Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words - Bill Bryson [34]
good will, goodwill. Either form is acceptable in general senses, but it is customary to make it one word when referring to the reputation and trading value of a business.
gourmand is a word to be used carefully. Some dictionaries now define it only as a person who likes to eat well, but others equate it with gluttony. Unless you mean to convey a pejorative sense, it would be better to use gourmet, gastronome, epicure, or some other more flattering term.
graffiti. “There was graffiti in glorious abundance” (Daily Mail). It is probably a losing battle, but graffiti is a plural, and the sentence would be better as “There were graffiti . . .” If all you mean is a single embellishment, the term is graffito. However, I should also note that fewer and fewer authorities insist on the distinction.
grammatical error as a term is sometimes objected to on the grounds that a word or phrase cannot be simultaneously grammatical and erroneous but must be either one or the other. In fact, the primary meaning of grammatical is “of or relating to grammar,” which includes errors of grammar, and in any case the expression is well established.
Granada, Grenada. The first is the historic city in Spain, the second the Caribbean island state, capital St. George’s. They are pronounced respectively “gr-nah-d and gr-nay-d.”
grandiloquence, not -eloquence, for inflated speech.
greater. Sometimes a pointer to wordiness, as here: “The cost for a 17-year-old living in the greater London area . . .” (Times). “In greater London” or “in the London area” says the same thing as “in the greater London area,” but says it more simply.
grief, grieve. “As U.S. travel abroad drops, Europe grieves” (New York Times headline). Did it? I wonder. Europe may have been alarmed at, suffered from, or fretted over the loss of American tourist revenue, but is it reasonable to suggest that grief was attached? Similar strong, emotive words—mourn, ravage, anguish, and so on—are better reserved for strong, emotive contexts. See also PLEA, PLEAD.
grievous. The word is not grievious, though it is often so misspelled, as here: “He admitted robbery and causing grievious bodily harm and was jailed for seven years” (Independent). See also MISCHIEVOUS.
grisly, gristly, grizzly. Occasionally and variously confused. The first means horrifying or gruesome. The second applies to meat that is full of gristle. The third means gray, especially gray-haired, and is a cliché when applied to old men.
gross domestic product, gross national product. Gross domestic product is everything produced by a nation during a given period except earnings from overseas. Gross national product is everything produced by a nation during a given period including earnings from overseas. In most contexts, the reader is entitled to an explanation of the difference.
growth. Often used contrarily by economists and those who write about them: “It now looks as if growth will remain stagnant until spring” (Observer); “. . . with the economy moving into a negative growth phase” (Times). Growth obviously indicates expansion. If a thing is shrinking or standing still, growth simply isn’t the word for it.
Guadalupe, Guadeloupe. The cluster of islands in the Caribbean, which together form an overseas department of France, is Guadeloupe. Most other geographical features bearing the name, including a river and a range of mountains in the southwestern United States and towns or cities in California, Mexico, Spain, Peru, and the Azores, spell it Guadalupe.
Guangdong, Guangzhou. Guangdong is the Chinese province formerly known as Kwangtung. Its capital is Guangzhou, formerly Canton.
Guardian, The. “According to reports in the London Times and Manchester Guardian, the duchess was staying at the royal estate in Scotland, Balmoral” (Los Angeles Times). The venerable British newspaper has not been the Manchester Guardian since it moved to London in the 1960s. It is simply The Guardian.
Guiana, Guyana. Some scope for confusion here, particularly if using old references. The name