The Hoorn Manual of Style

Over the years, i have picked up so many little idiosyncracies in my wielding of the English tongue that i thought it would be prudent to compile them all in one place. I would like to preëmptively apologise to Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Austen for how i have massacred their language…

1. Spelling

Use British English spellings and terminology.

• colour; endeavour; flavour; honour; humour; neighbour
• calibre; centre; litre; sabre; sombre; theatre
• defence; offence; pretence
• analogue; catalogue; dialogue; monologue
• cancelling; jewellery; signalling; travelling; tranquillise
• ageing; likeable; programme (even for computers); tonne
• aeroplane; aluminium; (an) annexe; artefact; cheque; chilli; grey; (a) kerb; plough; pyjamas; sceptic

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

• analyse; organisation; realise
• but
• capsize; resize; seize

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.

• æon; æsthetics; archæology; chamæleon; encyclopædia; fæces; gynæcology; mediæval; palæontology; pædiatric
• amœba; cœliac; diarrhœa; fœtus; homœopathy; manœuvre; œstrogen; phœnix
• but
• aeroplane; aerosol; maelstrom; Phoenix, Ariz.; toe
• economics; enigma; premium

When double ees and oos mark two separate sounds, the latter letter should be topped with a diæresis.¹

• coöperate; deëmphasise; Laocoön; reëlection; zoölogy
• also
• naïveté
• but
• continuum; radii; reunion

1.1 Capitalisation

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

• the prime minister
• the internet
• the world wide web
• the government

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

• The prime minister of Canada met President Biden on Sunday.
• the United States of America; the People’s Republic of China
• but
• the republic of Ireland (the country’s official name is just Ireland)

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

• I thought i’d left it over there.

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.

• Aim; Gestapo; Latex; Nasa; Nato; Ukip; Unicef
• aids; bios; captcha; covid-19; gif; jpeg; laser; radar; scuba

Initialisms (those abbreviations pronounced as the individual letters) should be set in small caps, unless referring to the names of people or states.

• AM; BBC; CD; FBI; GCHQ; HTML; LGBT; NAACP
• but
• IDS; JFK; UK; USA

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.

• Rock music has its roots in the syncretism of black and white musical traditions.
• The indigenous tribes of Papua New Guinea are among the world’s most diverse.
• This is fine too:
• Born to a Black Caribbean family, she suspected she also had some Native American ancestry.

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 Punctuation

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

• Excuse me — is this the London–Manchester train?

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.

• “Reports have started trickling in of a ‘gigantic explosion’ near Jesmond.”
• ‘The explosion was an “unexpected consequence of getting a pet cat”, said Aurora after the dust had settled.’

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

• „En hoe moest ík weten dat de kat een blok c4 bij zich had‽”

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

• Aisha’s car
• the teachers’ union
• ’twas
• don’t

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 Hawaiʻian, have imported words back into English.

• ʻaʻā
• Hawaiʻi
• Oʻahu
• ‘ō‘ō

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

• I’m 6′ 2″.
• 49° 12′ 1″ north, 3° 33′ 2″ east

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

• console.log("Beware the Jabberwock, my son!");
• '0.1' + '0.2' != '0.3'

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!

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.

demonyms

Some countries and territories have unexpected adjectives or terms for their residents. A choice list can be found in the table below.

