Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) (23 page)

Honecker, Erich.
(1912–1994) Chairman of East German Communist Party (i.e., head of state) (1977–1989).

Honiara.
Capital of the Solomon Islands.

Honi soit qui mal y pense.
(Fr.) Usually translated as “Evil to him who evil thinks” motto of the Royal Order of the Garter in Britain.

honnête homme.
(Fr.) An honest man.

honorificabilitudinitatibus.
Nonsense word in Shakespeare's
Love's Labour's Lost.

Honshu.
Main island of Japan, site of Tokyo and Yokohama.

Hooch/Hoogh, Pieter de.
(c. 1629–c. 1684) Dutch painter; pronounced
hoke
for either spelling.

Hook of Holland.
In Dutch, Hoek van Holland.

Hoosick Falls,
New York.

hopefully.
Much ink has been expended arguing whether the word is acceptable when used in an absolute sense, as in “Hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow.” Many usage authorities argue that that sentence should be recast as “It is to be hoped that the sun will shine tomorrow” or something similar. However, other authorities say that such a stand is pedantic and inconsistent, since no one objects to other
-ly
words, such as
apparently
,
sadly, thankfully
, and
mercifully
, being used absolutely. I side with the second group, but you should be aware that the use of
hopefully
in an absolute sense is still widely, and often hotly, objected to.

Hopkins, Gerard Manley.
(1844–1889) British poet and Jesuit priest. His poetry was published posthumously.

Hopkins, Johns.
(1795–1873) Not
John
. American financier who endowed now-famous hospital and university, both in Baltimore.

Horae.
Greek goddesses who presided over the weather and seasons.

horde, hoard.
The first is a swarm of people; the second, a cache.

Hornsby, Rogers.
(1896–1963) Not
Roger
. American baseball player and manager.

Hornung, Paul.
(1935–) American football player.

Horowitz, Vladimir.
(1904–1989) Russian-born American concert pianist.

hors de combat.
(Fr.) “Out of action.”

hors d'oeuvre.
An appetizer; pl.
hors d'oeuvres.

“Horst Wessel Lied.”
Nazi song.

hosanna.
A shout of praise.

Hosokawa, Morihiro.
(1938–) Japanese prime minister (1993–1994).

hot dog
(two words) for the food, but
hotdog
as a verb meaning to show off and for associated words such as
hotdogging
and
hotdogger.

Hôtel des Invalides,
Paris, site of Napoleon's tomb.

hôtel de ville.
(Fr.) Town hall.

Houellebecq, Michel.
(1958–) French novelist.

Houston, Whitney.
(1963–) American singer. (But note, it is
Anjelica Huston.
)

Houyhnhnms.
In
Gulliver's Travels,
a race of horses with the finer qualities of humans; pronounced
win-ums.

Hovenweep National Monument,
Utah.

hovercraft.
(No cap.) The name is no longer a trademark.

Howards End.
(No apos.) Novel by E. M. Forster (1910).

Howells, William Dean.
(1837–1920) American critic, editor, and writer.

howitzer.
A cannon.

Hoxha, Enver.
(1908–1985) Head of state of Albania (1944–1985); pronounced
hod'-juh.

Hrvastska.
Croatian name for Croatia.

HTML.
Short for Hypertext Markup Language; language used for communicating on World Wide Web.

HTTP.
Short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol; governing standard for World Wide Web information transfers.

Hua Guofeng.
(1920–) Chinese Communist leader, premier (1976–1980); formerly Hua Kuo-feng.

Huanghe.
Pinyin name for the
Hwang-Ho
or
Yellow River,
China. In most contexts a reference to one or both of the older names would be helpful.

hudibrastic,
in a mock-heroic manner, from the epic satirical poem
Hudibras
(1663–1678) by Samuel Butler.

Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Hudson River,
but
Hudson's Bay Company.

hue and cry,
not
hew
, for an uproar.

Huguenots.
Sixteenth-to-seventeenth-century French Protestants.

Hu Jintao.
(1942–) President of China (2003–).

hullabaloo.

human immunodeficiency virus.
HIV, virus associated with AIDS.

humerus.
Bone between the elbow and shoulder; pl.
humeri.

Humperdinck, Engelbert.
(1854–1921) German composer; also the stage name of a popular British singer, born Arnold Dorsey (1935–).

Humphry Clinker, The Expedition of.
Not
Humphrey.
Novel by Tobias Smollett (1771).

humus, hummus.
The first is broken-down plant material in soil; the second is a dish made from mashed chickpeas.

Humvee.
Name derived from the initials HMMWV (short for high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle); general-purpose military vehicle.

Hundred Years' War.
Series of wars (1337–1453) in which France wrested back all its territory from England except Calais.

hurdy-gurdy.
Musical instrument activated by a crank.

hurly-burly.

Hurston, Zora Neale.
(1891–1960) American writer, associated with the movement known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Hussein, Saddam.
(1937–2006) President of Iraq (1979–2003). His name in full was Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikrit.

Huston, Anjelica.
(1951–) American actress, daughter of film director
John Huston
(1906–1987) and granddaughter of actor
Walter Huston
(1884–1950).

