same is often superfluous. If your sentence contains on the same day that, try on the day that.
Scot, scotch To scotch means to disable, not to destroy. (“We have scotched the snake, not killed it.” “Macbeth”) The people are Scots or Scottish; choose as you like. The distinctive Scottish dialect of English is Scots. The traditional Celtic language is Gaelic. Scot-free means completely free from payment of a fine (or punishment), not free from Scotsmen.
second-biggest (third-oldest, fourth-wisest, fifth-commonest, etc) Think before you write.
Apart from New York, a Bramley is the second-biggest apple in the world. Other than home-making and parenting, prostitution is the third-oldest profession. After Tom, Dick and Harriet, Henry I was the fourth-wisest fool in Christendom. Besides justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude, the fifth-commonest virtue of the Goths was punctuality.
None of these sentences should contain the ordinal (second- , third- , fourth- , fifth- , etc).
sector Try industry instead or, for example, banks instead of banking sector.
semi-colons see punctuation.
sensual, sensuous Sensual means carnal or voluptuous. Sensuous means pertaining to aesthetic appreciation, without any implication of lasciviousness.
sequestered, sequestrated Sequestered means secluded. Sequestrated means confiscated or made bankrupt.
short words Use them. They are often Anglo-Saxon rather than Latin in origin. They are easy to spell and easy to understand. Thus prefer:
about to approximately
after to following
before to prior to
but to however
enough to sufficient
let to permit
make to manufacture
plant, club, warehouse, etc, to facility
set up to establish
show to demonstrate
spending to expenditure
take part to participate
use to utilise
Underdeveloped countries are often better described as poor. Substantive often means real or big. “Broadly speaking, the short words are the best and the old words, when short, are best of all.” (Winston Churchill)
shrug This means to draw up the shoulders, so do not write She shrugged her shoulders.
simplistic Prefer simple-minded, naive.
Singaporean names see names.
singular or plural? see grammar and syntax.
skills are turning up all over the place – in learning skills, thinking skills, teaching skills – instead of the ability to. He has the skills probably means He can.
skyrocketed Rocketed, not skyrocketed.
slither, sliver As a noun, slither is scree. As a verb, it means slide. If you mean a small, narrow piece of something, the word you want is sliver.
sloppy writing Use words with care.
If This door is alarmed, does its hair stand on end? If this envelope says Urgent: dated material, is it really too old-fashioned to be worth reading? Is a handicapped toilet really faultily designed or carrying extra weight? Is offensive marketing just rude salesmanship?
More serious difficulties may arise with indicted war criminals. As their lawyers could one day remind you, these may turn out to be innocent people accused of war crimes.
Some familiar words may cause trouble. When Gordon Brown wrote in the Guardian, “No one can underestimate the scale of the challenge climate change represents,” he presumably meant just the opposite. A heart condition is usually a bad heart. A near miss is probably a near hit. Positive thoughts (held by long-suffering creditors, according to The Economist) presumably means optimism, just as a negative report is probably a critical report. Industrial action is usually industrial inaction, industrial disruption or a strike. A courtesy call is generally a sales offer or an uninvited visit. A substantially finished bridge is an unfinished bridge. Someone with high name-recognition is well known. Something with reliability problems probably does not work. If yours is a live audience, what would a dead one be like?
And what is an ethics violation? An error of judgment? A crime? A moral lapse?
See also unnecessary words.
smart used to mean only well dressed, but smartcards, smart sanctions, smart weapons, etc are now universally with us, to the point where you may have to find another word (elegant, chic, natty) for well-dressed. Smartly still seems to work as an adverb suggesting prompt efficiency.
social security in America, Social Security means pensions and should be capitalised. Elsewhere it usually means state benefits more generally, which are called welfare in the United States.
soft is an adverb as well as an adjective and a noun. Softly is also an adverb. You can speak softly and carry a big stick, but if you have a quiet voice you are soft – not softly – spoken.
soi-disant means self-styled, not so-called.
sources see footnotes, sources, references in Part 3.
