Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [105]
rendezvous is the spelling for both the singular and plural.
renegade.
renege, reneged, reneging.
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste. (1841–1919) French painter; father of Jean Renoir (1894–1979), film director.
renown. Not reknown.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Rentokil. Pest control company; not -kill.
repartee.
repellent.
repetition, repetitive.
replete is not merely full but overfull, stuffed.
replica. An exact copy. A scale model is not a replica. Only something built to the same scale as the original and using the same materials is a replica. It therefore follows that “exact replica” is always redundant.
repository.
reprehensible.
reproducible.
Repubblica, La. Italian newspaper. Note -bb-.
Resnais, Alain. (1922–) French film director.
respirator. Not -er.
respite, temporary or brief. It is in the nature of respites to be both. It is enough to say that somebody or something enjoyed a respite.
restaurateur. Not -rant-.
restive properly means balky or obstinate, refusing to move or budge. A crowd of protesters may grow restive upon the arrival of mounted police, but a person sitting uncomfortably on a hard bench is better described as restless.
résumé.
resuscitate, resuscitator.
retraceable.
retroussé (masc.)/retroussée (fem). Turned up, particularly applied to noses.
retsina. Greek white wine flavored with resin.
Reuters. (No apos.) News agency.
reveille.
Revelation, Book of. Not -ions.
reversible.
revert back is always redundant. Delete back.
revertible.
Reykjavik. Capital of Iceland.
Rhadamanthus. In Greek mythology, a judge of the dead.
Rhein. German spelling of Rhine.
Rhineland-Palatinate. German state; in German, Rheinland-Pfalz.
rhinestone. Artificial diamond.
rhinoceros, pl. rhinoceroses.
rhododendron.
Rhône. French river.
Rhône-Alpes, French region.
rhumb line.
rhythm, rhythmic.
RIBA. Royal Institute (not Institution) of British Architects.
Ribbentrop, Joachim von. (1893–1946) German politician.
ribonucleic acid. RNA.
Ricardo, David. (1772–1823) English political economist and politician.
Rice, Condoleezza. (1954–) American political adviser, secretary of state (2005–).
Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal, Duc de. (1585–1642) French prime minister (1624–42).
Richter scale for the standard measure of earthquake magnitudes. It is named for Charles Richter (1900–1985) of the California Institute of Technology, who invented it in the 1930s. The scale increases at a rate that is exponential rather than linear, making each level of increment vastly greater than most people appreciate. According to Charles Office and Jake Page in Tales of the Earth, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake is 50 times larger than a magnitude 7.3 quake and 2,500 times larger than a magnitude 6.3 quake. In practical terms, this means that Richter magnitudes are largely meaningless to most readers and comparisons involving two or more Richter measurements are totally meaningless. It is considerate to the reader to provide, wherever possible, some basis of comparison beyond the bare Richter numbers. It is also worth bearing in mind that the Richter scale measures only the magnitude of an earthquake at its point of origin and says little or nothing about the degree of devastation at ground level.
rickettsia. Microorganism that can transmit various diseases to humans.
RICO. Common abbreviation for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, law designed to attack organized crime.
ricochet, ricocheted, ricocheting.
RICS stands for Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, London.
Riefenstahl, Leni. (1902–2003) German actress and film director.
Riesling. (Cap.) German white wine.
Rievaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire, England; pronounced ree-vo.
riffraff.
Rigoletto. Opera by Verdi (1851).
rigor mortis.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Rikers Island, New York. (No apos.)
Riksdag. Swedish parliament.
Riley, the life of.
Rilke, Rainer Maria. (1875–1926) Austrian poet.
“Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The.” Not Rhyme. Poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai