Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) (15 page)

dos and don'ts.
Not
do's
.

Dosewallips River,
Washington.

Dos Passos, John.
(1896–1970) American writer.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor,
is the commonest spelling of the name of the Russian novelist (1821–1881), but there are many possible variants for both names.

double meanings.
Anyone who has written headlines for a living will know the embarrassment that comes from causing hilarity to a large group of people by writing an inadvertently two-faced headline. I have no doubt that someone at the
Toronto Globe and Mail
is still cringing at having written “Upturns May Indicate Some Bottoms Touched” (cited in
Punch
), as must earlier have been the author of the oft-quoted and variously attributed “MacArthur Flies Back to Front.” It is always worth remembering that many words carry a range of meanings, or function as both nouns and verbs, and consequently offer unexpected opportunities for mischief.

double negatives.
Most people know you shouldn't say “I haven't had no dinner,” but some writers, doubtless more out of haste than ignorance, sometimes perpetrate sentences that are scarcely less jarring, as here: “Stranded and uncertain of their location, the survivors endured for six days without hardly a trace of food” (
Chicago Tribune
). Since
hardly
, like
scarcely
, has the grammatical effect of a negative, it requires no further negation. Make it “with hardly.”

Some usage guides flatly condemn all double negatives, but there is one kind, in which a negative in the main clause is paralleled in a subordinate construction, that we might view more tolerantly. Evans cites this sentence from Jane Austen: “There was none too poor or remote not to feel an interest.” And Shakespeare wrote: “Nor what he said, though it lacked form a little, was not like madness.” But such constructions must be considered exceptional. More often the intrusion of a second negative is merely a sign of fuzzy writing. At best it will force the reader to pause and perform some verbal arithmetic, adding negative to negative, as here: “The plan is now thought unlikely not to go ahead” (
London Times
). At worst it may leave the reader darkly baffled, as in this memorably convoluted sentence from a leading authority: “Moreover…our sense of linguistic tact will not urge us not to use words that may offend or irritate” (Quirk,
The Use of English
).

Double Top Mountain,
New York, but
Doubletop Peak,
Wyoming.

doubt if, that, whether.
Idiom demands some selectivity in the choice of conjunction to introduce a clause after
doubt
and
doubtful
. The rule is simple:
Doubt that
should be reserved for negative contexts (“There is no doubt that…” “It was never doubtful that…”) and interrogative ones (“Do you have any doubt that…?” “Was it ever doubtful that…?”).
Whether
or
if
should be used in all others (“I doubt if he will come” “It is doubtful whether the rain will stop”).

doubtless, undoubtedly, indubitably.
“Tonight he faces what is doubtlessly the toughest and loneliest choice of his 13-year stewardship of the Palestine Liberation Organization” (
Washington Post
). Since
doubtless
can be an adverb as well as an adjective, there is no need to add
-ly
to it.
Undoubtedly
would have been a better choice still because, as the Evanses note, it has a less concessive air.
Doubtless
usually suggests a tone of reluctance or resignation: “You are doubtless right.”
Undoubtedly
carries more conviction: “You are undoubtedly right.”
Indubitably
is a somewhat jocular synonym for either.

Douglass, Frederick.
(1817–1895) Escaped American slave who became a leading abolitionist and statesman; born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey.

douse, dowse.
The first means to drench; the second means to search for water.

Dow Jones industrial average.
(No hyphen, last two words no caps.)

Downers Grove
(no apos.), Illinois.

Down House.
Charles Darwin's home; located in
Downe,
Kent.

Down syndrome.
Congenital condition, formerly called mongolism; named after the British physician J. L. H. Down (1828–1896). Sometimes still called
Down's syndrome,
but increasingly the convention in medical circles is to abandon the possessive in the names of diseases (so Parkinson disease, Hodgkin disease).

D.Phil.
British equivalent of the American Ph.D.

dramatis personae.
Cast of characters.

Drechsler, Heike.
(1964–) German sprinter and long jumper.

Dreiser, Theodore.
(1871–1945) American writer.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
Investment bank.

Drexel Burnham Lambert.
(No commas.) Defunct U.S. investment bank.

Dreyfus, Alfred.
(1859–1935) French officer whose wrongful imprisonment on Devil's Island became a celebrated controversy.

