Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [119]
thinness, thinnest.
Third World. (Caps.)
Thirty Years/Years’ War. (1618–1648) War between Catholic and Protestant factions fought principally in Germany.
Thomas, Dylan. (1914–1953) Welsh poet.
Thomson, Bobby. (1923–) Not Thomp-. Scottish-born American baseball player who hit a celebrated home run to give the New York Giants the National League pennant in 1951.
thorax, pl. thoraces/thoraxes.
Thoreau, Henry David. (1817–1862) American naturalist, poet, and writer.
Thornburgh, Dick. (1932–) Republican U.S. politician, governor of Pennsylvania (1979–87), and U.S. attorney general (1988–1991).
Thorndike, Dame Sybil. (1882–1976) English actress.
thorny. Not -ey.
though, although. The two are interchangeable except as an adverb placed after the verb, where only though is correct, and with the expressions as though and even though, where idiom precludes although.
Threadneedle Street, Old Lady of. Nickname for the Bank of England.
Three Mile Island. Nuclear power station, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
threshold.
thrived/throve. Either is acceptable, but most authorities prefer the latter.
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There is the full, formal title of the 1871 Lewis Carroll classic. Note the hyphen in Looking-Glass.
Thruway is the correct official spelling in many highway contexts (New York State Thruway Authority, Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway).
Thucydides. (c. 460–c. 400 BC) Greek historian of the Peloponnesian War.
Tiananmen Square, Beijing.
Tibullus, Albius. (c. 54–19 BC) Roman elegiac poet.
tic douloureux. Disorder of the facial nerves. Its formal medical designation is trigeminal neuralgia.
tickety-boo.
tic-tac-toe.
tiddly-winks.
Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista. (1696–1770) Italian artist.
Tierra del Fuego. South American archipelago.
Tiffany, Charles Lewis. (1812–1902) American jeweler and founder of the famous New York jewelry store; father of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), American designer, known for design and production of Tiffany glass and Tiffany lamps.
Tigonankweine Range. Mountains in western Canada.
tilde. The mark (~) used in Spanish to denote the sound ny, as is señor or cañón; word pronounced till'-duh.
Tilden, Bill. (1893–1933) American tennis player, three-time world champion.
timber, timbre. The first is wood; the second refers to sound.
Timbuktu. Small city in Mali. The name is used to signify any very remote place.
time often has a curious magnetic effect, attracting extra words to sentences, as in: “The property was occupied for a short length of time.” Make it “for a short time.” Occasionally, time itself is superfluous, as in constructions of this sort: “The report will be available in two weeks’ time.” Time adds nothing to the sentence but wordiness.
time, at this moment in. Unless you are striving for an air of linguistic ineptitude, never use this expression. Say “now.”
Timor Leste. Asian republic; capital Dili.
tin lizzie. A Model T Ford, not any old car.
tinnitus. Persistent ringing in the ears.
Tin Pan Alley. District of Manhattan where music publishers once congregated.
tinsel.
tintinnabulation. Ringing sound of bells.
Tintoretto. (1518–1594) Italian artist; real name Jacopo Robusti.
Tipperary. Town and county in the Republic of Ireland.
tipsy. Not -ey. Mildly intoxicated.
tiramisu. Italian dessert.
Tirol. German for Tyrol, region of Austria.
’Tis Pity She’s a Whore. Not a Pity. Play by John Ford (1633).
Titian. (c. 1490–1576) Italian painter; in Italian, Tiziano Vecellio.
titillate.
titivate.
Tito, Marshal. (1892–1980) Prime minister of Yugoslavia (1945–1953), president (1953–1980); born Josip Broz.
tmesis. Interposing a word between the syllables of another, as in abso-bloody-lutely.
TNT. A well-known explosive. The initials are short for trinitrotoluene.
to all intents and purposes is unnecessarily wordy. “To all intents” is enough.
toboggan.
toby jug. (No caps.)
Tocqueville,