Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) (37 page)

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.

Queen Elizabeth II.
(1926–) Her formal title, though seldom used, is Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her Other Realms and Territories, Queen Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. She became queen in 1952; her coronation was in 1953.

Queens.
(No apos.) Borough of New York.

Queensberry rules.
Not
-bury.
Code of conduct for boxing; formally they are the Marquess of Queensberry Rules.

Queensboro Bridge,
New York, but
Queensborough Community College.

Queens College,
City University of New York,
Queen's College,
Oxford,
Queens' College,
Cambridge.

quelque chose.
(Fr.) Something, a trifle.

¿qué pasa?
(Sp.) “What's up?”

querulous.
Fretful, peevish.

query, inquiry, enquiry.
A
query
is a single question. An
inquiry
or
enquiry
may be a single question or an extensive investigation. Either spelling is correct, but
inquiry
is preferred by most dictionaries.

que será, será.
(Sp.) “Whatever will be, will be.” The same expression in Italian is
che sarà, sarà
.

qu'est-ce que c'est?
(Fr.) “What is this?”

question, leading.
A leading question is not a challenging or hostile one, as is sometimes thought, but the opposite. It is a question designed to encourage the person being questioned to make the desired response. A lawyer who says to a witness, “So you didn't see the murder, did you?” has asked a leading question.

question mark
has become an overworked embellishment of the expression “a question hanging over,” which is itself wearyingly overused. Consider: “The case…has raised a question mark over the competence of British security” (
The Times
). Would you say of a happy event that it had raised an exclamation mark over the proceedings or that a pause in negotiations had a comma hanging over them?

questionnaire.
Note
-nn-.

Quetzalcoatl.
Aztec god.

queue, queuing.

Quezon City.
Former capital of the Philippines (1948–1976).

quid pro quo.
(Lat.) Tit for tat, a fair trade-off.

quiescent.

qu'importe?
(Fr.) “What does it matter?”

quincentennial.
Five-hundredth anniversary.

Quinnipiac University,
Connecticut.

Quinquagesima.
The fiftieth day before Easter, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

quinquennial
can mean either to last for five years or to occur once every five years. Because of the inherent ambiguity, the word is almost always better replaced with a more specific phrase.

quinsy.
Historic name for tonsillitis.

quintessence, quintessential.

quisling.
One who collaborates with a foreign enemy; after
Vidkun Quisling
(1887–1945), pro-Nazi Norwegian prime minister appointed by Germany.

Quito.
Capital of Ecuador.

qui vive, on the.
In a state of watchfulness.

Qum
(or
Qom
). Holy city in Iran.

quod est demonstrandum.
(Abbr. QED.) (Lat.) “Which was to be demonstrated.”

quod vide.
(Abbr. q.v.) (Lat.) “Which see” used for cross-references.

Quonochontaug,
Rhode Island.

Quonset hut.
Prefabricated metal shelter.

quorum,
pl.
quorums.

Quran.
Alternative spelling of
Koran
.

q.v.
Quod vide
(Lat.), “which see.” Used for cross-references.

qwerty keyboard.
Standard English keyboard, so called because the first six letters of the first row of letters spell
qwerty
.

Rr

rabbet.
Type of groove used in carpentry.

rabbi, rabbinical.

Rabelais, François.
(c. 1494–c. 1553) French satirist.

Rabin, Yitzhak.
(1922–1995) Israeli prime minister (1974–1977, 1992–1995).

raccoon.

Rachmaninoff
(or
Rachmaninov
),
Sergei.
(1873–1943) Russian composer and pianist.

rack, wrack.
Wrack
is an archaic variant of
wreck
and now almost never appears except in the expression
wrack and ruin
.
Rack
means to put under strain. The expressions are
nerve-racking
and
to rack one's brain
.

racket
(pref.)/
racquet
(alt.).

racy.

radiator.
Not
-er.

radius.
The plural can be either
radii
or
radiuses
.

raffia.
Fiber used for mats.

Rafsanjani, Ali Akbar (Hashemi).
(1934–) President of Iran (1989–1997).

ragamuffin.

ragout.
In French,
ragoût.

raise Cain, to.

raison d'être.
(Fr.) “Reason for being.”

