Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [47]
flounder, founder. Founder means to sink, either literally (as with a ship) or figuratively (as with a project). Flounder means to flail helplessly. It too can be used literally (as with someone struggling in deep water) or figuratively (as with a nervous person making an extemporaneous speech).
flourish.
flout, flaunt. The first means to disregard; the second to show off.
flügelhorn. Alt. spelling of fleugelhorn.
flummox.
flunky, flunkies.
fluorescent light.
fluoridate, fluoridation.
fluoroscope.
focaccia. An Italian bread.
fo’c’sle. Forecastle.
foehn. Type of warm mountain wind.
Fogg, Phileas. Not Phogg, not Phineas, for the character in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days.
Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
fogy (or fogey). An old-fashioned person; pl. fogies (or fogeys).
föhn. See FOEHN.
foie gras. Fattened goose liver.
foley artist. (Not cap.) A specialist in dubbing sounds on film; named for Jack Foley (1891–1967), Hollywood sound effects editor.
Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.
folie à deux. (Fr.) A delusion shared by two people.
Folies-Bergère. Parisian music hall.
Folketing. Danish parliament.
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
Fontainebleau. Château, town, and forest on the Seine near Paris; also a hotel in Miami, Florida.
Foochow. Use Fuzhou for the capital of Fujian Province, China. (It is pronounced foo-jo'.)
foot-and-mouth disease. (Hyphens.) Not hoof-and-mouth.
forbear, forebear. The first is a verb meaning to avoid or refrain from. The second is a noun and means ancestor.
forbid, prohibit. The words have the same meaning, but the construction of sentences often dictates which should be used. Forbid may be followed only by to (“I forbid you to go”). Prohibit may not be followed by to, but only by from (“He was prohibited from going”) or by an object noun (“The law prohibits the construction of houses without planning consent”). Thus the following is wrong: “They are forbidden from uttering any public comments.” Make it either “They are prohibited from uttering…” or “They are forbidden to utter…” A small additional point is that forbid’s past tense form, forbade, has the preferred pronunciation for-bad, not for-bade.
forceful, forcible, forced. Forcible indicates the use of brute force (“forcible entry”). Forceful suggests a potential for force (“forceful argument,” “forceful personality”). Forced can be used for forcible (as in “forced entry”), but more often is reserved for actions that are involuntary (“forced march”) or occurring under strain (“forced laughter,” “forced landing”).
force majeur. (Fr.) An uncontrollable event.
forcible.
forego, forgo. The first means to precede; the second means to do without. One of the most common spelling errors in English is to write forego when forgo is intended.
Forester, C. S. (for Cecil Scott) (1899–1966) English writer, chiefly remembered for naval adventures involving Horatio Hornblower; not to be confused with E. M. Forster.
foreword. An introduction to a book written by someone other than the book’s author.
forgather. Not fore-. The need for the word is doubtful since gather says as much and says it more quickly.
formaldehyde. (Not cap.)
former, latter. Former, properly used, should refer only to the first of two things and latter to the second of two things. Both words, since they require the reader to hark back to an earlier reference, should be used sparingly and only when what they refer to is immediately evident. Few editing shortcomings are more annoying and less excusable than requiring a reader to re-cover old ground.
Formica is a trademark.
Formosa. Former name of Taiwan.
Fornebu Airport, Oslo, Norway.
Forster, E. M. (for Edward Morgan) (1879–1970) English novelist.
forswear.
forsythia.
forte. (Abbr.