A Dictionary of Cont..

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comprehend 110 hearted, horn-rimmed, saber-toothed. Compounds of this kind are usually hyphenated, on the grounds that they are here being treated as a single word. But if the first element is the comparative or superlative form of an adjective, this interpretation will not hold and the hyphen must be omitted, as in kinder hearted, kindest hearted. See adjectives as adverbs. When the past participle of a verb is qualified by a noun or by an adjective-like word, it too is usually hyphenated, as in air-borne, new-born, perhaps because these words are so much like the ones just discussed. The adverb well is, often treated as if it were an adjective and joined to a past participle with a hyphen, as in well- keot. well-guarded. The hyphens in these con- .I - structions serve no purposes but it is customary to use them here. Adverbs ending in -/y are not treated in this way. They are usually written without the hyphen, as in newly born, nicely kept. 4. Fractions and compound numerals such as two-thirds and twenty-three are usually hyphenated. There is no need for this hyphen either, but it is customary to use one. When one of the terms of a fraction is a compound number, the hyphen which indicates a fraction is dropped, as in two twenty-thirds, twenty-three thirtieths. 5. Compounds beginning with serf are often hyphenated, as in self-control, self-service, selfsupport. Some publishers, however, print these as two words, as in self support. 6. When a suffix or prefix is added to an idea that is expressed in two or more words, the whole expression is joined by hyphens. The result is awkward looking, but the expressions themselves are awkward. Example: Christmastree-like, an ex-college-professor. 7. A hyphen is also used whenever it is needed to prevent ambiguity. This is an important rule. But its application depends on what we consider ambiguous. Style books often list walking stick or dining room as a type of word that requires a hyphen. The -ing form of a verb may be a noun or it may be an adjective. (See -ing.) We have a great many compounds in English in which the first element is an -ing noun, such as sleeping car, drinking glass, landing field, fainting fits, the boiling point. What is meant in compounds of this sort is a stick for walking, a room for dining, the point of boiling, and so on-as practically everybody knows. But it is theoretically possible to read these words as adjectives. Some editors believe that a hyphen should be used here to show that the first element is the noun and not the adjective. That is, the hyphen warns the reader not to suppose that the stick is walking or the room eating dinner. Those with more confidence in the reading public are likely to see no need for this, and may even consider it an affront. It is hard to find examples of word combinations that are really ambiguous, independent of their position in a sentence. (For this, see temporary compounds.) But since a silver box sometimes means a box made of silver, the wooden box that holds the table silver should be called a silver-box, in any context that is open to both interpretations. 8. The preceding seven rules cover all the “living” uses of the hyphen in America today. But there are some words that have hyphens merely because they always have had them. A writer should be familiar with these, and should write them with their hyphens, but they should not be used as patterns for new expressions. a. A few technical terms, that are properly one word by special meaning and accent but are not familiar to the general public, are written with a hyphen for easier reading, such as lightyear, east-southeast, and other complex points of the compass. b. Certain compounds that involve an apostrophe are hyphenated when used in a figurative sense, such as bird’s-eye, bull’s-eye, crow’s-feet, mare’s-nest. Because of their special meaning and their accent on the first element, these compounds might be treated as single words, and sometimes are, as in birdseye, crowsfeet. c. There are a number of three-word phrases that are always written with hyphens. These include four-in-hand, man-of-war, coat-of-arms, forget-me-not and the names of other flowers, and the in-law relationships. Mother-in-law does not need hyphens any more than delegate at large, which does not have them, but it is always written in this way because it always has been. d. The word great, too, is always hyphenated in family relationships because it always has been. But we now have two forms, great-aunt and grandaunt, both of which mean exactly the same thing. e. Words built on a letter of the alphabet, such as X-ray, and U-boat, are often hyphenated. But there is no need for the hyphen here and it is often omitted in scientific writing, as in a Y incision and the B vitamin. f. Some hyphens are simply mistakes. These will appear in the best edited material, but usually they are not copied and die off. Sometimes, however, a mistake is copied so often that it becomes the established practice, as has happened in the case of court-martial and post-mortem. On theoretical grounds, neither of these words should have a hyphen. But both of them do now have the hyphen. comprehend. See apprehend; know. comprehensible; comprehensive. Comprehensible means capable of being understood (His books are not comprehensible). Comprehensive means inclusive, of a large scope or mental grasp (Zt was a comprehensive scheme and included all points of view). A thing is comprehensible (or understandable) by one’s self. It is made comprehensible to others. comprise; constitute; include. To comprise is to include, contain, be composed of (The program comprised twelve events). To constitute is to compose or to form (Twelve events constitate
the program). A body comprises those things of which it is constituted. Comprise and constitute should not be confused. It is better to use comprise when all of the constituent parts are enumerated or referred to and to use include when only some of them are. conceal. See hide. concealment. See secretion. concede. The use of concede in the common phrase concede the election, meaning to admit or recognize that the opposing candidate has won, is now standard in American usage. We use concede often where the English prefer admit or recognize. conceit. See pride. concensus. See consensus. concept; conception. See idea. concern. The phrase as concerns is impersonal and means as it concerns. The verb is therefore always in the singular. That is, we say us concerns these men and not as concern these
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A DICTIONARYOF CONTEMPORARY by BERG
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When we speak or write we want to b
