Guardian and Observer style guide: B : vimarsana.com

bete noire
betting odds
We frequently get this wrong. A brief explanation: long odds (eg 100-1 against, normally expressed as 100-1) mean something unlikely; shorter odds (eg 10-1) still mean it’s unlikely, but less unlikely; odds on (eg 2-1 on, sometimes expressed as 1-2) means it is likely, so if you were betting £2 you would win only £1 plus the stake.
Take care using the phrase “odds on”: if Labour is quoted by bookmakers at 3-1 to win a byelection, and the odds are cut to 2-1, it is wrong to say “the odds on Labour to win were cut last night” – in fact, the odds against Labour to win have been cut (the shorter the price, the more likely something is expected to happen).

Related Keywords

Myanmar , Pitcairn Islands , Taiwan , United States , Belarus , Buckingham Palace , Westminster , United Kingdom , Brazil , Madrid , Spain , Broadmoor , Pembrokeshire , Barons Court , Strabane , West Yorkshire , United Kingdom General , Tunbridge Wells , Kent , Battersea , Wandsworth , Bolivar , Valle Del Cauca , Colombia , Saint Helena , British Isles , British Virgin Islands , Norway , Gibraltar , Brits , North West , South Africa , Black Country , Sandwell , London , City Of , Cayman Islands , Bermuda , Barcelona , Comunidad Autonoma De Cataluna , Montserrat , Saudi Arabia , Lulworth , Eastern Cape , France , Turkey , City Of London , West Ham , Newham , China , Beijing , Portugal , Bern , Switzerland , British Indian Ocean Territory , East Sussex , Berne , Bosphorus , Free State , Mumbai , Maharashtra , India , Bletchley , Milton Keynes , Botswana , Italy , Brighton , Brighton And Hove , Ireland , Bridgnorth , Shropshire , Bangalore , Karnataka , Manchester , Northern Ireland , Craigavon , Bombay , Berchtesgaden , Bayern , Germany , Essex , Burton Upon Trent , Staffordshire , Berwick Upon Tweed , Northumberland , Baghdad , Iraq , Anguilla , Bridgwater , Somerset , Bengaluru , Berlin , Italian , Britons , Saudi , Scotland , Turks , French , British , Irish Republic , American , Burma , Britain , Spanish , Great Britain , German , Belarusian , Irish , Simon Hoggart , Buckminster Fuller , Wendi Deng , David Cameron , Sayeeda Warsi , Oxfordv Cambridge , Baron Adonis , Georgehw Bush , Clifford Richard , Kingsley Amis , Andrew Adonis , Carina Fitzalan Howard , Boris Johnson , Baron Cohen , Simon Bolivar , Los Lobos , Boutros Ghali , Petit Robert , Nye Bevan , Jerry Hall , Bonham Carter , David Frost , Boston Strangler , Lady Warsi , Peter Connelly , Mick Jagger , Iain Dowie , Cherie Blair , Beverly Hills , Gene Vincent , Francis Beaufort , British Medical Association , Twitter , British Film Institute , Television Arts , British Council , Beretta , Bar Human Rights Committee Of England , Benetton , Burberry , Cambridge University , Bar Council , Boddingtons , Boundary Commission , British Museum , Barclays Bank , British Academy Of Film , Scottish League , Buck Club , British Library , British Aerospace , British Airports Authority , University Of London , British Transport Police , Britvic , Royal Bank , British Airports , Arctic Monkeys , Pet Shop Boys , Snow Patrol , Iron Butterfly , Human Rights Committee , Lord Adonis , Sir Francis , Isabella Mary Beeton , Leslie Hore Belisha , Roman Catholic , Berwick Rangers , New Testament , Holy Writ , King James Version , Clarence Frank Birdseye , Right Rev Clifford Richard , Cherie Booth , Blu Ray Disc , Dont Do It Right , Venezuelan Born Latin American , Simon Bol , Alan Turing , Bletchley Park , Guy Fawkes , Boo , Man Booker , Guardian Style , Sheffield United , Golden Gate Bridge , British Empire , Irish Isles , British Antarctic Territory , Falkland Islands , South Georgia , South Sandwich Islands , Pieter Bruegel ,