Place name	Demonym	Adjective
Countries & territories
Botswana	a Motswana, many Batswana	Botswanan or Motswana
Burkina Faso	a Burkinabé	⁓
Côte d’Ivoire	an Ivorian	⁓
Dominica	a Dominican2	⁓
the Dominican Republic	a Dominican3 or Quisqueyano/a (poetic)	Dominican or Quisqueyan (poetic)
Eswatini	a or many Swazi or Swati	Swazi
Kiribati	an or many I-Kiribati	Gilbertese
Lesotho	a Mosotho, many Basotho	Basotho
Madagascar	a or many Malagasy	⁓
Monaco	a Monégasque	⁓
Myanmar	N/A	Myanma or Burmese
Niger	a Nigerien or Nigerois	⁓
the Philippines	a Filipino/a	Filipino or Philippine
the Seychelles	a or many Seychellois	⁓
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	a Vincentian	⁓
the United Arab Emirates	an Emirati	⁓
Vanuatu	a or many Ni-Vanuatu	⁓
US states (generally no adjectival form)
Connecticut	a Nutmegger or Connecticuter
Hawaiʻi	a Kamaʻāina	Hawaiʻian4
Illinois	an Illinoian or Illinoisian
Indiana	a Hoosier
Maine	a Down Easter or Mainer
Massa­chu­setts	a Bay Stater, Massa­chu­setts­an, or (vulgar) Masshole
Michigan	a Michigander or Michiganian
New Hampshire	a New Hampshirite
Utah	a Utahn

Many countries use different words for the ethnic group native to the area than to refer to anyone who happens to live there: Croats versus Croatians, Fijians versus Fiji Islanders, Azeris versus Azerbaijanis, that sort of thing.

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
CSAM	child porn
deadname	birth name
differently abled	disabled
enhanced interrogation	torture
gender confirmation surgery	a sex change5 or be specific
the global south, the third world, or the developing world	poor(er) countries
human-rights abuses	be specific
problematic	be specific
racially charged	racist
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)
• Calcutta (not Kolkata)
• 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)⁶
• Mecca (not Makkah)
• Mumbai (not Bombay)
• Saigon (not Ho Chi Minh City)
• Thessalonica (it’s complicated but just pick one and stick with it)

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 if referring to those outside the UK or writing for an international audience.

hedge words

Hedge words (‘kind of’, ‘a little’, ‘somewhat’, ‘rather’) are like weeds, slipping in and infesting 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,⁷ 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 or Mr Pétursson
• 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 2015E
  • 2015: Year of release
  • E: May
• Version 2023C6
  • 2023: Year of release
  • C: March
  • 6: Sixth version of the month

Monthly letter codes
Code	Month name	Code	Month name
A	January	G	July
B	February	H	August
C	March	J	September
D	April	K	October
E	May	L	November
F	June	M	December

who, whom

Who gives a shit?

2.1 A table of preferred and correct spellings

• 2D, 3D
• ʻAbdu’l-Bahá
• accommodate
• æsthetic
• Albuquerque
• ancillary
• Richard Ayoade
• Baháʼu’lláh
• bellwether
• Hawaiʻi
• Hallowe’en
• led (the past tense of ‘lead’)
• Aleksandr Lukashenko
• Mao Tse-tung
• Massachusetts
• millennium (think ‘milli-’ and ‘annual’)
• Benjamin Netanyahu
• pastime
• publicly (no such word as ‘publical’)
• Reykjavík
• Sukarno
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy

3. Markup

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

• <i>Homo sapiens</i> is a <em>very</em> interesting animal.

Use sidenotes for ancillary information. If something would be too unwieldy for a sidenote, feel free to use 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.

3.1 Accessibility

All non-decorative images should have descriptive alt text or an attached transcript.

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

Typeset the Gods’ names and untranslated epithets in small caps.

• Apollon Acestor; Dionysos Zagreus; Hermaphroditos-Salmacis
• but
• owl-eyed Athena; silver-quivered Apollon
• however, also
• Earth

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

• Bacchanalian; Hermetically sealed
• but
• geology; oceanic

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

• Apollon the Archer stretches His glittering bow back…

If a God’s name or derivative thereof is used as a personal name, eschew the small caps.

• Denis Thatcher
• Dionysius Exiguus
• Freya Ridings
• Venus Williams

For reasons of consistency, do not typeset days and months named after Gods in small caps.

• Tuesday; Wednesday; Thursday; Friday; Saturday
• January; March; May; June

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. The most important rule of all

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

7. Appendices

Appendix A: Countries and territories

The following is a list of countries and inhabited dependent territories, including their full names, short names in English and Dutch, and the international standard two-letter country codes (where applicable).

