florida Fla.
Georgia Ga.
Hawaiʻi Hawaiʻi
Idaho Idaho
Illinois Ill.
Indiana Ind.
Iowa Iowa
Kansas Kan.
Kentucky Ky.
Lousiana La.
Maine Maine
Maryland Md.
Massachusetts Mass.
Michigan Mich.
Minnesota Minn.
Mississippi Miss.
Missouri Mo.
Montana Mont.
Nebraska Neb.
Nevada Nev.
New Hampshire N.H.
New Jersey N.J.
New Mexico N.M.
New York N.Y.
North Carolina N.C.
North Dakota N.D.
Ohio Ohio
Oklahoma Okla.
Oregon Ore.
Pennsylvania Pa.
Rhode Island R.I.
South Carolina S.C.
South Dakota S.D.
Tennessee Tenn.
Texas Texas
Utah Utah
Vermont Vt.
Virginia Va.
Washington Wash.
West Virginia W. Va.
Wisconsin Wis.
Wyoming Wyo.
CanadaProvinces of CanadaCanada
Alberta Alta.
British Columbia B.C.
Manitoba Man.
New Brunswick N.B.
Newfoundland and Labrador N.L.
Northwest Territories N.W.T.
Nova Scotia N.S.
Nunavut Nvt.
Ontario Ont.
Prince Edward Island P.E.I.
Quebec Que.
Saskatchewan Sask.
Yukon Yuk.
AustraliaStates and internal territories of the Commonwealth of AustraliaAustralia
Australian Capital Territory A.C.T.
New South Wales N.S.W.
Northern Territory N.T.
Queensland Qld.
South Australia S.A.
Tasmania Tas.
Victoria Vic.
Western Australia W.A.

Appendix C: The Nato spelling alphabet

The Nato spelling alphabet, sometimes called the Nato phonetic alphabet for reasons i can’t quite seem to divine, is the international standard for spelling out words letter-by-letter. It’s nice to have on hand for reference.

A Alpha N November
B Bravo O Oscar
C Charlie P Papa
D Delta Q Quebec
E Echo R Romeo
F Foxtrot S Sierra
G Golf T Tango
H Hotel U Uniform
I India V Victor
J Juliet W Whiskey
K Kilo X X-ray
L Lima Y Yankee
M Mike Z Zulu

Appendix D: Imperial measurements

This table details the most common imperial measurements as used in the UK. Metric conversions are deliberately inexact, to make it easier to calculate in my tiny little Euro-brain.

Unit Imperial equivalent Metric equivalent
Length
Inch N/A ~2½ cm
Foot 12 inches ~30 cm
Yard 3 feet ~90 cm
Mile 1,760 yards ~1.6 km
Liquids
Fluid ounce N/A ~30 ml
Pint 20 fluid ounces ~550 ml
Quart 2 pints ~1.1 l
Gallon 4 quarts ~4½ l
Weights
Ounce N/A ~30 g
Pound 16 ounces ~450 g
Stone 14(‽) pounds ~6 kg
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