Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0)

by Bill Bryson

  Kingsford-Smith (hyphen) for the airport in Sydney, Australia, but Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (no hyphen) for the aviator after whom it was named.

  Kinshasa. Formerly Léopoldville; capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

  Kirghizia. Now called Kyrgyzstan.

  Kirgizstan. Use Kyrgyzstan.

  Kiribati. Remote coral-islands state in Pacific Ocean; capital Tarawa.

  Kirin/Jilin. (Pinyin.) Chinese province.

  Kirkpatrick, Jeane. (1926–2006) American diplomat and academic. Note irregular spelling of first name.

  Kissimmee, Florida.

  Kitakyushu, Japan.

  kith and kin. Your kin are your relatives. Your kith are your relatives and acquaintances.

  kittiwake. Type of gull.

  Kitty Litter is a trademark.

  Kitzbühel. Austrian resort.

  Klein, Calvin (Richard). (1942–) American fashion designer.

  klieg light.

  Klinefelter syndrome. Not -felter’s. Genetic disease that causes language difficulties.

  KLM. Abbreviation of Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, national airline of the Netherlands. It merged with Air France in 2004 to form Air France–KLM.

  Klöckner-Werke. German steel manufacturer.

  Kmart for the stores group. The formal name is Kmart Corporation.

  knackwurst (or knockwurst). Sausage.

  knead. To manipulate, as with bread dough.

  Knesset. Israeli parliament.

  knick knack.

  Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for the British honorary title. Note the second the.

  knockwurst. Alternative spelling of knackwurst.

  Knossos is generally the preferred spelling in American English for the ancient capital of Crete; alternative spellings are Cnossos and Cnossus.

  knot. A speed of one nautical mile an hour. A ship does eight knots or it does eight nautical miles an hour, but not eight knots an hour. A nautical mile equals 1.15 land miles, and in most contexts the reader will appreciate having that difference elucidated.

  koala bears is wrong. Koalas are marsupials and have no relation to bears. Just call them koalas.

  København. Danish spelling of Copenhagen.

  Kohinoor/Koh-i-noor. Famous Indian diamond, now part of the British crown jewels.

  Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. (No commas.) American investment firm.

  Köhler, Horst. (1943–) President of Germany (2004–).

  kohlrabi. Edible plant, pl. kohlrabies.

  Kohn Pedersen Fox. (No commas.) U.S. architectural firm.

  Kokoschka, Oskar. (1886–1980) Austrian-born British artist and writer.

  Kolkata is the new official name for the Indian city traditionally known as Calcutta; until the new name is fully established, both should be used on first reference.

  Köln. German spelling of Cologne.

  Komunyakaa, Yusef. (1947–) American poet.

  Konditorei. (Ger.) Bakery.

  kookaburra. Australian kingfisher.

  Koolhaas, Rem. (1944–) Dutch architect; full name Remment Koolhaas.

  kopek (or kopeck). Small Russian coin.

  Kopit, Arthur. (1937–) American playwright.

  Koppel, Ted. (1940–) American television journalist.

  Koran (or Quran). Muslim holy book.

  Korea was partitioned in 1948 into South Korea (officially Republic of Korea), capital Seoul; and North Korea (officially People’s Democratic Republic of Korea), capital Pyongyang.

  Korean names are similar to Chinese in that the family name comes first; thus, after the first reference, Park Chung Hee becomes Mr. Park. Koreans tend not to hyphenate their given names, and neither as a rule do they write the second given name without caps, as in the old Chinese system.

  Korematsu v. United States. 1944 Supreme Court case that upheld the internment of Japanese-American citizens on grounds of national security.

  Korsakoff’s syndrome. Dementia associated with chronic alcoholism or vitamin deficiency.

  koruna. Basic unit of currency in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

  Kosciusko, Thaddeus. (1746–1817) In Polish, Tadeusz Kościuszko. Polish general who fought on the American side in the Revolutionary War. But note that it is the Kosciuszko Bridge in New York.

  Kosinski, Jerzy. (1933–1991) Polish-born American novelist.

  Kosovar. Of or from Kosovo (e.g., Kosovar Albanians).

  Kosygin, Alexei (Nikolayevich). (1904–1980) Prime minister of Soviet Union (1964–1980).

