by Bill Bryson
Aramaic. Semitic language.
Aran Island and Aran Islands (Ireland) but Isle of Arran (Scotland). The sweater is spelled Aran.
Arc de Triomphe, Paris. Officially, Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile.
arc-en-ciel. (Fr.) Rainbow; pl. arcs-en-ciel.
archaea. Type of unicellular organism.
archaeology is normally preferred, but archeology is accepted.
archaic, archaism.
archetype.
Archilochus of Paros. (c. 714–c. 676 BC) Greek poet.
Archimedes. (c. 287–212 BC) Greek mathematician and engineer.
archipelago, pl. archipelagos.
Arctic Circle, Arctic Ocean, but arctic fox.
Ardennes. Wooded plateau region in southern Belgium, northeastern France, and Luxembourg.
Arezzo, Italy.
arguable.
Århus. Danish for Aarhus; city in Denmark.
Aristides. (c. 530–c. 468 BC) Athenian statesman.
Aristophanes. (c. 448–c. 380 BC) Greek dramatist.
armadillo, pl. armadillos.
Armageddon.
armament.
armature.
aroma applies only to agreeable smells; there is no such thing as a bad aroma.
Aroostook River, Maine and New Brunswick.
Arran, Isle of, Scotland. See also ARAN ISLAND.
arrière-pensée. (Fr.) Ulterior motive, mental reservation.
arrivederci. (It.) Goodbye.
arriviste. Disagreeably ambitious person.
Arrol-Johnston. British automobile of early 1900s.
arrondissement. Principal division of French departments and some larger cities.
Arrows of the Chace, not Chase, by John Ruskin.
Artemis. Greek goddess of the moon, associated with hunting. The Roman equivalent is Diana.
arteriosclerosis.
Arthur Andersen. Not -son. Accountancy firm.
Arthur, Chester Alan. (1829-1886) U.S. president (1881-1885).
artichoke.
artifact, artefact. The first spelling is generally preferred, but either is correct.
Aruba. Caribbean island, a self-governing dependency of the Netherlands; capital Oranjestad.
Asahi Shimbun. Japanese newspaper.
as…as. “A government study concludes that for trips of 500 miles or less…automotive travel is as fast or faster than air travel, door to door” (George Will, syndicated columnist). The problem here is what is termed an incomplete alternative comparison. If we remove the “or faster than” phrase from the sentence, the problem becomes immediately evident: “A government study concludes that for trips of 500 miles or less…automotive travel is as fast than air travel, door to door.” The writer has left the “as fast” phrase uncompleted. The sentence should say “as fast as or faster than air travel.”
ascendancy, ascendant.
Asch, Sholem. (1880-1957) Polish-born American novelist.
ASCII. Short for American Standard Code for Information Interchange; computer terminology.
Asclepius. Use Aesculapius.
ASEAN. Association of South East Asian Nations, formed 1967; members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar/Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
aseptic.
as far as is commonly misused, as here: “As far as next season, it is too early to make forecasts” (Baltimore Sun). The error here has been exercising authorities since at least Fowler’s heyday and shows no sign of abating, either as a problem or as something that exercises authorities. The trouble is that “as far as” serves as a conjunction and as such requires a following verb. The solution is either to remove the conjunction (“As for next season, it is too early to make forecasts”) or to supply the needed verb (“As far as next season goes, it is too early to make forecasts”).
Ashbery, John. (1927–) American poet and critic.
Asheville, North Carolina.
Ashgabat. Capital of Turkmenistan; also sometimes spelled Ashkhabad.
Ashkenazi. An East or Central European Jew; pl. Ashkenazim.
Ashkenazy, Vladimir. (1937–) Russian-born Icelandic pianist and conductor.
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England.
Ashuapmuchuan River, Quebec, Canada.
Asimov, Isaac. (1920-1992) American biochemist and prolific science-fiction writer.
asinine.
Asmara. Capital of Eritrea; formerly Asmera.
asparagus.
Assad, Bashar. (1965–) President of Syria (2000–); succeeded his father, Hafez Assad (1928-2000).
assagai/assegai. Either spelling is correct for the African spear.
assailant.
assassin.
