Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) (28 page)

Lyly, John.
(c. 1555–1606) English playwright.

Lyonnaise, lyonnaise.
The first is a region of France; the second is a style of cooking.

Lysistrata.
Comedy by Aristophanes.

Mm

Maas.
Dutch name for the European river known in English as the Meuse.

Ma'at.
Egyptian goddess of truth.

Mac, Mc, M'.
In British usage all such words are treated as if they were spelled
Mac
when determining alphabetical order. Thus
McGuire
would precede
Mason
. In the United States, the alphabetical order of the letters is followed literally, and
Mason
would precede
McGuire
.

macadam.
A type of road surface, named after John McAdam (1756–1836), a Scottish engineer.

macaque.
Monkey of the genus
Macaca.

macaronic verse.
A type of poetry in which two or more languages are mingled.

MacArthur, Charles.
(1895–1956) American playwright and screenwriter, and father of
James MacArthur
(1937–), actor.

MacArthur, Douglas.
(1880–1964) American general.

MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T.
U.S. charity famous for generous awards.

Macaulay, Baron Thomas Babington.
(1800–1859) British historian.

Maccabees.
Jewish dynasty of second and first centuries
BC
.

Macdonald, Dwight.
(1906–1982) American writer and critic.

Macdonald, Sir John Alexander.
(1815–1891) Canadian prime minister (1867–1873, 1878–1891).

MacDonald, Ramsay.
(1866–1938) British prime minister (1924, 1929–1935).

Macdonald, Ross.
Pen name of Kenneth Millar (1915–1983), Canadian-American author of detective fiction.

Macdonnell Ranges,
Northern Territory, Australia.

Macgillicuddy's Reeks.
Mountain range in County Kerry, Ireland.

MacGraw, Ali.
(1938–) American actress.

MacGregor.
Scottish clan.

Machiavelli, Niccolò di Bernardo dei.
(1469–1527) Florentine statesman and political theorist, best known for
Il Principe
(
The Prince
), 1513.

machicolation.
Gallery at the top of a castle tower.

Mach number.
(Cap.
M
.) The ratio of the speed of an object to the speed of sound in the medium (usually air) through which the object is traveling: e.g., an aircraft traveling at twice the speed of sound is said to be going at Mach 2. Named after
Ernst Mach
(1836–1916), an Austrian physicist.

Macintosh
for the computer made by Apple, but
McIntosh
for the apple.

Mackenzie,
river and mountains in western Canada, but
McKenzie
for the lake and bay in Ontario and the pass in Oregon.

Mackinac Island
and
Straits of Mackinac,
in Lake Huron, but
Mackinaw City,
Michigan. The type of woolen coat is called a
mackinaw,
but
Mackinaw blanket
and
Mackinaw boat
are both capitalized. For all spellings, the pronunciation is
mack-in-aw.

MacLaine, Shirley.
(1934–) American actress; born Shirley MacLean Beaty.

MacLean, Alistair.
(1922–1987) British writer of adventure novels.

Maclean's.
Canadian weekly newsmagazine.

MacLehose & Sons.
Scottish printers.

MacLeish, Archibald.
(1892–1982) American poet.

Macleod, Lake,
Western Australia.

MacMurray, Fred.
(1907–1991) American actor.

MacNeice, (Frederick) Louis.
(1907–1963) Irish-born British poet.

MacNelly, Jeff.
(1947–2000) American cartoonist.

Macon,
Georgia, but
Mâcon
for the French city and wine.

Macy's department stores.
Formally R. H. Macy & Co.; now a subsidiary of Federated Department Stores.

Madagascar.
Island republic off Southeast Africa, formerly Malagasy Republic; capital Antananarivo.

mademoiselle.
(Fr.) Not
-dam-.
An unmarried female; pl.
mesdemoiselles.

Madhya Pradash.
Indian state.

Madison, Dolley.
(1768–1849) Not
Dolly
. U.S. first lady, wife of James Madison. But note that some commercial products spell the name
Dolly Madison.

Madras,
India; now called Chennai; on first reference, it is probably best to use both names.

Madrileño.
Citizen of Madrid.

maelstrom.

Maeterlinck, Count Maurice.
(1862–1949) Belgian poet and dramatist; awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (1911).

Mafeking, Mafikeng.
The first is the historical spelling for the site of a famous siege during the Boer War; the second is the current spelling of the South African town.

Mafioso.
A member of the Mafia; pl.
Mafiosi.

Magdalen College,
Oxford, but
Magdalene College,
Cambridge. Both are pronounced
maudlin.
The New Testament figure is
Mary Magdalene.

Magellan, Ferdinand.
(1480–1521) Portuguese explorer; led first expedition that circumnavigated the globe, though he himself was killed en route; in Portuguese, Fernão de Magalhães.

Maggiore, Lake,
Italy.

Maghreb.
Collective name for Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Maginot Line.
Line of defensive fortifications across northeastern France, breached by Germany in 1940.

Magna Carta
(or
Charta
). Charter of rights signed by King John at Runnymede, England, in 1215.

magnum opus, opus magnum.
(Lat.) The first is an author's principal work; the second is a great work.

Magritte, René.
(1898–1967) Belgian surrealist painter.

Mahabhrata.
Indian epic.

maharaja, maharanee.
Indian prince and princess.