  Kournikova, Anna. (1981–) Russian tennis player.

  Krafft-Ebing, Baron, Richard von. (1840–1902) German psychiatrist.

  Kraków, Poland; in English, Cracow.

  Krapp’s Last Tape. One-act play by Samuel Beckett (1958).

  Kreuger, Ivar. (1880–1932) Not Ivan. Swedish financier who perpetrated $500 million fraud on investors.

  Kriss Kringle. Alternative name for Santa Claus.

  Kristallnacht. (Ger.) “Crystal night” so called because of all the glass broken during looting and destruction of Jewish businesses and synagogues in Germany and Austria on November 9–10, 1938.

  krona, krone, kronor, etc. The currencies of Scandinavia are easily confused. In Sweden, the basic unit of currency is a krona (pl. kronor); in Denmark and Norway it is a krone (pl. kroner); in Iceland it is a króna (pl. krónur).

  Krugerrand for the South African gold coin (used as an investment vehicle and not as a currency). Note -rr-.

  Krung Thep. Thai name for Bangkok.

  Krusenstern, Cape, Alaska.

  Krzyzewski, Mike. (1947–) American basketball coach.

  Kuala Lumpur. Capital of Malaysia.

  Kublai Khan. (1216–1294) Mongol emperor of China (1279–1294); but “Kubla Khan” for the unfinished poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1797).

  kudos is a Greek word meaning fame or glory. Though often treated as a plural, it is in fact singular. Thus, it should be “the kudos that was his due.”

  Kuiper belt. Band of comets in outer solar system, named for Gerard Kuiper (1905–1973), Dutch-born American astronomer who posited their existence.

  Ku Klux Klan. (No hyphens.)

  kulak. Russian peasant.

  Kumagai Gumi Company Limited. Japanese construction company.

  kumquat.

  Kuomintang/Guomindang. The first is the former spelling, the second the preferred current spelling for the Chinese Nationalist Party, founded by Sun Yat-sen. The syllable-tang/-dang contains the notion of party, so refer only to the Kuomintang, not Kuomintang Party.

  Kurile Islands. Island chain between Russia and Japan.

  Kurosawa, Akira. (1910–1998) Japanese film director.

  Kuwaiti, pl. Kuwaitis.

  Kuybyshev. Russian city; formerly Samara.

  Kuznetsov, Anatoly. (1930–1979) Russian novelist.

  Kuznetsova, Svetlana. (1985–) Russian tennis player.

  kW. Kilowatt.

  KwaNdebele. Former South African homeland, now part of Mpumalanga Province.

  kwashiorkor. Nutritional disorder in young children.

  KwaZulu-Natal. Province of South Africa.

  Kyd, Thomas. (1558–1594) English playwright.

  Kydland, Finn E. (1943–) Norwegian-American academic, awarded Nobel Prize for Economics (2004).

  Kyrgyzstan, or Kyrgyz Republic. Formerly Kirghizia. Central Asia republic, formerly part of Soviet Union; capital Bishkek.

  Kyzyl-Kum. Desert in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

  Ll

  labyrinth.

  lackadaisical for something done without enthusiasm. Not lacks-.

  Lackawanna, New York.

  Lackawaxen River, Pennsylvania.

  lacquer.

  La Crosse, Wisconsin. But lacrosse for the sport.

  lacuna. A missing part; pl. lacunas/lacunae.

  lacy. Not -ey.

  laddie. Not -dy.

  Ladies’ Home Journal.

  Ladies Professional Golf Association.
(No apos.)

  Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Novel by D. H. Lawrence (1928).

  Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de. (1757–1834) French general who played a leading role in both the American and French revolutions.

  Laffitte, Jacques. (1767–1844) French statesman.

  Lafite, Château. Celebrated wine from Bordeaux.

  Lafitte/Laffite, Jean. (c. 1780–c. 1826) French pirate.

  La Follette, Robert M(arion). (1855–1925) American politician; ran for president as a Progressive in 1924.

  Lag b’Omer. Jewish holiday.

  lagniappe. A small, unexpected gift; pronounced lan-yap.

  La Guardia Airport, New York. Some users make the name one word, as in Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College in Queens, but the two-word form is more general for both the man and any entities named for him, particularly the airport. For the record, Fiorello Henry La Guardia (1882–1947) was a New York congressman from 1917–1921 and 1923–1933 and mayor of New York City from 1934–1945.

  laissez-faire. (Hyphen.) Policy of noninterference by government in trade and industry.

