by Bill Bryson
neat’s-foot oil. A substance used to treat leather.
Nebuchadnezzar. (c. 625–551 BC) King of Babylon (605–561 BC).
nebuchadnezzar, an exceptionally large bottle of champagne, twenty times the size of a normal bottle.
nebula. The plural can be either nebulae or nebulas.
necessarily, necessity.
needless to say is a harmless enough expression, but it often draws attention to the fact that you really didn’t need to say it.
nefarious.
negligee.
negligible.
Negretti & Zambra. Maker of musical instruments.
Nehemiah. Jewish leader in fifth century BC after whom an Old Testament book is named.
Nehru, Jawaharlal. (1889–1964) Indian prime minister (1947–1964).
Neiman Marcus, the department store group, no longer hyphenates its name.
neither. In neither…nor constructions, the verb should always agree with the noun nearest it. Thus, “Neither De Niro nor his agent was available for comment.” When the noun nearest the verb is plural, the verb should also be plural: “Neither the president nor his advisers were available for comment.” When neither is used on its own without the nor, the verb should always be singular: “Neither of the men was ready” “Neither of us is hungry.” In short, more often than not a singular verb is called for—but that singularity is by no means invariable. Try to remember that neither emphasizes the separateness of items. It doesn’t add them together, at least not grammatically.
nemesis. A nemesis (from Nemesis, the Greek goddess of vengeance) is not merely a rival or traditional enemy, but one who exacts retributive justice or is utterly unvanquishable.
neodymium. A chemical element.
neologism. A newly coined word.
nephritis. Inflammation of the kidneys.
Nephthys. Egyptian goddess, companion of the dead.
ne plus ultra. (Lat.) Perfection, the acme.
Neptune. Roman god of the sea, identified with the Greek god Poseidon, and the eighth planet from the sun.
nerve-racking. Not -wracking. See RACK, WRACK.
n’est-ce pas? (Fr.) “Is that not so?” pronounced ness-pah.
Netanyahu, Benjamin. (1949–) Israeli politician, prime minister (1996–1999).
Netherlands, the. The capital is Amsterdam, but the seat of government is The Hague. (As with all place names, the is not capitalized with the country name, but is with the city name.)
netsuke. Japanese carved ornament.
Nettles, Graig. (1944–) American baseball player.
Netzahualcóyotl. Part of the Mexico City conurbation.
Neuchâtel. Swiss town and wine.
Neufchâtel. French town and cheese.
Neugebauer, Randy. (1949–) U.S. representative from Texas.
Neuilly-sur-Seine. Suburb of Paris.
neurasthenia. Chronic lethargy.
Neuwirth, Bebe. (1958–) American actress.
nevertheless. (One word.)
Newberry Library, Chicago.
Newbery Airport, Buenos Aires; officially Aeroparque Jorge Newbery.
Newbery Medal. Formally the John Newbery Medal; award for outstanding children’s literature.
New England. Although it has no official standing, it comprises six states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
New Hebrides. Former name of Vanuatu.
New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve.
New York City comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a state county (in parens.): the Bronx (Bronx County), Brooklyn (Kings County), Manhattan (New York County), Queens (Queens County), and Staten Island (Richmond County).
Niagara Falls.
Niamey. Capital of Niger.
Nibelungenlied. German epic poem written in the early thirteenth century.
niblick. Golf club used for getting the ball out of bad lies.
niceish is the spelling for something that is rather nice.
nickel. Not -le.
Nicklaus, Jack. (1940–) American golfer.
Nicosia, Cyprus; to the Greeks it is Levkosia.
nicotine.
Nielsen ratings. The company is ACNielsen (one word).
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. (1884–1900) German philosopher; the adjective is Nietzschean.
Nightingale, Florence. (1820–1910) English nurse and hospital reformer.
Niigata, Honshu, Japan. Note -ii-.
Niihau. Hawaiian island. Note -ii-.
