Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) (26 page)

Korematsu v. United States.
1944 Supreme Court case that upheld the internment of Japanese-American citizens on grounds of national security.

Korsakoff's syndrome.
Dementia associated with chronic alcoholism or vitamin deficiency.

koruna.
Basic unit of currency in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Kosciusko, Thaddeus.
(1746–1817) In Polish, Tadeusz Kościuszko. Polish general who fought on the American side in the Revolutionary War. But note that it is the
Kosciuszko Bridge
in New York.

Kosinski, Jerzy.
(1933–1991) Polish-born American novelist.

Kosovar.
Of or from Kosovo (e.g., Kosovar Albanians).

Kosygin, Alexei (Nikolayevich).
(1904–1980) Prime minister of Soviet Union (1964–1980).

Kournikova, Anna.
(1981–) Russian tennis player.

Krafft-Ebing, Baron, Richard von.
(1840–1902) German psychiatrist.

Kraków,
Poland; in English, Cracow.

Krapp's Last Tape.
One-act play by Samuel Beckett (1958).

Kreuger, Ivar.
(1880–1932) Not
Ivan
. Swedish financier who perpetrated $500 million fraud on investors.

Kriss Kringle.
Alternative name for Santa Claus.

Kristallnacht.
(Ger.) “Crystal night” so called because of all the glass broken during looting and destruction of Jewish businesses and synagogues in Germany and Austria on November 9–10, 1938.

krona, krone, kronor, etc.
The currencies of Scandinavia are easily confused. In Sweden, the basic unit of currency is a
krona
(pl.
kronor
); in Denmark and Norway it is a
krone
(pl.
kroner
); in Iceland it is a
króna
(pl.
krónur
).

Krugerrand
for the South African gold coin (used as an investment vehicle and not as a currency). Note
-rr-.

Krung Thep.
Thai name for Bangkok.

Krusenstern, Cape,
Alaska.

Krzyzewski, Mike.
(1947–) American basketball coach.

Kuala Lumpur.
Capital of Malaysia.

Kublai Khan.
(1216–1294) Mongol emperor of China (1279–1294); but
“Kubla Khan”
for the unfinished poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1797).

kudos
is a Greek word meaning fame or glory. Though often treated as a plural, it is in fact singular. Thus, it should be “the kudos that was his due.”

Kuiper belt.
Band of comets in outer solar system, named for
Gerard Kuiper
(1905–1973), Dutch-born American astronomer who posited their existence.

Ku Klux Klan.
(No hyphens.)

kulak.
Russian peasant.

Kumagai Gumi Company Limited.
Japanese construction company.

kumquat.

Kuomintang/Guomindang.
The first is the former spelling, the second the preferred current spelling for the Chinese Nationalist Party, founded by Sun Yat-sen. The syllable-
tang/-dang
contains the notion of party, so refer only to the Kuomintang, not Kuomintang Party.

Kurile Islands.
Island chain between Russia and Japan.

Kurosawa, Akira.
(1910–1998) Japanese film director.

Kuwaiti,
pl.
Kuwaitis.

Kuybyshev.
Russian city; formerly Samara.

Kuznetsov, Anatoly.
(1930–1979) Russian novelist.

Kuznetsova, Svetlana.
(1985–) Russian tennis player.

kW.
Kilowatt.

KwaNdebele.
Former South African homeland, now part of Mpumalanga Province.

kwashiorkor.
Nutritional disorder in young children.

KwaZulu-Natal.
Province of South Africa.

Kyd, Thomas.
(1558–1594) English playwright.

Kydland, Finn E.
(1943–) Norwegian-American academic, awarded Nobel Prize for Economics (2004).

Kyrgyzstan,
or
Kyrgyz Republic.
Formerly
Kirghizia
. Central Asia republic, formerly part of Soviet Union; capital Bishkek.

Kyzyl-Kum.
Desert in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Ll

labyrinth.

lackadaisical
for something done without enthusiasm. Not
lacks-.

Lackawanna,
New York.

Lackawaxen River,
Pennsylvania.

lacquer.

La Crosse,
Wisconsin. But
lacrosse
for the sport.

lacuna.
A missing part; pl.
lacunas/lacunae.

lacy.
Not
-ey.

laddie.
Not
-dy.

Ladies' Home Journal.

Ladies Professional Golf Association.
(No apos.)

Lady Chatterley's Lover.
Novel by D. H. Lawrence (1928).

Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de.
(1757–1834) French general who played a leading role in both the American and French revolutions.

Laffitte, Jacques.
(1767–1844) French statesman.