Countries of the world

Flag	Long name	Short name (English)	Short name (Dutch)	Code	Sovereignty	Capital
	the Republic of Abkhazia	Abkhazia	Abchazië	GE-AB	Independent (partially recognised)	Sukhumi
	the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan	Afghanistan	Afghanistan	AF	Independent	Kabul
	the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia	Akrotiri and Dhekelia	Akrotiri en Dhekelia	N/A	United Kingdom	N/A
	Åland	Åland	Åland	AX	Finland	Mariehamn
	the Republic of Albania	Albania	Albanië	AL	Independent	Tirana
	the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria	Algeria	Algerije	DZ	Independent	Algiers
	the Territory of American Samoa	American Samoa	Amerikaans-Samoa	AS	United States	Pago Pago
	the Principality of Andorra	Andorra	Andorra	AD	Independent	Andorra la Vella
	the Republic of Angola	Angola	Angola	AO	Independent	Luanda
	Anguilla	Anguilla	Anguilla	AI	United Kingdom	the Valley
	Antarctica	Antarctica	Antarctica	AQ	Antarctic Treaty	N/A
	Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua en Barbuda	AG	Independent	St John's
	the Argentine Republic	Argentina	Argentinië	AR	Independent	Buenos Aires
	the Republic of Armenia	Armenia	Armenië	AM	Independent	Yerevan
	the Republic of Artsakh	Artsakh	Artsach	N/A	Independent (partially recognised)	Stepanakert
	the Country of Aruba	Aruba	Aruba	AW	Netherlands	Oranjestad
	the Commonwealth of Australia	Australia	Australië	AU	Independent	Canberra
	the Republic of Austria	Austria	Oostenrijk	AT	Independent	Vienna
	the Republic of Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	Azerbeidzjan	AZ	Independent	Baku
	the Commonwealth of the Bahamas	the Bahamas	de Bahama’s	BS	Independent	Nassau
	the Kingdom of Bahrain	Bahrain	Bahrein	BH	Independent	Manama
	the People’s Republic of Bangladesh	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	BD	Independent	Dhaka
	Barbados	Barbados	Barbados	BB	Independent	Bridgetown
	the Republic of Belarus	Belarus	Wit-Rusland	BY	Independent	Minsk
	the Kingdom of Belgium	Belgium	België	BE	Independent	Brussels
	Belize	Belize	Belize	BZ	Independent	Belmopan
	the Republic of Benin	Benin	Benin	BJ	Independent	Porto-Novo
	Bermuda	Bermuda	Bermuda	BM	United Kingdom	Hamilton
	the Kingdom of Bhutan	Bhutan	Bhutan	BT	Independent	Thimphu
	the Plurinational State of Bolivia	Bolivia	Bolivia	BO	Independent	La Paz (executive and legislative), Sucre (judicial)
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnië en Herzegovina	BA	Independent	Sarajevo
	the Republic of Botswana	Botswana	Botswana	BW	Independent	Gaborone
	the Federative Republic of Brazil	Brazil	Brazilië	BR	Independent	Brasília
	the Virgin Islands	the British Virgin Islands	de Britse Maagdeneilanden	VG	United Kingdom	Road Town
	the Nation of Brunei Darussalam	Brunei	Brunei	BN	Independent	Bandar Seri Begawan
	the Republic of Bulgaria	Bulgaria	Bulgarije	BG	Independent	Sofia
	Burkina Faso	Burkina Faso	Burkina Faso	BF	Independent	Ouagadougou
	the Republic of Burundi	Burundi	Burundi	BI	Independent	Gitega
	the Kingdom of Cambodia	Cambodia	Cambodja	KH	Independent	Phnom Penh
	the Republic of Cameroon	Cameroon	Kameroen	CM	Independent	Yaoundé
	Canada	Canada	Canada	CA	Independent	Ottawa
	the Republic of Cabo Verde	Cape Verde	Kaapverdië	CV	Independent	Praia
	the Cayman Islands	the Cayman Islands	de Kaaimaneilanden	KY	United Kingdom	George Town
