by Bill Bryson
Fusaichi Pegasus. Racehorse, winner of 2000 Kentucky Derby.
fusion, fission. Both describe ways of producing nuclear energy: fusion by fusing two light nuclei into a single, heavier nucleus; fission by splitting the nucleus of an atom.
future plans and similar locutions are nearly always redundant. If a person makes plans, it would follow that they are for the future.
Fuzhou. Formerly often written Foochow or Fouchou, capital of Fujian Province, China; pronounced foo-jo'.
Gg
gabardine, gaberdine. The first is a type of worsted cloth, the second a long cloak.
Gaborone. Capital of Botswana.
Gaddafi/Qaddafi, Muammar al-. (1942–) Libyan head of state (1969–). He has no official title or position.
Gadsden Purchase. Large purchase of territory by the United States from Mexico in 1853.
Gaeltacht. Any region of Ireland where Gaelic is the vernacular.
Gagarin, Yuri. (1934–1968) Soviet cosmonaut, first man in space (1961).
gage, gauge. The first is a pledge or a type of plum (as in greengage); the second is to do with scales and measurements.
Gaia (also, but rarely, Gaea or Ge). In early Greek mythology, the earth personified; later, goddess of the earth.
gaiety.
gaijin. (Jap.) “Outsider” used of foreigners.
gaillardia. (Lowercase.) Type of flower of the genus Gaillardia (cap.).
Gainsborough, Thomas. (1727–1788) English painter.
Galahad, Sir. The purest and noblest knight in the Arthurian legend.
Galápagos Islands. Pacific islands belonging to Ecuador; their Spanish name is Archipiélago de Colón.
Galeries Lafayette. Paris department store.
Galileo. (1564–1642) Italian astronomer and mathematician; full name Galileo Galilei.
Gallaudet College, Washington, D.C.
gallimaufry. A jumble; pl. gallimaufries.
Gallipoli. Turkish peninsula and site of World War I campaign; in Turkish, Gelibolu.
gallivant. To wander.
Galsworthy, John. (1867–1933) English novelist, awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.
Gama, Vasco da. (Not de.) (c. 1469–1524) Portuguese explorer.
Gambia. (Not the.) African country, capital Banjul.
gambit. Properly, a gambit is an opening move that involves some strategic sacrifice or concession. All gambits are opening moves, but not all opening moves are gambits.
gamy. Not -ey.
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand. (1869–1948) Indian leader; called Mahatma, “great soul.”
ganef/gonof. (Yid.) A thief or disreputable person.
gangrene. Not -green.
Gannett Company. Newspaper group.
Gannett Peak, Wyoming.
gantlet, gauntlet. For the sense of running between two lines of aggressors (whether literally or metaphorically) the normal spelling is gantlet, though gauntlet is usually also accepted. For the idea of a glove thrown down in challenge, the invariable spelling is gauntlet.
Ganymede. Fourth moon of Jupiter; in Greek mythology, the young Trojan who was made cupbearer to the gods.
García Lorca, Federico. (1899–1936) Spanish poet and playwright.
García Márquez, Gabriel. (1928–) Colombian novelist; awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.
Garda Siochána. Formal name of the police force in the Republic of Ireland, usually shortened to Garda; a member of the force is called a garda (not cap.), pl. gardai.
Gardner, Erle Stanley. (1889–1970) American writer of crime and courtroom fiction. Note unusual spelling of first name.
Garibaldi, Giuseppe. (1807–1882) Italian leader; played a central role in national unification.
garish. Gaudy.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen. German skiing resort.
Garonne. French river.
garote (or garrote). To strangle with an object.
gas, gases, gaseous, gasify, gasification, but gassed and gassing.
gasoline.
Gasthaus, Gasthof. The first is German for an inn or guesthouse; the second is German for a hotel. The plurals are Gasthäuser and Gasthöfe.
gastronome. A connoisseur of food.
GATT. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; UN agency that attempts to regulate world trade.
Gaudier-Brzeska, Henri. (1891–1915) French sculptor.
gauge, gage. The first is to do with scales and measurements; the second is a pledge or a type of plum (as in greengage).