Assateague Island, Maryland and Virginia.
assault, battery. They are not the same in law. Assault is a threat of violence; battery is actual violence.
assessor.
asseverate. To declare.
assiduous, acidulous. Assiduous means diligent; acidulous means tart or acidic.
Assiniboine River, Manitoba, Canada.
Assisi. Town in Umbria, Italy, birthplace of St. Francis.
assonance. Words that rhyme in consonants but not vowels (e.g., cat and kit) or in vowels but not consonants (e.g., bun and sponge).
assuage, assuaging.
assume, presume. The two words are often so close in meaning as to be indistinguishable, but in some contexts they do allow a fine distinction to be made. Assume, in the sense of “to suppose,” normally means to put forth a realistic hypothesis, something that can be taken as probable (“I assume we will arrive by midnight”). Presume has more of an air of sticking one’s neck out, of making an assertion that may be arguable or wrong (“I presume we have met before?”). But in most instances the two words can be used interchangeably.
as to whether. Whether alone is sufficient.
AstraZeneca. Pharmaceuticals company.
AstroTurf (one word) is a trademark.
Asunción. Capital of Paraguay.
asymmetry, asymmetric, asymmetrical.
Atatürk, Mustapha Kemal. (1881-1938) Turkish leader and president (1923-1938).
Atchafalaya. Louisiana river and bay.
Athena. Greek goddess of wisdom.
Athenaeum. London club and other British contexts, but Atheneum for the U.S. publisher.
Athinai. Greek spelling of Athens.
ATM. Automated teller machine.
à tout prix. (Fr.) At any price.
attaché.
Attawapiskat. Canadian river.
Attlee, Clement (Richard). (1883-1967) British prime minister (1945-1951). Later made Earl Attlee.
attorney general, pl. attorneys general.
attributable.
Attucks, Crispus. (c. 1723-1770) Black American killed in the Boston Massacre.
Atwater, (Harvey) Lee. (1951-1991) American political figure.
Atwood, Margaret. (1939–) Canadian novelist.
Au, gold, is the abbreviation of aurum (Lat.).
aubergine. British name for eggplant.
au besoin. (Fr.) “If need be.”
aubrietia. Flowering plant named after Claude Aubriet (1655–1742), French painter.
Auchincloss, Louis (Stanton). (1917–) American novelist.
Auchinleck. Family name of James Boswell; pronounced aff-leck.
Auden, W. H. (for Wystan Hugh). (1907-1973) English-born American poet.
audible.
Audubon, John James. (1785-1851) American artist and naturalist.
au fait. (Fr.) To be in the know.
au fond. (Fr.) Basically, at the bottom.
auf Wiedersehen. (Ger.) Goodbye, until we meet again.
auger, augur. An auger is a tool for boring holes in wood or soil; an augur is a prophet or soothsayer. The two words are not related.
“Auld Lang Syne.” (Scot.) Literally “old long since” traditional end-of-year song with words by Robert Burns.
Auld Reekie. (S
cot.) Old Smoky; nickname for Edinburgh.
Aumann, Robert J. (1930–) Israeli-American academic; awarded Nobel Prize for Economics (2005).
au mieux. (Fr.) For the best, at best.
au naturel. (Fr.) In the natural state.
Ausable River, Ausable Chasm, New York State.
Au Sable River, Au Sable Point, Michigan.
Auschwitz. German concentration camp in Poland during World War II. In Polish, Oswiecim.
Au secours! (Fr.) A cry for help.
Ausländer. (Ger.) Foreigner.
auspicious does not mean simply special or memorable. It means propitious, promising, of good omen.
Austen, Jane. (1775-1817) English novelist.
Australia, Commonwealth of, is divided into six states (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia) and two territories (Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory). The latter two should not be referred to as states.
autarchy, autarky. The first means absolute power, an autocracy; the second denotes self-sufficiency. However, neither word is well known, and in almost every instance an English synonym would bring an improvement in comprehension, if not in elegance.
Auteuil, Daniel. (1950–) Prolific French actor.
autobahn. (Ger.) Express motorway. The English plural is autobahns; the German is Autobahnen.
auto-da-fé. Execution of heretics during the Inquisition; pl. autos-da-fé.
autostrada. (It.) Express motorway; pl. autostrade.
