qat
not kat or khat

QC
use without comma, eg Cherie Booth QC

QE2, QM2
liners

QinetiQ
arms company

Qom
holy city in Iran

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
QCA after first mention

quango
short for quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation, but no need to spell out

quantum jump, quantum leap
in any area other than physics, a cliche best avoided (unless you are referring to the cult 70s band Quantum Jump or the cult 90s TV series Quantum Leap)

quarterdeck, quartermaster

Québécois
not Quebeckers

Queen, the
if it is necessary to say so, she is Her Majesty or HM, never "HRH"

Queen's birthday honours list

Queen's Club
in London

Queen's College, Oxford
its official name is The Queen's College (named in honour of Queen Philippa in 1341)

Queens' College, Cambridge

Queen's Park
the tube station has an apostrophe

Queen's Park
Scotland's oldest football club, winners of the Scottish Cup 10 times in the 19th century and twice runners-up in the FA Cup

Queens Park Rangers
(no apostrophe) English football club

Queen's speech

Queen's University Belfast

 


queueing
not queuing

quicklime, quicksand, quicksilver
one word

quixotic

quiz
a suspect is questioned, not quizzed (however tempting for headline purposes)

quizshow

Quorn
TM

quotation marks
Use double quotes at the start and end of a quoted section, with single quotes for quoted words within that section. Place full points and commas inside the quotes for a complete quoted sentence; otherwise the point comes outside:
"Anna said, 'Your style guide needs updating,' and I said, 'I agree.' "
but: "Anna said updating the guide was 'a difficult and time-consuming task'."
When beginning a quote with a sentence fragment that is followed by a full sentence, punctuate according to the final part of the quote, eg The minister called the allegations "blatant lies. But in a position such as mine, it is only to be expected."
Headlines and standfirsts (sparingly), captions and display quotes all take single quote marks
For parentheses in direct quotes, use square brackets

quotes
Take care with direct speech: our readers should be confident that words appearing in quotation marks accurately represent the actual words uttered by the speaker, though ums and ahems can be removed and bad grammar improved. If you aren't sure of the exact wording, use indirect speech.
Where a lot of material has been left out, start off a new quote with "He added: ... ", or signify this with an ellipsis.
Take particular care when extracting from printed material, for example a minister's resignation letter. And introduce the speaker from the beginning, or after the first sentence: it is confusing and frustrating to read several sentences or even paragraphs of a quote before finding out who is saying it.

From the editor:
If a reader reads something in direct quotation marks in the Guardian he/she is entitled to believe that the reporter can vouch directly for the accuracy of the quote.
Copying quotes out of other newspapers without any form of attribution is simply bad journalism, never mind legally risky. If, where there are no libel issues, you're going to repeat quotes, then always say where they came from. It won't be much help in a legal action, but at least the reader can evaluate the reliability of the source. A quote in the Sunday Sport may, who knows, count for less than one from the Wall Street Journal.
If we're taking quotes off the radio or television it is our general policy to include an attribution. This matters less if it is a pooled interview or news conference which happens to be covered by, say, the BBC or Sky. If the quote comes from an exclusive interview on a radio or TV programme (eg, Today, Channel 4 News or Newsnight) we should always include an attribution

Qur'an
holy book of Islam (not Koran); regarded as the word of God, having been dictated by the prophet Muhammad, so in the eyes of Muslims it is wrong to suggest the prophet "wrote" the Qur'an

Qureia, Ahmed
Palestinian politician, popularly known as Abu Ala (which means "father of Ala" - it is not a nom de guerre); he was prime minister of the Palestinian Authority until Fatah was defeated by Hamas in the parliamentary elections