Gaugin, (Eugène Henri) Paul. (1848–1903) French painter.
Gauloise. Brand of French cigarettes.
gauntlet. A form of punishment or severe criticism, as in “run the gauntlet” to challenge, as in “throw down the gauntlet.” See also GANTLET.
Gauthier-Villars. French publisher.
gauzy.
Gawain, Sir. One of the knights of Arthurian legend.
Gay-Lussac, Joseph Louis. (1778–1850) French chemist and physicist.
gazetteer.
gazpacho. Cold Spanish soup.
Gdánsk, Poland; formerly Danzig.
GDP, GNP. GNP, gross national product, is the total worth of everything produced by a nation during a given period, including earnings from abroad. GDP, gross domestic product, is everything produced by a nation during a given period, except earnings from abroad.
GDR. German Democratic Republic; the former East Germany.
geezer. An old man.
Geffrye Museum, London.
gefilte fish. (Yid.) Chopped-fish dish.
Gehrig, Lou. (1903–1941) Baseball player, full name Henry Louis Gehrig.
Gehry, Frank. (1929–) Canadian-American architect; born Ephraim Owen Goldberg.
Geiger counter. (Cap.) Measures radioactivity; devised by the German physicist Hans Geiger (1882–1945).
Geisenheimer wine.
gelatin is the usual spelling, but gelatine is also accepted.
Gell-Mann, Murray. (1929–) American physicist, awarded Nobel Prize for Physics in 1969.
gemütlich. (Ger.) Agreeable, comfortable, good-natured.
Gemütlichkeit. (Ger.) Congeniality, friendliness.
gendarmes are not policemen; they are soldiers employed in police duties, principally in the countryside. Police officers in French cities and towns are just that—police officers.
genealogy.
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. (Abbr. GATT.) UN body set up to promote world trade.
generalissimo, pl. generalissimos. But note in Spanish it is generalisimo (one s).
Geneva, Switzerland; it is Genève in French, Genf in German, and Ginevra in Italian; Lake Geneva is Lac Léman in French and Genfersee in German.
Geneva Convention. (1864; rev. 1950, 1978) International agreement on the conduct of war and treatment of wounded and captured soldiers.
Geneviève, Sainte. (c. 422–c. 512) Patron saint of Paris.
Genghis Khan. (1162–1227) Mongol conqueror.
genie, pl. genies or genii.
Genova. Italian for Genoa.
gentilhomme. (Fr.) Gentleman or nobleman; pl. gentilshommes.
Gentlemen’s Quarterly. Not -man’s. U.S. magazine, now called GQ.
gentoo. Breed of penguin.
genus, species. The second is a subgroup of the first. The convention is to capitalize the genus but not the species, as in Homo sapiens. The plurals are genera and species. The traditional order of divisions in taxonomy is phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
Geographic Names, U.S. Board on. Not Geographical, not of.
George Town, Georgetown. George Town is the spelling for the capital of the Cayman Islands and the principal city of the island and state of Penang in Malaysia. Almost all others, including the capital of the South American country Guyana and the district and university in Washington, D.C., use the spelling Georgetown.
Gephardt, Richard Andrew “Dick.” (1941–) Democratic politician, U.S. representative from Missouri (1977–2005
).
gerbil. Not jer-.
Géricault, Jean Louis André Théodore. (1791–1824) French painter.
germane, relevant, material. Germane and relevant are synonymous. Both indicate a pertinence to the matter under discussion. Material has the additional connotation of being necessary. A material point is one without which an argument would be incomplete. A germane or relevant point will be worth noting but may not be essential to the argument.
Germany was partitioned into East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), with its capital in East Berlin, and West Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland), with its capital at Bonn, in 1949. The two Germanys (not -ies) were reunited on October 3, 1990. The sixteen states, or Länder, are Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, North Rhine–Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia.
gerrymander means to distort or redraw to one’s advantage, especially a political boundary. Not to be confused with JERRY-BUILT.
gerunds are verbs made to function as nouns, as with the italicized words in “I don’t like dancing” and “Cooking is an art.” Two problems commonly arise with gerunds:
1. Sometimes the gerund is unnecessarily set off by an article and preposition, as here: “They said that the valuing of the paintings could take several weeks.” Deleting the italicized words would make the sentence shorter and more forceful.