	the Central African Republic	the Central African Republic	de Centraal-Afrikaanse Republiek	CF	Independent	Bangui
	the Republic of Chad	Chad	Tsjaad	TD	Independent	N'Djamena
	the British Indian Ocean Territory	the Chagos Islands	de Chagosarchipel	IO	United Kingdom	Diego Garcia
	the Republic of Chile	Chile	Chili	CL	Independent	Santiago (executive and judicial), Valparaíso (legislative)
	the People’s Republic of China	China	China	CN	Independent	Beijing
	the Territory of Christmas Island	Christmas Island	Christmaseiland	CX	Australia	Flying Fish Cove
	the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands	the Cocos Islands	de Cocoseilanden	CC	Australia	West Island
	the Republic of Colombia	Colombia	Colombia	CO	Independent	Bogotá
	the Union of the Comoros	the Comoros	de Comoren	KM	Independent	Moroni
	the Republic of the Congo	Congo-Brazzaville	Congo-Brazzaville	CG	Independent	Brazzaville
	the Democratic Republic of the Congo	Congo-Kinshasa	Congo-Kinshasa	CD	Independent	Kinshasa
	the Cook Islands	the Cook Islands	de Cookeilanden	CK	Partially dependent on New Zealand	Avarua
	the Republic of Costa Rica	Costa Rica	Costa Rica	CR	Independent	San José
	the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire	Côte d’Ivoire	Ivoorkust	CI	Independent	Yamoussoukro (de jure), Abidjan (de facto)
	the Republic of Croatia	Croatia	Kroatië	HR	Independent	Zagreb
	the Republic of Cuba	Cuba	Cuba	CU	Independent	Havana
	the Country of Curaçao	Curaçao	Curaçao	CW	Netherlands	Willemstad
	the Republic of Cyprus	Cyprus	Cyprus	CY	Independent	Nicosia
	the Czech Republic	Czechia	Tsjechië	CZ	Independent	Prague
	the Kingdom of Denmark	Denmark	Denemarken	DK	Independent	Copenhagen
	the Republic of Djibouti	Djibouti	Djibouti	DJ	Independent	Djibouti
	the Commonwealth of Dominica	Dominica	Dominica	DM	Independent	Roseau
	the Dominican Republic	the Dominican Republic	de Dominicaanse Republiek	DO	Independent	Santo Domingo
	the Republic of Ecuador	Ecuador	Ecuador	EC	Independent	Quito
	the Arab Republic of Egypt	Egypt	Egypte	EG	Independent	Cairo
	the Republic of El Salvador	El Salvador	El Salvador	SV	Independent	San Salvador
	the Republic of Equatorial Guinea	Equatorial Guinea	Equatoriaal-Guinea	GQ	Independent	Malabo
	the State of Eritrea	Eritrea	Eritrea	ER	Independent	Asmara
	the Republic of Estonia	Estonia	Estland	EE	Independent	Tallinn
	the Kingdom of Eswatini	Eswatini	Swaziland	SZ	Independent	Lobamba (royal and legislative), Mbabane (executive)
	the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	Ethiopia	Ethiopië	ET	Independent	Addis Ababa
	the Færoe Islands	the Færoe Islands	de Faeröer	FO	Denmark	Tórshavn
	the Falkland Islands	the Falkland Islands	de Falklandeilanden	FK	United Kingdom	Stanley
	the Republic of Fiji	Fiji	Fiji	FJ	Independent	Suva
	the Republic of Finland	Finland	Finland	FI	Independent	Helsinki
	the French Republic	France	Frankrijk	FR	Independent	Paris
	French Polynesia	French Polynesia	Frans-Polynesië	PF	France	Papeete
	the Gabonese Republic	Gabon	Gabon	GA	Independent	Libreville
	the Republic of the Gambia	the Gambia	Gambia	GM	Independent	Banjul
	Georgia	Georgia	Georgië	GE	Independent	Tbilisi
	the Federal Republic of Germany	Germany	Duitsland	DE	Independent	Berlin
	the Republic of Ghana	Ghana	Ghana	GH	Independent	Accra
	Gibraltar	Gibraltar	Gibraltar	GI	United Kingdom	Gibraltar [city state]
	the Hellenic Republic	Greece	Griekenland	GR	Independent	Athens