Dreyfuss, Richard.
(1949–) American actor.

drier, dryer.
Drier
is the condition of being more dry; a
dryer
is an appliance for drying clothes or hair.

droit de/du seigneur.
A feudal lord's supposed right to spend the first night with a vassal's bride.

drunkenness.
Note
-nn-.

dual, duel.
Dual
means twofold;
duel
describes a fight between two parties.

du Barry, Marie Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse.
(1743–1793) Mistress of Louis XV, beheaded during the French Revolution.

Dub
ek, Alexander.
(1921–1992) First secretary of the Communist Party (i.e., head of state) in Czechoslovakia (1968–69); his reforms led to the Soviet invasion of the country in 1968.

dubiety.
The state of being dubious.

Du Bois, W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt).
(1868–1963) American political activist and civil rights leader.

Duchamp, Marcel.
(1887–1968) French painter.

dudgeon.
Feeling of resentment.

duenna.
Governess or chaperon; in Spanish,
dueña
.

due to.
Most authorities continue to accept that
due
is an adjective only and must always modify a noun. Thus, “He was absent due to illness” would be wrong. Make it either “He was absent because of [or owing to] illness” or recast the sentence to give
due
a noun to modify, e.g., “His absence was due to illness.” The rule is mystifyingly inconsistent—no one has ever really explained why “owing to” used prepositionally is acceptable while “due to” used prepositionally is not—but it should perhaps still be observed, at least in formal writing, if only to avoid a charge of ignorance.

duffel bag, duffel coat.
After Belgian town
Duffel.

Dufy, Raoul.
(1877–1953) French painter.

Duisburg,
Germany; pronounced
doos-boork.

Dukakis, Michael (Stanley).
(1933–) U.S. presidential candidate (1988); governor of Massachusetts (1975–1979, 1983–1990).

Duma.
Russian parliament.

Dumas, Alexandre.
(1802-1870) French novelist and dramatist.

Dumbarton Oaks,
Washington, D.C.

dumdum bullet.

dumfound
(pref.),
dumbfound
(alt.).

dummkopf.
(Ger.) Not
dumb-.
A stupid person.

Dum spiro, spero.
(Lat.) “While I breathe, there is hope.”

Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.

Dunkin' Donuts.

Dunkirk.
French port; in French, Dunkerque.

Dun Laoghaire.
Irish port near Dublin; pronounced
dun-leery
. In the Gaelic spelling
Dún
has an accent.

Duns Scotus, Johannes.
(c. 1270–1308) Scottish philosopher and theologian.

duomo.
(It.) Cathedral; pl.
duomi.

Du Pont.
U.S. chemicals business; formally E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. But on second or informal references it is normally spelled
DuPont
(one word). The place in Washington, D.C., is
Dupont Circle.

du Pré, Jacqueline.
(1945–1987) British cellist.

Dürer, Albrecht.
(1471–1528) German artist and engraver.

duress.

durum.
A type of wheat.

Dushanbe.
Capital of Tajikistan.

Düsseldorf.
Capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Dutchess County,
New York State.

Dutch Guiana.
Former name of Surinam.

Dvorák, Antonin.
(1841–1904) Czech composer.

dwarfs
is generally preferred to
dwarves
.

dyeing, dying.
The first means adding color; the second means becoming dead.

dysentery.

dyslexia.

dysprosium.
Chemical element.

dystrophy.
Lacking adequate nutrition.

Dzibilchaltún National Park,
Mexico.

Ee

each.
When
each
precedes the noun or pronoun to which it refers, the verb should be singular: “Each of us was…” When it follows the noun or pronoun, the verb should be plural: “They each were…”
Each
not only influences the number of the verb, it also influences the number of later nouns and pronouns. In simpler terms, if
each
precedes the verb, subsequent nouns and pronouns should be plural (e.g., “They each are subject to sentences of five years”), but if
each
follows the verb, the subsequent nouns and pronouns should be singular (“They are each subject to a sentence of five years”).

each and every
is hopelessly tautological. Choose one or the other.

each other, one another.
A few arbiters of usage continue to insist on
each other
for two things and
one another
for more than two. There is no harm in observing such a distinction, but also little to be gained from it, and, as Fowler long ago noted, the practice has no basis in historical usage. The possessive form is
each other's,
not
each others'
.

EADS.
Short for European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, maker of Airbus planes.

Eagels, Jeanne.
(1890–1929) American actress.

Earhart, Amelia.
(1897–1937) Female aviator who disappeared while trying to circumnavigate the globe.

Earl's Court,
London.

Earnhardt, Dale.
(1951–2001) Racecar driver.

earring.
Note
-rr-.

Earth, earth.
When considering it as a planet, particularly in apposition to other cosmic features,
Earth
is normally capitalized. In more general senses (“He shot the arrow and it fell to earth”) lowercase is usually favored.

East Chester,
New York, and
Eastchester,
New York (separate places).

eau-de-vie.
The French term for brandy; pl.
eaux-de-vie.

eBay.

Ebbets Field,
Brooklyn, New York; home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, 1913–1957.

EBITDA.
Short for
earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization
; in finance, it is a measure of a company's profits before various deductions.

Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus.
The first is a book in the Old Testament; the second a book in the Old Testament Apocrypha.

ECG.
Electrocardiogram.

éclat.
Brilliant display or effect, notable success, renown.

Eco, Umberto.
(1932–) Italian academic and novelist.

economic, economical.
If what you mean is cheap and thrifty, use
economical
. For every other sense use
economic
. An economic rent is one that is not too cheap for the landlord. An economical rent is one that is not too expensive for the tenant.

ecstasy.

Ecuadorean
is generally the preferred spelling for a person or product from Ecuador.

Eddy, Mary Baker.
(1821–1910) American religious leader, founder of the Christian Science church, formally the Church of Christ, Scientist.

edema.
Swelling of body tissue as a result of abnormal retention of fluid.

Edgware Road.
Street and Underground station in London.

Edmonton.
Capital of Alberta, Canada.

Eduskunta.
Parliament of Finland.

EEG.
Electroencephalogram.

eerie.

effect, affect.
As a verb,
effect
means to accomplish (“The prisoners effected an escape”);
affect
means to influence (“Smoking may affect your health”) or to adopt a pose or manner (“He affected ignorance”). As a noun, the word needed is almost always
effect
(as in “personal effects” or “the damaging effects of war”).
Affect
as a noun has a narrow psychological meaning to do with emotional states (by way of which it is related to
affection
).

effete
does not mean effeminate and weak, as it is often used. It means exhausted and barren. An
effete
poet is not necessarily foppish, but rather someone whose creative impulses are spent.

e.g., i.e.
(Lat.) The first is an abbreviation of
exempli gratia
and means “for example,” as in “Some words are homonyms, e.g.,
blew
and
blue
.” The second is the abbreviation for
id est
and means “that is” or “that is to say,” as in “He is pusillanimous, i.e., lacking in courage.”

eggplant.
Commonly known elsewhere as
aubergine
.

Eglin Air Force Base,
Florida.

egoism, egotism.
The first pertains to the philosophical notion that a person can prove nothing beyond the existence of his own mind. It is the opposite of altruism and is better left to contexts involving metaphysics and ethics. If all you wish to suggest is inflated vanity or preoccupation with the self, use
egotism
.

Eichmann, Adolf.
(1906–1962) Notorious Nazi war criminal, head of Gestapo; captured in Argentina by Israeli agents in 1960 and tried and executed in Israel.

Eiffel Tower,
Paris, but
Eifel Mountains,
Germany.

Eileithyia.
Greek goddess of childbirth.

Eindhoven,
Netherlands.

Eisenbahn
(Ger.) Railroad.

Eisenhower, Dwight David.
(1890–1969) U.S. general and president (1953–1961).

Eisenstaedt, Alfred.
(1898–1995) German-born American photographer.

Eisenstein, Sergei.
(1898–1948) Russian filmmaker.

eisteddfod.
Welsh festival or competition of music or literature; pl.
eisteddfods
or (in Welsh)
eisteddfodau.

either.
Either
suggests a duality and is almost always better avoided when the context involves quantities of more than two, as in “Decisions on Mansfield's economy are now made in either Detroit, Pittsburgh, or New York.” Often in such constructions,
either
is unnecessary anyway; delete it and the sentence says no less. A separate problem with
either
is seen here: “But in every case the facts either proved too elusive or the explanations too arcane to be satisfactory.”
Either
should be placed before “the facts” or deleted; for a further discussion, see
BOTH
…
AND
. For a discussion of errors of number involving
either,
see
NEITHER
.

eke
means to add to something in a meager way or with difficulty, not to gain a close but favorable result. A hungry person might
eke
out a supply of food, but a football team does not eke out a victory.

El Alamein/Al Alamayn.
Egyptian village that gave its name to two battles in World War II.

El Dorado.
Legendary city of gold.