2. Problems also occur when a possessive noun or pronoun (called a genitive) qualifies a gerund. A common type of construction is seen here: “They objected to him coming.” Properly it should be: “They objected to his coming.” Similarly, “There is little hope of Smith gaining admittance to the club” should be “There is little hope of Smith’s gaining admittance…”
Gestapo. Short for Geheime Staatspolizei, German secret police during the Third Reich.
Gesundheit! Interjection made in response to a sneeze.
Gethsemane. Olive grove at Jerusalem where Jesus was betrayed.
gettable.
Getty, J(ean) Paul. (1892–1976) Not John. U.S. oil man and benefactor; his son Jean Paul Getty II (1932–) is also often given wrongly as John.
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is the site of a decisive (but not the final) battle of the Civil War (July 1863); locally pronounced gettiz-burg.
gewgaw. Worthless bauble.
Ghanaian for a person or thing from Ghana.
ghettos. Not -oes.
ghillie (or gillie). Scottish hunting or fishing assistant; also a type of shoe.
Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco.
ghiribizzoso. Musical term for whimsical playing.
Ghirlandaio, Il. (1449–1494) Florentine painter; real name Domenico di Tommaso Bigordi.
Giacometti, Alberto. (1901–1966) Swiss sculptor and painter.
Giannini, A. P. (1870–1949) American banker, founded Bank of America; full name Amadeo Peter Giannini.
Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland. Not Giants’.
Gibbon, Edward. (1737–1794) Not Gibbons. English historian.
Gibbons, Grinling. (1648–1721) Dutch-born English sculptor and woodcarver.
gibe, jibe. The first means to taunt or ridicule; the second means to agree or be in accord. Jibe is also a nautical term.
giga-. Prefix meaning one billion.
gigolo, pl. gigolos.
Gilbert and Ellice Islands. Equatorial islands in Pacific Ocean; part of the Republic of Kiribati.
gild the lily. The passage from Shakespeare’s King John is: “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily…Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.” Thus it is both wrong and hackneyed to speak of “gilding the lily” in the sense of overdoing something.
Gilgamesh Epic. Babylonian epic poem.
Gillette. Brand of razors.
Gillray, James. (1757–1815) British caricaturist.
Gimbel Brothers. Former New York department store; commonly referred to as Gimbels (no apos.).
gingivitis. Not -us. Inflammation of the gums.
ginkgo. Not gingko. Asian tree; pl. ginkgoes.
Ginsberg, Allen. (1926–1997) American Beat poet.
Gioconda, La. Alternative name for the Mona Lisa.
Giorgione, Il. (1478–1510) Italian painter; full name Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco.
Giotto. (c. 1266–1337) Italian painter and architect; full name Giotto di Bondone.
girlfriend, boyfriend. (Each one word.)
Giuliani, Rudolph (“Rudy”) W. (1944–) Republican mayor of New York City (1994–2001).
giveable.
gizmo, pl. gizmos.
gladiolus, pl. gladioli.
glamour, but glamorous, glamorize.
glasnost. (Rus.) Literally “publicity” the effort to make Soviet government and life more open.
glassful, pl. glassfuls.
Glaswegian. A person from Glasgow.
GlaxoSmithKline. (All one word.) Anglo-U.S. pharmaceuticals company.
Glenlivet. Whiskey.
Glens Falls, New York.
Gloria in excelsis Deo. (Lat.) “Glory be to God on high.”
Gloucestershire. English county.
GmbH, for Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung. (Ger.) Limited liability company.
GMT. Greenwich Mean Time.
gneiss. A kind of rock, similar to granite; pronounced nice.
gnocchi, for a type of Italian dumplings, is plural; a single dumpling is a gnocco (no h).
GNP, GDP. GNP, gross national product, is the total worth of everything produced by a nation during a given period, including earnings from abroad. GDP, gross domestic product, is everything produced by a nation during a given period, except earnings from abroad.
gobbledygook.
