Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words - Bill Bryson [3]
acute, chronic. These two are sometimes confused, which is a little odd, as their meanings are sharply opposed. Chronic pertains to lingering conditions, ones that are not easily overcome. Acute refers to those that come to a sudden crisis and require immediate attention. People in the Third World may suffer from a chronic shortage of food. In a bad year, their plight may become acute.
A.D. anno Domini (Lat.), “in the year of the Lord.” A.D. should be written before the year (A.D. 25) but after the century (fourth century A.D.) and is usually set in small caps. See also ANNO DOMINI and B.C.
adage. Even the most careful users of English frequently, but unnecessarily, refer to an “old adage.” An adage is by definition old.
adapter, adaptor. The first is one who adapts (as in a book for theatrical presentation); the second is the device for making appliances work abroad and so on.
adjective pileup. Many journalists, in an otherwise commendable attempt to pack as much information as possible into a confined space, often resort to the practice of piling adjectives in front of the subject, as in this London Times headline: “Police rape claim woman in court.” Apart from questions of inelegance, such headlines can be confusing, to say the least. A hurried reader, expecting a normal subject-verb-object construction, could at first conclude that the police have raped a claim-woman in court before the implausibility of that notion makes him go back and read the headline again. Readers should never be required to retrace their steps, however short the journey. Although the practice is most common in headlines, it sometimes crops up in text, as here: “The new carburetor could result in an up to 35 percent improvement in gas mileage” (Des Moines Register). The ungainliness here could instantly be eliminated by making it “an improvement in mileage of up to 35 percent.”
administer. Not administrate.
admit to is nearly always wrong, as in these examples: “The Rev. Jesse Jackson had just admitted to fathering a child with an adoring staffer” (Baltimore Sun); “Pretoria admits to raid against Angola” (Guardian headline); “Botha admits to errors on Machel cash” (Independent headline). Delete to in each case. You admit a misdeed, you do not admit to it.
advance planning is common but always redundant. All planning must be done in advance.
adverse, averse. Occasionally confused. Averse means reluctant or disinclined (think of aversion). Adverse means hostile and antagonistic (think of adversary).
aerate. Just two syllables. Not aereate.
affect, effect. As a verb, affect means to influence (“Smoking may affect your health”) or to adopt a pose or manner (“She affected ignorance”). Effect as a verb means to accomplish (“The prisoners effected an escape”). As a noun, the word needed is almost always effect (as in “personal effects” or “the damaging effects of war”). Affect as a noun has a narrow psychological meaning to do with emotional states (by way of which it is related to affection).
affinity denotes a mutual relationship. Therefore, strictly speaking, one should not speak of someone or something having an affinity for another but should speak of an affinity with or between. When mutuality is not intended, sympathy would be a better word. But it should also be noted that a number of authorities and many dictionaries no longer insist on this distinction.
affright. Note -ff-.
Afrikaans, Afrikaners. The first is a language, the second a group of people.
aggravate in the sense of exasperate has been with us at least since the early seventeenth century and has been opposed by grammarians for about as long. Strictly, aggravate means to make a bad situation worse. If you walk on a broken leg, you may aggravate the injury. People can never be aggravated, only circumstances. Fowler, who called objections to the looser usage a fetish, was no doubt right when he insisted the purists were fighting a battle that had already