Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) (41 page)

Srebrenica,
Bosnia and Herzegovina; site of infamous massacre of 8,000 citizens by Serbian forces in 1995.

Sri Lanka.
Island state off India, formerly called Ceylon; capital Colombo. Note the airline is
SriLankan
(one word) Airlines.

SS.
Abbreviation of Schutzstaffel, infamous Nazi enforcement agency.

staccato.

Stakhanovite.
In the former Soviet Union, a worker held up to the nation as a paragon.

stalactite, stalagmite.
Stalactites point downward, stalagmites upward.

stalemate
is a permanent deadlock—one so intractable that no further action is possible. A chess match that reaches stalemate is not awaiting a more decisive outcome; the stalemate
is
the outcome.
Standoff, deadlock,
or
impasse
are all better words if remedial action is still possible.

Stamford, Stanford.
Occasionally confused.
Stamford
is the name of notable communities in Connecticut and the English county of Lincolnshire.
Stanford
is the university in Palo Alto, California. The intelligence test is the
Stanford-Binet
test.

stanch, staunch.
Although
staunch
is given as an acceptable variant by most dictionaries,
stanch
is still generally the preferred spelling for the verb meaning to arrest the flow. As an adjective,
staunch
is the only spelling (“a staunch supporter”).

stanchion.

St. Andrews,
(no apos.) Scotland, site of St. Andrews University and golf's most revered course, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

St. Andrew's Day.
(Apos.) November 30.

Stanislavsky system.
Method of acting named for Konstantin Stanislavsky, a Russian teacher.

Stansted Airport,
England.

St. Antony's College,
Oxford University.

staphylococcus,
a type of bacteria; pl.
staphylococci.

starboard.
The right-hand side of a ship when looking forward.

Stasi.
Short for Staatssicherheitsdienst, Ministry for State Security in East Germany before unification.

stationary, stationery.
The first means standing still, the second is writing paper and envelopes.

St. Barthélemy,
French West Indies.

St. Benet's Hall,
Oxford University.

St. Catharine's College,
Cambridge University, but
St. Catherine's College,
Oxford University.

St. Catherines,
Ontario.

St. Christopher and Nevis, Federation of.
Formal name of Caribbean state commonly known as St. Kitts-Nevis.

St. Croix,
U.S. Virgin Islands, formerly Santa Cruz; pronounced
kroy
.

Steffens, Lincoln.
(1866–1936) Campaigning American journalist.

Stendhal.
(1783–1842) Not
-dahl.
Pen name of Marie Henri Beyle, French writer.

Sterne, Laurence.
(1713–1768) English clergyman and writer.

stethoscope.

stevedore.

Stevens, Wallace.
(1879–1955) American poet.

Stevenson, Adlai.
(1900–1965) American Democratic politician, ran unsuccessfully for president in 1952 and 1956.

Stevenson, Robert Louis.
(1850–1894) Scottish writer.

St.-Germain-des-Prés,
Paris.

St. Helens, Mt.
Volcano in Washington State, which famously erupted on May 18, 1980.

sticky.

Stieglitz, Alfred.
(1864–1946) American photographer.

stiletto,
pl.
stilettos.

still lifes
for the plural.

stilton
for the cheese, but
Stilton
for the English village where it originated.

St. James Garlickhythe,
London church.

St. James's,
not
James'
, for the London palace, park, and square. Diplomats likewise are posted to the
Court of St. James's.

St. Katharine's Dock,
London. Not
Kather-.

St. Kitts and Nevis
is the common name for the Caribbean state formally known as the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis; capital Basseterre. Residents are known as Kittians or Nevisians.

St. Maarten/St. Martin.
Caribbean island divided into Dutch and French sides, respectively.

St. Martin-in-the-Fields,
London.

St. Mary-le-Bow
(hyphens), but
St. Mary le Strand;
London churches.

Stockhausen, Karlheinz.
(1928–) German composer.

Stolichnaya.
Brand of vodka.

stony.

Storey, David.
(1933–) English novelist and playwright.

Storting.
Norwegian parliament.

St. Pierre and Miquelon.
French islands off east coast of Canada; formally they are a territorial collectivity.

Stradivarius.
A violin or other stringed instrument made by
Antonio Stradivari
(c. 1645–1737).

straitjacket.

straitlaced.

Strasbourg,
France.

strata, stratum.
The first is sometimes used when the second is intended, as in “They dug into another strata and at last found what they were looking for.” A single level is a stratum.
Strata
signifies more than one.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).
Commonly called “star wars” plan propounded by President Ronald Reagan to erect a shield of space weapons over the United States to stop incoming missiles.

Stratford-on-Avon, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Most gazetteers and other reference sources give Stratford-upon-Avon as the correct name for the birthplace of William Shakespeare, but it is worth noting that the local authority calls itself Stratford-on-Avon District Council.

