Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [60]
Holyroodhouse, Palace of, Edinburgh, Scotland; pronounced holly-.
Home Counties. In British usage, the counties immediately around London.
homely. If writing for an international audience, you should be aware (or beware) that the word has strikingly different connotations between America and elsewhere. In Britain and most of its former dominions homely means comfortable and appealing, having the warm and familiar qualities associated with a home. In America, for obscure reasons, it has long signified something that is unattractive, particularly in respect to the human face. If the audience is international and confusion likely to follow, clearly a more neutral term is advised. In any case, to describe someone as homely, in the American sense, is inescapably subjective, generally uncharitable, and may cause needless hurt.
homogeneous, homogenous. Homogeneous means consistent and uniform; homogenous is almost always restricted to biological contexts, where it describes organisms having common ancestry.
homonym, homophone. Both describe words that have strong similarities of sound or spelling, but different meanings. A homophone is a word that sounds like another but has a different meaning or spelling, or both. A homonym is a word that also has a different meaning, but the same spelling or sound. Thus blue and blew are both homonyms and homophones. However, bow as in a ship and bow as in a tie are homonyms (because they are spelled the same) but not homophones (because they have different pronunciations). In short, unless the intention is to emphasize the equivalence of pronunciations, homonym is generally the better word.
Honecker, Erich. (1912–1994) Chairman of East German Communist Party (i.e., head of state) (1977–1989).
Honiara. Capital of the Solomon Islands.
Honi soit qui mal y pense. (Fr.) Usually translated as “Evil to him who evil thinks” motto of the Royal Order of the Garter in Britain.
honnête homme. (Fr.) An honest man.
honorificabilitudinitatibus. Nonsense word in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost.
Honshu. Main island of Japan, site of Tokyo and Yokohama.
Hooch/Hoogh, Pieter de. (c. 1629–c. 1684) Dutch painter; pronounced hoke for either spelling.
Hook of Holland. In Dutch, Hoek van Holland.
Hoosick Falls, New York.
hopefully. Much ink has been expended arguing whether the word is acceptable when used in an absolute sense, as in “Hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow.” Many usage authorities argue that that sentence should be recast as “It is to be hoped that the sun will shine tomorrow” or something similar. However, other authorities say that such a stand is pedantic and inconsistent, since no one objects to other -ly words, such as apparently, sadly, thankfully, and mercifully, being used absolutely. I side with the second group, but you should be aware that the use of hopefully in an absolute sense is still widely, and often hotly, objected to.
Hopkins, Gerard Manley. (1844–1889) British poet and Jesuit priest. His poetry was published posthumously.
Hopkins, Johns. (1795–1873) Not John. American financier who endowed now-famous hospital and university, both in Baltimore.
Horae. Greek goddesses who presided over the weather and seasons.
horde, hoard. The first is a swarm of people; the second, a cache.
Hornsby, Rogers. (1896–1963) Not Roger. American baseball player and manager.
Hornung, Paul. (1935–) American football player.
Horowitz, Vladimir. (1904–1989) Russian-born American concert pianist.
hors de combat. (Fr.) “Out of action.”
hors d’oeuvre. An appetizer; pl. hors d’oeuvres.
“Horst Wessel Lied.” Nazi song.
hosanna. A shout of praise.
Hosokawa, Morihiro. (1938–) Japanese prime minister (1993–1994).
hot dog (two words) for the food, but hotdog as a verb meaning to show off and for associated words such as hotdogging and hotdogger.
Hôtel des Invalides, Paris, site of Napoleon’s tomb.
hôtel de ville. (Fr.) Town hall.
Houellebecq, Michel. (1958–) French novelist.
Houston, Whitney. (1963–) American singer. (But note, it