Electra.
In Greek mythology, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the subject of plays by Sophocles, Euripedes, and Aeschylus. An Electra complex is an unnatural attachment to a father by a daughter.

electrolyte.
A solution that conducts electricity.

elegy, eulogy.
The first is a mournful poem; the second is a tribute to the dead.

elemental, elementary.
Elemental
refers to things that are basic or primary: “Physiology is an elemental part of a medical student's studies.”
Elementary
means simple or introductory: “This phrase book provides an elementary guide to Spanish.”

elephantiasis.
Condition of abnormal swelling caused by disease of the lymph nodes.

Elgin Marbles,
British Museum, is pronounced with a hard
g
:
el-gin,
not
el-jin.

elicit, extract, extort.
These three are broadly synonymous, but are distinguished by the degree of force that they imply.
Elicit
, the mildest of the three, means to draw or coax out, and can additionally suggest an element of craftiness: you can elicit information without the informant being aware that he has divulged it.
Extract
suggests a stronger and more persistent effort, possibly involving threats or importuning.
Extort
is stronger still and suggests clear threats of violence or harm.

Eli Lilly.
Not
Lilley.
U.S. pharmaceuticals company.

Eliot, George.
Pen name of Mary Ann (later Marian) Evans (1819–1880), English author.

Eliot, T. S.
(for Thomas Stearns) (1888–1965) American-born British poet, critic, and playwright; awarded Nobel Prize for Literature (1948).

Ellice Islands.
Pacific island group; now called Tuvalu.

Elliott Bay,
Seattle.

Elliott, Denholm.
(1922–1992) British actor.

Ellis Island.
Site of former immigration center in New York.

El Salvador.
Central American country; capital San Salvador. The people are Salvadorans.

Elstree.
Film studios, England.

Élysée Palace,
Paris. Official home of French presidents. Not
the
.

Elysium, Elysian Fields.
In Greek mythology, paradise.

embalmment.
Note
-mm-
.

embarrass, embarrassment.
Both are misspelled more often than they should be. Note, however, that the French spelling is
embarras
, as in
embarras de richesses
(“an embarrassment of riches”) and
embarras du choix
(“an embarrassment of choice”).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo.
(1803–1882) American poet and essayist.

émigré.
An emigrant, particularly a political refugee.

Emilia-Romagna.
Region of Italy; capital Bologna.

Emmanuel College,
Cambridge University, England.

Emmental.
A type of cheese.

empathy, sympathy.
Empathy
denotes a close emotional understanding of the feelings or problems of another. It is thus close in meaning to
compassion. Sympathy
is more general. It can denote a closeness of understanding, but it can equally suggest no more than an abstract or intellectual awareness of another's misfortune.
Empathy
generally applies only to serious misfortunes;
sympathy
can apply to any small annoyance or setback.

Empedocles.
(c. 495–c. 435
BC
) Greek philosopher and poet.

emphysema.

empower.
Not
en-.

EMU.
In the context of the European Union, it stands for Economic (not
European
) and Monetary Union.

encomium.
A lavish tribute or eulogy; pl.
encomiums.

encumbrance.
Not
-erance.

encyclopedia, encyclopedist,
but
Encyclopaedia Britannica.

endemic.
See
EPIDEMIC
.

Endymion.
In Greek mythology, a young man loved by the moon and condemned to eternal sleep.

enfant terrible.
(Fr.) Troublesome young person; anyone of embarrassingly indiscreet or unruly behavior.

Engels, Friedrich.
(1820–1895) German socialist.

Englischer Garten,
Munich, Germany.

Enniskillen,
Northern Ireland, site of infamous IRA bombing in 1987.

ennoble.

ennui.

enormity
does not, as is frequently thought, indicate size, but rather refers to something that is wicked, monstrous, and outrageous (“The enormity of Hitler's crimes will never be forgotten”). If what you require is a word denoting large scale, try “immensity” or “vastness.”

en passant.
(Fr.) “In passing.”

enroll, enrollment.

entelechy.
The act of changing from potential to actual, or a kind of vital force for living things.

entente cordiale.
Term used to describe a long-standing amity between countries.

Entertaining Mr. Sloane.
Not
Sloan
. Comedy by Joe Orton (1964).

enthrall.

entomology.
The study of insects.

entr'acte.
Interval between acts or an entertainment performed then.

entrecôte.
Tenderloin.

entrepôt.
A trading place or storehouse.