Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [30]
coolly.
Cooper, James Fenimore. (1789–1851) American writer.
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York.
Copland, Aaron. (1900–1990) American composer.
Copley, John Singleton. (1737–1815) American painter.
Coppola, Francis Ford. (1939–) American film director.
Corbière, (Édouard Joachim) Tristan. (1845–1875) French poet.
Corbusier, Le. Pseudonym of Charles Édouard Jeanneret (1887–1965), Swiss architect and city planner.
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
cord, chord. A cord is a length of rope or similar material of twisted strands; a chord is a group of musical notes. You speak with your vocal cords.
corduroy.
CORE. Congress of (not for) Race Equality, U.S. civil rights organization.
Coriolis effect. The tendency of winds of deflect to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere as a consequence of Earth’s spin.
Corneille, Pierre. (1606–1684) French playwright.
Cornouaille, Côte de, France.
Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de. (c. 1500–1554) Spanish explorer of the New World.
Corot, Camille. (1796–1875) French painter.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Correggio, Antonio Allegri da. (1494–1534) Italian painter.
corrigible. Capable of being corrected or improved.
corruptible.
cortege. (No accents.)
Cortes. Legislative assembly of Spain, but see next entry.
Cortés/Cortéz, Hernando/Hernan. (1485–1547) Spanish conqueror of Aztecs.
coruscate. Not -rr-. Glittering, dazzling, as in “coruscating wit.”
Così fan tutte. Opera by Mozart (1790).
cos lettuce.
Costa-Gavras, (Henri) Constantin. (1933–) Film director.
Côte d’Azur. The French Riviera.
coterminous, conterminous. Sharing a common boundary.
cotoneaster. Type of shrub.
Cotten, Joseph. (1905–1994) Film actor.
Cottian Alps. Section of Alps between France and Italy.
couldn’t of. “‘Couldn’t of got it without you, Pops,’ Parker said…” (New Yorker). As a shortened form of “couldn’t have,” couldn’t of does unquestionably avoid the clumsy double contraction couldn’t’ve, a form not often seen in print since J. D. Salinger stopped writing. However, I would submit that that does not make it satisfactory. Using the preposition of as a surrogate for ’ve seems to me simply to be swapping an ungainly form for an illiterate one. If couldn’t’ve is too painful to use, I would suggest simply writing couldn’t have and allowing the reader’s imagination to supply the appropriate inflection.
coulee. Ravine.
council, counsel. The first is a deliberative body (city council); the second applies to contexts involving the giving of advice or guidance (marriage counselor).
Countess Cathleen, The. Not Kath-. A play by William Butler Yeats (1899).
country, nation. It is perhaps a little fussy to insist too strenuously on the distinction, but strictly country refers to the geographical characteristics of a place and nation to the political and social ones. Thus the United States is one of the richest nations but largest countries.
coup de grâce. A decisive blow.
coup d’état, pl. coups d’état.
coup de théâtre. Dramatic turn of events.
couple. The idea, fiercely adhered to in some quarters, that couple must always be singular is both pointless and unsupported by wider authority. When a couple are thought of as separate individuals (“The couple were apprehended in different counties” “The couple have been living apart since 1999”), the plural is always to be preferred.
couple of. The second word is required in sentences like “Can I borrow a couple of dollars?” To drop the “of” is a common but nonetheless grating illiteracy in any but the most casual writing.
courgette. French and British name for the vegetable known to Americans as zucchini.
Courmayeur, Italy; Alpine resort.
court-martial. (Hyphen.) The plural is courts-martial (though some authorities now accept court-martials).