Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) (39 page)

Schwabing.
District of Munich.

Schwarzenegger, Arnold.
(1947–) Austrian-born American bodybuilder, actor, and Republican politician; governor of California (2003–).

Schwarzkopf, Dame Elisabeth.
(1915–2006) Austrian-British soprano.

Schwarzkopf, H. Norman.
(1934–) American general, commander of Operation Desert Storm in the first Gulf War. The initial H. in his name stands for nothing.

Schwarzwald.
(Ger.) The Black Forest.

Schwechat Airport,
Vienna, Austria.

Schweitzer, Albert.
(1875–1965) German theologian, medical missionary, philosopher, and musician. Established Lambaréné mission, French Equatorial Africa; awarded Nobel Peace Prize (1952).

Schweiz, die.
German name for Switzerland.

Schygulla, Hanna.
(1943–) German actress.

Scilly, Isles of.
Group of islands off Cornwall; adj.
Scillonian
. Pronounced
silly
.

scintilla.
A tiny amount.

Scofield, Paul.
(1922–) British actor.

Scorsese, Martin.
(1942–) American film director.

Scotch, Scottish, Scots.
Except for Scotch whisky and well-established expressions such as Scotch broth and Scotch mist,
Scottish
and
Scots
are preferred. In particular, a person from Scotland is Scottish,
not
Scotch. The British army unit is the Scots Guards. The dog is a Scottish terrier.

Scotch tape.
(Cap.)

scot-free.
To escape without penalty.

Scott, Dred.
A Missouri slave who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom on the grounds that his owner had taken him into free territory. The Supreme Court case of 1857 that resulted is called
Dred Scott v. Sanford.

Scribners.
U.S. publisher; formally Charles Scribner's Sons.

scrutiny, scrutinize.
To
scrutinize
something means to look at it with particular attentiveness. Thus, qualifying words like
close
or
careful
are nearly always superfluous.

SCSI.
Small computer system interface, a type of port on small computers.

scurrilous
does not mean merely angry or insulting. It means grossly obscene or abusive. An attack must be exceedingly harsh to be scurrilous.

Scylla and Charybdis.
In Greek mythology, Scylla (pronounced
silla
) was a six-headed monster who lived beside a treacherous whirlpool called Charybdis (pronounced
kuh-rib-dis
) off the coast of Sicily, so Scylla and Charybdis signify a highly unattractive dilemma.

SDI.
Strategic Defense Initiative, commonly called “star wars.” Plan propounded by President Reagan in 1983 to erect a shield of weapons in space over the United States to keep out incoming missiles.

Seaborg, Glenn.
(1912–) American nuclear chemist and physicist; awarded Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1951).

Seanad Éireann.
Upper house of Irish parliament pronounced
shin-add' air-ann'
.

Sears, Roebuck.
Note the comma.

SEATO.
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.

Sebastopol/Sevastopol.
The first is the historical spelling; the second the modern spelling for the Crimean city and Black Sea port, now part of Ukraine.

secede.

second-largest
and other similar comparisons often lead writers astray as in “Japan is the second-largest drugs market in the world after the United States” when in fact what is meant is that Japan is the largest drugs market in the world after the United States or the second-largest drugs market in the world.

Securities and Exchange Commission.
Note
and
. The regulatory body for U.S. stock markets; but note that it is the Securities Exchange Act.

sedentary.

Sedgemoor, Battle of.
British battle at which forces of James II defeated the Duke of Monmouth, 1685.

Segovia, Andrés.
(1894–1987) Spanish guitarist.

se habla español.
(Sp.) “Spanish spoken here.”

seigneur.
Lord of a manor, feudal lord.

seismograph, seismometer, seismogram.
Occasionally, and perhaps understandably, confused. A
seismometer
is a sensor placed in the ground to record earthquakes and other vibrations. A
seismograph
is the instrument that records the seismometer's readings. A
seismogram
is the printout or chart that provides a visual record of seismic activity.

seize.

Sejm.
Parliament of Poland.

Selassie, Haile.
See
HAILE SELASSIE
.

self-confessed,
as in “a self-confessed murderer,” is usually tautological. In most cases,
confessed
alone is enough.

Selfridges.
(No apos.) London department store.

Selznick, David O.
(for Oliver) (1902–1965) American film producer.

semblance.

Sendero Luminoso.
(Sp.) Shining Path, Peruvian revolutionary group.

Senegal.
West African republic; capital Dakar.

senhor, senhora, senhorita.
(Port.) Mr., Mrs., Miss; first syllable pronounced
sun.

Senna, Ayrton.
(1960–) Brazilian Formula One racing car driver.

“Sennacherib, The Destruction of.”
Poem by Byron (1815).

Sennett, Mack.
(1884–1960) Canadian-born American film producer and director; born Michael Sinnott.

señor, señora, señorita.
(Sp.) Mr., Mrs., Miss.

sensual, sensuous.
The words are only broadly synonymous.
Sensual
applies to a person's baser instincts as distinguished from reason. It should always hold connotations of sexual allure or lust.
Sensuous
was coined by Milton to avoid those connotations and to suggest instead the idea of being alive to sensations. It should be used when no suggestion of sexual arousal is intended.