Spanish names see names.
specific A specific is a medicine, not a detail, unless in the plural: Let’s get down to specifics.
spelling Use British English rather than American English or any other kind. Sometimes, however, this injunction will clash with the rule that people and companies should be called what they want to be called, short of festooning themselves with titles. If it does, adopt American (or Canadian or other local) spelling when it is used in the name of an American (etc) company or private organisation (Alcan Aluminum, Carter Center, Pulverizing Services Inc, Travelers Insurance), but not when it is used for a government institution or a think-tank (Department of Defence, Department of Labour, Pew Centre for Research). The principle behind this ruling is that place-names are habitually changed from foreign languages into English: Deutschland becomes Germany, München Munich, Torino Turin, etc. And to respect the local spelling of government institutions would present difficulties: a sentence containing both the Department of Labor and the secretary of labour, or the Defense Department and the need for a strong defence, would look unduly odd. That oddity will arise nonetheless if you have to explain that Rockefeller Center Properties is in charge of Rockefeller Centre, but with luck that will not happen too often. See place-names.
The Australian Labor Party should be spelt without a u not only because it is not a government institution but also because the Australians spell it that way, even though they spell labour as the British do.
s spelling Use -ise, -isation (realise, organisation) throughout. But please do not hospitalise.
common problems
abattoir
abut, abutted, abutting
accommodate
acknowledgment
acquittal, acquitted, acquitting
adrenalin
adviser, advisory
aeon
aeroplane
aesthetic
aficionado
Afrikaans (the language), Afrikaner (the person)
ageing (but caging, paging, raging, waging)
agri-business (not agro-business)
aircraft, airliner
algorithm
al-Qaeda
amiable
amid (not amidst)
amok (not amuck)
among (not amongst)
analogous
annex (verb), annexe (noun)
antecedent
appal, appals, appalling, appalled
aqueduct
aquifer
arbitrager
artefact
asinine
balk (not baulk)
balloted, balloting
bandanna
bandwagon
battalion
bellwether
benefiting, benefited
biased
bicentenary (noun, not bicentennial)
billeting, billeted
blanketing, blanketed
bloc for a grouping of countries; otherwise, block
blowzy (not blousy)
bogey (bogie is on a locomotive)
borsch
braggadocio
brethren
bumf
bused, busing (keep bussing for kissing)
by-election, bylaw, bypass, byproduct, byword
bye (in sport)
caddie (golf), caddy (tea)
caesium
cannon (gun), canon (standard, criterion, clergyman)
cappuccino
carcass
caviar
chancy
channelling, channelled
checking account (spell it thus when explaining to Americans a current account, which is to be preferred)
choosy
cipher
clubable (coined, and spelled thus, by Dr Johnson)
combating, combated
commemorate
confectionery
connection
consensus
cooled, cooler, coolly
coral (stuff found in sea), corral (cattle pen)
coruscate
cosseted, cosseting
debacle
defendant
dependant (person), dependent (adj)
depository (unless referring to American depositary receipts)
desiccate, desiccation
detente (not detente)
dexterous (not dextrous)
dignitary
dilapidate
disk (in a computer context), otherwise disc (including compact disc)
dispatch (not despatch)
dispel, dispelling
distil, distiller
divergences
doppelganger(s)
doveish
dryer, dryly
dullness
dwelt
dyeing (colour)
dyke
ecstasy
embarrass (but harass)
encyclopedia
enroll, enrolment
ensure (make certain), insure (against risks)
enthrall
extrovert
farther (distance), further (additional)
favour, favourable
ferreted
fetus (not foetus, misformed from the Latin fetus)
field-marshal (soldier)
Filipino, Filipina (person), Philippine (adj of the Philippines)
filleting, filleted
flotation