  Laius. In Greek mythology, the king of Thebes and father of Oedipus.

  La Jolla, California.

  Lake Wobegon. Fictional town in stories by Garrison Keillor.

  lama, Lammas, Ilama. A lama is a Buddhist monk from Tibet or Mongolia (his dwelling place is a lamasery). Lammas is a type of harvest festival. The llama is a wool-bearing animal from South America.

  lambaste. Not -bast. To criticize sharply.

  Lambeau Field. Home of the Green Bay Packers.

  Lamborghini. Italian sports car.

  lamb’s wool. Not lambswool.

  LAN Airlines. Principal airline of Chile; formerly LanChile.

  Lancelot/Launcelot. Both spellings have been used for the Arthurian knight, the first notably by Tennyson and the second notably by Malory.

  Land Rover, Range Rover (two words, no hyphen) for the British cars.

  Land’s End, Cornwall, England, but Lands’ End for the clothing company.

  Langtry, Lillie. (1853–1929) British actress; but her nickname was “The Jersey Lily.”

  Languedoc-Roussillon. Region of France; capital Montpellier.

  languid, limpid. Not to be confused. Limpid means clear, calm, un-troubled (“a limpid stream”). It has nothing to do with being limp or listless—meanings that are covered by languid.

  languor, languorous.

  lanyard. Not -iard. Short rope or cord.

  Lanzhou. Capital of Gansu Province, China; formerly known in English as Lanchow.

  Laois. Irish county (pronounced lay-ish.); in Gaelic, Laoighis. Formerly called Leix (pronounced laix) and Queen’s.

  Laomedon. In Greek mythology, the founder of Troy.

  Lao-tze (or Lao-tzu); in Pinyin Lao Zi. (c. 600–530 BC) Chinese philosopher, reputed founder of Taoism. On first reference it is probably best to give both the traditional and Pinyin spellings of the name.

  laparotomy. Surgical incision into the abdominal wall.

  La Paz. Administrative capital and main city of Bolivia; the official capital is Sucre.

  Laphroaig. Whiskey; pronounced la-froyg.

  lapis lazuli. Type of gemstone.

  La Plata, Argentina, but Río de la Plata.

  Lapp, Lappish, but Lapland, Laplander. The correct name for the people is Sami.

  lapsus memoriae. (Lat.) A lapse of memory.

  largess.

  La Rochefoucauld, François, Duc de. (1613–1680) French writer known for his maxims.

  Larousse. French publisher of reference books.

  larrikin. Australian term for an uncultured or ill-behaved person.

  larynx, pl. larynges/larynxes. Larynges should be the preferred term for medical or academic writings, but larynxes is probably better, and certainly more immediately understood, in more general contexts.

  lasagna (or lasagne).

  La Scala. Celebrated opera house in Milan; its formal name is Teatro alla Scala.

  LaSorda, Tom. (1954–) CEO of Chrysler Group. But Tommy Lasorda (1927–) is the former baseball player and manager.

  Lassen Peak. Volcanic mountain in northern California.

  lasso, pl. lassos.

  last, latest. Various authorities have issued various strictures against using last when you mean latest. Clearly, last should not be used when it might be misinterpreted, as in “the last episode of the television series” when you mean the most recent but not the final one. However, it should also be noted that last in the sense of latest has a certain force of idiom behind it, and when ambiguity is unlikely (as in “He spoke about it often during the last presidential election campaign”), a reasonable measure of latitude should be granted.

  Lateran Treaty (1929). Treaty between Italy and the Vatican by which the papacy recognized Italy as a state and Italy recognized the Vatican City as a sovereign papal state.

  latitude.

  Latour, Château. A wine from Bordeaux.

  La Tour, Georges de. (1593–1652) French artist.

  Latter-day Saints. The Mormons’ name for themselves.

  laudable, laudatory. Occasionally confused. Laudable means deserving praise. Laudatory means expressing praise.

