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Bryson's dictionary for writers and editors / Bill Bryson.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: London : Doubleday, 2008.Edition: New editionDescription: ix, 454 pages ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780385610445 (hbk.)
  • 0385610440 (hbk.)
Subject(s):
Contents:
Previous ed.: published as The Penguin dictionary for writers and editors. London: Penguin, 1994. What is the difference between cant and jargon, or assume and presume? What is a fandango? What's the new name for Calcutta? How do you spell supersede? Boutros Boutros-Ghali? Is it hippy or hippie? Here is a very personal selection of spellings and usages, covering such head-scratchers as capitalization, plurals, abbreviations and foreign names and phrases. Bryson also gives us the difference between British and American usages, and more.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Non-Fiction Davis (Central) Library Non-Fiction Non-Fiction 423.1 BRY 1 Available T00468899
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Here is a very personal selection of spellings and usages, covering such head-scratchers as capitalization, plurals, abbreviations and foreign names and phrases. Bill Bryson also gives us the difference between British and American usages, and miscellaneous pieces of essential information you never knew you needed.

Previous ed.: published as The Penguin dictionary for writers and editors. London: Penguin, 1994.

Previous ed.: published as The Penguin dictionary for writers and editors. London: Penguin, 1994. What is the difference between cant and jargon, or assume and presume? What is a fandango? What's the new name for Calcutta? How do you spell supersede? Boutros Boutros-Ghali? Is it hippy or hippie? Here is a very personal selection of spellings and usages, covering such head-scratchers as capitalization, plurals, abbreviations and foreign names and phrases. Bryson also gives us the difference between British and American usages, and more.

2 11 18 22 37 60 74 89 98 104 149 159 180

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Aa Aachen . City in Germany; in French, Aix-la-Chapelle. a/an . Errors involving the indefinite articles a and an are almost certainly more often a consequence of haste and carelessness than of ignorance. They are especially common when numbers are involved, as here: "Cox will contribute 10 percent of the equity needed to build a $80 million cable system" or "He was assisted initially by two officers from the sheriff's department and a FBI agent." When the first letter of an abbreviation is pronounced as a vowel, as in "FBI," the preceding article should be an , not a . Aarhus . City in Denmark; in Danish, erhus. abacus , pl. abacuses. abaft . Toward the stern, or rear, of a ship. abattoir . Abbas, Mahmoud . (1935-) President of Palestinian National Authority (2005-). ABC . American Broadcasting Companies (note plural), though the full title is no longer spelled out. It is now part of the Walt Disney Company. The television network is ABC-TV. abdomen , but abdominal . Abdulaziz International Airport , King , Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem . (1947-) American basketball player; born Lew Alcindor. aberrant, aberration . abhorrent . Abidjan . Capital of Ivory Coast. ab incunabulis . (Lat.) "From the cradle." abiogenesis . The concept that living matter can arise from nonliving matter; spontaneous generation. -able . In adding this suffix to a verb, the general rule is to drop a silent e ( livable, lovable ) except after a soft g ( manageable ) or sibilant c ( peaceable ). When a verb ends with a consonant and a y ( justify, indemnify ) change the y to i before adding -able ( justifiable, indemnifiable ). Verbs ending in -ate drop that syllable before adding -able ( appreciable, demonstrable ). -able, -ible . There are no reliable rules for knowing when a word ends in -able and when in -ible ; see Appendix for a list of some of the more frequently confused spellings. ab origine . (Lat.) "From the beginning." abracadabra . abridgment . abrogate . To abolish. Absalom . In the Old Testament, third son of David. Absalom, Absalom! . Novel by William Faulkner (1936). Absaroka Range , Rocky Mountains. abscess . absinth . abstemious . Abu Dhabi . Capital city of and state in the United Arab Emirates. Abuja . Capital of Nigeria. Abu Simbel , Egypt; site of temples built by Ramses II. abyss, abyssal , but abysmal . Abyssinia . Former name of Ethiopia. acacia . Académie française . French literary society of forty members who act as guardians of the French language; in English contexts, Franeaise is usually capitalized. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Institution responsible for the Oscars. a capella . Singing without musical accompaniment. Acapulco , Mexico. Officially, Acapulco de Juarez. Accademia della Crusca . Italian literary academy. accelerator . accessible . accessory . acciaccatura . Grace note in music. accidentally . Not -tly . accolade . accommodate . Very often misspelled: note -cc- , -mm- . accompanist . Not -iest . accouterment . Accra . Capital of Ghana. Acheson, Dean . (1893-1971) American diplomat and politician; secretary of state, 1949-53. Achilles . King of the Myrmidons, most famous of the Greek heroes of the Trojan War. Achilles' heel . (Apos.) From the Hardcover edition. Excerpted from Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors by Bill Bryson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

The man who gave us A Short History of Nearly Everything gives us a short guide on nearly every aspect of English usage. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

This update to Bryson's Penguin Dictionary for Writers and Editors (1991) lists and glosses selected proper nouns, frequently confused words, and anomalies of written usage that are likely to draw the attention of copy editors. It is less discursive than Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (CH, Feb'03, 40-3113), previously published as The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words. Instead it compiles place-names, personal names, acronyms and abbreviations, words from other languages, and technical terms with the potential to trip up journalists. With so many more authoritative and comprehensive resources available to check usage and verify spelling (e.g., The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, rev. and updated, 2007; 2002 ed., CH, Jan'03, 40-2502), it is hard to guess who the intended audience for this book of Bryson's copyediting research notes could be. Summing Up: Not recommended. P. Finley University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Booklist Review

This isn't a go-to book that will displace any of the standard references. It's too small and too miscellaneous, containing several thousand words and names to which copy editors used to refer quaintly as bugaboos words more often misspelled or misused than not. Bryson has compiled a good mixture of  old standards and more recent challengers, his own collection amassed over the years. As a handy and lightweight supplemental source, Bryson's dictionary is well worth the space on the reference shelf of any serious writer or editor.--Cordry, Harold Copyright 2008 Booklist

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