Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [127]
Wallenberg, Raoul. (1912–1947?) Swedish diplomat who helped to save thousands of Hungarian Jews from being sent to concentration camps in World War II.
Wallis and Futuna Islands. South Pacific island cluster, formerly a French overseas territory, now formally a French overseas collectivity; capital Mata-Utu.
Walloon. A French-speaking Belgian, but Wallonia for the region.
Wal-Mart. Discount stores group. The company’s full name is Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Walpurgis Night (or Walpurgisnacht). The night of April 30, when witches were once thought to gather.
Walton, Izaak. (Not Isaac.) (1593–1683) English biographer and naturalist.
Wampanoag. Native American group, part of the Algonquin people.
Warszawa. The Polish spelling of Warsaw.
Wassermann test. Blood test for syphilis, named after German bacteriologist August von Wassermann (1866–1925).
wasteland is one word, but the poem by T. S. Eliot is “The Waste Land..
wastrel. Good-for-nothing person.
“Water, water, everywhere,/“Nor any drop to drink” are the lines from the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”
Waterston, Sam. (Not -son.) (1940–) American actor.
Watteau, Jean-Antoine. (1684–1721) French painter.
Watusi. African people.
Waukegan, Illinois.
Waugh, Evelyn. (1903–1966) English novelist.
waver, waiver. The first means to hesitate; the second is the relinquishment of a claim.
Waverley Station, Edinburgh, Scotland.
wavy. Not -ey.
way, shape, or form. Choose one.
WCTU. Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
Wealth of Nations, The, by Adam Smith; formally it is entitled Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776).
weasel.
weather conditions is redundant, as in “Freezing weather conditions will continue for the rest of the week.” Delete conditions. Similarly tiresome is the weather forecasters’ fondness for “activity,” as in “thunderstorm activity over the plains states.”
Weddell Sea, Antarctica.
Wedgwood china. Not Wedge-.
weevil. Type of beetle.
Wehrmacht. German armed forces (1935–1945).
Weidenfeld and Nicolson for the British publisher. Not -field, not Nich-.
Weil, Simone. (1909–1943) French philosopher; pronounced vay.
Weill, Kurt. (1900–1950) German-born American composer.
Weimar Republic. German republic (1919–1933).
Weimaraner. (Cap.) Breed of dog.
Weinmeister, Arnie. (1923–2000) American football player.
Weir, Peter. (1944–) Australian film director.
weird.
Weisz, Rachel. (1971–) British actress.
Weizmann, Chaim. (1874–1952) Russian-born Israeli scientist and statesman, president of Israel (1948–1952).
Welch Regiment, Royal Welch Fusiliers, but the Welsh Guards for British military units.
Welles, Orson. (1915–1985) American film actor and director.
Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts.
wellington boots. (No cap.)
weltschmerz. German for sadness over the state of the world.
werewolf, pl. werewolves.
West, Mae. (1892–1980) American actress.
West, Nathanael. Pen name of Nathan Wallenstein Weinstein (1903–1940), American novelist.
Westchester, New York, but West Chester, Delaware and Pennsylvania.
Western Australia for the Australian state, but the West Australian for its largest newspaper.
Westmeath. Irish county.
Westmoreland, William C. (1914–2000) American general.
Westmorland, not -more-, for the former English county, now part of Cumbria.
Westpac Banking Corporation. Australian bank.
West Point-Pepperell. U.S. textiles company, now WestPoint Home.
wether. A castrated sheep.
Weyerhaeuser Company. Forestry products company.
whacky (alt.)/wacky (pref.).
whammy. A curse.
wharf, pl. wharves/wharfs.
wheedle. Coax.
wheeze.
whelk. Edible mollusc.
whence. Although there is ample precedent for writing “from whence”—the King James Bible has the sentence “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help”—it is nonetheless tautological. Whence means “from where.” It is enough to say “the hills whence cometh my help.”
whereabouts is plural.
whether or not. The second two words should be dropped when whether is equivalent