by Bill Bryson
Port-au-Prince. (Hyphens.) Capital of Haiti.
portentous. Not -ious.
portico. A porch supported by pillars; pl. porticoes/porticos.
portland cement. (Not cap.)
portmanteau word. A word blending two others, e.g., smog = smoke + fog.
Portmeirion, Wales. Fanciful Italianate village built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, and a brand of pottery that originated there.
Port Moresby. Capital of Papua New Guinea.
Porto-Novo. (Hyphen.) Capital of Benin.
Portuguese.
Port-Vila. (Hyphen.) Capital of Vanuatu.
Portzamparc, Christian de. (1944–) Moroccan-born French architect; on second reference he is Mr. (or Monsieur) Portzamparc, not de Portzamparc.
Poseidon. Greek god of the sea; identified with the Roman god Neptune.
position. Often a pointer to verbosity. “They now find themselves in a position where they have to make a choice” would be immeasurably better as “They now have to make a choice.”
possessives. Problems with possessives are discussed in some detail in the Appendix under APOSTROPHE, but three especially common faults are worth mentioning here.
1. Failure to put an apostrophe in the right place. This is particularly frequent with words like men’s, women’s, and children’s, which all too often appear as mens’, womens’, and childrens’.
2. Failure to put an apostrophe in at all. This practice—spelling the words mens, womens, and childrens and so on—is particularly rife among retailers. It is painful enough to behold there, inexcusable elsewhere.
3. Putting an apostrophe where none is needed. Possessive pronouns—his, hers, ours, theirs, and so on—do not take an apostrophe. But sometimes one is wrongly inserted, as here: “I don’t think much of your’s” (Independent headline).
(See also “OURS IS NOT TO REASON WHY…”)
possible is wrongly followed by may in constructions such as the following: “It is possible that she may decide to go after all” (Daily Telegraph). Make it either “It is possible that she will decide to go after all” or “She may decide to go after all.” Together the two words are wrong and unnecessary.
posthaste. (One word.) With speed.
posthumous. After death.
postilion.
postmeridian, post meridiem. The first means related to or happening in the afternoon. The second, also pertaining to the period after noon, is the Latin term better known to most of us as the abbreviation p.m. Note the different terminal spellings.
postpartum. After birth.
postprandial. After dinner.
potage. Soup.
potpourri, pl. potpourris.
Poughkeepsie, New York.
Poulenc, Francis. (1899–1963) French composer.
Poulters’ Company. London livery company; not Poulterers’.
pour, pore. The first means to flow or rain heavily; the second means to examine carefully.
pourboire. (Fr.) A gratuity.
pour encourager les autres. (Fr.) “To encourage the others.”
Poussin, Nicolas. (1594–1665) French painter.
Powell, Anthony. (1905–2000) British novelist; pronounced pole.
powwow. A conference.
Powys, John Cowper. (1872–1963) English poet and novelist; the names are pronounced cooper and po-iss.
PPI. Abbreviation of producer price index; in economics, a measure of changes in commodity prices.
practical, practicable. Anything that can be done and is worth doing is practical. Anything that can be done, whether or not it is worth doing, is practicable.
practice, practiced, practicing.
praemonitus praemunitis. (Lat.) “Forewarned is forearmed.”
praeseodymium. Chemical element.
Praetorian Guard. Elite Roman army unit.
Praha. Czech spelling of Prague.