Rajasthan,
India. Not
-stan.

raki.
Alcoholic drink of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Ralegh, Sir Walter.
(1552–1618) English courtier, explorer, and author.
Raleigh
was once the conventional spelling, but
Ralegh
is now generally preferred in serious and academic writings. However, for the city in North Carolina, the bicycles, and the cigarettes, use
Raleigh.

Ramadan.
Ninth month of the Muslim year, and the fast that takes place in that month.

Ramses
(sometimes
Rameses
). Name of twelve pharaohs of ancient Egypt.

rand.
South African currency; the plural is also
rand.

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington
is the formal name of the home of the Texas Rangers baseball team.

ranges of figures.
Sentences such as the following are common: “Profits in the division were expected to rise by between $35 and $45 million.” Although most people will see at once that the writer meant to indicate a range of $10 million, literally she was saying that profits could be as little as $35 or as much as $45 million. If you mean “between $35 million and $45 million,” it is always better to say so.

Ransom, John Crowe.
(1888–1974) American poet and critic.

Ransome, Arthur.
(1884–1967) British author of children's stories.

Raphael.
(1483–1520) Italian painter; real name Raffaello Santi (or Sanzio).

“Rappaccini's Daughter.”
Story by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1844).

Rappahannock River,
Virginia.

rappel, rappelled, rappelling.

rapprochement.
(Fr.) Reconciliation.

rapt, wrapped.
One is rapt in thought, not wrapped.
Rapt
means engrossed, absorbed, enraptured.

rara avis.
(Lat.) “A rare bird” an unusual or wonderful person or thing; pl.
rarae aves.

rarefy, rarefaction,
but
rarity.

Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, The History of.
Novel by Samuel Johnson (1759).

Rastafarianism.
Religious sect.

ratatouille.
Vegetable stew.

rational, rationale.
The first means sensible or sound (“a rational decision”); the second describes a justification (“the rationale for his actions”).

rattan.
Type of cane.

ravage, ravish.
The first means to lay waste. The second means to rape or carry off—or, a touch confusingly, to enrapture. Clearly, in all senses, for both words, care needs to be exercised to avoid confusion.

Ravenna,
Italy.

Rawalpindi,
Pakistan.

Ray, Satyajit.
(1921–1992) Indian film director.

razed to the ground
is a common but mistaken expression. The ground is the only place to which a structure can be razed. It is enough to say that a building has been razed.

razzmatazz.

re-words.
Somewhat mystifyingly, many publications show a formidable resistance to putting hyphens into any word beginning with
re-.
Yet often the presence or absence of a hyphen can usefully and immediately denote a difference in meaning, as between
recollect
(remember) and
re-collect
(collect again), or between
recede
(withdraw) and
re-cede
(give back again, as with territory). My advice, for what it is worth, is always to insert a hyphen if you think it might reduce the chance of even momentary misunderstanding.

react
is better reserved for spontaneous responses (“He reacted to the news by fainting”). It should not be used to indicate responses marked by reflection.

real.
Brazilian currency; the plural is
reais.

realpolitik.
Politics based on the achievable.

reason…is because
is a common construction that almost always points to an overwritten sentence. Consider an example: “The reason she spends less and less time in England these days is because her business interests keep her constantly on the move.” Remove “the reason” and its attendant verb “is,” and a crisper, more focused sentence emerges: “She spends less and less time in England these days because her business interests keep her constantly on the move.”

reason why,
like
reason…is because
(see above), is generally redundant. Consider two examples: “Grover said her contract had been terminated, but no one at the company would tell her the reason why” “His book argues that the main reason why inner-city blacks are in such a sorry state is not because whites are prejudiced but that low-skilled jobs near their homes are disappearing.” An improvement can nearly always be effected by removing one word or the other—e.g., “the reason” from the first example, “why” from the second.

receptacle.

recherché.
Farfetched.

reciprocal, reciprocity.

reckless.
Not
wreckless
, unless you are describing a setting in which there are no wrecks.

reconnaissance.

reconnoiter.

reducible.

reductio ad absurdum.
(Lat.) To deflate an argument by proving it absurd.

reebok.
Type of antelope.

Reekie, Auld.
(Scot.) “Old Smoky” nickname for Edinburgh.

reflector.

refute
means to show conclusively that an allegation is wrong. It does not mean simply to dispute or deny a contention.

regalia
is plural.

