Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) (30 page)

Menuhin, Yehudi.
(1916–1999) American-born British violinist.

meow.
The sound that cats make; in Britain and elsewhere it is usually spelled
miaow.

Mephistophelean
(or
Mephistophelian
). Evil; after
Mephistopheles,
the devil to whom Faust sold his soul.

Mercalli scale.
A measure of earthquake intensity; named for the Italian volcanologist
Giuseppe Mercalli
(1850–1914).

Mercedes-Benz.
(Hyphen.) The plural is
Mercedeses
, but is best avoided.

meretricious.
Vulgar, insincere.

meringue.
Confection made from egg whites and sugar.

merino.
Type of sheep; pl.
merinos.

meritocracy.
System of government based on merit.

Merkel, Angela.
(1954–) German chancellor (2005–).

Merrion Square,
Dublin.

mesmerize.

Messaggero, Il.
Italian newspaper.

Messerschmitt,
not
-schmidt
, for the type of aircraft.

metal, mettle.
Metal
denotes chemical elements such as gold and copper;
mettle
is for contexts describing courage or spirit.

metamorphose
(verb),
metamorphosis
(noun), pl.
metamorphoses.

metaphor, simile.
Both are figures of speech in which two things are compared. A
simile
likens one thing to another, dissimilar one: “He ran like the wind” “She took to racing as a duck takes to water.” A
metaphor,
on the other hand, acts as if the two compared things are identical and substitutes one for the other. Comparing the beginning of time to the beginning of a day, for instance, produces the metaphor “the dawn of time.”

metathesis.
The transposition of sounds or letters in a word or between words; the latter commonly are called spoonerisms.

mete, meet.
The first means to allot; the second means suitable. One metes out punishment, but a fitting punishment is meet.

meteor, meteorite, meteoroid.
Meteoroids
are pieces of galactic debris floating through space. If they enter Earth's atmosphere as shooting stars, they are
meteors.
If they survive the fall to Earth, they are
meteorites.

meter,
but
metric
and
metrical;
one meter equals 39.37 inches.

meticulous.
Several usage books, though fewer and fewer dictionaries, insist that the word does not mean merely very careful, but rather excessively so. Unless you mean to convey a negative quality, it is usually better to use
scrupulous, careful, painstaking
, or some other synonym.

metonymy.
Figure of speech in which a thing is described in terms of one of its attributes, as in calling the monarch “the crown.”

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Hollywood film studio, abbreviated MGM.

metronome.
Instrument for marking time.

mettle.
Courage or spirit.

Meuse.
River in northern Europe; in Dutch, Maas.

mezzanine.

Mezzogiorno.
The southern, poorer half of Italy.

mezzotint.
Method of engraving, and the engraving so produced.

MGM.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

miaow.
British spelling of
meow
.

Michaelmas.
Feast of St. Michael, September 29.

Michelangelo.
(1475–1564) Italian artist, architect, and engineer; full name
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni.

micro.
Prefix meaning one-millionth, or very small.

Micronesia, Federated States of.
Comprises Korsae, Ponape, Truk, and Yap; capital Kolonia.

Middlesbrough.
Not
-borough.
City in northern England.

Mid Glamorgan.
(Two words, no hyphen.) County in Wales.

Midi-Pyrénées.
Region of France.

Midwest
(one word),
Middle West
(two words).

Mientkiewicz, Doug.
(1974–) American baseball player.

Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig.
(1886–1969) German-born U.S. architect.

mijnheer, mynheer.
The first is the Dutch spelling, the second the English of the Dutch term for “sir.” Either should be capitalized when placed before a name.

mileage.

miles gloriosus.
Latin for “glorious soldier.” A braggart, particularly a braggart soldier. Pronounced
meel-us glor-ee-oh-sus
.

milieu.
Environment.

militate, mitigate.
Often confused. To
militate
is to operate against or, much more rarely, for something: “The news of the scandal militated against his election promises.” To
mitigate
means to assuage, soften, make more endurable: “His apology mitigated the insult.”
Mitigate against
often appears and is always wrong.

Milius, John.
(1944–) American film writer and director.

Milken, Michael.
(1946–) American financier.

Millais, Sir John Everett.
(1829–1896) British painter.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent.
(1892–1950) American poet.

millennium.
Note
-nn-.
The preferred plural is
millenniums,
but
millennia
is also accepted.

milli-.
Prefix meaning one-thousandth.

milliard.
British term now almost never used there or anywhere else, meaning 1,000 million or 1 trillion.

millipede.

Miloševíc, Slobodan.
(1941–2006) President of Serbia (1989–1997). He died while on trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in The Hague.

milquetoast,
not
milk-
, for a timid person. The name comes from an old newspaper cartoon called
The Timid Soul
featuring a character named Caspar (not
-er
) Milquetoast.

Mindanao.
Island in the Philippines.

