Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [51]
genie, pl. genies or genii.
Genova. Italian for Genoa.
gentilhomme. (Fr.) Gentleman or nobleman; pl. gentilshommes.
Gentlemen’s Quarterly. Not -man’s. U.S. magazine, now called GQ.
gentoo. Breed of penguin.
genus, species. The second is a subgroup of the first. The convention is to capitalize the genus but not the species, as in Homo sapiens. The plurals are genera and species. The traditional order of divisions in taxonomy is phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
Geographic Names, U.S. Board on. Not Geographical, not of.
George Town, Georgetown. George Town is the spelling for the capital of the Cayman Islands and the principal city of the island and state of Penang in Malaysia. Almost all others, including the capital of the South American country Guyana and the district and university in Washington, D.C., use the spelling Georgetown.
Gephardt, Richard Andrew “Dick.” (1941–) Democratic politician, U.S. representative from Missouri (1977–2005).
gerbil. Not jer-.
Géricault, Jean Louis André Théodore. (1791–1824) French painter.
germane, relevant, material. Germane and relevant are synonymous. Both indicate a pertinence to the matter under discussion. Material has the additional connotation of being necessary. A material point is one without which an argument would be incomplete. A germane or relevant point will be worth noting but may not be essential to the argument.
Germany was partitioned into East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), with its capital in East Berlin, and West Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland), with its capital at Bonn, in 1949. The two Germanys (not -ies) were reunited on October 3, 1990. The sixteen states, or Länder, are Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, North Rhine–Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia.
gerrymander means to distort or redraw to one’s advantage, especially a political boundary. Not to be confused with JERRY-BUILT.
gerunds are verbs made to function as nouns, as with the italicized words in “I don’t like dancing” and “Cooking is an art.” Two problems commonly arise with gerunds:
1. Sometimes the gerund is unnecessarily set off by an article and preposition, as here: “They said that the valuing of the paintings could take several weeks.” Deleting the italicized words would make the sentence shorter and more forceful.
2. Problems also occur when a possessive noun or pronoun (called a genitive) qualifies a gerund. A common type of construction is seen here: “They objected to him coming.” Properly it should be: “They objected to his coming.” Similarly, “There is little hope of Smith gaining admittance to the club” should be “There is little hope of Smith’s gaining admittance…”
Gestapo. Short for Geheime Staatspolizei, German secret police during the Third Reich.
Gesundheit! Interjection made in response to a sneeze.
Gethsemane. Olive grove at Jerusalem where Jesus was betrayed.
gettable.
Getty, J(ean) Paul. (1892–1976) Not John. U.S. oil man and benefactor; his son Jean Paul Getty II (1932–) is also often given wrongly as John.
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is the site of a decisive (but not the final) battle of the Civil War (July 1863); locally pronounced gettiz-burg.
gewgaw. Worthless bauble.
Ghanaian for a person or thing from Ghana.
ghettos. Not -oes.
ghillie (or gillie). Scottish hunting or fishing assistant; also a type of shoe.
Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco.
ghiribizzoso. Musical term for whimsical playing.
Ghirlandaio, Il. (1449–1494) Florentine painter; real name Domenico di Tommaso Bigordi.
Giacometti, Alberto. (1901–1966) Swiss sculptor and painter.
Giannini, A. P. (1870–1949) American banker, founded Bank of America; full name Amadeo Peter Giannini.
Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland. Not Giants’.
Gibbon, Edward. (1737–1794) Not Gibbons. English historian.
Gibbons, Grinling. (1648–1721) Dutch-born English sculptor and woodcarver.
gibe, jibe. The