Entries - D
DIRAC |
DImension Relativistic Atom Complex (PS212) Read more |
abbreviations, acronyms, translation |
Director-General (pl. Directors-General) |
One of the few titles that should be capitalised. Avoid abbreviating to DG. The hyphen is important. Here's an example from a photo caption that shows why: Stephen Hawking (left) with CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. The sentence above could be (incorrectly) interpreted to mean that Rolf Heuer is a (military) General, and he is also Director of CERN. The hyphen renders the compound adjective unambiguous, Heuer is a Director-General. The plural of Director-General is Directors-General. Read more |
style |
disc or disk? |
Use disc with a "c" when you are referring to optical media such as a CD or DVD. All discs are removable, meaning when you eject the disc from your desktop, it physically comes out of your computer. Use disk with a "k" for magnetic media, such as a floppy disk, the disk in your computer's hard drive, an external hard drive. Read more |
spelling, style |
discrimination |
See non-discriminatory language Read more |
style |
distance learning (noun); distance-learning (adj.) |
translation | |
Doctor honoris causa |
Courier | |
DOE |
Department of Energy (USA) Read more |
abbreviations, acronyms, translation |
dosimeter |
A device used to measure an absorbed dose of ionising radiation. Do not confuse with Geiger counter. Read more |
physics |
dot-com |
use hyphen Read more |
translation |
double-beta decay |
use hyphen Read more |
Courier |
double-check |
use hyphen Read more |
grammar |
downlink |
translation | |
download |
translation | |
Downloads |
On Drupal websites at CERN, whenever you add a file field to a page, call it "Downloads". Keep this consistent across CERN websites.
Read more |
style |
downtime |
translation | |
DPO |
Departmental Planning Officer Read more |
abbreviations, acronyms, translation |
Dr |
Note that no full stop is needed after the abbreviation Dr as the last letter is the same as in the full word (Doctor). Read more |
translation |
dreamed (past tense) |
translation | |
Drell-Yan |
use hyphen Read more |
Courier |
DTCs |
Drift-tube chambers Spell out in first use then use acronym for the CERN Courier Read more |
abbreviations, acronyms, Courier |
DTO |
Departmental Training Officer Read more |
abbreviations, acronyms, translation |
duoplasmatron |
Another great physics word. A duoplasmatron is a type of ion source. It operates as follows: a cathode filament emits electrons into a vacuum chamber. A gas, such as argon, is introduced in very small quantities into the chamber, where it becomes charged or ionised through interactions with the free electrons from the cathode, forming a plasma. The plasma is then accelerated through a series of at least two highly charged grids, and becomes an ion beam, moving at fairly high speed from the aperture of the device. Read more |
physics |
DUSEL |
Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory Read more |
abbreviations, acronyms, translation |