Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [67]
Jacuzzi. (Cap.) Whirlpool bath.
Jaeger clothing.
jai alai. Also called pelota. Fast-paced ball game popular in Spain and Latin America.
Jakarta. Not Djakarta. Capital of Indonesia; formerly Batavia.
jalopy. Old car.
jalousie. Type of slatted shutter.
jamb. Not jam. A doorpost or similar.
James’s, St., not James’, for the palace, park, and square in London.
Janácek, Leoš. (1854–1928) Czech composer.
Jane Eyre. Novel by Charlotte Brontë (1847).
Jankovic, Jelena. (1985–) Serbian tennis player.
Janus. Roman god of the gate of Heaven, depicted as having two faces—one at the front and one at the back—because every door or gate looks two ways; also god of beginnings and of the first month, January.
Japan Air Lines. Not Airlines.
Jaques, not Jacques, for the character in William Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
jardinière. Ornamental pot or stand for plants; garnish of mixed vegetables.
Jaruzelski, General Wojciech. (1923–) Polish general, prime minister (1981–1985), head of state (1985–1989), president (1989–1990).
Jarvik-7. Artificial heart invented by Robert Jarvik (1946–).
javelin.
JCPenney. (One word.) Venerable U.S. retailer.
Jeanne d’Arc. French for Joan of Arc.
Jeddah/Jidda, Saudi Arabia.
jeep, Jeep. Use jeep generally for army vehicles, but Jeep specifically for the brand name of cars produced by DaimlerChrysler.
Jeffreys, George, Baron. (1648–1689) British “hanging” judge, infamous for severity of his punishments handed down after Monmouth’s rebellion (1685).
Jehovah’s Witness.
jejune. Insubstantial.
Jekyll and Hyde. The full title of the book by Robert Louis Stevenson is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).
Jelinek, Elfriede. (1946–) Austrian writer, awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004.
Jellicoe, John Rushworth, Earl. (1859–1935) British admiral.
Jell-O. Venerable dessert.
Jemaah Islamiah. Islamist group responsible for several bombings in Indonesia.
je ne sais pas. (Fr.) “I don’t know.”
je ne sais quoi. (Fr.) “I don’t know what” applied to the indescribable.
Jenkins’ Ear, War of. (1739–48) War between Britain and Spain over trade with South America, ostensibly provoked by an incident in which Spanish sailors boarded a British vessel in the Caribbean and cut off the ear of the captain, Robert Jenkins, but this happened seven years before the hostilities began.
jeopardy, jeopardize.
jeremiad. Elaborate lamentation.
jeroboam. Wine bottle that contains four ordinary wine bottles’ worth of wine.
jerry-built, jury-rigged. Occasionally confused. The first applies to things that are built cheaply and sloppily without regard to quality. The second describes things made in haste, with whatever materials are at hand, as a temporary or emergency measure.
Jervaulx Abbey, England; pronounced jer-vo'.
jetsam, flotsam. Jetsam applies to goods that have been thrown overboard (jettisoned) at sea; flotsam describes goods that have floated free from wreckage. Historically flotsam went to the Crown and jetsam to the lord of the manor on whose land it washed up.
Jeu de Paume, Galerie Nationale du, Paris.
jeune fille. (Fr.) A girl.
jew’s harp. (No caps.)
Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer. (1927–) German-born British novelist and screenwriter.
jibe means to be in agreement and is also a nautical term for the act of changing course. See also GIBE.
jihad. A Muslim holy war.
Jinnah, Mohammed Ali. (1876–1948) Founder of Pakistan, governor-general (1947–1948).
Jobs, Steven. (1955–) Not -ph-. Computer entrepreneur, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc.
jodhpurs. Riding breeches, named after the Indian city of Jodhpur.
Johannesburg, South Africa, but the German wine is Johannisberger.
John Newbery Medal. Award for outstanding children’s literature.
John o’ Groat’s. House and ferry site in Scotland traditionally (but incorrectly) given as the northernmost point on the British mainland.
Johns Hopkins (note s on both) is the name of the university and medical center in Baltimore.
Johnson, Lady Bird. (1912–2007) Wife of Lyndon Baines Johnson; her real name was Claudia