Lafite, Château.
Celebrated wine from Bordeaux.

Lafitte/Laffite, Jean.
(c. 1780–c. 1826) French pirate.

La Follette, Robert M(arion).
(1855–1925) American politician; ran for president as a Progressive in 1924.

Lag b'Omer.
Jewish holiday.

lagniappe.
A small, unexpected gift; pronounced
lan-yap.

La Guardia Airport,
New York. Some users make the name one word, as in Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College in Queens, but the two-word form is more general for both the man and any entities named for him, particularly the airport. For the record,
Fiorello Henry La Guardia
(1882–1947) was a New York congressman from 1917–1921 and 1923–1933 and mayor of New York City from 1934–1945.

laissez-faire.
(Hyphen.) Policy of noninterference by government in trade and industry.

Laius.
In Greek mythology, the king of Thebes and father of Oedipus.

La Jolla,
California.

Lake Wobegon.
Fictional town in stories by Garrison Keillor.

lama, Lammas, Ilama.
A
lama
is a Buddhist monk from Tibet or Mongolia (his dwelling place is a lamasery).
Lammas
is a type of harvest festival. The
llama
is a wool-bearing animal from South America.

lambaste.
Not
-bast.
To criticize sharply.

Lambeau Field.
Home of the Green Bay Packers.

Lamborghini.
Italian sports car.

lamb's wool.
Not
lambswool
.

LAN Airlines.
Principal airline of Chile; formerly LanChile.

Lancelot/Launcelot.
Both spellings have been used for the Arthurian knight, the first notably by Tennyson and the second notably by Malory.

Land Rover, Range Rover
(two words, no hyphen) for the British cars.

Land's End,
Cornwall, England, but
Lands' End
for the clothing company.

Langtry, Lillie.
(1853–1929) British actress; but her nickname was “The Jersey Lily.”

Languedoc-Roussillon.
Region of France; capital Montpellier.

languid, limpid.
Not to be confused.
Limpid
means clear, calm, un-troubled (“a limpid stream”). It has nothing to do with being limp or listless—meanings that are covered by
languid
.

languor, languorous.

lanyard.
Not
-iard.
Short rope or cord.

Lanzhou.
Capital of Gansu Province, China; formerly known in English as Lanchow.

Laois.
Irish county (pronounced
lay-ish.
); in Gaelic, Laoighis. Formerly called Leix (pronounced
laix
) and Queen's.

Laomedon.
In Greek mythology, the founder of Troy.

Lao-tze
(or
Lao-tzu
); in Pinyin
Lao Zi.
(c. 600–530
BC
) Chinese philosopher, reputed founder of Taoism. On first reference it is probably best to give both the traditional and Pinyin spellings of the name.

laparotomy.
Surgical incision into the abdominal wall.

La Paz.
Administrative capital and main city of Bolivia; the official capital is Sucre.

Laphroaig.
Whiskey; pronounced
la-froyg
.

lapis lazuli.
Type of gemstone.

La Plata,
Argentina, but
Río de la Plata.

Lapp, Lappish,
but
Lapland, Laplander.
The correct name for the people is
Sami.

lapsus memoriae.
(Lat.) A lapse of memory.

largess.

La Rochefoucauld, François, Duc de.
(1613–1680) French writer known for his maxims.

Larousse.
French publisher of reference books.

larrikin.
Australian term for an uncultured or ill-behaved person.

larynx,
pl.
larynges/larynxes. Larynges
should be the preferred term for medical or academic writings, but
larynxes
is probably better, and certainly more immediately understood, in more general contexts.

lasagna
(or
lasagne
).

La Scala.
Celebrated opera house in Milan; its formal name is
Teatro alla Scala.

LaSorda, Tom.
(1954–) CEO of Chrysler Group. But
Tommy Lasorda
(1927–) is the former baseball player and manager.

Lassen Peak.
Volcanic mountain in northern California.

lasso,
pl.
lassos.

last, latest.
Various authorities have issued various strictures against using
last
when you mean
latest
. Clearly,
last
should not be used when it might be misinterpreted, as in “the last episode of the television series” when you mean the most recent but not the final one. However, it should also be noted that
last
in the sense of
latest
has a certain force of idiom behind it, and when ambiguity is unlikely (as in “He spoke about it often during the last presidential election campaign”), a reasonable measure of latitude should be granted.

Lateran Treaty
(1929). Treaty between Italy and the Vatican by which the papacy recognized Italy as a state and Italy recognized the Vatican City as a sovereign papal state.

latitude.