Praia. Capital of Cape Verde.
precautionary measure is a common phrase, but it can nearly always be shortened simply to precaution.
precipitant, precipitate, precipitous. All three come from the same root, the Latin praecipitare (“to throw headlong”). Precipitous means very steep: cliff faces are precipitous. Precipitant and precipitate both indicate a headlong rush and are almost indistinguishable in meaning, but precipitant tends to emphasize the abruptness of the rush and precipitate the rashness of it. The most common error is to use precipitous to describe actions (“his precipitous departure from the cabinet”). Precipitous can describe only physical characteristics.
precondition, preplanning, prerecorded, etc. Almost always redundant: “A lot of headaches can be avoided with a little careful preplanning” (Chicago Tribune). All planning must be done in advance. Pre- adds nothing to its meaning and should be deleted, as it should have been in these examples: “There are, however, three preconditions to be met before negotiations can begin” (Guardian); “The company’s music performance reflected both the volatility and opportunities for growth in the worldwide market for prerecorded music” (advertisement in the Economist).
precursor. Not -er.
predilection.
prehensile. Able to grasp.
premier, premiere. The first means first in position or importance. The second is a debut.
Preminger, Otto. (1906–1986) Austrian-born American film director.
premises is always plural when referring to property. There is no such thing as a business premise.
prepositions. The lingering belief that sentences should not end with prepositions is entirely without foundation.
prerogative. An exclusive right.
Prescelly Mountains, Wales.
prescribe, proscribe. Prescribe means to set down as a rule or guide. Proscribe means to denounce or prohibit. If you get bronchitis, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics and proscribe smoking.
present, presently. Like current and currently, these two often appear needlessly in sentences, as here: “A new factory, which is presently under construction in Manchester, will add to capacity.” The sentence says as much without presently as with it.
Presidents’ Day. Note apos. Third Monday of February.
presumptive, presumptuous. The first is sometimes used when the second is intended. Presumptuous means impudent and inclined to take liberties, or to act in a manner that is excessively bold and forthright. Presumptive means giving grounds to presume and is primarily a technical term. The wrong use is seen here: “She considered the question with the equanimity of someone who has long been immune to presumptive prying” (Sunday Telegraph).
pretension, but pretentious.
prevalent, prevalence.
prevaricate, procrastinate. Occasionally confused. Prevaricate means to speak or act evasively, to stray from the truth. Procrastinate means to put off doing.
prevent often appears incorrectly in sentences such as this: “They tried to prevent him leaving.” It should be either “They tried to prevent his leaving” or “They tried to prevent him from leaving.” See GERUNDS (2).
preventive, preventative. “One way to ease their difficulties, they decided, was to practice preventative medicine” (Economist). Preventative is not incorrect, but preventive is shorter.
Pribilof Islands, Alaska.
PricewaterhouseCoopers. Accountancy company.
“Pride goes before a fall” is wrong. The quotation, from Proverbs, is “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
prima facie. “At first sight,” on the face of it.
primeval. Not -evil.
primogeniture. The practice by which an entire inheritance passes to the firstborn male child.
primus inter pares. (Lat.) “First among equals.”
Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Princes Town, Trinidad.
principal, principle. Principle means fundamental and is usually applied to fundamental beliefs or truths (“It’s not the money, it’s the principle”) or to fundamenta
l understandings (“They have signed an agreement in principle”). It is always a noun. Principal can be a noun meaning chief or of first importance (“He is the school’s principal”) or an adjective with the same meaning (“The principal reason for my going…”).
pristine does not mean spotless. It means original or primeval or in a state virtually unchanged from the original.
privilege.
prix fixe. (Fr.) Fixed price; pl. prix fixes.
Prix Goncourt. Preeminent French literary award.
p.r.n. Short for pro re nata (Lat.), “as necessary.” Used by doctors on prescriptions to indicate that a drug should be administered as necessary and not on a fixed schedule.
proboscis. An animal’s trunk, long snout, or feeding tube; pl. proboscises.
proceed, but procedure.
procrastinate, prevaricate. The first means to postpone doing; the second means to be untruthful.
Procrustean. Producing or striving to produce absolute conformity, usually through severe or absolute means; from Procrustes, a mythological Greek robber who made his victims fit a bed by stretching them or cutting off their limbs.
Procter & Gamble for the household products company. Often misspelled Proctor.
prodigal does not mean wandering or given to running away, a sense sometimes wrongly inferred from the biblical story of the Prodigal Son. It means recklessly wasteful or extravagant.
progenitor. Ancestor.
prognosis, pl. prognoses.