Auvergne. Region of France.
auxiliary. Not -ll-.
avant-garde.
avenge, revenge. Generally, avenge indicates the settling of a score or the redressing of an injustice. It is more dispassionate than revenge, which indicates retaliation taken largely for the sake of personal satisfaction.
Avenue of the Americas, New York City. Often still referred to as Sixth Avenue, its former name.
avocado, pl. avocados.
avocation. Work done for personal satisfaction rather than need, usually in addition to a normal job.
avoirdupois weights. The system of weights traditionally used throughout the English-speaking world, based on one pound equaling sixteen ounces.
Avon. Former county of England, abolished 1996; also the name of several rivers in England and the title of the former prime minister Anthony Eden (Earl of Avon).
à votre santé. (Fr.) “To your health.”
a while, awhile. To write “for awhile” is wrong because the idea of for is implicit in awhile. Write either “I will stay here for a while” (two words) or “I will stay here awhile” (one word).
awoke, awaked, awakened. Two common problems are worth noting:
1. Awoken, though much used, is generally considered not standard. Thus this sentence from an Agatha Christie novel (cited by Partridge) is wrong: “I was awoken by that rather flashy young woman.” Make it awakened.
2. As a past participle, awaked is preferable to awoke. Thus, “He had awaked at midnight” and not “He had awoke at midnight.” But if ever in doubt about the past tense, you will never be wrong if you use awakened.
axel, axle. An axel is a jump in ice skating; an axle is a rod connecting two wheels.
Axelrod, George. (1922-2003) American screenwriter and film director.
ayatollah. Shiite Muslim religious leader.
Ayckbourn, Sir Alan. (1939–) Prolific British playwright.
Ayers Rock (no apos.) for the Australian eminence. However, the formal and now usual name is Uluru.
Aykroyd, Dan. (1952–) Canadian-born actor and screenwriter.
Azerbaijan. Former republic of the Soviet Union; capital Baku. Azerbaijani/Azeri.
Azikiwe, Nnamdi. (1904-1996) Nigerian nationalist leader, president (1963-66).
Bb
Baader-Meinhof Gang. German underground group named after Andreas Baader (1943-1977) and Ulrike Meinhof (1934–1976); also called the Red Army Faction.
Baath Party. Formally Baath Arab Socialist Party.
Babbitt. Novel by Sinclair Lewis (1922).
Babington conspiracy. A plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England, named for its principal conspirator, Antony Babington (1561–1586).
Babi Yar. Site near Kiev where Nazis massacred Russian Jews in 1941; also the title of a poem by Yevgeny Yevtushenko and a novel by Anatoly Kuznetsov.
babushka. A Russian grandmother; also a kind of scarf.
Bacardi. A brand of rum.
baccalaureate.
baccarat. A casino game. In French, baccara.
Bacchae, The. Play by Euripides.
Bacchus. Roman god of wine; the Greek equivalent was Dionysus. Words derived from Bacchus are usually not capitalized but do retain -cc- spelling: bacchanalian, bacchic, bacchantic.
Bach, Johann Sebastian. (1685-1750) German composer and father of four others: Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-1784), Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714–1788), Johann Christoph Friedrich (1732-1795), and Johann Christian (1735-1782).
bacillus, pl. bacilli.
bacteria is plural. The singular is bacterium. Bacteria should not be confused with viruses, which are much smaller and cause different diseases.
Baden-Württemberg. German state; capital Stuttgart.
Baedeker. Famous series of travel guidebooks first published in Germany by Karl Baedeker (1801-1859).
Baekeland, Leo Hendrik. (1863-1944) Belgian-born American chemist who invented Bakelite.
bagatelle. A trifle.
bahadur. A title of respect in India.
Bahai. A religion; the cognate forms are Bahaist and Bahaism.
Bahamian. Of or from the Bahamas.
Bahnhof. (Ger.) Railroad station.
Bahrain. Island state in the Persian Gulf; capital Manama.
bail, bale. Bail is a prisoner’s bond, the pieces that rest atop the stumps in cricket, and the act of scooping water. A bale is a bundle, as of cotton or hay. You bail out a boat, but bale out of an aircraft. A malicious person wears a baleful expression.
Baile Atha Cliath. Gaelic for Dublin.
baited breath is wrong; breath is bated.
Bakelite. (Cap.) Type of plastic.
