Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) (34 page)

pelota.
Another name for the game of jai alai.

pemmican.
Dried meat.

penance.

PEN.
Short for Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists; an international association.

pendant
(noun),
pendent
(adj.).

Penetanguishene,
Ontario.

penicillin.

Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company.
British shipping company commonly known as P&O.

Penney, J.C.
U.S. department store group, is now
JCPenney
(one word).

penniless.

penn'orth.
(British, mostly historical.) A penny's worth.

Pensacola,
Florida.

Pentateuch.
The first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

pentathlon, modern.
The five events are swimming, fencing, pistol shooting, cross-country running, and cross-country horseback riding.

Pentecost.
The Christian Whit Sunday, the seventh Sunday after Easter; the Jewish Shavuot, the sixth and seventh days of Sivan.

peon, paean, paeon.
A
peon
is a servant or peasant; a
paean
is a hymn or song of praise; a
paeon
is a metrical foot in ancient Greek and Latin poetry.

peony.
A flowering plant.

PepsiCo Inc.
U.S. company that owns Pepsi-Cola.

Pepys, Samuel.
(1633–1703) English Admiralty official, remembered for his diary; pronounced
peeps
.

per.
Many usage guides suggest, and a few insist, that Latinisms like
per
should be avoided when English phrases are available—that it is better to write “ten tons a year” than “ten tons per year.” That is certainly reasonable enough in general, but I would suggest that when avoidance of the Latin would result in clumsy constructions such as “output a man a year,” you shouldn't hesitate to use
per
.

per ardua ad astra.
(Lat.) “To the stars through adversities.”

P/E ratio.
Short for
price-to-earnings ratio;
a stock market measure in which a value of a stock is determined by dividing the stock's price by the company's earnings per share.

percent, percentage point.
If interest rates are 10 percent and are raised to 11 percent, they have gone up by one percentage point, but by 10 percent in value (i.e., borrowers must now pay 10 percent more than previously). In everyday contexts the distinction is not always vital, but in contexts in which the percentage rise is large and confusion is likely, the distinction is crucial.

perceptible.

Perceval, Spencer.
(1762–1812) British prime minister (1809–12); only British prime minister to be assassinated.

perchance.
Possibly.

Perelman, S. J.
(for
Sidney Joseph
). (1904–1979) American humorist.

perestroika.
(Russ.) Restructuring.

Pérez de Cuéllar, Javier.
(1920–) Peruvian diplomat; secretary-general of the United Nations (1982–92).

perfectible, perfectibility.

perforce.
Without choice.

perigee.
The lowest or nearest point in an orbit; opposite of
apogee.

Pérignon, Dom.
Champagne.

perinatal.
Pertaining to the period immediately before and after birth.

peripatetic.
Wandering.

periphrasis.
Using more words than necessary, circumlocution; pl.
periphrases.

perishable.

periwinkle.

Perlman, Itzhak.
(1945–) Israeli violinist.

permissible.

pernickety.

Perón, (María) Eva (Duarte de).
(1919–1952) Nickname Evita; second wife of
Juan Perón
(1895–1974), president of Argentina (1946–1955, 1973–1974).

perpetrate, perpetuate.
Occasionally confused. To
perpetrate
is to commit or perform. To
perpetuate
is to prolong or, literally, to make perpetual. The Boston Strangler perpetrated a series of murders. Those who write about him perpetuate his notoriety.

Persephone.
In Greek mythology, queen of the underworld; identified with the Roman goddess Proserpina.

Perseus.
In Greek mythology, son of Zeus who murdered Medusa.

persevere, perseverance.

persiflage.
Idle banter.

persimmon.

personal, personally.
When it is necessary to emphasize that a person is acting on his own rather than on behalf of a group or that he is addressing people individually rather than collectively,
personal
and
personally
are unexceptionable. But usually the context makes that clear and the word is used without purpose, as here: “Dr. Leonard has decided to visit personally the Oklahoma parish which is the center of the dispute.” If he visits, Dr. Leonard can hardly do it otherwise than personally. Many other common terms—
personal friend, personal opinion, personal favorite
—are nearly always equally redundant.

personnel.

perspicacity, perspicuity.
The first means shrewdness, the second lucidity.

pertinacious.
Persistent.

peruse.
It is a losing battle no doubt, but perhaps worth pointing out that
peruse
does not mean to look over casually. It means to read or examine carefully.

pesos.

Pétain, Henri Philippe.
(1856–1951) French general and politician, head of the Vichy government (1940–1944).

PETCO Park.
San Diego baseball stadium, home of the Padres.

Peter Principle.
The idea that people are promoted until they reach a level at which they are incompetent.

Petri dish.
(Cap.
P
.)

Petrograd.
Originally St. Petersburg, then Leningrad; reverted to St. Petersburg in 1991.

Petrovskoye.
Former name of Makhachkala, Russia.

Pettenkofer, Max Joseph von.
(1818–1901) German chemist.