Huxley, Aldous.
(1894–1963) English novelist and brother of
Sir Julian Huxley
(1887–1975), biologist and writer; their grandfather was
T. H. Huxley
(1825–1895), scientist and champion of Charles Darwin.

Huygens, Christiaan.
(1629–1695) Dutch mathematician and scientist. Note
-aa-
in first name.

Huysmans, Joris-Karl.
(1848–1907) French novelist.

Hwang Ho.
Chinese river now more commonly known as
Huanghe.

hyacinth.
Flower.

Hyannis Port,
but
West Hyannisport,
Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Hyderabad.
Capital of Andhra Pradesh, India. There is also a city in Pakistan of the same name, which is sometimes spelled
Haidarabad
.

Hydra.
In Greek mythology, a many-headed monster.

hydrangea.

hydrography.
The study and mapping of oceans, rivers, and lakes.

hyena.

Hygeia.
Greek goddess of health.

hygiene, hygienic.

hymen.
Not
-man.
Vaginal membrane, named after Hymen, Greek god of marriage.

Hynes Convention Center,
Boston, Massachusetts; formally it is the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center.

hyperbole.
Exaggeration.

hypertension.
High blood pressure.

hypochondria.

hypocrite, hypocrisy.

hypotenuse.
On a right-angled triangle, the side opposite the right angle.

hypothermia.
Lack of body warmth.

hypothesis,
pl.
hypotheses.

hysterectomy.

hysterics
is plural.

Hywel.
Welsh forename; pronounced
howl
.

Ii

Iacocca, Lee.
(1924–) American businessman.

IAEA.
International Atomic Energy Agency, UN nuclear watchdog.

IATA.
International Air Transport Association.

Iberia Airlines.
Not
Iberian
.

ibex.
A mountain goat; pl.
ibexes.

ibid.,
the abbreviation of
ibidem
(Lat.), “in the same place,” is used in reference notes to indicate that a source is the same as the previous one in the note. See also
OP. CIT.

-ible, -able.
No reliable rules exist for when a word ends in
-ible
and when in
-able;
see Appendix for a list of some of the more frequently confused spellings.

Ibsen, Henrik.
(1828–1906) Norwegian playwright.

ICBM.
Intercontinental ballistic missile.

iceberg.

iced tea.
Not
ice
.

Icelandair.
Icelandic airline.

Iceni.
British tribe that revolted against Rome under the leadership of Boudicca in the first century
AD
.

Ich dien.
(Ger.) “I serve” motto of the Prince of Wales in the United Kingdom.

ichthyology.
The study of fishes.

ichthyosaur, ichthyosaurus.
Prehistoric marine reptile.

ici on parle français.
(Fr.) “French spoken here.” Note lowercase
français
.

I, Claudius.
Novel by Robert Graves (1934). Note comma.

Ictinus.
(fl. fifth c.
BC
) Greek architect, co-designer with Callicrates of the Parthenon.

idée fixe.
(Fr.) for an obsession or fixation. The plural is
idées fixes.

ideology, ideological, ideologue.

ides of March.
March 15, the day on which Julius Caesar was assassinated. In the Roman calendar, the ides was the fifteenth of March, May, July, and October, and the thirteenth of the other months.

idiosyncrasy.
One of the most commonly misspelled of all words. Note that the ending is
-sy,
not
-cy.

idyll.
Poem or prose depicting rural bliss.

i.e.
Id est
(Lat.) “that is to say.” Used to introduce an elaboration, as in “He is pusillanimous, i.e., lacking in courage.”

if.
Problems often arise in deciding whether
if
is introducing a subjunctive clause (“If I were…”) or an indicative one (“If I was…”). The distinction is straightforward. When
if
introduces a notion that is hypothetical or improbable or clearly untrue, the verb should be in the subjunctive: “If I were king…” “If he were in your shoes…” But when the
if
is introducing a thought that is true or could well be true, the mood should be indicative: “If I was happy then, I certainly am not now.” One small hint: if the sentence contains
would
or
wouldn't
, the mood is subjunctive, as in “If I were you, I wouldn't take the job.”

if and when.
Almost always unnecessary. Choose one or the other.

igneous rock.

ignominy, ignominious.

ignotum per ignotius.
(Lat.) “The unknown by the even less known” used of an explanation that is more confusing than what it is meant to explain.

iguanodon.
Not
iguana-.
Dinosaur.

Iguassu
(or
Iguaçu) Falls.
Waterfall on the Argentina-Brazil border; in Portuguese, Saltos do I
uaçu; in Spanish, Cataratas del Iguazú.

IJsselmeer,
the Netherlands; freshwater lake created by damming part of the Zuider Zee. Note double caps.

Île-de-France.
Region of France that includes Paris.

ileum, ilium.
The
ileum
is part of the small intestine; the
ilium
is part of the pelvis and, when capitalized, is also the Latin name for Troy.

Iliad.
Epic poem attributed to Homer.

illegitimate, illegitimize.

