Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [29]
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam.
condone. The word does not mean to approve or endorse, senses that are often attached to it. It means to pardon, forgive, overlook. You can condone an action without supporting it.
Coney Island, New York.
confectionery. Not -ary.
confidant (masc.)/confidante (fem.) for a person entrusted with private information.
Congo, confusingly, now applies to two neighboring nations in Africa. The larger of the two, which was called Zaire until 1997, now styles itself the Democratic Republic of the Congo; its capital is Kinshasa. Bordering it to the west is the much smaller Republic of the Congo; capital Brazzaville.
Congonhas–São Paulo International Airport, São Paulo, Brazil.
Congressional Medal of Honor, for the highest U.S. military honor, is not strictly correct. It is awarded by Congress, but its correct title is simply the Medal of Honor.
Congreve, William. (1670–1729) English playwright.
Connacht. Province of Ireland comprising five counties: Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo.
Connelly, Marc. (1890–1980) American playwright. Full name: Marcus Cook Connelly.
Connemara. Galway, Ireland.
connoisseur.
ConocoPhillips. Oil company.
Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis; home of the Indiana Pacers basketball team.
consensus. “General consensus” is a tautology. Any consensus must be general. Equally to be avoided is “consensus of opinion.” Above all, note that consensus is spelled with a middle s, like consent. It has nothing to do with census.
consols. Consolidated annuities, a stock market term.
Constance/Bodensee. (Ger.) Lake bounded by Switzerland, Germany, and Austria; the principal lakeside city is Constance in English and French, but Konstanz in German.
Constantinople. Former name of Istanbul.
consummate. As a term of praise, the word is much too freely used. A consummate actor is not merely a very good one but someone who is so good as to be unrivaled or nearly so. It should be reserved to describe only the very best.
contagious, infectious. Diseases spread by contact are contagious. Those spread by air and water are infectious. Used figuratively (“contagious laughter,” “infectious enthusiasm”), either is fine.
contemptible, contemptuous. Contemptible means deserving contempt. Contemptuous means bestowing it. A contemptible offer may receive a contemptuous response.
conterminous, coterminous. Sharing a common boundary.
continual, continuous. Although the distinction is not widely observed, or indeed always necessary, there is a useful difference between the two words. Continual refers to things that happen repeatedly but not constantly. Continuous indicates an uninterrupted sequence. However, few readers will be aware of this distinction, and the writer who requires absolute clarity will generally be better advised to use incessant or uninterrupted for continuous and intermittent for continual.
contrary, converse, opposite, reverse. Contrary describes something that contradicts a proposition. Converse applies when the elements of a proposition are reversed. Opposite is something that is diametrically opposed to a proposition. Reverse can describe any of these. For the statement “I love you,” the opposite is “I hate you” the converse is “You love me” the contrary would be anything that contradicted it: “I do not love you,” “I have no feelings at all for you,” “I like you moderately.” The reverse could embrace all of these meanings.
conurbation does not describe any urban area, but rather a place where two or more sizable communities have sprawled together, such as Pasadena–Los Angeles–Long Beach in California or Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Haarlem-Utrecht in the Netherlands.
convener. Not -or. One who convenes.
convince, persuade. The words are not quite the same. You convince someone that he should believe, but persuade him to act. It is possible to persuade a person to do something without convincing him of the correctness or necessity of doing it. A separate distinction is that persuade may be