Nijinsky, Vaslav. (1890–1950) Russian dancer and choreographer.
Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Nikkei 225 Index. Principal Japanese stock market index; Nikkei is derived from Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a business newspaper.
Niña, Pinta, and Santa María. The ships in Columbus’s fleet during the 1492 crossing of the Atlantic.
nincompoop. Not nim-.
Nisei. Literally “second generation.” Term used in North America for native U.S. or Canadian citizens born to immigrant Japanese parents; often loosely used to describe all Japanese expatriates, particularly in the context of World War II internment.
nitty-gritty. (Hyphen.)
nitwit.
Nixon, Richard Milhous. (1913–1994) Not -house. U.S. president (1969–1974).
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; called Gorky during Communist era.
Nobel Prizes are awarded in six categories: Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics—though the last named is not strictly a Nobel Prize (its formal title is the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences). Nobel Prizes are named for the Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel (1833–1896).
noblesse oblige. (Fr.) “Nobility obligates” applied to duties that come with rank.
nobody (one word), but no one (two words).
noisome has nothing to do with noise or noisiness. It is related to annoy and means offensive or objectionable and is most often used to describe unpleasant smells.
nolo contendere. (Lat.) “I do not wish to contend” tantamount to a plea of guilty, but leaves the defendant with the option of denying the same or similar charges in other proceedings.
nom de guerre. (Fr.) An assumed name; in most contexts it is a cliché.
nom de plume. A writer’s pseudonym.
nomenklatura. Secret list of names from which people in the USSR were chosen for advancement.
nonagenarian. Person from ninety to ninety-nine years old.
non-Christian, but unchristian.
non compos mentis. (Lat.) “Not of sound mind.”
none. Although none can always take a singular verb, there is no rule recognized by any authority on English grammar that it cannot equally well take a plural one.
nonetheless. (One word.)
non sequitur. (Lat.) “It does not follow” the combination of two or more statements that are jarringly unrelated, as in “He was born in Omaha and his shoes were brown.”
no one (two words), but nobody (one word).
Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Region of France.
Nor’easter is a strong or stormy wind from the northeast.
Norge. The Norwegian name for Norway.
normalcy. Although most dictionaries accept it as standard, it is still derided as a casualism by many authorities, who suggest normality instead.
Northern Ireland. Part of the United Kingdom, comprising six counties: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone.
North Fork BanCorp. New York–based banking company.
nosy. Not -ey.
nota bene. (Lat.) “Note well” abbreviated n.b. (with periods) or NB (without).
Notes from Underground. Not the Underground. Novel by Dostoyevsky.
not so much is often followed by but when the word should be as, as here: “He was not so much a comic actor, but a real comedian.” Make it “He was not so much a comic actor as a real comedian.”
notwithstanding. (One word.)
Nouakchott. Cap
ital of Mauritania.
n’oubliez pas. (Fr.) “Don’t forget.”
noughts and crosses. British name for tic-tac-toe.
nouveau riche. (Fr.) Mildly disparaging description of someone whose wealth is recently acquired; pl. nouveaux riches.
Novocaine. (Cap.)
Novosibirsk, Russia.
NOW. National Organization for (not of ) Women.
nowadays.
NTSB. National Transportation Safety Board.
NTT DoCoMo. Japanese telecommunications company.
Nuits-Saint-Georges. French wine.
Nuku’alofa/Nukualofa. Capital of Tonga.
Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia. Often misspelled Nullabor.
number. Used with the definite article, number always takes a singular verb (“The number of people in the world is rising”); used with an indefinite article it always takes a plural verb (“A number of people are unhappy”).
numismatics. The study or collection of coins or medals.
numskull, not numbskull, is the preferred spelling for most, but not all, authorities.
Nunavut. Canadian territory created in 1999.
Nunivak. Second-largest Alaskan island (after Kodiak).
Nuremberg (in German, Nürnberg) for the Bavarian city. Not -burg.