Latour, Château.
A wine from Bordeaux.

La Tour, Georges de.
(1593–1652) French artist.

Latter-day Saints.
The Mormons' name for themselves.

laudable, laudatory.
Occasionally confused.
Laudable
means deserving praise.
Laudatory
means expressing praise.

Launcelot/Lancelot.
Both spellings are used for the Arthurian knight, the first by Malory, the second by Tennyson.

laundromat
is no longer a trademark.

law and order
is singular.

lawful, legal.
In many contexts the words can be used interchangeably, but not always.
Lawful
means “permissible under the law” (
lawful behavior, lawful protest
).
Legal
has that meaning plus the additional sense of “relating to the law,” as in
legal system
or
legal profession
.

lay, lie.
Lay
and
lie
, in all their manifestations, are a constant source of errors. There are no simple rules for dealing with them. You must either commit their various forms to memory or avoid them altogether. The forms are as follows:

The most common type of error is to say, “If you're not feeling well, go upstairs and lay down.” It should be “lie down.”

Lazarus, Emma.
(1849–1887) American poet, remembered chiefly for “The New Colossus,” the poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

L-dopa.
Drug used for treatment of Parkinson disease.

leach, leech.
The first describes the seepage of fluids, the second a bloodsucking invertebrate.

lead, led.
The past tense of the verb to
lead
is
led.
When
lead
is pronounced
led
it applies only to the metallic element.

Leadbelly
(or
Lead Belly
). (1888–1949) American blues musician; born Huddie William Ledbetter.

Leavitt, Henrietta Swan.
(1868–1921) American astronomer.

Iebensraum.
(Ger.) “Living space” imperialist notion pursued by Hitler that Germans were entitled to occupy neighboring lands.

Le Carré, John.
(1931–) Pen name of David Cornwell, British novelist.

Le Corbusier.
(1887–1965) Pseudonym of Charles Édouard Jeanneret, Swiss architect and town planner.

Lederberg, Joshua.
(1925–) American biologist, awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958.

lederhosen.
Leather shorts.

Lee Kuan Yew.
(1923–) Prime Minister of Singapore (1959–1990).

Leeuwarden,
Netherlands; capital of Friesland.

Leeuwenhoek, Anton van.
(1632–1723) Dutch naturalist associated with microscopes.

Leeward Islands.
Former British colony in the Caribbean comprising Anguilla, Antigua, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Nevis, and St. Kitts; the name now applies to all those plus Guadeloupe, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other smaller islands in the Lesser Antilles north of the Windward Islands.

Le Fanu, Joseph.
(1814–1873) Irish writer.

Lefschetz, Solomon.
(1884–1972) Russian-born American mathematician.

Léger, Fernand.
(1881–1955) French painter.

legerdemain.
Not
-der-.

Leghorn.
English name, now seldom used, for Livorno, Italy.

legible, legibility.

Légion d'honneur.
Supreme French order of merit.

Legionnaires' disease.

legitimize,
not
legitimatize.

Lehman Brothers.
U.S. financial services firm; formally Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Lehman College,
City University of New York.

Lehmann, Rosamond.
(1901–1990) English novelist.

Leibniz, (Gottfried Wilhelm) Baron von.
(1646–1716) German philosopher and mathematician.

Leicestershire,
England. Abbr. Leics.

Leiden, Leyden.
The first is the usual spelling for the Dutch town; the second for the scientific instrument known as a Leyden jar.

Leinster.
Province of the Republic of Ireland comprising the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow.

Leipzig,
Germany.

leitmotif
(or
leitmotiv
). A recurring idea or dominant theme associated with a particular character or idea in a musical or literary work.

Leitrim.
Irish county; pronounced
lee'
-
trim
.

Léman, Lac.
French name for Lake Geneva.

Le Mesurier, John.
(1912–1983) British actor.

Lemieux, Mario.
(1965–) Canadian ice hockey player.

Lemmon, Jack.
(1925–2001) American actor.

LeMond, Greg.
(1961–) American cyclist.

lend, loan.
Loan
as a verb (“He loaned me some money”) is now more or less standard, though one or two authorities continue to disdain it, favoring
lend
on grounds of tradition.

Lendl, Ivan.
(1960–) Czech tennis player.

Leningrad.
Russian city, now called St. Petersburg again.

lens,
pl.
lenses.

Leonardo da Vinci.
(1452–1519) Renaissance genius.
The Da Vinci Code
notwithstanding, a work or object associated with him should be called a Leonardo, not a Da Vinci.