Bakunin, Mikhail (Aleksandrovich). (1814-1876) Russian revolutionary.
balalaika. Stringed instrument.
Balanchine, George. (1904-1983) Russian-born American choreographer.
baldechin/baldaquin. A canopy over a throne or altar; pronounced bald-a-kin. In Italian, baldacchino.
Baldrige, Malcolm. (1922-1987) Not -ridge. American statesman.
bale, bail. A bale is a bundle, as of cotton or hay. Bail is a prisoner’s bond, the pieces that rest atop the stumps in cricket, and the act of scooping water. You bail out a boat, but bale out of an aircraft. A malicious person wears a baleful expression.
Balearic Islands. Cluster of Spanish islands in the Mediterranean; in Spanish, Islas Baleares.
Balladur, Édouard. (1929–) Prime minister of France (1993-1995).
Ballesteros, Severiano. (1957–) Spanish golfer; nickname “Sevvy.”
Balliol College, Oxford University.
Baluchistan. Region in Pakistan bordered by Iran and Afghanistan.
Band-Aid (hyphen) is a trademark.
bandanna. Note -anna, not -ana.
bandicoot. Type of marsupial.
banister. Handrail on a staircase.
banjos.
Banjul. Capital of Gambia; formerly called Bathurst.
BankAmerica Corporation is now Bank of America.
Bankers Trust. (No apos.)
Bankhead, Tallulah. (1903-1968) American actress.
Ban Ki-moon. (1944–) South Korean diplomat; secretary-general of United Nations (2007–); on second reference, Mr. Ban.
Bannister, Sir Roger (Gilbert). (1929–) First person to run a mile in less than four minutes (3 minutes, 59.4 seconds; 1954).
banns. Notice in church of intended marriage.
banshee. Evil spirit; in Gaelic, bean sídhe.
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br /> Bantustan. South African black homeland.
banzai, bonsai. The first is a Japanese war cry; the second is a type of Japanese gardening centered on miniature trees.
baptistery.
Barabbas. In the New Testament, the condemned thief released instead of Jesus by Pilate.
Barbadian. Of or from Barbados. The slang term Bajan is also sometimes used.
barbaric, barbarous. Barbaric, properly used, emphasizes crudity and a lack of civilizing influence. A sharpened stick might be considered a barbaric implement of war. Barbarous stresses cruelty and harshness and usually contains at least a hint of moral condemnation, as in “barbarous ignorance” or “barbarous treatment.”
Barbarossa. Not -rosa. Nickname of Frederick I (c. 1123-1190), Holy Roman Emperor; German code name for the invasion of the USSR in 1941.
barbecue is the only acceptable spelling in serious writing.
Barbizon School. Group of French landscape painters, among them Millet, Daubigny, and Rousseau.
Barclays Bank, UK (no apos.).
Barents Sea.
bar mitzvah. Religious coming-of-age ceremony for Jewish boys; the ceremony for girls is a bat mitzvah. The plural is mitzvoth or mitzvahs.
Barnard, Christiaan. (1922-2001) South African heart surgeon. Note -aa- in first name.
Barnes & Noble. (Ampersand.)
Barneys New York. (No apos.) Clothing retailer.
Barnstable. Town and county, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, but Barnstaple, England.
Barnum, P(hineas) T(aylor). (1810-1891) American showman.
baron, baroness, baronet. A baron has the lowest rank in the British nobility. A baronage can be either hereditary or nonhereditary. Holders of the latter are called life peers. A baroness is a woman who is the wife or widow of a baron, or a peer in her own right. In British contexts, Lord or Lady can be substituted for Baron or Baroness, e.g., Baron Baden-Powell is called Lord Baden-Powell. A baronet is not a peer; this is a hereditary title ranking below a peer but above a knight. See also BRITISH ARISTOCRACY.
barracuda.
Barrie, J. M. (formally Sir James Matthew Barrie) (1860-1937) Scottish writer, creator of Peter Pan.
Barroso, José Manuel. (1956–) Portuguese politician, president of the European Commission (2004-2009).
Bartholdi, Frédéric Auguste. (1834-1904) French sculptor; designed Statue of Liberty.
Bartholomew Day, August 24, but the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572) and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London (familiarly known as Bart’s).