Nureyev, Rudolf. (1938–1993) Russian ballet dancer.
Nuuk. Capital of Greenland; formerly Godthaab.
Nyasaland. Former name of Malawi.
Nyerere, Julius (Kambarage). (1922–1999) President of Tanganyika and (after its union with Zanzibar) of Tanzania (1961–1985).
Nymphenburg Palace, Munich; in German, Schloss Nymphenburg.
Oo
O, oh, oho. The first normally appears in literary or religious contexts; it is always capitalized and never followed by punctuation. The second is used in more general contexts to denote emotions ranging from a small sigh to an outcry; it is capitalized only at the start of sentences and normally followed by either a comma or exclamation mark. Oho, with or without an exclamation mark, denotes an expression of surprise.
OAS. Organization of American States.
OAU. Organization of African Unity.
Oaxaca. City and state in southern Mexico.
Obadiah. Old Testament prophet.
Obama, Barack. (1961–) Democratic politician, U.S. senator from Illinois (2005–); full name Barack Hussein Obama.
Obasanjo, Olusegun. (1937–) President of Nigeria (1999–2007).
obbligato. In music, an indispensable part.
obeisance. A show of deference.
Oberammergau. Village in Bavaria, Germany, where celebrated passion play is performed every ten years.
obiter dictum. (Lat.) A remark made in passing; pl. obiter dicta.
objet d’art, pl. objets d’art.
objet trouvé. (Fr.) “A found object.”
oblivious. Many authorities long maintained that oblivious can mean only forgetful. You cannot properly be oblivious of something that you were not in the first place aware of. But in its broader sense of merely being unaware or impervious, oblivious is now accepted universally.
oblique.
obloquy. Verbal abuse; pl. obloquies.
O’Brien, Flann. Pen name of Brian O’Nolan (1911–1966), Irish writer, who also wrote a column in the Irish Times under the pseudonym Myles na Gopaleen.
obscurum per obscurius. (Lat.) “The obscure by means of the more obscure.”
obsidian. Glassy volcanic rock.
obsolete, obsolescent. Things that are no longer used or needed are obsolete. Things that are becoming obsolete are obsolescent.
obstetrics, obstetrician.
obstreperous. Noisy, vociferous.
obtuse angle. One between 90 and 180 degrees.
obviate does not mean reduce or make more acceptable, as is often thought: “A total redesign of the system should obviate complaints about its reliability” (London Times). It means to make unnecessary.
Occam’s/Ockham’s razor. Paring all presumptions to the minimum, a principle attributed to the English philosopher William of Occam, or Ockham (c. 1285–c. 1349).
occult.
occur, take place. Take place is better reserved for scheduled events. When what is being described is accidental, occur is the better word.
ocher.
ochlocracy. Government by mob rule.
octet.
octocentennial. Eight-hundredth anniversary.
octogenarian. Person from eighty to eighty-nine years old.
octopus, pl. octopuses (or, in technical writing, octopodes).
oculist.
Oder-Neisse Line. Boundary between Germany and Poland.
Odets, Clifford. (1906–1963) American playwright.
odometer. Device for measuring distance traveled.
odoriferous.
Od’s bodkins. Archaic oath, probably a corruption of “by God’s body.”
Odysseus (Greek)/Ulysses (Lat.). In Greek mythology, the king of Ithaca.
OECD. Organization for (not of) Economic Cooperation and Development. The members are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
Oedipus complex. Term coined by Freud to describe a child’s (usually a son’s) feelings of love for the parent of the opposite sex mingled with dislike for the parent of the same sex.
oenology/enology. Study of wines. A connoisseur is an oenophile.
oeuvre. An artist’s body of work.
O’Faoláin, Seán. (1900–1991) Irish novelist and short story writer.
Offaly. County in Republic of Ireland.
Offa’s Dike/Dyke. Eighth-century earthwork between England and Wales.