flyer, frequent flyer, high-flyer
focused, focusing
forbear (abstain), forebear (ancestor)
forbid, forbade
foreboding
foreclose
forefather
forestall
forewarn
forgather
forgo (do without), forego (precede)
forsake
forswear, forsworn
fuelled
-ful, not -full (thus armful, bathful, handful, etc)
fullness
fulsome
funnelling, funnelled
furore
gallivant
gelatine
glamour, glamorise, glamorous
graffito, graffiti
gram (not gramme)
grey
guerrilla
gulag
Gurkha
gypsy
haj
hallo (not hello)
harass (but embarrass)
hiccup (not hiccough)
high-tech
Hizbullah
honour, honourable
hotch-potch
humour, humorist, humorous
hurrah (not hooray)
idiosyncrasy
impostor
impresario
inadvertent
incur, incurring
innocuous
inoculate
inquire, inquiry (not enquire, enquiry)
install, instalment, installation
instil, instilling
intransigent
jail (not gaol)
Janjaweed
jewellery (not jewelry)
judgment
kilogram or kilo (not kilogramme)
labelling, labelled
laissez-faire
lama (priest), llama (beast)
lambast (not lambaste)
launderette
leukaemia
levelled
libelling, libelled
licence (noun), license (verb), licensee (person with a licence)
limited
linchpin, lynch law
liquefy
literal
littoral (shore)
logarithm
loth (reluctant), loathe (hate), loathsome
low-tech
madrassa
manilla envelope, but Manila, capital of the
Philippines
manoeuvre, manoeuvring
marshal (noun and verb), marshalled
mayonnaise
medieval
melee
meter (a measuring tool), metre (metric measure, meter in American)
mileage
millennium, but millenarian
minuscule
moccasin
modelling, modelled
mould
Muslim (not Moslem)
naivety
’Ndrangheta
nimbyism
nonplussed
nought (for numerals), otherwise naught
obbligato
occur, occurring
oenology
oesophagus
oestrus (oestrogen, etc)
optics (optician, etc)
ophthalmic (ophthalmology, etc)
outsize (not outsized)
paediatric, paediatrician
palaeontology, palaeontologist
panel, panelled
paraffin
parallel, paralleled
pastime
pavilion
phoney (not phony)
piggyback (not pickaback)
plummeted, plummeting
poky
practice (noun), practise (verb)
praesidium (not presidium)
predilection
preferred (preferring, but proffered)
preventive (not preventative)
pricey
primeval
principal (head, loan; or adj), principle (abstract noun)
proffered (proffering, but preferred)
profited
program (only in a computer context, otherwise programme)
prophecy (noun), prophesy (verb)
protester
Pushtu (language), Pushtun (people)
pygmy
pzazz
queuing
rack, racked, racking (as in racked with pain, nerveracking)
racket
rankle
rarefy
razzmatazz
recur, recurrent, recurring
regretted, regretting
restaurateur
resuscitate
rhythm
rivet (riveted, riveter, riveting)
rococo
rottweiler
rumoured
sacrilegious
sanatorium
savannah
seize
shaky
sharia
shenanigans
sheriff
Shia (noun and adj), Shias, Shiism
shibboleth
Sibylline
siege
sieve
silicon (element)
silicone (synthetic resin)
siphon (not syphon)
skulduggery
smelt
smidgen (not smidgeon)
smoky
smooth (both noun and verb)
snigger (not snicker)
sobriquet
somersault
soothe
souped up
soyabean
specialty (only in context of medicine, steel and chemicals), otherwise speciality
sphinx
spoilt
squirrelled
stanch (verb)
stationary (still)
stationery (paper)
staunch (adj)
storey (floor)
straitjacket and strait-laced but straight-faced
stratagem
strategy
Sunni, Sunnis
supersede
swap (not swop)
swathe (not swath)
synonym
Taliban (plural)
taoiseach (but prefer prime minister, or leader)
tariff
Tatar (not Tartar)
threshold
titbits
titillate
tonton-macoutes
tormentor
trade union, trade unions (but Trades Union Congress)
transatlantic, transpacific
transferred, transferring
travelled
tricolor
trouper (as in old trouper)
tsar
tyre
unnecessary
unparalleled
untrammelled
vaccinate
vacillate
wacky
wagon (not waggon)
weasel, weaselly
while not whilst
whizz-kid
wiggle (not wriggle) room
wilful
wisteria
withhold
yarmulke (prefer to kippah)
yogurt
If in doubt, consult Chambers or the OED. It is time well spent.