Seoul.
Capital of South Korea. An alternative name in Korea is Kyongsong.

Sephardi.
A Jew of Spanish or Portuguese origin; pl.
Sephardim.
See also
ASHKENAZI
.

seppuku.
Ritual suicide in Japan; hara-kiri.

septicemia.
Blood poisoning.

septuagenarian.
Not
septa-.
Person seventy to seventy-nine years old.

Septuagesima.
Third Sunday before Lent, seventieth day before Easter.

sepulcher.
Not
-re.

seraglio.
A harem.

Serengeti National Park, Serengeti Plain,
Tanzania. Not
-getti.

sergeant.

seriatim.
Not
-tum.
In a series, one after another.

serving, servicing.
Servicing
is better reserved for the idea of installation and maintenance.
Serve
is the better word for describing things that are of general and continuing benefit.

sesquipedalian.
A long word.

Session, Court of.
Supreme court of Scotland. Not
Sessions
.

Seurat, Georges Pierre.
(1859–1891) French painter.

Seuss, Dr.
(1904–1991) Children's writer and illustrator, real name Theodore Seuss Geisel.

seven deadly sins.
They are avarice, envy, gluttony, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath.

7
-Eleven
is the trademark name for the convenience stores chain.

7
UP
is the trademark name for the soft drink.

Seven Wonders of the World.
They were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Pharos at Alexandria.

Sèvres porcelain.

Sexagesima.
Second Sunday before Lent, sixtieth day before Easter.

Seychelles.
Island republic in the Indian Ocean; capital Victoria. Adj.
Seychellois.

sforzando.
In music, an abrupt stress on a note or chord.

's Gravenhage.
Formal name for The Hague, Netherlands; pronounced
skrah-ven-hah'-guh.

Shake 'N Bake.
American grocery product.

Shakespearean, Shakespearian.
The first is the usual spelling in America and the second is the usual spelling in Britain, but, interestingly, don't look to
The Oxford English Dictionary
for guidance on any spellings concerning England's greatest poet. Perversely and charmingly, but entirely unhelpfully, the
OED
insists on spelling the name
Shakspere
, a decision it based on one of the six spellings Shakespeare himself used. It does, however, acknowledge that
Shakespeare
is “perhaps” the commonest spelling now used.

shaky
(not
-
e
y
),
shakiness.

shallot.
A plant related to the onion.

“Shalott, The Lady of.”
Not
Shallot
. 1832 poem by Tennyson.

Shamir, Yitzhak.
(1915–) Prime minister of Israel (1983–1984, 1988–1992); born Yitzhak Jazernicki.

Shandong.
Chinese province; capital Jinan. Formerly spelled
Shantung
.

Shangri-La,
not
-la
, for the Himalayan paradise created by James Hilton in the 1933 novel
Lost Horizon
.

Shankill Road,
Belfast, Northern Ireland. Not
-hill.

shank's mare
or
pony.
To travel on foot.

Shanxi.
Chinese province; capital Taiyuan.

SHAPE.
Abbreviation of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe.

Sharapova, Maria.
(1987–) Russian tennis player.

Shariah
(or
Shari'ah
). Koranic law.

shar-pei.
Breed of dog.

Sharpeville Massacre.
Fatal shooting of sixty-seven black South African demonstrators by police at black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, on March 21, 1960.

Shatt al-Arab.
River that forms section of border between Iran and Iraq.

Shays' Rebellion.
Not
Shay's
. Uprising by American farmers in 1786–1787 led by Daniel Shays of Massachusetts.

Shea Stadium,
New York, home of the New York Mets baseball team.

Shedd Aquarium,
Chicago.

Sheetrock,
for a type of plasterboard, is a trademark.

shekel.
Israeli unit of currency.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft.
(1797–1851) English writer, and second wife of
Percy Bysshe Shelley
(1792–1822), English poet.

shenanigans.

Shepard, Sam.
(1943–) American actor and playwright; born Samuel Shepard Rogers.

Shepherd, Cybill.
(1949–) American actress.

Shepherd Market,
but
Shepherd's Bush,
London.

Sheremetyevo Airport,
Moscow.

sheriff.

Sherpa
(cap.), a Himalayan people living in Tibet and Nepal.

's-Hertogenbosch.
City in the Netherlands, commonly called Den Bosch.

Shetland
or
the Shetland Islands
are the accepted designations for the Scottish islands.
The Shetlands
is frowned on by some and thus better avoided. See also
ORKNEY ISLANDS
.

Shevardnadze, Eduard.
(1928–) President of Georgia (the country, not the U.S. state), 1995–2003.

shibboleth.
A word, phrase, or linguistic quirk common to all members of a particular group and by which they can be distinguished from others.

Shiite
(or
Shi'ite
). Member of the Shia branch of Islam.

Shikoku.
Japanese island.

shiksa.
(Yid.) Disparaging term for a non-Jewish girl.

shillelagh.
Irish cudgel; pronounced
shi-lay'-lee.

Shinawatra, Thaksin.
(1949–) Former prime minister of Thailand, deposed in coup in 2006.

Sholokov, Mikhail.
(1905–1984) Russian novelist; awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1965.