Mahatir bin Mohamad, Dr.
(1925–) Prime minister of Malaysia (1981–2003).

Mahfouz, Naguib.
(1912–2006) Egyptian novelist; awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.

mahjong.
Chinese game played with tiles.

mahogany.

Maillol, Aristide.
(1861–1944) French sculptor.

maître d'hôtel.
(Fr.) Hotel manager or headwaiter; pl.
mâitres d'hôtel.

Majlis.
Parliament of Iran.

major,
as in a “major initiative,” “major embarrassment,” “major undertaking,” and so on, remains a severely overworked word, and thus brings a kind of tofu quality to much writing, giving it bulk but little additional flavor. Nearly always it is worth the effort of trying to think of a more precise or expressive term.

majority
should be reserved for describing the larger of two clearly divisible things, as in “A majority of the members voted for the resolution.” But even then a more specific description is usually better: “52 percent,” “almost two-thirds,” “more than 70 percent,” etc. When there is no sense of a clear contrast with a minority (as in “The majority of his spare time was spent reading”),
majority
is always better avoided.

Makassar Strait.
Between Borneo and Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Makhachkala.
Formerly Petrovskoye, capital of Dagestan, Russia.

Maki, Fumihiko.
(1928–) Japanese architect.

Malabo.
Formerly Santa Isabel, capital of Equatorial Guinea.

Malagasy Republic.
Former name of Madagascar;
Malagasy
(sing. and pl.) remains the term for a person or persons from the island, and for the language spoken there.

malarkey.

Malawi.
Formerly Nyasaland. African republic; capital Lilongwe.

mal de mer.
(Fr.) Seasickness.

Maldives.
Island republic in the Indian Ocean; capital Malé.

maleficence, malfeasance.
The first means a propensity to cause hurt or harm. The second is a legal term describing wrongdoing.

Mali.
Formerly French Sudan. African republic; capital Bamako.

Maliki, Nouri.
(1950–) Prime minister of Iraq (2006–); sometimes also known as Jawad Maliki.

Mallarmé, Stéphane.
(1842–1898) French poet.

malleable.

Mallorca.
Spanish spelling of
Majorca.

malmsey.
A sweet wine; pl.
malmseys.

malodorous.

Malory, Sir Thomas.
(d. 1471) Fifteenth-century English author and compiler of Arthurian legends (notably
Le Morte d'Arthur
). But
George Mallory
(two
l
's) for the Everest explorer (1886–1924).

Malvinas, Islas.
Argentinian name for the Falkland Islands.

Mamaroneck,
New York.

Mammon.
(Cap.) Wealth regarded as an object of worship.

manacle.
Not
-icle
. Shackle.

manageable, manageability.

Manassas.
Virginia town near the site of two battles in the Civil War, usually called the battle of Bull Run in the North and the battle of Manassas in the South.

manatee.
Sea cow.

mandamus.
Writ commanding that a particular thing be done or a public duty performed.

mandatory, mandatary.
The first means compulsory; the second is a much rarer word, which applied to holding a mandate.

Mandlikova, Hana.
(1962–) Czech tennis player.

Manet, Édouard.
(1832–1883) French artist.

maneuver.

mangoes/mangos.
Either is correct.

Manhattan,
not
-en
, for the island borough at the heart of New York City; the cocktail is
manhattan
(lowercase).

manifesto,
pl.
manifestos.

Manila.
Capital of the Philippines. The paper and envelopes, etc., are usually spelled lowercase:

manila.

Manitoulin Island,
Lake Huron, Canada.

mannequin, manikin.
The words are broadly interchangeable, but the first is usually reserved for the types of dummies found in store windows and the second for anatomical models used for teaching. An alternative spelling of
manikin
is
mannikin.

manner born, to the.
Not
manor
. The line is from
Hamlet
.

mano a mano.
(Sp.) “Hand to hand.”

mantel, mantle.
The first is the usual spelling for the frame around a fireplace; the second for all other senses. Note also the spellings of the associated words
mantelshelf
and
mantelpiece.

Mao Zedong
(formerly
Mao Tse-tung
). (1893–1976) Founder and chairman of the People's Republic of China (1949–1959), and chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (1935–1976).

Mapplethorpe, Robert.
(1947–1989) American photographer.

Maputo.
Formerly Lourenço Marques; capital of Mozambique.

Maquis.
French resistance during World War II.

Maracaibo.
City and lake in Venezuela.

maraschino cherry.

March, Fredric.
(1897–1975) Not
Frederick
. American actor; born Frederick McIntyre Bickel.

marchioness.
Wife or widow of a marquis, or a woman holding the title of marquess.

Marciano, Rocky.
(1923–1969) American boxer, world heavyweight champion (1952–1956); born Rocco Marchegiano.

Marconi, Guglielmo.
(1874–1937) Italian inventor of wireless telegraphy; awarded Nobel Prize for Physics (1909).

margarine.
Not
-ger-.

margarita.
A cocktail.

Margaux, Château.
French wine.

marginal
is unobjectionable when used to describe something falling near a lower limit (“a marginal profit”). But it is a lame choice when all you mean is small or slight.

Margrethe II.
(1940–) Queen of Denmark (1972–).

Marianas Trench.
Site of greatest depth (36,220 feet; 11,040 meters) of the Pacific Ocean. The nearby island chain is called the
Mariana
(not-
s
)
Islands
or the
Marianas.