-able
debatable
dispensable
disputable
forgivable
imaginable
implacable
indescribable
indictable
indispensable
indistinguishable
lovable
movable
ratable
salable (but prefer sellable)
tradable
unmissable
unmistakable
unshakable
unusable
usable
-eable
bridgeable
changeable
knowledgeable
likeable
manageable
noticeable
serviceable
sizeable
traceable
unenforceable
unpronounceable
-ible
accessible
convertible
digestible
dismissible
feasible
inadmissible
indestructible
investible
irresistible
permissible
submersible
plurals No rules here. The spelling of the following plurals may have been decided by either practice or derivation.
-a
consortia
corrigenda
data
media
memoranda
millennia
phenomena
quanta
sanatoria
spectra
strata
-ae
alumnae (female)
amoebae
formulae
-eaus
bureaus
plateaus
-eaux
chateaux
tableaux
-fs, -efs
| dwarfs | roofs |
| oafs | still-lifes |
-i
alumni
bacilli
nuclei
stimuli
termini
-oes
archipelagoes
buffaloes
cargoes
desperadoes
dominoes
echoes
embargoes
frescoes
haloes
heroes
innuendoes
mangoes
mementoes
mosquitoes
mottoes
noes
potatoes
salvoes
tomatoes
tornadoes
torpedoes
vetoes
volcanoes
-os
albinos
armadillos
calicos
casinos
commandos
demos
dynamos
egos
embryos
Eskimos
falsettos
fandangos
fiascos
flamingos
folios
ghettos
impresarios
librettos
manifestos
memos
mulattos
neutrinos
oratorios
peccadillos
pianos
placebos
provisos
quangos
radios
silos
solos
sopranos
stilettos
studios
virtuosos
weirdos
zeros
-s
agendas
conundrums
crematoriums
curriculums
forums
moratoriums
nostrums
premiums
quorums
referendums
stadiums
symposiums
ultimatums
-uses
buses caucuses circuses
fetuses focuses geniuses
prospectuses syllabuses
-ves
calves
halves
hooves
loaves
scarves
turves
wharves
Note: indexes (of books), but indices (indicators, index numbers); appendices (supplements), but appendixes (anatomical organs).
split infinitives see grammar and syntax.
stanch, staunch Stanch the flow, though the man be staunch (loyal, stout-hearted). The distinction is useful, if bogus (since both words derive from the same old-French estancher).
stationary, stationery Stationary is still; stationery is writing paper, envelopes, etc.
stentorian, stertorous Stentorian means loud (like the voice of Stentor, a warrior in the Trojan war). Stertorous means characterised by a snoring sound (from sterto, snore).
straight, strait Straight means direct or uncurved; strait means narrow or tight. The strait-laced tend to be straight-faced. Straits are narrow bodies of water between bits of land.
strategy, strategic Strategy may sometimes have some merit, especially in military contexts, as a contrast to tactics. But strategic is usually meaningless except to tell you that the writer is pompous and is trying to invest something with a seriousness it does not deserve.
-style Avoid German-style supervisory boards, an EU-style rotating presidency, etc. Explain what you mean.
subcontract If you engage someone to do something, you are contracting the job to that person (or company); only if that person (or company) then asks someone else to do it is the job subcontracted.
swear words Avoid them, unless they convey something genuinely helpful or interesting to the reader (eg, you are quoting someone). Usually, they will annoy rather than shock. But if you do use them, spell them out in full, without asterisks.
Swiss names see names.
syntax see grammar and syntax.
systemic, systematic Systemic means relating to a system or body as a whole. Systematic means according to system, methodical or intentional.