Pettersen, Suzann.
(1981–) Norwegian professional golfer.

pettifog.
Quibble over petty matters; legal trickery.

petty bourgeois.
A small businessman; member of the lower-middle class. In French,
petit bourgeois
.

peu à peu.
(Fr.) “Little by little.”

Peugeot.
French automobile.

peut-être.
(Fr.) Perhaps.

Pevsner, Sir Nikolaus.
(1902–1983) German-born British art historian.

pfennig.
Former German coin worth one one-hundredth of a mark.

PFLP.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

PGA.
(No apos.) Professional Golfers Association.

pH.
Potential of hydrogen, a measure of acidity in a solution.

Phalange.
Political party in Lebanon.

phalanx,
pl.
phalanxes/phalanges.

pharaoh.
Not
-oah.

pharmacopoeia.
A book containing descriptions of medicines and drugs.

phenomenon,
pl.
phenomena.

Phidias.
(c. 498–c. 432
BC
) Greek sculptor, responsible for all or part of the Parthenon.

philanderer.
An unfaithful person.

Philip Morris.
U.S. tobacco and diversified products company.

Philippi.
Ancient city in Macedonia.

Philippians.
Book of the New Testament.

philippic.
A verbal denunciation.

Philippine Sea.

Philippines, Republic of the.
Note
-l-, -pp-.
Island state in the Pacific Ocean; capital Manila. A person from the Philippines is a
Filipino
if male, a
Filipina
if female.

Filipino
or
Pilipino
is also the name of the national language.

Philips.
Dutch electrical company; formally, NV Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken.

Philips Arena,
Atlanta.

philistine.
Person who is indifferent or hostile to matters of culture.

Phillips
screws and screwdrivers. Named for their originator,
Henry F. Phillips.

Phillips Academy,
Andover, Massachusetts. Private high school; also called Phillips Andover or just Andover. Not to be confused with
PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY.

Phillips Collection,
Washington, D.C.

Phillips curve.
In economics, a measure showing the relationship between inflation and unemployment.

Phillips Exeter Academy,
Exeter, New Hampshire. Private high school; commonly called just Exeter. Not to be confused with
PHILLIPS ACADEMY
of Andover, Massachusetts.

Phillips Petroleum.
U.S. oil group.

Phillips Son & Neale.
(No comma.) London Auction house.

Philomel/Philomela.
Poetic name for the nightingale.

phlebitis.
Inflammation of the veins.

Phnom Penh.
Capital of Cambodia.

phony.

Phyfe, Duncan.
(1786–1854) Scottish-born American furniture maker; born Duncan Fife.

phyllo
(or
filo
). Pastry.

phylum.
Taxonomic division of plants and animals; pl.
phyla.

Physic, Regius Professor of.
Cambridge University. Not
Physics
.

physiognomy.
Facial characteristics.

physique.

pi.
Ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle, equivalent to 3.14159… also the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet.

pianissimo, pianississimo.
In music, the first means very soft, and the second means as softly as possible.

Picard, Jean.
(1620–1682) French astronomer.

Picasso, Pablo.
(1881–1973) Spanish artist.

picayune.
A trifling matter.

Piccadilly.

piccalilli.
A kind of relish.

Piccard, Auguste.
(1884–1962) Swiss physicist.

piccolo.
A small flute pitched an octave higher than a normal flute; pl.
piccolos.

picnicked, picnicking, picnicker.

pico-.
Prefix meaning one-trillionth.

Pico della Mirandola, Count Giovanni.
(1463–1494) Italian philosopher.

pidgin, creole.
Pidgin is a language spontaneously devised by two or more peoples who have no common language. Pidgins are generally very rudimentary. If contact between the different peoples is prolonged and generations are born for whom the pidgin is their first tongue, the language will usually evolve into a more formalized system of speech called a creole. Most languages that are commonly called pidgins are in fact creoles.

pièce de résistance.
(Fr.) Most outstanding item, particularly applied to the finest dish in a meal.

piecemeal.

pied-à-terre.
(Fr.) (Hyphens.) A secondary residence; pl.
pieds-à-terre.

Piedmont.
Region of Italy; in Italian, Piemonte.

Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Piero della Francesca.
(c. 1418–1492) Italian artist.

pierogi
(or
pirogi
). Polish dumpling; pl. same.

Pierre, South Dakota.
The state capital; pronounced
peer
.

Piers Plowman, The Vision of William Concerning.
Epic poem by William Langland (c. 1360–1399).

Pietermaritzburg,
South Africa. Capital of Natal.

pigeonhole.
(One word.)

piggyback.

Pikes Peak.
(No apos.) Summit (14,100 ft.; 4,341 m.) in Rocky Mountains, Colorado; named after Zebulon Montgomery Pike, its discoverer.

Pilates.
(Cap.) Trademarked exercise system.

Pilipino.
Language of the
Philippines.