Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [82]
Midwest (one word), Middle West (two words).
Mientkiewicz, Doug. (1974–) American baseball player.
Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig. (1886–1969) German-born U.S. architect.
mijnheer, mynheer. The first is the Dutch spelling, the second the English of the Dutch term for “sir.” Either should be capitalized when placed before a name.
mileage.
miles gloriosus. Latin for “glorious soldier.” A braggart, particularly a braggart soldier. Pronounced meel-us glor-ee-oh-sus.
milieu. Environment.
militate, mitigate. Often confused. To militate is to operate against or, much more rarely, for something: “The news of the scandal militated against his election promises.” To mitigate means to assuage, soften, make more endurable: “His apology mitigated the insult.” Mitigate against often appears and is always wrong.
Milius, John. (1944–) American film writer and director.
Milken, Michael. (1946–) American financier.
Millais, Sir John Everett. (1829–1896) British painter.
Millay, Edna St. Vincent. (1892–1950) American poet.
millennium. Note -nn-. The preferred plural is millenniums, but millennia is also accepted.
milli-. Prefix meaning one-thousandth.
milliard. British term now almost never used there or anywhere else, meaning 1,000 million or 1 trillion.
millipede.
Miloševíc, Slobodan. (1941–2006) President of Serbia (1989–1997). He died while on trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in The Hague.
milquetoast, not milk-, for a timid person. The name comes from an old newspaper cartoon called The Timid Soul featuring a character named Caspar (not -er) Milquetoast.
Mindanao. Island in the Philippines.
Mindszenty, József, Cardinal. (1892–1975) Roman Catholic primate of Hungary, long opposed to Communist regime.
minimize, strictly speaking, does not mean merely to play down or soften. It means to reduce to an absolute minimum.
Minorca, Balearic Islands, Spain; in Spanish, Menorca.
Minos. In Greek mythology, a son of Zeus and Europa, and king of Crete.
Minotaur. In Greek mythology, a figure that is half man and half bull.
Minsk. Capital of Belarus.
minuscule. Frequently misspelled. Think of minus, not mini.
minute detail. The two words not only are tautological, but also have a kind of deadening effect on any passage in which they appear, as here: “Samples of the shards were brought back to the college, where they were studied in minute detail.” Why not just say “Samples of the shards were brought back to the college for study”? One can normally assume that any objects being subjected to study will be examined closely.
minutia. A detail; pl. minutiae. Note that the latter is pronounced min-oo-she, not min-oo-she-ay.
mirabile dictu. (Lat.) Wonderful to relate.
Miricioiu, Nelly. (1952–) Romanian opera singer.
MIRV. Multiple independently targeted reentry vehicle; a type of ballistic missile.
miscellaneous.
mischievous.
mise-en-scène. Stage or film scenery, or the general setting of an event.
mishit.
misogamist, misogynist. The first hates marriage, the second hates women.
misshapen.
Mississauga. Suburb of Toronto.
Missolonghi, Greece.
misspell. If there is one word that you don’t wish in print to misspell, it is this one. Note -ss-.
misspend.
misstate.
misstep.
mistime.
mistletoe.
mistral. Cold, unpleasant wind in France.
MIT. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
mitigate, militate. The first means to soften or make more endurable; the second to act against.
mitochondrion. Type of cell organelle; pl. mitochondria.
Mitsukoshi. Japanese department store chain.
Mitterrand, François (Maurice Marie). (1916–1996) President of France (1981–1995).
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, New York.
Miyazawa, Kiichi. (1919–2007) Prime minister of Japan (1991–1993).
Mnemosyne. Greek goddess of memory and mother of the nine Muses by Zeus.
MO. Postal abbreviation of Missouri. The traditional abbreviation is Mo., with period.
Möbius strip (or band). A piece of paper or other material twisted in such a way as to form a continuous surface; named after its discoverer, German mathematician