Regent's Park,
London (apos.).

reggae.
West Indian music.

regretfully, regrettably.
The first means with feelings of regret (“Regretfully they said their farewells”); the second means unfortunately (“Regrettably I did not have enough money to buy it”).

rehabilitate.

Reims,
France, is the usual spelling, though
Rheims
is sometimes used. It is pronounced
reemz
in English but
ranz
in French.

relatively,
like
comparatively
, should not be used unless there is some sense of a comparison or relationship. Often it can be removed without loss from sentences like “The group has taken the relatively bold decision to expand its interests in Nigeria.”

religieuse.
(Fr.) A nun; pl.
religieuses.

religieux.
(Fr.) A monk; pl.
religieux.

Remarque, Erich Maria.
(1898–1970) German-born American novelist.

Rembrandt Harmensz
(or
Harmenszoon
)
van Rijn
is the full name for the Dutch painter (1606–1669).

remembrance.
Not
-berance
.

remissible.

remittance, remitted.

remittent.

remunerate.
Not
renum-.

Renaissance, the.
In European art, roughly the period 1300–1500.

rendezvous
is the spelling for both the singular and plural.

renegade.

renege, reneged, reneging.

Renoir, Pierre-Auguste.
(1841–1919) French painter; father of
Jean Renoir
(1894–1979), film director.

renown.
Not
reknown
.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Rentokil.
Pest control company; not
-kill.

repartee.

repellent.

repetition, repetitive.

replete
is not merely full but overfull, stuffed.

replica.
An exact copy. A scale model is not a replica. Only something built to the same scale as the original and using the same materials is a replica. It therefore follows that “exact replica” is always redundant.

repository.

reprehensible.

reproducible.

Repubblica, La.
Italian newspaper. Note
-bb-.

Resnais, Alain.
(1922–) French film director.

respirator.
Not
-er.

respite, temporary
or
brief.
It is in the nature of respites to be both. It is enough to say that somebody or something enjoyed a respite.

restaurateur.
Not
-rant-.

restive
properly means balky or obstinate, refusing to move or budge. A crowd of protesters may grow restive upon the arrival of mounted police, but a person sitting uncomfortably on a hard bench is better described as restless.

résumé.

resuscitate, resuscitator.

retraceable.

retroussé
(masc.)/
retroussée
(fem). Turned up, particularly applied to noses.

retsina.
Greek white wine flavored with resin.

Reuters.
(No apos.) News agency.

reveille.

Revelation, Book of.
Not
-ions.

reversible.

revert back
is always redundant. Delete
back
.

revertible.

Reykjavik.
Capital of Iceland.

Rhadamanthus.
In Greek mythology, a judge of the dead.

Rhein.
German spelling of Rhine.

Rhineland-Palatinate.
German state; in German, Rheinland-Pfalz.

rhinestone.
Artificial diamond.

rhinoceros,
pl.
rhinoceroses.

rhododendron.

Rhône.
French river.

Rhône-Alpes,
French region.

rhumb line.

rhythm, rhythmic.

RIBA.
Royal Institute (not
Institution
) of British Architects.

Ribbentrop, Joachim von.
(1893–1946) German politician.

ribonucleic acid.
RNA.

Ricardo, David.
(1772–1823) English political economist and politician.

Rice, Condoleezza.
(1954–) American political adviser, secretary of state (2005–).

Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal, Duc de.
(1585–1642) French prime minister (1624–42).

Richter scale
for the standard measure of earthquake magnitudes. It is named for
Charles Richter
(1900–1985) of the California Institute of Technology, who invented it in the 1930s. The scale increases at a rate that is exponential rather than linear, making each level of increment vastly greater than most people appreciate. According to Charles Office and Jake Page in
Tales of the Earth
, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake is 50 times larger than a magnitude 7.3 quake and 2,500 times larger than a magnitude 6.3 quake. In practical terms, this means that Richter magnitudes are largely meaningless to most readers and comparisons involving two or more Richter measurements are totally meaningless. It is considerate to the reader to provide, wherever possible, some basis of comparison beyond the bare Richter numbers. It is also worth bearing in mind that the Richter scale measures only the magnitude of an earthquake at its point of origin and says little or nothing about the degree of devastation at ground level.