	Greenland	Greenland	Groenland	GL	Denmark	Nuuk
	Grenada	Grenada	Grenada	GD	Independent	St. George's
	the Territory of Guam	Guam	Guam	GU	United States	Hagåtña
	the Republic of Guatemala	Guatemala	Guatemala	GT	Independent	Guatemala City
	the Bailiwick of Guernsey	Guernsey	Guernsey	GG	United Kingdom	St. Peter Port
	the Republic of Guinea	Guinea	Guinee	GN	Independent	Conakry
	the Republic of Guinea-Bissau	Guinea-Bissau	Guinee-Bissau	GW	Independent	Bissau
	the Coöperative Republic of Guyana	Guyana	Guyana	GY	Independent	Georgetown
	the Republic of Haiti	Haiti	Haïti	HT	Independent	Port-au-Prince
	the Republic of Honduras	Honduras	Honduras	HN	Independent	Tegucigalpa
	the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China	Hong Kong	Hongkong	HK	China	Hong Kong [city state]
	Hungary	Hungary	Hongarije	HU	Independent	Budapest
	Iceland	Iceland	IJsland	IS	Independent	Reykjavík
	the Republic of India	India	India	IN	Independent	Delhi
	the Republic of Indonesia	Indonesia	Indonesië	ID	Independent	Jakarta
	the Islamic Republic of Iran	Iran	Iran	IR	Independent	Tehran
	the Republic of Iraq	Iraq	Irak	IQ	Independent	Baghdad
	Ireland	Ireland	Ierland	IE	Independent	Dublin
	the Isle of Man	the Isle of Man	Man	IM	United Kingdom	Douglas
	the State of Israel	Israel	Israël	IL	Independent	Jerusalem, Tel Aviv (diplomatic)
	the Italian Republic	Italy	Italië	IT	Independent	Rome
	Jamaica	Jamaica	Jamaica	JM	Independent	Kingston
	Japan	Japan	Japan	JP	Independent	Tokyo
	the Bailiwick of Jersey	Jersey	Jersey	JE	United Kingdom	St Helier
	the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan	Jordan	Jordanië	JO	Independent	Amman
	the Republic of Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	Kazachstan	KZ	Independent	Nur-Sultan
	the Republic of Kenya	Kenya	Kenia	KE	Independent	Nairobi
	the Republic of Kiribati	Kiribati	Kiribati	KI	Independent	South Tarawa
	the Republic of Kosovo	Kosovo	Kosovo	XK	Independent (partially recognised)	Pristina
	the State of Kuwait	Kuwait	Koeweit	KW	Independent	Kuwait City
	the Kyrgyz Republic	Kyrgyzstan	Kirghizië	KG	Independent	Bishkek
	the Lao People’s Democratic Republic	Laos	Laos	LA	Independent	Vientiane
	the Republic of Latvia	Latvia	Letland	LV	Independent	Riga
	the Lebanese Republic	Lebanon	Libanon	LB	Independent	Beirut
	the Kingdom of Lesotho	Lesotho	Lesotho	LS	Independent	Maseru
	the Republic of Liberia	Liberia	Liberia	LR	Independent	Monrovia
	the State of Libya	Libya	Libië	LY	Independent	Tripoli
	the Principality of Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	LI	Independent	Vaduz
	the Republic of Lithuania	Lithuania	Litouwen	LT	Independent	Vilnius
	the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg	Luxembourg	Luxemburg	LU	Independent	Luxembourg
	the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China	Macao	Macau	MO	China	Macao [city state]
	the Republic of Madagascar	Madagascar	Madagaskar	MG	Independent	Antananarivo
	the Republic of Malawi	Malawi	Malawi	MW	Independent	Lilongwe
	Malaysia	Malaysia	Maleisië	MY	Independent	Kuala Lumpur (legislative), Putrajaya (administrative and judicial)
	the Republic of Maldives	Maldives	de Maldiven	MV	Independent	Malé
	the Republic of Mali	Mali	Mali	ML	Independent	Bamako
	the Republic of Malta	Malta	Malta	MT	Independent	Valletta
	the Republic of the Marshall Islands	the Marshall Islands	de Marshalleilanden	MH	Partially dependent on the U.S.	Majuro