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that he doesn’t know the ditieren
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A DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY AMERIC
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abdomen 4 Probably the commonest ty
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above 6 in they sold at about $3 n
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accessa ry 8 passion (In an access
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act 1 a busybody) act is invariably
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adjectives 12 and the -al endings a
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adjectives 14 way, as burning hot,
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adverbs 16 that this is a genitive
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adversary 18 qualifies the article
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African 20 in he is afraid to die.
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agreement 22 element standing close
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airship 2:4 airship, when used at a
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ah3ory it should know that its use
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alpha 28 alpha and omega. See from
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ambiguous 30 not, one of the cardin
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ample 3 2 which is ample is more th
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answer 34 course an anonymous work
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antonym 3 6 has the owl-eyed man de
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apostrophe 3 plurals, see genitlve
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aquarium 40 of a verb. When it mean
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artist 42 lo the righr of us. When
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ash 44 ash; ashes. These words mean
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ate 46 by disease or villainy, the
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authoritative 48 had thought they a
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await 50 await. See anticipate. awa
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aggage check, baggage car. He would
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asis by Ogden and his colleague, I.
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ear 56 can you bear to hear about i
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eginner 58 usually a more elaborate
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Page 68 and 69: id 62 4. Doublets and triplets cont
Page 70 and 71: ite 64 bite. The past tense is bit.
Page 72 and 73: loom 66 use and its jocular use has
Page 74 and 75: Boston 68 In U. S. political usage,
Page 76 and 77: owels bowels of the earth. Only in
Page 78 and 79: ed 72 all price,/ When once yozz’
Page 80 and 81: ugger 74 it read: Thou shalt not ne
Page 82 and 83: um 76 who is destroying himself by
Page 84 and 85: utcher 78 tinctions seem too subtle
Page 86 and 87: calendar 80 fact that there is only
Page 88 and 89: candelabrum 82 well that he is able
Page 90 and 91: capitalize 84 planets are capitaliz
Page 92 and 93: CaSe 86 stances, anyhow. In case me
Page 94 and 95: caught 88 mittee of a political par
Page 96 and 97: ceremonial 90 really means, “For
Page 98 and 99: cherished 92 cherished belief(s). T
Page 100 and 101: city 94 city fathers. To refer to m
Page 102 and 103: our fist, a nail, our jaws, a rope,
Page 104 and 105: little group meeting chiefly for co
Page 106 and 107: differentiated whole. Words of this
Page 108 and 109: declared in his First Supplement to
Page 110 and 111: commentator 104 commentator. It was
Page 112 and 113: comparison 106 comparative, and nei
Page 114 and 115: compilation 108 as in he is compete
Page 118 and 119: conductive 112 conductive; conduciv
Page 120 and 121: connected 114 question of punctuati
Page 122 and 123: consume 116 A consul was at one tim
Page 124 and 125: controversial 118 lent, as in I con
Page 126 and 127: cowardly sires would naturally be k
Page 128 and 129: crossways 122 but had no military a
Page 130 and 131: cuspidor 124 joyed by a husband in
Page 132 and 133: dash 126 dare may be used with or w
Page 134 and 135: decide 128 or practice of deceiving
Page 136 and 137: deism; theism. Deism is the belief
Page 138 and 139: descant 132 to do. Fifty-six years
Page 140 and 141: devote 134 visor. That number by wh
Page 142 and 143: differentiate 136 mistake. As he kn
Page 144 and 145: discrepancy 138 Discrete is pretty
Page 146 and 147: divorc6 140 -ing, -ish, -ed, -er, -
Page 148 and 149: domicile 142 Macaulay. in 1849, ref
Page 150 and 151: doubletalk 144 construction, chiefl
Page 152 and 153: drove 146 land but is standard in t
Page 154 and 155: duty solution (the assurance that t
Page 156 and 157: eatable 150 acceptable. Coleridge u
Page 158 and 159: elapse 152 or last longer than it w
Page 160 and 161: isks are still used in very formal
Page 162 and 163: endorse thirw-five years before tha
Page 164 and 165: enviable form. As a noun, meaning a
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escape 160 tion, he does not refuse
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euphemism 162 where excretory and b
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everybody 164 before a singular nou
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go except thou bless me. This const
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exhilarate 168 exhilarate. See acce
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extort 170 surface of the pumpkin i
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faithfully 172 rather than actually
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fauna 174 implication of moral cond
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fetch 176 assume that it was decora
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fine 178 tion wundering, or by a cl
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flambeau perception (She has a flai
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fly full possession of his facultie
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forbade few words, such as afraid a
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forensic 186 latexes or latices and
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fragile 188 Decimals, which are a c
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friable 190 Many a psychiatric term
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funny 192 funny; comical; droll; lu
