Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [57]
Hasselblad for the Swedish cameras.
hausfrau. (Ger.) Housewife; pl. hausfrauen.
Haussmann, Boulevard, Paris; named after Baron Georges Eugène Haussmann (1809–1891), who led the rebuilding of the city.
haute couture. (Fr.) High fashion.
Havel, Václav. (1936–) Czech playwright and reformist politician.
Havre de Grace, Maryland.
Hawaiian Islands. The eight principal islands are Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau, and Kahoolawe.
Haw-Haw, Lord. Nickname of William Joyce (1906–1946), American who made propaganda broadcasts for Germany in World War II.
Hawker Siddeley (no hyphen) for the British aviation company.
Hawksmoor, Nicholas. (1661–1736) English architect.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. (1804–1864) American writer. (But hawthorn for the tree or shrub.)
Haydn, Franz Joseph. (1732–1809) Austrian composer.
Hazlitt, William. (1778–1830) English essayist and critic.
healthy, healthful, salutary. Some authorities maintain that healthy should apply only to those things that possess health and healthful to those that promote it. Thus we would have “healthy children,” but “healthful food” and “healthful exercise.” There is no harm in observing the distinction, but also little to be gained from insisting on it. Salutary has a wider meaning than the other two words. It too means conducive to health, but can also apply to anything that is demonstrably beneficial (“a salutary lesson in etiquette”).
“Hear, hear!” is the exclamation of British parliamentarians, not “Here, here!”
Hebrew, Yiddish. The two languages have almost nothing in common except that they are spoken primarily by Jewish people. Yiddish (from the German jüdisch, “Jewish”) is a modified German dialect and thus a part of the Indo-European family of languages. Hebrew is a Semitic tongue and therefore is more closely related to Arabic. Yiddish writers use the Hebrew alphabet, but the two languages are no more closely related than, say, English and Swahili.
Hebrides. Group of islands off the west coast of Scotland, divided between the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides; also called Western Isles. Pronounced heb'-rid-eez.
hectare. (Abbr. ha.) 10,000 square meters; equivalent to 2.47 acres.
hecto-. Prefix meaning 100.
Hedda Gabler. Not -bb-. Play by Henrik Ibsen (1890).
Heeger, Alan J. (1936–) American scientist, awarded Nobel Prize for Chemistry (2000).
Heep, Uriah. Character in Dickens’s David Copperfield.
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich. (1770–1831) German philosopher.
hegira. (In Arabic, hijrah.) The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina on July 16, 622, used as the starting point for the Muslim era.
Heian. Former name of Kyoto, Japan.
Heidegger, Martin. (1889–1976) German philosopher.
Heidelberg. German university city.
Heidsieck champagne.
heifer. Not -ff-. A young cow.
Heifetz, Jascha. (1901–1987) Russian-born American violinist.
Heilbroner, Robert L. (1920–2005) American economist.
Heineken. Dutch beer.
Heinemann, William. British publisher.
heinous. Wicked.
heir apparent, heir presumptive. The first inherits no matter what; the second inherits only if a nearer relation is not born first.
Heisenberg, Werner. (1901–1976) German physicist, formulator of the uncertainty principle; awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932.
Heisman Trophy. Annual award to outstanding U.S. college football player; named for John W. Heisman (1869–1936), director of athletics at the New York Downtown Athletics Club.
Hekmatyar. See HIKMATYAR.
Helens, Mount St. (No apos.) for the volcanic mountain in Washington State.
Hellespont. Former name of Dardanelles, the strait connecting the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean.
Hellman, Lillian. (1905–1984) American playwright.
Hello! Magazine. Note exclamation mark.
Héloïse. (1101–1164) Lover of Pierre Abelard; but the poem of Alexander Pope is “Eloisa to Abelard.”
Helsingør. Danish name for the Danish port known in English as Elsinore; setting of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
hematology, hematoma, hematemesis.
hemoglobin.
hemophilia.
hemorrhage. Note -rr-.
hemorrhoids. Note -rr-.