Gobelin tapestry. Named for a textile works in Paris.
Gobi Desert.
Godard, Jean-Luc. (1930–) French film director.
Goddard, Robert Hutchings. (1882–1945) American rocket scientist.
godsend, godforsaken, godhead (no caps.), but God-awful, God-fearing, and Godspeed (caps.).
Godthaab. Former name of the capital of Greenland; now called Nuuk.
Godwin Austen. Not Austin; no hyphen. More commonly called K2, the highest mountain in the Karakoram Range of the Himalayas.
Goebbels, Joseph. (1897–1945) German Nazi propaganda chief.
Goering/Göring, Hermann. (1893–1946) Leading Nazi, second in command to Hitler.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. (1749–1832) German poet and dramatist.
Gogol, Nikolai. (1809–1852) Russian novelist and playwright.
Golgi body. Structure found within cells.
Gomorrah. Ancient city in Palestine.
Goneril. One of Lear’s daughters in Shakespeare’s King Lear.
gonof (or ganef). (Yid.) A thief or disreputable person.
gonorrhea.
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, England; normally referred to as just Caius; pronounced keys.
goodbye. (One word.)
Good-natur’d Man, The. Comedy by Oliver Goldsmith (1768).
good will is the usual spelling, though goodwill is acceptable, particularly when referring to the reputation and trading value of a business.
Good Woman of Setzuan, The. Play by Bertolt Brecht (1941).
Google for the search engine, but googol for the very large number: a 1 followed by 100 zeroes.
GOP. Abbreviation of Grand Old Party, nickname of Republican Party.
Gorbachev, Mikhail (Sergeyevich). (1931–) General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985–1991), president of the Supreme Soviet (1988–1991), president of the USSR (1990–1991).
Gordian knot. A complex problem. According to legend, King Gordius of Phrygia tied the knot and it was said that anyone who could undo it would rule Asia; Alexander the Great cut it with his sword. “To cut the Gordian knot” is to solve a difficult problem by a decisive action.
> gorgheggio. Musical term for a trill.
Gorgons. In Greek mythology, three creatures (Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale) so ugly that anyone gazing at them turned to stone.
Gorgonzola (cap.) for the cheese and the village in Italy in which it originated.
gorilla.
Göring, Hermann. Use Goering.
Gorky, Maxim. Pseudonym of Aleksei Maksimovich Peshkov (1868–1936), Russian writer. The Russian city named for him has reverted to its original name of Nizhny Novgorod.
Gothenburg, Sweden; in Swedish, Göteborg.
Götterdämmerung. (Ger.) “Twilight of the gods.” Last part of Wagner’s Ring cycle; figuratively, a complete downfall.
gouache. A kind of opaque watercolor paint mixed with a gluelike preparation; a picture painted in this way or with such a pigment.
Gould, Elliott. (1938–) American film actor; note unusual spelling of first name; born Elliot Goldstein.
gourmand is a word to be used carefully. Some dictionaries now define it only as a person who likes to eat well, but others equate it with gluttony. Unless you mean to convey a pejorative sense, it would be better to use gourmet, gastronome, epicure, or some other more flattering term.
goy. (Yid.) A gentile; pl. goyim.
gracias. (Sp.) Thank you.
Gradgrind. (Cap.) A cold, emotionless person, after a character in Charles Dickens’s Hard Times.
Graeae. In Greek mythology, three sisters who guard the Gorgons.
Graf, Steffi. (1969–) German tennis player.
graffiti is, strictly speaking, a plural. If all you mean is a single embellishment, the proper term is graffito. However, it must also be noted that fewer and fewer authorities insist on the distinction.
graham cracker. (Not cap.)
Grahame, Kenneth. (1859–1932) British writer, author of The Wind in the Willows.
Graian Alps. Stretch of alps along French-Italian border.
Gramm-Rudman Act. Law intended to reduce and eliminate U.S. federal deficit; formally, it is the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.
Grammy, pl. Grammys. Musical awards formally known as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Awards.
gramophone. Not grama-.