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making him feel that something has
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genera 196 in English than in langu
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genitive 198 not know when he can s
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genteel ways at some repair or impr
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Carlyle, and most of the great nine
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go English literature and is standa
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except at Harvard University where
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grandiose ness of utterance (This m
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grouse 210 the great writers of Eng
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gymnasium any wriier of English sin
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happen 214 happen. This verb may be
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form, such as I had painted the hou
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Judenhetze than anti-Semitism) is n
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hesitate 220 herself and herself wi
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Hobson’s 222 of Christmas shopper
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honored 224 a graceful or embarrass
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H was always capitalized. The Palme
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hundred in which something turns ou
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ice 230 form, as in a hydraulics en
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illegal 232 In contemporary America
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immigrant 234 emerged from the hedg
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imply; infer. The primary meaning o
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inaugurate 238 in so far as it was
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index 240 is used to qualify a noun
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indorse 242 the preferred form when
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inlinitives 244 (Whether this lo is
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yo~cr going out is no proof. A noun
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ingenious 248 they are seidom notic
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installment 250 of the word today i
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intent 252 late. These particular w
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interpellate 254 300,000,000 human
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invite 256 invite; invitation. Thou
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it 258 be used for this purpose whe
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joiner 260 &isfer. A joiner in Engl
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junket word. It is a shortening of
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kindling 264 he kind of hesitated.
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opes,” took the steering our) to
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the part nearer the end, as in his
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with no derogatory implication at a
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lend. The past tense is lent. The p
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libelant others (He dearly loved a
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like 276 food, that I like it, bzzt
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linking verbs 278 verb has its uniq
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literate 280 word’s being used si
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locate 282 graphical situation or i
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especially to qualify an adjective
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madding Madame, the conventional Fr
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of those phrases that after four or
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maneuver 290 not permitted to decli
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marvel any undertaking (He was a vi
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matter 294 get building material du
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meat 296 word and the noun it quali
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meridian 298 the reward of evildoin
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millermy 300 milled). In America on
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mistreat 302 conceived or done,”
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molasses 304 powers. Nor are the sh
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Morpheus 306 mean a stupid person (
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much 308 other title, except possib
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mutual 310 title, Our Mutual Friend
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name 312 a specific name, but it is
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necessities 314 unitary condition (
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neither 316 negative is generally c
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nice 318 the issue of the battle ha
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IlO 320 no man and no men. A singul
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noplace 322 that night. The uard is
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notary 324 beauty; as a woman, a no
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nouns as adverbs 326 the constructi
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numerals 328 numerals. CARDINAL NUM
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objective 330 The noun objection is
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obloquy meaning of unconscious and,
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such a sentence as It may have been
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today as it was always intended to
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OdY trary, the sentence says “no
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optimism 340 it is followed by of (
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orchis. The plural is orchides, not
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ought 344 This was not always true.