	the Islamic Republic of Mauritania	Mauritania	Mauritanië	MR	Independent	Nouakchott
	the Republic of Mauritius	Mauritius	Mauritius	MU	Independent	Port Louis
	the United Mexican States	Mexico	Mexico	MX	Independent	Mexico City
	the Federated States of Micronesia	Micronesia	Micronesia	FM	Partially dependent on the U.S.	Palikir
	the Republic of Moldova	Moldova	Moldavië	MD	Independent	Chișinău
	the Principality of Monaco	Monaco	Monaco	MC	Independent	Monaco [city state]
	Mongolia	Mongolia	Mongolië	MN	Independent	Ulaanbaatar
	Montenegro	Montenegro	Montenegro	ME	Independent	Podgorica (legislative and judicial), Cetinje (executive)
	Montserrat	Montserrat	Montserrat	MS	United Kingdom	Brades (de facto), Plymouth (de jure, ghost city)
	the Kingdom of Morocco	Morocco	Marokko	MA	Independent	Rabat
	the Republic of Mozambique	Mozambique	Mozambique	MZ	Independent	Maputo
	the Republic of the Union of Myanmar	Myanmar	Myanmar	MM	Independent	Naypyidaw
	the Republic of Namibia	Namibia	Namibië	NA	Independent	Windhoek
	the Republic of Nauru	Nauru	Nauru	NR	Independent	Yaren (de facto)
	the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal	Nepal	Nepal	NP	Independent	Kathmandu
	the Kingdom of the Netherlands	the Netherlands	Nederland	NL	Independent	Den Haag (de facto), Amsterdam (de jure)
	New Caledonia	New Caledonia	Nieuw-Caledonië	NC	France	Nouméa
	New Zealand	New Zealand	Nieuw-Zeeland	NZ	Independent	Wellington
	the Republic of Nicaragua	Nicaragua	Nicaragua	NI	Independent	Managua
	the Republic of the Niger	Niger	Niger	NE	Independent	Niamey
	the Federal Republic of Nigeria	Nigeria	Nigeria	NG	Independent	Abuja
	Niue	Niue	Niue	NU	Partially dependent on New Zealand	Alofi
	the Territory of Norfolk Island	Norfolk Island	Norfolk	NF	Australia	Kingston
	the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea	North Korea	Noord-Korea	KP	Independent	Pyongyang
	the Republic of North Macedonia	North Macedonia	Noord-Macedonië	MK	Independent	Skopje
	the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus	Northern Cyprus	Noord-Cyprus	N/A	Independent (partially recognised)	Nicosia
	the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands	the Northern Mariana Islands	de Noordelijke Marianen	MP	United States	Saipan
	the Kingdom of Norway	Norway	Noorwegen	NO	Independent	Oslo
	the Sultanate of Oman	Oman	Oman	OM	Independent	Muscat
	the Islamic Republic of Pakistan	Pakistan	Pakistan	PK	Independent	Islamabad
	the Republic of Palau	Palau	Palau	PW	Partially dependent on the U.S.	Ngerulmud
	the State of Palestine	Palestine	Palestina	PS	It’s complicated	Ramallah (de facto), Jerusalem (de jure)
	the Republic of Panama	Panama	Panama	PA	Independent	Panama City
	the Independent State of Papua New Guinea	Papua New Guinea	Papoea-Nieuw-Guinea	PG	Independent	Port Moresby
	the Republic of Paraguay	Paraguay	Paraguay	PY	Independent	Asunción
	the Republic of Peru	Peru	Peru	PE	Independent	Lima
	the Republic of the Philippines	the Philippines	de Filipijnen	PH	Independent	Manila
	the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands	the Pitcairn Islands	de Pitcairneilanden	PN	United Kingdom	Adamstown
	the Republic of Poland	Poland	Polen	PL	Independent	Warsaw
	the Portuguese Republic	Portugal	Portugal	PT	Independent	Lisbon
	the Pridnestrovian Moldovian Republic	Pridnestrovie	Transnistrië	N/A	Independent (partially recognised)	Tiraspol
