Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words - Bill Bryson [9]
a while, awhile. To write “for awhile” is wrong because the idea of for is implicit in awhile. Write either “I will stay here for a while” (two words) or “I will stay here awhile” (one word).
awoke, awaked, awakened. Two common problems are worth noting:
1. Awoken, though much used, is generally considered not standard. Thus this sentence from an Agatha Christie novel (cited by Partridge) is wrong: “I was awoken by that rather flashy young woman.” Make it awakened.
2. As a past participle, awaked is preferable to awoke. Thus, “He had awaked at midnight” and not “He had awoke at midnight.” But if ever in doubt about the past tense, you will never be wrong if you use awakened.
axel, axle. An axel is a jump in ice skating; an axle is a rod connecting two wheels.
Ayers Rock (no apostrophe) for the Australian eminence. However, the formal name now is Uluru, which see.
B
bacteria. “Each bacteria is surrounded by an outer coat that contains a poisonous chemical called an endotoxin” (Baltimore Sun). Bacteria is plural. The singular is bacterium, so the sentence needs to say either “Each bacterium is” or “The bacteria are.” A second occasional error concerning bacteria is to confuse them with viruses, which are not at all the same things. Bacteria are single-celled organisms with the ability to reproduce independently. Viruses are much smaller and capable of reproducing only after invading a living cell; they are not independent living organisms. They also cause different diseases from bacteria, a point that can often be germane in texts.
bail, bale. Bail is a prisoner’s bond, the pieces that rest atop the stumps in cricket, and the act of scooping water. Bale is a bundle, as of cotton or hay. You bail out a boat and out of an aircraft. A malicious person wears a baleful expression.
bait, bate. “Robin’s exploits were listened to with baited breath” (Mail on Sunday). Unless Robin’s listeners were hoping to catch fish, their breath was bated. The word is a cousin of abated.
balk, baulk. Either spelling is correct, but the second is primarily British.
banzai, bonsai. The first is a Japanese war cry; the second is a type of Japanese gardening involving miniature trees.
barbaric, barbarous. Barbaric, properly used, emphasizes crudity and a lack of civilizing influence. A sharpened stick might be considered a barbaric implement of war. Barbarous stresses cruelty and harshness and usually contains at least a hint of moral condemnation, as in “barbarous ignorance” and “barbarous treatment.”
barbecue is the only acceptable spelling in serious writing. Any journalist or other formal user of English who believes that the word is spelled barbeque or, worse still, bar-b-q, is not ready for unsupervised employment.
barrier. “BTR’s profits this week went through the £1bn pre-tax profits barrier” (Independent). Even in the broadest figurative sense, a barrier should suggest some kind of obstacle or impediment, and clearly there is nothing stopping any company from piling up any level of profit. If the urge to employ a metaphor is irresistible, try milestone.
basically. The trouble with this word, basically, is that it is almost always unnecessary.
basis. More often than not, a reliable indicator of wordiness, as here: “Det. Chief Supt. Peter Topping . . . said he would review the search on a day-to-day basis” (Independent). Why not make it “would review the search daily” and save five words?
bathos. From the Greek bathus, meaning “deep,” bathos can be used to indicate the lowest point or nadir, or triteness and insincerity. But its usual use is in describing an abrupt descent from an elevated position to the commonplace. It is not the opposite of pathos, which is to do with feelings of pity or sympathy.
B.C. always goes after the year (e.g., 42 B.C.) and is usually set in small caps. Some texts employ B.C.E. (for “Before Christian Era” or “Before Common Era”) as a more secular alternative, but the practice shows no sign yet of becoming widespread.
be (with a participle). Almost always a wordy way of getting