  Launcelot/Lancelot. Both spellings are used for the Arthurian knight, the first by Malory, the second by Tennyson.

  laundromat is no longer a trademark.

  law and order is singular.

  lawful, legal. In many contexts the words can be used interchangeably, but not always. Lawful means “permissible under the law” (lawful behavior, lawful protest). Legal has that meaning plus the additional sense of “relating to the law,” as in legal system or legal profession.

  lay, lie. Lay and lie, in all their manifestations, are a constant source of errors. There are no simple rules for dealing with them. You must either commit their various forms to memory or avoid them altogether. The forms are as follows:

  lay

  lie

  present: I lay the book on the table.

  I lie down / I am lying down.

  past: Yesterday I laid the book on the table.

  Last night I lay down to sleep.

  present perfect: I have already laid the book on the table.

  I have lain in bed all day.

  The most common type of error is to say, “If you’re not feeling well, go upstairs and lay down.” It should be “lie down.”

  Lazarus, Emma. (1849–1887) American poet, remembered chiefly for “The New Colossus,” the poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

  L-dopa. Drug used for treatment of Parkinson disease.

  leach, leech. The first describes the seepage of fluids, the second a bloodsucking invertebrate.

  lead, led. The past tense of the verb to lead is led. When lead is pronounced led it applies only to the metallic element.

  Leadbelly (or Lead Belly). (1888–1949) American blues musician; born Huddie William Ledbetter.

  Leavitt, Henrietta Swan. (1868–1921) American astronomer.

  Iebensraum. (Ger.) “Living space” imperialist notion pursued by Hitler that Germans were entitled to occupy neighboring lands.

  Le Carré, John. (1931–) Pen name of David Cornwell, British novelist.

  Le Corbusier. (1887–1965) Pseudonym of Charles Édouard Jeanneret, Swiss architect and town planner.

  Lederberg, Joshua. (1925–) American biologist, awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958.

  lederhosen. Leather shorts.

  Lee Kuan Yew. (1923–) Prime Minister of Singapore (1959–1990).

  Leeuwarden, Netherlands; capital of Friesland.

  Leeuwenhoek, Anton van. (1632–1723) Dutch naturalist associated with microscopes.

  Leeward Islands. Former British colony in the Caribbean comprising Anguilla, Antigua, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Nevis, and St. Kitts; the name now applies to all those plus Guadeloupe, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other smaller islan
ds in the Lesser Antilles north of the Windward Islands.

  Le Fanu, Joseph. (1814–1873) Irish writer.

  Lefschetz, Solomon. (1884–1972) Russian-born American mathematician.

  Léger, Fernand. (1881–1955) French painter.

  legerdemain. Not -der-.

  Leghorn. English name, now seldom used, for Livorno, Italy.

  legible, legibility.

  Légion d’honneur. Supreme French order of merit.

  Legionnaires’ disease.

  legitimize, not legitimatize.

  Lehman Brothers. U.S. financial services firm; formally Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

  Lehman College, City University of New York.

  Lehmann, Rosamond. (1901–1990) English novelist.

  Leibniz, (Gottfried Wilhelm) Baron von. (1646–1716) German philosopher and mathematician.

  Leicestershire, England. Abbr. Leics.

  Leiden, Leyden. The first is the usual spelling for the Dutch town; the second for the scientific instrument known as a Leyden jar.

  Leinster. Province of the Republic of Ireland comprising the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow.

  Leipzig, Germany.

  leitmotif (or leitmotiv). A recurring idea or dominant theme associated with a particular character or idea in a musical or literary work.

  Leitrim. Irish county; pronounced lee'-trim.

  Léman, Lac. French name for Lake Geneva.

  Le Mesurier, John. (1912–1983) British actor.

  Lemieux, Mario. (1965–) Canadian ice hockey player.

  Lemmon, Jack. (1925–2001) American actor.

  LeMond, Greg. (1961–) American cyclist.

  lend, loan. Loan as a verb (“He loaned me some money”) is now more or less standard, though one or two authorities continue to disdain it, favoring lend on grounds of tradition.

  Lendl, Ivan. (1960–) Czech tennis player.

  Leningrad. Russian city, now called St. Petersburg again.

  lens, pl. lenses.

  Leonardo da Vinci. (1452–1519) Renaissance genius. The Da Vinci Code notwithstanding, a work or object associated with him should be called a Leonardo, not a Da Vinci.

  Léopoldville. Former name of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.