Use of English

COSY

Cooler Synchrotron, Germany

Acronym doesn’t need spelling out for the CERN Courier

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Courier

councillor

member of a council

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translation

counsellor, senior counsellor

someone who provides guidance

Legal counsel

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translation

countermeasure

translation

counterproductive

translation

CP

Charge and parity (as in CP violation)

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abbreviations, acronyms, translation

Cracow

Courier, translation

criterion (pl. criteria)

translation

cross-border (adj.)

translation

cross-reference (noun and verb)

translation

cross-section

use hyphen, not cross section or crosssection

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Courier, style, translation

crossing-angle

use hyphen

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Courier

CtC

Cost-to-completion

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abbreviations, acronyms, translation

CTF3

CLIC Test Facility

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abbreviations, acronyms, translation

currencies

Give figures in Swiss francs, then euros in brackets. 

"Five grams of enriched lead for the accelerator costs 12 000 CHF (9700 EUR)," says Kuchler. 

In official documents, three-letter ISO codes for currencies are preferable to symbols e.g. EUR, GBP, USD. The ISO code comes after the figure, preceded by a non-breaking space e.g. 25 CHF. Add lower case "k" for thousands, e.g. 25 kEUR, upper case "M" or "B" for millions or billions e.g. 25 MUSD.

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style

currency conversions

Amounts quoted in sterling, US dollars and euros do not normally need to be converted. The only exception might be if you want readers to be able to make direct comparisons between countries: if that applies you should choose one as the standard.

Any other currency should be converted the first time it is mentioned to the equivalent in US dollars. There are a number of currency converters on the net: xe.com covers any currency you are likely to encounter.

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style

curriculum vitae

no italics

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translation

curriculum, curricula (pl.)

translation

cut-off (adj. and noun), cut off (verb)

translation

cutback (noun), cut back (verb)

translation

CVI

Cost-Variation Index

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abbreviations, acronyms, translation

cyber

No hyphen: cyberattack, cybercafé, cybersecurity, cyberterrorism, cyberthreat  

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translation

cyclotron

A cyclotron is an apparatus in which charged atomic and subatomic particles are accelerated by an alternating electric field while following an outward spiral or circular path in a magnetic field.

Perhaps the most important improvement has been the replacement of an electrical magnet with a series of permanent magnets to generate the cyclotron's magnetic field.

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physics

DAI

Demande d'Achat Interne (Internal Purchase Order)

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abbreviations, acronyms, translation

DAMA

Dark matter experiment at Gran Sasso National Laboratory

Acronym doesn’t need spelling out for the CERN Courier

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abbreviations, acronyms, Courier

DANTE

Organisation that operates advanced networks for research and education, including GÉANT

Acronym doesn’t need spelling out for the CERN Courier

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abbreviations, acronyms, Courier

DAO

Departmental Administrative Officer

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abbreviations, acronyms, translation

DAPNIA

Département d'Astrophysique, de physique des Particules, de physique Nucléaire et de l'Instrumentation Associée (Department of Astrophysics, Particle Physics, Nuclear Physics and Associated Instrumentation​), CEA

Acronym doesn’t need spelling out for the CERN Courier

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abbreviations, acronyms, Courier

dark energy

lower case

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translation

dark matter

lower case

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physics, style, translation

data

"Data" can mean two rather different things, and this poses a style problem.

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style

data centre

Two words. Initial capital letters if talking about the CERN Data Centre.

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translation

data processing (noun); data-processing (adj.)

translation

data set

Not dataset or data-set.

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Courier

data-taking

use hyphen

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Courier

databank

translation

database

translation

dates

Dates should be written Saturday, 24 April 2010 (not 24th).

Use the following construction for spans of time:

Willibald Karl Jentschke was the Council delegate for the Federal Republic of Germany from 1964 to 1967.

Though this often reads better if reworded:

From 1964 to 1967, Willibald Karl Jentschke was the Council delegate for the Federal Republic of Germany. 

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style, translation

daytime

translation

DAΦNE

Double Annular Φ Factory for Nice Experiments, an electron–positron collider at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF)

Acronym doesn’t need spelling out for the CERN Courier

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abbreviations, acronyms, Courier

DCal

Di-jet Calorimeter (ALICE)

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abbreviations, acronyms, translation

DDU

Delivered Duty Unpaid

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abbreviations, acronyms, translation

de facto

no italics

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translation

de jure

no italics

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translation

deadline

translation

debug, debugging, debugged

translation

début

translation

decades

Use digits:

the 1950s, 1960s, etc.

the roaring 20s

a man in his 60s

Note that no apostrophe is needed before the "s"

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style

decay

Most often used in the context of particle decay.

The kaon decayed into a pion and a neutrino-antineutrino pair.

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physics

decimals

Decimals and percentages use the number, not the word: 2% and 50% and 2.6 kilometres.

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style

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