Strauss, Johann, the Younger.
(1825–1899) Austrian composer known for waltzes, polkas, marches, and operettas. His father,
Johann Strauss the Elder
(1804–1849), brothers
Eduard
(1835–1916) and
Josef
(1827–1870), and son
Johann Strauss III
(1866–1939) were also composers. None of them should be confused with the next entry.

Strauss, Richard.
(1864–1949) German composer of operas and other musical works.

Stravinsky, Igor.
(1882–1971) Russian-born American composer.

Streep, Meryl.
(1951–) American actress.

Streisand, Barbra.
(1942–) American singer and actress; not
Barbara.

Strindberg, August.
(1849–1912) Swedish playwright and writer.

strived, strove.
Either is acceptable.

Stroessner, Alfredo.
(1912–2006) President of Paraguay (1954–1989).

Stroganoff.
(Cap.) Strips of meat cooked in a sour-cream sauce.

strychnine.

St. Swithin's
(or
Swithun's) Day.
July 15. According to legend, rain on that day will be followed by forty more days of rain.

Stuka.
(Cap.) German dive bomber in World War II.

stupefy, stupefied, stupefaction.
Don't confuse the spelling with
stupid
.

Sturm und Drang.
(Ger.) “Storm and stress.”

Stuttgart,
Germany.

Stuyvesant, Peter.
(1592–1672) Dutch governor of New Netherlands (1646–64), which later became New York.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Caribbean state; capital Kingstown.

stylus,
pl.
styluses/styli.

stymie.
Thwart or immobilize.

Styrofoam
is a trademark.

Styx.
The river flowing around Hades.

submersible.

suborn
does not mean undermine, as is sometimes thought; it is to induce someone into committing a wrongful act.

subpoena.
A writ ordering a person to appear in court.

sub rosa.
(Lat.) “Under the rose” in secret.

sub silentio.
(Lat.) In silence.

substitute
should be followed only by
for
. You substitute one thing for another. If you find yourself following the word with
by
or
with
or any other preposition, you should choose another verb.

subterranean.

succès d'estime.
(Fr.) An undertaking that makes little or no profit but wins critical acclaim.

succès fou.
(Fr.) A huge success, a smash hit.

succubus.
A female evil spirit that has sexual relations with a man. A spirit that has intercourse with a sleeping female is an incubus.

Sucre.
Official capital of Bolivia, although the seat of government is La Paz.

Sudetenland.
German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia annexed by Hitler in 1938.

sudoku.
Japanese number game. It is an abbreviation of
suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru
, “the numbers must be single.”

Suetonius (Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus).
(c. 70–c. 160) Roman historian and biographer.

suggestible.

sui generis.
(Lat.) In a class of its own.

suing.

sukiyaki.
Japanese dish.

Suleiman I.
(c. 1490–1566) Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1520–1566); called “the Magnificent.”

sulfur.

Sullavan, Margaret.
(1911–1960) Not
Sulli-.
Hollywood actress.

Sully Prudhomme.
Pen name of René François Armand Prudhomme (1839–1907), French poet; awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1901.

Sulzberger, Arthur Ochs.
(1926–) American newspaper publisher.

Sunni.
Branch of Islam.

SunTrust Banks.
U.S. banking group. Note
SunTrust
one word.

Sununu, John H(enry).
(1939–) American Republican politician from New Hampshire.

Sun Yat-sen.
(1866–1925) Chinese statesman and revolutionary.

Suomen Tasavalta.
Finnish for “Republic of Finland.”

supersede
is one of the most frequently misspelled of words. Note the final syllable is
-sede
, not
-cede.

Surayud Chulanont, General.
(1943–) Former prime minister of Thailand (2006–2008). On second reference he is
General Surayud.

Suriname, Surinam.
Confusion still sometimes arises concerning the name of this small South American country. The spelling
Surinam
can now safely be regarded as historic and
Suriname
as the preferred modern spelling. The Suriname River and Suriname toad also take the modern spellings. Suriname was formerly Dutch Guiana.

surreptitious.

surrounded
means completely encircled. To say that something is “surrounded on three sides” is a poor use of the word.

surveillance.

survivor.
Not
-er.

susceptible.

Susquehanna River,
eastern United States.

sustenance.

susurrate.
Whisper.

suttee.
Hindu practice of a widow throwing herself on her husband's funeral pyre.

Suu Kyi, Aung San.
(1945–) Burmese political activist, awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

Suva.
Capital of Fiji.

Suvarnabhumi Airport,
Bangkok.

Suwannee River,
southern United States; immortalized in songs as “the Swanee.”

Sverige.
Swedish for Sweden.

Swayze, Patrick.
(1952–) American actor.

Sweet 'N Low.
Sugar substitute.

Swinburne, Algernon Charles.
(1837–1909) English poet.

Swissair.
(One word.) Former Swiss airline.

Swithin's
(or
Swithun's) Day, St.
July 15. According to legend, rain on that day will be followed by forty days of the same.

sycamore.
Tree.