Mindszenty, József, Cardinal.
(1892–1975) Roman Catholic primate of Hungary, long opposed to Communist regime.

minimize,
strictly speaking, does not mean merely to play down or soften. It means to reduce to an absolute minimum.

Minorca,
Balearic Islands, Spain; in Spanish, Menorca.

Minos.
In Greek mythology, a son of Zeus and Europa, and king of Crete.

Minotaur.
In Greek mythology, a figure that is half man and half bull.

Minsk.
Capital of Belarus.

minuscule.
Frequently misspelled. Think of
minus
, not
mini
.

minute detail.
The two words not only are tautological, but also have a kind of deadening effect on any passage in which they appear, as here: “Samples of the shards were brought back to the college, where they were studied in minute detail.” Why not just say “Samples of the shards were brought back to the college for study”? One can normally assume that any objects being subjected to study will be examined closely.

minutia.
A detail; pl.
minutiae.
Note that the latter is pronounced
min-oo-she,
not
min-oo-she-ay
.

mirabile dictu.
(Lat.) Wonderful to relate.

Miricioiu, Nelly.
(1952–) Romanian opera singer.

MIRV.
Multiple independently targeted reentry vehicle; a type of ballistic missile.

miscellaneous.

mischievous.

mise-en-scène.
Stage or film scenery, or the general setting of an event.

mishit.

misogamist, misogynist.
The first hates marriage, the second hates women.

misshapen.

Mississauga.
Suburb of Toronto.

Missolonghi, Greece.

misspell.
If there is one word that you don't wish in print to misspell, it is this one. Note
-ss-.

misspend.

misstate.

misstep.

mistime.

mistletoe.

mistral.
Cold, unpleasant wind in France.

MIT.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

mitigate, militate.
The first means to soften or make more endurable; the second to act against.

mitochondrion.
Type of cell organelle; pl.
mitochondria.

Mitsukoshi.
Japanese department store chain.

Mitterrand, François (Maurice Marie).
(1916–1996) President of France (1981–1995).

Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater,
Lincoln Center, New York.

Miyazawa, Kiichi.
(1919–2007) Prime minister of Japan (1991–1993).

Mnemosyne.
Greek goddess of memory and mother of the nine Muses by Zeus.

MO.
Postal abbreviation of Missouri. The traditional abbreviation is
Mo.
, with period.

Möbius strip
(or
band
). A piece of paper or other material twisted in such a way as to form a continuous surface; named after its discoverer, German mathematician
August Möbius
(1790–1868).

Mobutu Sese Seko.
(1930–1997) President of Zaire (1965–1997); born Joseph-Desiré Mobuto.

Moby-Dick.
(Note hyphen.) Novel by Herman Melville (1851). The full title on publication was
Moby-Dick; or, the Whale
.

moccasin.

modem
is short for
modulator/demodulator.

Modigliani, Amedeo.
(1884–1920) Italian artist.

modus operandi.
(Lat.) The way of doing something.

modus vivendi.
(Lat.) Way of life, or a kind of truce pending the settlement of a dispute.

Mogadishu.
Capital of Somalia.

Mohave, Mojave.
The first is the spelling for the Native American tribe and mountains in Arizona; the second is the spelling of the desert.

Mohorovicíc discontinuity.
Boundary between Earth's crust and mantle, named for the Croatian geophysicist
Andrija Mohorovicíc
(1857–1936).

Mojave Desert,
but
Mohave
for the Native American tribe and mountains in Arizona.

Moldova.
Not
Moldavia
. Eastern European republic, formerly called Bessarabia, formerly part of Soviet Union; capital Chişinău. The people and language are Moldovan.

Molière.
(1622–1673) French playwright; born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin.

mollycoddle.

Molly Maguires.
Secret society active in Pennsylvania in nineteenth century.

molt.
Not
moult
.

molybdenum.
Chemical element; symbol Mo.

Mombasa.
Seaport and resort in Kenya.

Mona Lisa.
Painting by Leonardo da Vinci, also called
La Gioconda
.

Mönchen-Gladbach,
Germany.

Mondrian, Piet.
(1872–1944) Dutch abstract painter; born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan.

Monégasque
for a person or thing from Monaco. Not
Mona-.

moneyed,
not
monied
, for someone with wealth.

mongooses
is the plural of
mongoose
. (The word is of Indian origin and has no relation to the English
goose
.)

moniker
(not
monicker
) for a name or nickname.

Monnet, Jean.
(1888–1979) French statesman; but
Claude Monet
for the artist.

Monongahela.
River in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

mononucleosis
is the American term for the illness known in Britain and elsewhere as glandular fever, a consideration that should be borne in mind if writing for an international audience.

Monserrat,
Spain, but
Montserrat,
Leeward Islands.

monsieur,
pl.
messieurs.

Montagnard.
French for “mountain dweller,” it is the name given to the radical faction during the French Revolution because of the elevated position of their seats in the National Convention. The term is also applied to some Southeast Asian hill tribes.