Let the Games Begin: Correct Olympics Terms
Posted on Jul. 28, 2016 / Subscribe 0
By Joseph Priest, Corporate Writer, Syniverse
The Olympics are almost here, and each biennial competition seems to draw bigger and bigger media coverage than the one before. This summer’s event promises to figure prominently in our communications, and it will be helpful to know some of the ins and outs of writing Olympic terms correctly. To help us navigate these words, below are a few guidelines for some of the most common Olympic terms that we’re bound to come across in the next few weeks.
In addition, the AP Stylebook has created a special 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games topical guide that provides specific guidance on Olympics terms as well as some helpful facts and figures.
Enjoy the games, and go, USA!
Olympics and Olympic - Both the noun and adjective should be capitalized in nearly all references. Here are the spellings for some common terms (these spellings also apply for the Paralympics and its related terms):
- Olympic Games
- Summer Olympics
- Summer Games
- Olympic Village
- Olympic flame and torch relay
- Olympic opening ceremony
- Olympic closing ceremony.
“Olympics” can be lowercased on the rare occasions when it’s used in a generic sense: video-game olympics, arm-wrestling olympics.
Olympiad - This word is often mistaken as a synonym for “Olympics,” and for this reason it’s best to stay away from “Olympiad” altogether. An Olympiad, in fact, is a period of four years that begins on Jan. 1 of the Olympic year. Each Olympiad has been numbered consecutively in Roman numerals that go back to the 1896 Athens games. This year’s Olympics are the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, which began on Jan. 1 of this year.
games - This is a confusing one. “Games” should always be capitalized when used after “Olympic,” but AP style says to lowercase “games” when it’s used alone to refer to the Olympics. However, this is curiously a practice that many major media do not adhere to. Moreover, style guides for such publications as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times conflict with AP style and say that “games” should be capitalized when used alone. The AP’s guideline is the most sound of the two practices and based on a standard capitalization rule, in which the shortened form of a proper noun is lowercased if it’s understood or often used that way as a common noun. (For example, the Empire State Building is properly referred to in shortened form as “the building” but not “the Building”; but an event with a title like 2016 Coast to Coast Rockfest is correctly referred to in abbreviated form as “Rockfest,” because “rockfest” isn’t a commonly used noun. In any case, with the dissension between the AP and other media, writing either “Games” or “games” when this word is used alone is fine: Kim is going to the Games in Rio.
Rio - Acceptable as a first reference for the city, provided that the full name, Rio de Janeiro, is used somewhere in the story, according to AP style. However, in less formal communications, I recommend not even worrying about spelling this out a single time since “Rio” is so common and well-known that there is little chance of it being confused with another name.
medalist - This word is spelled with one “l” in American English, but two in British English.
medals - The names of Olympic medals are not capitalized: Michael Phelps won four gold medals and two silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
events - Likewise, the names of Olympic events should not be capitalized: Ryan Lochte won the men’s 200-meter freestyle in London.
Carioca - This is the name for a resident of Rio.
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