Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [87]
New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve.
New York City comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a state county (in parens.): the Bronx (Bronx County), Brooklyn (Kings County), Manhattan (New York County), Queens (Queens County), and Staten Island (Richmond County).
Niagara Falls.
Niamey. Capital of Niger.
Nibelungenlied. German epic poem written in the early thirteenth century.
niblick. Golf club used for getting the ball out of bad lies.
niceish is the spelling for something that is rather nice.
nickel. Not -le.
Nicklaus, Jack. (1940–) American golfer.
Nicosia, Cyprus; to the Greeks it is Levkosia.
nicotine.
Nielsen ratings. The company is ACNielsen (one word).
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. (1884–1900) German philosopher; the adjective is Nietzschean.
Nightingale, Florence. (1820–1910) English nurse and hospital reformer.
Niigata, Honshu, Japan. Note -ii-.
Niihau. Hawaiian island. Note -ii-.
Nijinsky, Vaslav. (1890–1950) Russian dancer and choreographer.
Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Nikkei 225 Index. Principal Japanese stock market index; Nikkei is derived from Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a business newspaper.
Niña, Pinta, and Santa María. The ships in Columbus’s fleet during the 1492 crossing of the Atlantic.
nincompoop. Not nim-.
Nisei. Literally “second generation.” Term used in North America for native U.S. or Canadian citizens born to immigrant Japanese parents; often loosely used to describe all Japanese expatriates, particularly in the context of World War II internment.
nitty-gritty. (Hyphen.)
nitwit.
Nixon, Richard Milhous. (1913–1994) Not -house. U.S. president (1969–1974).
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; called Gorky during Communist era.
Nobel Prizes are awarded in six categories: Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics—though the last named is not strictly a Nobel Prize (its formal title is the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences). Nobel Prizes are named for the Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel (1833–1896).
noblesse oblige. (Fr.) “Nobility obligates” applied to duties that come with rank.
nobody (one word), but no one (two words).
noisome has nothing to do with noise or noisiness. It is related to annoy and means offensive or objectionable and is most often used to describe unpleasant smells.
nolo contendere. (Lat.) “I do not wish to contend” tantamount to a plea of guilty, but leaves the defendant with the option of denying the same or similar charges in other proceedings.
nom de guerre. (Fr.) An assumed name; in most contexts it is a cliché.
nom de plume. A writer’s pseudonym.
nomenklatura. Secret list of names from which people in the USSR were chosen for advancement.
nonagenarian. Person from ninety to ninety-nine years old.
non-Christian, but unchristian.
non compos mentis. (Lat.) “Not of sound mind.”
none. Although none can always take a singular verb, there is no rule recognized by any authority on English grammar that it cannot equally well take a plural one.
nonetheless. (One word.)
non sequitur. (Lat.) “It does not follow” the combination of two or more statements that are jarringly unrelated, as in “He was born in Omaha and his shoes were brown.”
no one (two words), but nobody (one word).
Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Region of France.
Nor’easter is a strong or stormy wind from the northeast.
Norge. The Norwegian name for Norway.
normalcy. Although most dictionaries accept it as standard, it is still derided as a casualism by many authorities, who suggest normality instead.
Northern Ireland. Part of the United Kingdom, comprising six counties: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone.
North Fork BanCorp. New York–based banking company.
nosy. Not -ey.
nota bene. (Lat.) “Note well” abbreviated n.b. (with periods) or NB (without).
Notes from Underground. Not the Underground. Novel by Dostoyevsky.
not so much is often followed by but when the word should be as, as here: “He was not so much a comic actor, but a real comedian.” Make it “He was not so much a comic actor as a real comedian.”
notwithstanding.