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don’t care whether they or anyone else ever actually gets anything done.” The problem, clearly, is that a plural pronoun (“they”) is being attached to a singular verb (“gets”). Such constructions may in fact be fully defensible, at least some of the time, though you should at least know why you are breaking a rule when you break it.

à outrance. (Fr.) Not à l’outrance. To the very last, to the death.

Apalachicola. Florida river.

Aparicio, Luis. (1934–) Venezuelan-born baseball player.

Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.

Apennines for the Italian mountain range. Note -nn- in middle. In Italian, Appennini.

aperitif, pl. aperitifs.

Apfelstrudel. (Ger.) Apple strudel.

aplomb.

apocalypse, apocalyptic.

apogee. The highest or most distant point, usually in reference to orbiting bodies. Its opposite is perigee.

Apollinaire, Guillaume. (1880-1918) French writer and critic; born Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky.

Apollo. Greek god of light, son of Zeus.

“Apologie for Poetrie, An.” Title of the essay by Sir Philip Sidney, also published as “The Defence of Poesie” (1595).

aposiopesis. The sudden breaking off of a thought or statement; pl. aposiopeses.

apostasy. The abandoning of one’s faith; pl. apostasies.

apostatize.

a posteriori. (Lat.) From what is after; in logic, moving from effect to cause, reasoning from experience.

apothegm. A witty or pithy maxim.

apotheosis. Deification (generally used figuratively); pl. apotheoses.

Appalachian Mountains, eastern United States.

appaloosa. Horse. A breed of saddle horse.

apparatchik. Party functionary, especially of the Communist Party.

apparel.

apparition.

appellant, appellate.

appendices, appendixes. Either is correct.

applicator.

appoggiatura. In music, an accented nonharmonized note that precedes a harmonized note.

Appomattox, Virginia; where the Confederacy surrendered to the Union to end the Civil War (April 9, 1865).

appraise, apprise. Appraise means to assess or evaluate. Apprise means to inform. An insurance assessor appraises damage and apprises owners.

appreciate has a slightly more specific meaning than writers sometimes give it. If you appreciate something, you value it (“I appreciate your concern”) or you understand it sympathetically (“I appreciate your predicament”). But when there is no sense of sympathy or value (as in “I appreciate what you are saying, but I don’t agree with it”) understand or recognize or the like would be better.

apprehensible.

après-midi. (Fr.) Afternoon.

après-ski. (Fr., hyphen.) The period after a day’s skiing.

April Fools’ Day.

a principio. (Lat.) From the beginning.

a priori. (Lat.) From what is before; in logic, an argument proceeding from cause to effect.

apropos. In French, à propos.

Apuleius, Lucius. (fl. second c. AD) Roman satirist.

Apulia. Region of Italy known in English as Puglia.

Aqaba, Gulf of. An arm of the Red Sea. Aqaba is also the name of a town in Jordan.

aqua vitae. (Lat.) “Water of life” used to describe whiskeys and other alcoholic spirits.

aqueduct, but aquifer.

aquiline. Like an eagle.

Aquinas, St. Thomas. (1225-1274) Italian theologian, canonized 1323.

À quoi bon? (Fr.) What for? What’s the point?

arabic numerals. Not cap.

Arafat, Yasir. (1929-2004) Born Mohammed Abdel Raouf Arafat; leader Palestine Liberation Organization (1969-2004), awarded Nobel Peace Prize with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin (1994).

Aramaic. Semitic language.

Aran Island and Aran Islands (Ireland) but Isle of Arran (Scotland). The sweater is spelled Aran.

Arc de Triomphe, Paris. Officially, Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile.

arc-en-ciel. (Fr.) Rainbow; pl. arcs-en-ciel.

archaea. Type of unicellular organism.

archaeology is normally preferred, but archeology is accepted.

archaic, archaism.

archetype.

Archilochus of Paros. (c. 714–c. 676 BC) Greek poet.

Archimedes. (c. 287–212 BC) Greek mathematician and engineer.

archipelago, pl. archipelagos.

Arctic Circle, Arctic Ocean, but arctic fox.

Ardennes. Wooded plateau region in southern Belgium, northeastern France, and Luxembourg.

Arezzo, Italy.

arguable.

Århus.