Prohibition (cap.) lasted from 1920 to 1933; it was brought in by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the Volstead Act, and repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment.
Prokofiev, Sergei. (1891–1953) Russian composer.
Promised Land, the. (Caps.)
promissory note.
prone, prostrate, recumbent, supine. Supine means lying faceup (it may help to remember that a supine person is on his spine). Prone and prostrate are regarded by most dictionaries and usage authorities—but by no means all—as meaning lying facedown. (A few say that they can also apply to a person or thing lying faceup.) Prostrate should, in any case, suggest throwing oneself down, either in submission or for protection; someone who is merely asleep should not be called prostrate. Recumbent means lying flat in any position, but, like repose, it should indicate a position of ease and comfort. For the other sense of prone, see LIABLE, LIKELY, APT, PRONE.
pronunciation. Not pronoun-.
propaganda.
propagate.
propellant is the usual spelling, but propellent is also accepted.
proper nouns. Many writers stumble when confronted with finding a plural form for a proper noun, as in the two following examples, both from The Times of London and both wrong: “The Cox’s were said by neighbors to be…happily married” “This is the first of a new series about the Rush’s.” The rule for making plurals of proper nouns is precisely the same as for any other nouns. If you have no trouble turning “one fox” into “two foxes” or “one church” into “two churches,” you should have no trouble making “the Rush family” into “the Rushes” and “the Cox couple” into “the Coxes.” In short, for names ending in s, sh, ch, or x, add es: Lewises, Lennoxes, Clemenses. For all others, simply add s: Smiths, Browns, Greens, the two Koreas. The rule is invariable for Anglo-Saxon names. For others, there are a few exceptions, among them Rockies, Ptolemies, Alleghenies, Mercuries, and (in some publications) Germanies. At all events, the addition of an apostrophe to make any noun plural is always wrong.
prophecy, prophesy. The first is the noun; the second the verb. Thus: “I prophesy war; that is my prophecy.”
propinquity. Nearness or similarity.
proprietor, but proprietary.
pro re nata. See P.R.N.
prosciutto. Italian ham; pl. prosciutti (or prosciuttos).
prosthesis, pl. prostheses.
prostrate should be used only with the sense of throwing oneself down in submission or for protection.
protagonist. Literally the word means “first actor” (from the Greek protos and agonistes) and by extension may be applied to the person who most drives the action in any affair. The word is not the opposite of antagonist; it does not necessarily have anything to do with heroic or admirable behavior or bear any relationship to the Latin pro-, meaning for or on behalf of. A protagonist may champion a cause, and in practice often does, but that isn’t implicit in the word.
protégé (masc.), protégée (fem.). One under the protection or tutelage of an experienced person.
pro tem is the abbreviation of pro tempore (Lat.), “for the time being.”
protester.
protocol.
prototype is the word for an original that serves as a model for later products of its type. Thus first prototype, experimental prototype, model prototype, and most other qualifying descriptions are generally redundant.
proved, proven. In general proved is the preferred past tense form (“the accused was proved innocent”) and proven the preferred form for adjectival uses (“a proven formula”).
provenance. Place of origin.
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. French region.
proverbial. Unless there is some connection to an actual proverb, the word is wrongly used and better avoided.
provided, providing. Most authorities consider the first preferable to the second in constructions such as “He agreed to come provided he could get the day off work,” but either would be correct. “If” is often better still.
Pryor, Richard. (1940–2005) American comedian and actor.
Przewalski’s horse, Przewalski’s gazelle. Two rare species, both named for Nikolai Przewalski (or Przhevalsky), Russian explorer (1839–1888).
pseudonym. Pen name.
psittacosis. Sometimes called parrot fever; a disease of birds that can be passed to people.
ptarmigan.
pterodactyl.
publicly. Not -ally.
