Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [83]
Mobutu Sese Seko. (1930–1997) President of Zaire (1965–1997); born Joseph-Desiré Mobuto.
Moby-Dick. (Note hyphen.) Novel by Herman Melville (1851). The full title on publication was Moby-Dick; or, the Whale.
moccasin.
modem is short for modulator/demodulator.
Modigliani, Amedeo. (1884–1920) Italian artist.
modus operandi. (Lat.) The way of doing something.
modus vivendi. (Lat.) Way of life, or a kind of truce pending the settlement of a dispute.
Mogadishu. Capital of Somalia.
Mohave, Mojave. The first is the spelling for the Native American tribe and mountains in Arizona; the second is the spelling of the desert.
Mohorovicíc discontinuity. Boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle, named for the Croatian geophysicist Andrija Mohorovicíc (1857–1936).
Mojave Desert, but Mohave for the Native American tribe and mountains in Arizona.
Moldova. Not Moldavia. Eastern European republic, formerly called Bessarabia, formerly part of Soviet Union; capital Chişinău. The people and language are Moldovan.
Molière. (1622–1673) French playwright; born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin.
mollycoddle.
Molly Maguires. Secret society active in Pennsylvania in nineteenth century.
molt. Not moult.
molybdenum. Chemical element; symbol Mo.
Mombasa. Seaport and resort in Kenya.
Mona Lisa. Painting by Leonardo da Vinci, also called La Gioconda.
Mönchen-Gladbach, Germany.
Mondrian, Piet. (1872–1944) Dutch abstract painter; born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan.
Monégasque for a person or thing from Monaco. Not Mona-.
moneyed, not monied, for someone with wealth.
mongooses is the plural of mongoose. (The word is of Indian origin and has no relation to the English goose.)
moniker (not monicker) for a name or nickname.
Monnet, Jean. (1888–1979) French statesman; but Claude Monet for the artist.
Monongahela. River in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
mononucleosis is the American term for the illness known in Britain and elsewhere as glandular fever, a consideration that should be borne in mind if writing for an international audience.
Monserrat, Spain, but Montserrat, Leeward Islands.
monsieur, pl. messieurs.
Montagnard. French for “mountain dweller,” it is the name given to the radical faction during the French Revolution because of the elevated position of their seats in the National Convention. The term is also applied to some Southeast Asian hill tribes.
Montaigne, Michel (Eyquem) de. (1533–1592) French philosopher and essayist.
Mont Blanc. Alpine mountain. But Montblanc for the pen.
Montenegro, Republic of. Formerly part of Yugoslavia; capital Podgorica.
Monterey for the city and bay in California and towns in Indiana, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Virginia, but Monterrey for the city in Mexico and town in Colorado.
Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de. (1689–1755) French philosopher and jurist.
Montessori. System of teaching developed by Maria Montessori (1870–1952), Italian doctor and educator.
Monteverdi, Claudio Giovanni Antonio. (1567–1643) Italian composer.
Montevideo. Capital of Uruguay.
Montparnasse, Paris.
Montpelier for the capital of Vermont, but Montpellier, France.
Mont-Saint-Michel, France (hyphens).
Montserrat, Leeward Islands, but Monserrat, Spain.
moose. Pl. same.
More, Sir Thomas (also St. Thomas). (1478–1535) English statesman and author.
morganatic marriage. One between a noble and a commoner in which the commoner and his or her descendants enjoy no privileges of inheritance.
Morgan le Fay. Sister of King Arthur.
Morgenthau, Henry, Jr. (1891–1967) American statesman, secretary of the treasury (1934–1945).
moribund does not mean sluggish or declining; it means dying, on the point of death. To be moribund is to be critically, indeed irreversibly, ill.
Morison, Samuel Eliot. (1887–1976) American historian.
Mormon Church. Officially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Morocco, Morrocan.
Morris, Gouverneur. (1752–1816) American statesman, signatory of U.S. Constitution.
Morrison, Toni. (1931–) American novelist, awarded Nobel Prize