	the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	PR	United States	San Juan
	the State of Qatar	Qatar	Qatar	QA	Independent	Doha
	Romania	Romania	Roemenië	RO	Independent	Bucharest
	the Russian Federation	Russia	Rusland	RU	Independent	Moscow
	the Republic of Rwanda	Rwanda	Rwanda	RW	Independent	Kigali
	the Collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy	Saint Barthélemy	Saint-Barthélemy	BL	France	Gustavia
	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	Sint-Helena, Ascension, en Tristan da Cunha	SH	United Kingdom	Jamestown
	the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Saint Kitts en Nevis	KN	Independent	Basseterre
	Saint Lucia	Saint Lucia	Saint Lucia	LC	Independent	Castries
	the Collectivity of Saint-Martin	Saint Martin	Saint-Martin	MF	France	Marigot
	the Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Saint-Pierre en Miquelon	PM	France	St. Pierre
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Saint Vincent en de Grenadines	VC	Independent	Kingstown
	the Independent State of Samoa	Samoa	Samoa	WS	Independent	Apia
	the Republic of San Marino	San Marino	San Marino	SM	Independent	San Marino
	the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé and Príncipe	ST	Independent	São Tomé
	the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	Saoedi-Arabië	SA	Independent	Riyadh
	the Republic of Senegal	Senegal	Senegal	SN	Independent	Dakar
	the Republic of Serbia	Serbia	Servië	RS	Independent	Belgrade
	the Republic of Seychelles	Seychelles	de Seychellen	SC	Independent	Victoria
	the Republic of Sierra Leone	Sierra Leone	Sierra Leone	SL	Independent	Freetown
	the Republic of Singapore	Singapore	Singapore	SG	Independent	Singapore [city state]
	the Country of Sint Maarten	Sint Maarten	Sint Maarten	SX	Netherlands	Philipsburg
	the Slovak Republic	Slovakia	Slowakije	SK	Independent	Bratislava
	the Republic of Slovenia	Slovenia	Slovenië	SI	Independent	Ljubljana
	Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	de Salomonseilanden	SB	Independent	Honiara
	the Federal Republic of Somalia	Somalia	Somalië	SO	Independent	Mogadishu
	the Republic of Somaliland	Somaliland	Somaliland	N/A	Independent (partially recognised)	Hargeisa
	the Republic of South Africa	South Africa	Zuid-Afrika	ZA	Independent	Bloemfontein (judicial), Cape Town (legislative), Pretoria (executive)
	the Republic of Korea	South Korea	Zuid-Korea	KR	Independent	Seoul
	the Republic of South Ossetia the State of Alania	South Ossetia	Zuid-Ossetië	N/A	Independent (partially recognised)	Tskhinvali
	the Republic of South Sudan	South Sudan	Zuid-Soedan	SS	Independent	Juba
	the Kingdom of Spain	Spain	Spanje	ES	Independent	Madrid
	the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	LK	Independent	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative), Colombo (executive, judicial)
	the Republic of the Sudan	Sudan	Soedan	SD	Independent	Khartoum
	the Republic of Suriname	Suriname	Suriname	SR	Independent	Paramaribo
	Svalbard	Svalbard	Spitsbergen	SJ	Norway, governed by treaty	Longyearbyen
	the Kingdom of Sweden	Sweden	Zweden	SE	Independent	Stockholm
	the Swiss Confederation	Switzerland	Zwitserland	CH	Independent	Bern (de facto)
	the Syrian Arab Republic	Syria	Syrië	SY	Independent	Damascus
	the Republic of China	Taiwan	Taiwan	TW	Independent (partially recognised)	Taipei
	the Republic of Tajikistan	Tajikistan	Tadzjikistan	TJ	Independent	Dushanbe