Publishers Weekly. (No apos.) American trade magazine.
Puccini, Giacomo. (1858–1924) Italian composer of operas.
Pudd’nhead Wilson, The Tragedy of. Novel by Mark Twain (1894).
puerile. Childish.
puerperal. Pertaining to childbirth, as in puerperal psychosis.
Puerto Rico. Formerly a U.S. territory, now a self-governing commonwealth.
Puget Sound, Washington.
Pulitzer Prize. Named for Joseph Pulitzer (1847–1911).
pumice. Volcanic rock.
pumpernickel. Coarse wholemeal rye bread.
punctilious.
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania; town noted for its Groundhog Day ceremonies.
Purim. Jewish holiday; pronounced poo-rim, not pyur-im.
purlieu, purlieus. The first denotes bounds or limits; the second denotes outlying areas or environs.
purposely, purposefully. The first means intentionally. The second means with an objective in mind. “She purposely nudged me” means it was no accident. “She purposefully nudged me” means she did it to make a point or draw my attention to something.
Pushkin, Alexander. (1799–1837) Russian poet.
pusillanimous. Cowardly.
putrid, but putrefy, putrefaction.
Puttnam, David. (1941–) British film producer; now formally Lord Puttnam.
pygmy, pl. pygmies.
Pyle, Ernie. (1900–1945) American journalist.
Pynchon, Thomas. (1937–) American novelist.
Pyongyang. Capital of North Korea.
pyorrhea. Infection of the gums, more formally called periodontal disease.
Pyrenees, Pyrenean.
Pyrrhic victory is not a hollow triumph. It is one won at huge cost to the victor.
Pythagoras. (582–507 BC) Greek philosopher and mathematician; the adjectival form is Pythagorean.
Qq
Qaddafi/Gaddafi, Muammar al-. (1942–) Libyan head of state (1969–). Either spelling is acceptable, but Gaddafi is more commonly used than Qaddafi. He has
no official title or position.
Qaeda, Al (from the Arabic al-qa’ida), is the most common spelling in American English for the terrorist group, but there are many variants, including commonly Al Qaida, al-Qaeda, and al-Qaida.
Qahira, El. Arabic for Cairo.
Qantas. Although the full name is no longer used, for historical purposes it may be worth noting that Qantas is short for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service. Not Air and not Services.
Qatar. Persian Gulf emirate; capital Doha. The airline is Qatar Airways.
QED (no periods) is the abbreviation of quod est demonstrandum (Lat.), “which was to be demonstrated.”
Qom. Alternative spelling for Qum, Iranian holy city.
Q-tip is a trademark.
quadrennium. A period of four years. Nearly everyone will understand you better if you just say “a period of four years.”
quadriplegia. Not quadra-. Paralysis of all four limbs.
quadruped. Not quadra-, quadri-. A four-legged animal. The adjectival form is quadrupedal.
Quai d’Orsay. The French Foreign Ministry, so called because it is on a street of that name in Paris.
Quakers are formally known as the Society of Friends.
Qualcomm. Wireless technology company.
quandary. Not quandry or quandery.
quand même. (Fr.) “All the same.”
quantum leap has become a cliché and is better avoided. A separate objection is that its general sense of a revolutionary step forward is at variance with its strict scientific sense of a movement or advance that is discrete and measurable, but not necessarily, or even usually, dramatic.
Qu’Appelle. Canadian river.
quark. Hypothetical subatomic particle.
quasar is derived from, and means, “quasi-stellar object.”
quaternary. Of or pertaining to groups of four. When capitalized, it describes the geological period, part of the Cenozoic era, when humans first appeared.
quatrefoil. In architecture, a four-pointed tracery.
quattrocento. Abbreviation of Italian millequattrocento, the fifteenth century, used especially in reference to Italian art and culture.
quaver. To tremble.
queasy.
Québécois (or Quebecer) for someone from Quebec. The Canadian political party is always Parti Québécois.