Illinoian,
not
Illinoisian
, for something or someone from Illinois.

illuminati.
(Always plural.) Enlightened people.

illustrator.

imbroglio.
A predicament, a complicated situation; pl.
imbroglios
.

immanent, imminent.
The first means inherent, the second, impending. Neither should be confused with
eminent
, which means outstanding.

immaterial.

immeasurable.

immoral, amoral.
Immoral
applies to things that are evil;
amoral
describes matters in which questions of morality do not arise or are disregarded.

Immortels, Les.
Nickname of members of the Académie Française.

immovable, immovability.

immutable.

impala.
Not
-ll-.

impassable, impassible.
The first means impossible to negotiate; the second means impervious to pain.

impazientemente.
(It.) In music, to perform in an impatient manner.

imperative.

imperceptible.

impermeable.

impertinent.

implacable.

imply, infer.
Imply
means to suggest: “He implied that I was a fool.”
Infer
means to deduce: “After three hours of waiting, we inferred that they weren't coming.”

imports, exports.
It is implicit in
imports
that their source is foreign, so it is tautological to write “imports from abroad.” Similar phrases involving
exports,
such as “exports to overseas fell slightly last month,” equally cry out for pruning.

impostor.
Not
-er.

impractical, impracticable, unpractical.
If a thing could be done but isn't worth doing, it is
impractical
or
unpractical
(the words mean the same). If it can't be done at all, it's
impracticable
(the word means “incapable of being put into practice”).

impresario.

impressible.

imprimatur.
Official authorization.

improvable.

improvvisata.
(It.) In music, improvisation. Note
-vv-.

impugn, impunity.
The first is to criticize or attack; the second means to enjoy freedom from punishment.

in, into, in to.
Generally,
in
indicates a fixed position (“He was in the house”) while
into
indicates movement toward a fixed position (“He went into the house”). There are, however, many exceptions (e.g., “He put the money in his pocket”). As so often with idiom, there is no describable pattern to these exceptions; it is just the way it is.

Whether to write
into
as one word or two also sometimes causes problems. The simple rule is that
in to
is correct when
in
is an adverb, but the distinction can perhaps best be seen in paired examples: “He turned himself into [one word] an accomplished artist” but “The criminal turned himself in to [two words] the police.”

in absentia.
(Lat.) “While absent.”

inadmissible.
Not
-able.

inadvertent.

inadvisable.

innamorata
(fem.),
innamorato
(masc.). Lover; pl.
innamorati.

inasmuch.

in camera.
Behind closed doors, not in open court.

incessant.

inchoate.
Undeveloped, just starting out.

incidentally.

incisor.

include
indicates that what is to follow is only part of a greater whole. To use it when you are describing a totality (as in “The 350 layoffs include 200 in Michigan and 150 in Indiana”) is sloppy and possibly misleading.

incognito.

incombustible.
Cannot be burned.

incommodious.

incommunicado.
Unable or unwilling to communicate.

incomparable.

incompatible.

incomprehensible.
Not
-able.

incongruous, incongruity.

incorrigible.

incubus.
An evil spirit that has intercourse with sleeping women; a nightmare or something that oppresses like a nightmare. See also
SUCCUBUS
.

inculcate
means to persistently impress a habit upon or belief into another person. You inculcate an idea, not a person. “My father inculcated me with a belief in democracy” should be “My father inculcated in me a belief in democracy.”

incunabulum.
A book printed at an early date, especially before 1501, and by extension, the early stages of development of something; pl.
incunabula.

in curia.
(Lat.) “In open court.”

indefatigable.
Tireless.

indefeasible.
Permanent, cannot be made void.

indefensible.

indefinitely
means only “without prescribed limits,” not “lasting forever.” To say that a process will last indefinitely doesn't necessarily mean that it will last for a very long time, but simply that its durability is unknown.

indelible.

indescribable.

indestructible.

indexes/indices.
Either is acceptable, depending on how much of an air of formality you wish to convey.

Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
Catalogue of books forbidden to Roman Catholics by their church. Not to be confused with
Index Expurgatorius,
a catalogue of books in which only certain passages are forbidden.

india ink.
(Not cap.)

indices/indexes.
Either is acceptable, though some dictionaries favor
indices
for technical applications.

indict, indite.
The first means to accuse formally of a crime; the second means to set down in writing, but in fact is rare almost to the point of obsolescence.

indigenous.

indigent.

indigestible.

indiscreet, indiscrete.
The first means lacking discretion; the second means not composed of separate parts.

indispensable.
Not
-ible
.

individual
is unexceptionable when you are contrasting one person with an organization or body of people (“How can one individual hope to rectify the evils of society?”). But as a simple synonym for
person
(“Do you see that individual standing over there?”), it is still frowned upon by many authorities as casual and inelegant.

indivisible.

indomitable.

indubitable, indubitably.

Induráin, Miguel.
(1964–) Spanish cyclist.

Industrial Workers of the World.
(Abbr. IWW.) A radical trade union movement from 1905 to 1925, often called Wobblies, particularly by detractors.

inebriate, inebriety.

inedible.

ineffaceable.
Indelible (which in most cases is to be preferred).

inefficacious.
A longer way of saying
ineffective.