Offenbach, Jacques. (1819–1880) German-born French composer; born Jakob Eberst.
off of is redundant. Write “Get off the table,” not “Get off of the table.”
Ogdon, John. (Andrew Howard) (1937–1989) British pianist.
ogre.
Oh, Oho. See O, OH, OHO.
O’Hare International Airport, Chicago.
O. Henry. Pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862–1910), American short story writer. The candy bar is Oh Henry.
Oireachtas for the Irish legislature, consisting of the president and the two assemblies, the Dáil Éireann and Seanad. It is pronounced ur'-akh-tus.
Ojos del Salado. Andean mountain on Chilean-Argentinian border; second-highest peak in the Western Hemisphere (22,600 feet; 6,910 meters).
Okeechobee. Lake and inland waterway, Florida.
O’Keeffe, Georgia. (1887–1986) American artist.
Okefenokee Swamp. Florida and Georgia.
Okhotsk, Sea of.
Olajuwon, Hakeem. (1963–) Nigerian-born American basketball player.
Olazábal, José María. (1966–) Spanish golfer.
Oldenburg, Claes. (1929–) Swedish-born American sculptor.
Old Peculier. An English beer.
Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.
Olivetti. Formally Ing. C. Olivetti & Co. SpA, Italian industrial group, once famous for typewriters.
Olmert, Ehud. (1945–) Prime minister of Israel (2006–).
Olympic-size swimming pool. An official Olympics swimming pool is fifty meters long. Almost no one owns a private pool that large, so the description in respect to private pools is almost always a gross exaggeration.
Omar Khayyám is the correct spelling of the Persian poet and mathematician. Note -yy-.
omelet/omelette. Either is correct.
omit, omitted, omitting, omissible.
omnipotent, omniscient. The first means all-powerful, the second all-knowing.
on, upon. Although some journalists think there is, or ought to be, a distinction between these two, there isn’t. The choice is sometimes dictated by idiom (“on no acco
unt,” “upon my soul”), but in all other instances it is a matter of preference.
one can be a grammatically tricky word. It takes a singular verb in straightforward constructions like “one out of every seven men is bald.” But when extra words are attached to it—one or more, one of those—it ceases to govern the verb and the sense of the sentence becomes plural. Thus the sentence “Inside each folder is one or more sheets of information” should be “are one or more” and “Nott is one of those rare politicians who doesn’t mind what he says” should be “don’t mind what they say.” A helpful trick to determine whether a singular or plural verb is needed is to invert the word order of the sentence: “Of those politicians who do not mind what they say, Nott is one.”
O’Neal, Shaquille. (1972–) American basketball player.
one or more is plural. For a discussion, see ONE.
only. In general, only ought to be attached to the word or phrase it is modifying and not set adrift, as here: “The A Class bus only ran on Sundays” (Observer). Taken literally, the sentence suggests that on other days of the week the bus did something else—perhaps flew? The writer would better have said that the bus “ran only on Sundays” or “on Sundays only.”
Oftentimes, to be sure, clarity and idiom are better served by bringing only to a more forward position (“This will only take a minute,” “The victory can only be called a miracle”). And increasingly, it must be said, authorities are inclined toward leniency with regard to where only is permitted. Certainly it is always better to avoid an air of fussiness. But when, as in the example above, a simple repositioning puts the word in the right place without creating a distraction, there is no reason not to do it.
onomatopoeia. The formation of words based on the sounds they denote, as with buzz, bang, and vroom-vroom.
on to, onto. Until the twentieth century onto as one word was almost unknown in both Britain and America, and its standing remains somewhat dubious in Britain. Today in the United States (and increasingly in Britain), onto is used where the two elements function as a compound preposition (“He jumped onto the horse”) and on to is used where on is an adverb (“We moved on to the next subject”).
oolong tea.
oozy.
op. cit. Opere citato (Lat.); “in the work cited.” Note two periods.