Foreign words

One of the features of English has been its capacity to borrow and assimilate words from a wide variety of languages. When first imported, we tended to format them in italics to show they were borrowed.

In an online age, italics are harder to read on screens and present problems for readers with visual impairment.

As a result, generally do not italicise words from non-English languages unless they are freshly imported into English and will be unfamiliar to readers. And prefer an English alternative if there is one.

Similarly to the use of italics, non-English words when first cited in English tend to preserve the accents of their native language. Over time, these fall out of use as the word assimilates into English.

Spell a foreign term without its accents unless it is not yet common in English, or would not be clear to readers without them.

One of the more contentious areas of non-English words is whether to pluralise them using English conventions or those of the source language – usually Latin.

It can generate passionate debate over whether a trio of cephalopods represents ‘3 octopuses’ or ‘3 octopi’. ‘Octopuses’ is now the preferred option.

The ASG recommends English plural forms for most foreign terms. This brings more consistency to our usage. 

However, there are some terms where the plural form is better understood, and there is no easy resolution into English. A good example is ‘criterion/criteria’, which has resisted the alternative ‘criterion/criterions’. And many organisations are using ‘data’ for both singular and plural rather than the technically correct ‘datum/data’.

Over time, the fewer exceptions we have to English pluralisation the better.