	the United Republic of Tanzania	Tanzania	Tanzania	TZ	Independent	Dodoma (legislative), Dar es Salaam (executive and judicial)
	the Kingdom of Thailand	Thailand	Thailand	TH	Independent	Bangkok
	the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste	Timor-Leste	Oost-Timor	TL	Independent	Dili
	the Togolese Republic	Togo	Togo	TG	Independent	Lomé
	Tokelau	Tokelau	Tokelau	TK	New Zealand	N/A
	the Kingdom of Tonga	Tonga	Tonga	TO	Independent	Nukuʻalofa
	the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad en Tobago	TT	Independent	Port of Spain
	the Republic of Tunisia	Tunisia	Tunesië	TN	Independent	Tunis
	the Republic of Turkey	Turkey	Turkije	TR	Independent	Ankara
	Turkmenistan	Turkmenistan	Turkmenistan	TM	Independent	Ashgabat
	the Turks and Caicos Islands	the Turks and Caicos Islands	de Turks- en Caicoseilanden	TC	United Kingdom	Cockburn Town
	Tuvalu	Tuvalu	Tuvalu	TV	Independent	Funafuti
	the Virgin Islands of the United States	the U.S. Virgin Islands	de Amerikaanse Maagdeneilanden	VI	United States	Charlotte Amelie
	the Republic of Uganda	Uganda	Oeganda	UG	Independent	Kampala
	Ukraine	Ukraine	Oekraïne	UA	Independent	Kyiv
	the United Arab Emirates	the United Arab Emirates	de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten	AE	Independent	Abu Dhabi
	the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	the United Kingdom	het Verenigd Koninkrijk	GB	Independent	London
	the United States of America	the United States	de Verenigde Staten	US	Independent	Washington, DC
	the Oriental Republic of Uruguay	Uruguay	Uruguay	UY	Independent	Montevideo
	the Republic of Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan	Oezbekistan	UZ	Independent	Tashkent
	the Republic of Vanuatu	Vanuatu	Vanuatu	VU	Independent	Port Vila
	the Vatican City State	Vatican City	Vaticaanstad	VA	Independent	Vatican City [city state]
	the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela	Venezuela	Venezuela	VE	Independent	Caracas
	the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam	Vietnam	Vietnam	VN	Independent	Hanoi
	the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands	Wallis and Futuna	Wallis en Futuna	WF	France	Mata Utu
	the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Western Sahara	de Westelijke Sahara	EH	It’s complicated	Tifariti (de facto), Laayoune (de jure)
	the Republic of Yemen	Yemen	Jemen	YE	Independent	Sana’a
	the Republic of Zambia	Zambia	Zambia	ZM	Independent	Lusaka
	the Republic of Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	ZW	Independent	Harare

Appendix B: County, 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
Historic and ceremonial counties of England
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.
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.
Historic counties of Scotland
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.
Historic counties of Wales
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.
Counties of the island of 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.
States of the United States of America
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.
Provinces of Canada
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.
States and internal territories of the Commonwealth of Australia
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.

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.