Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words - Bill Bryson [22]
definite, definitive. Definite means precise and unmistakable. Definitive means final and conclusive. A definite offer is a clear one; a definitive offer is one that permits of no haggling.
defuse, diffuse. Occasionally confused, as here: “In an attempt to diffuse panic over the disease, he spelled out the ways in which it was spread” (Independent). The he here refers to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is hardly likely to wish to scatter panic, however thinly. That is the meaning of diffuse: to disperse or disseminate, to take a given volume and distribute it more widely. The notion of making less harmful is contained in the word defuse, which is of course the sense that the writer intended.
delectable. Not -ible.
demean. Some authorities, among them Fowler (second edition), object to the word in the sense of to debase or degrade, pointing out that its original, more neutral meaning signified only conduct or behavior (a neutrality preserved in the cognate form demeanor). But as Bernstein notes, the looser usage has been with us since 1601, which suggests that it may be just a bit late to try to hold the line now.
demise. “But fears about the demise of the U.S. economy look exaggerated” (Observer). They would just about have to. Demise does not mean decline, as is all too often thought. It means death. It applies to things that no longer exist at all.
deplete, reduce. Though their meanings are roughly the same, deplete has the additional connotation of injurious reduction. As the Evanses note, a garrison may be reduced by administrative order but depleted by sickness.
deplore. Strictly, you may deplore a thing but not a person. I may deplore your behavior, but I cannot deplore you.
deprecate. “She was widely noted for her self-deprecating manner” (New York Times). Deprecate really means to disapprove of strongly or protest against, but has been so routinely confused with depreciate (as in the example above) that nearly all dictionaries now accept the additional usage. A careful user may salute you for observing deprecate’s older and narrower meaning, but cannot fairly condemn you if you don’t.
de rigueur. Often misspelled. Note the second u.
derisive, derisory. Something that is derisive conveys ridicule or contempt. Something that is derisory invites it. A derisory offer is likely to provoke a derisive response.
despite, in spite of. There is no distinction between the two. A common construction is seen here: “But despite the fall in sterling, Downing Street officials were at pains to play down any suggestion of crisis” (Daily Telegraph). Because despite and in spite of indicate a change of emphasis, but is generally superfluous with either. It is enough to say, “Despite the fall in sterling, Downing Street officials . . .”
destroy is an incomparable—almost. If a house is consumed by fire, it is enough to say that it was destroyed, not that it was “completely destroyed” or “totally destroyed.” However, and as illogical as it may seem, it is all right to speak of a house that has been partly destroyed. There is simply no other way of putting it without resorting to more circuitous descriptions. That is perhaps absurd and inconsistent, but ever thus was English.
diagnosis, prognosis. To make a diagnosis is to identify and define a problem, usually a disease. A prognosis is a projection of the course and likely outcome of a problem. Diagnosis applies only to conditions, not to people. Thus “Asbestos victims were not diagnosed in large numbers until the 1960s” (Time) is not quite right. It was the victims’ conditions that were not diagnosed, not the victims themselves.
dialect, patois. Both describe the form of language prevailing in a region and can be used interchangeably, though patois is normally better reserved for contexts involving French or its variants. “He spoke in the patois of Yorkshire” is at best jocular. The plural of patois, incidentally, is also patois.
dieresis or diaeresis, for the punctuation mark consisting of two dots above a vowel, as in zoölogy and naïve, which is used