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over 346 across, as in come over; a
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Page page. Although the older meani
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parallel constructions 350 into mor
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layed a pickle into one of the most
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participles 354 Written is part of
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pass 356 Puss may be followed by an
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past 358 only interested in himself
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pathos 360 of writers, especially p
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peevish 362 few others as good, but
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perennial 364 denial or refusal (Th
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personal 366 has to have a nanic fo
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pessimist 368 are, plainly, closely
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pigeon 370 both countries pig is us
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told that a certain plank has been
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FORMATION Almost all English plural
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poetic diction 376 sage. such as hi
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polish 378 or the like (Our foreign
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pore 380 ing from general use and p
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position of adjectives 382 The adje
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pound 384 construction survives to
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prefer 386 a verb, as in Z prefer r
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presage 388 as in for what are you
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present tense 390 and can be used i
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preventive 392 mind (such as: Preve
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profanity 394 still have to find a
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proof 396 me; and it may even be un
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proportion 398 favor of, especially
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psychology The phrase was woolly in
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purebred 402 which it is and clearl
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queer 404 queer fish. From our anth
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not be used at all. A misquotation
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adii 408 radix. The plural is radix
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aze 410 should be used with great c
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e-collect 412 rural America. By apo
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edundant 414 firm which assured tel
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egret 416 eschew in favor of a more
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emembrance 418 to my heart are the
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made such a delightful and instruct
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usiness manager is responsible to t
Page 430 and 431:
everend 424 often means no more tha
Page 432 and 433:
ickets 426 rickets. This word is pl
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of money is the root of all evil. H
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Sahara 430 been lost have been foun
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sanctum 43i2 certain places, the te
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has been temperate where severity o
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scratch pad 436 title of their most
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munity could be the aged, those who
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semicolon 440 zybski’s are ludicr
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sentence adverbs 442 ment, such as
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sentinel 444 In the best written En
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set 446 attacked by the people who
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shall 448 I will be there is heard
Page 456 and 457:
shine 450 ing Ephraimites (who coul
Page 458 and 459:
shower 452 quarrel. When it comes t
Page 460 and 461:
signed wholly different from their
Page 462 and 463:
sink 456 trust, a five-dollar bill.
Page 464 and 465:
ski 458 philosophy, the Skeptic (ca
Page 466 and 467:
slothfLl1 460 may be made acceptabl
Page 468 and 469:
mite. The past tense is smote. The
Page 470 and 471:
Socratic irony capitalized form of
Page 472 and 473:
sort of 466 he does not intend to i
Page 474 and 475:
spectacle 468 intentions, moral mat
Page 476 and 477:
splutter 470 the infinitive, as in
Page 478 and 479:
stti 472 means several such groups.
Page 480 and 481:
lish of educated people is always c
Page 482 and 483:
steer 476 nights later in a product
Page 484 and 485:
StQd 478 This unit of weight is not
Page 486 and 487:
stratum 480 of his strategy is a ma
Page 488 and 489:
subjective pronouns 482 1. The word
Page 490 and 491:
subjunctive 484 actually is or has
Page 492 and 493:
sublime 486 coming to us in British
Page 494 and 495:
succor 488 the expression of much i
Page 496 and 497:
sunk 490 mmk; sunken. See sink. son
Page 498 and 499:
suspenders 492 was nothing to justi
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swollen lashing than a cane. The ol
Page 502 and 503:
table 496 discussion, a procedure o
Page 504 and 505:
tantalize twelve o’clock high. Hi
Page 506 and 507:
tell 500 It means to broadcast by t
Page 508 and 509:
a game. Ninepins is a game, chiefly
Page 510 and 511:
thanks so4 thanks are not deserved.
Page 512 and 513:
the that’s to defining clauses. B
Page 514 and 515:
theism ard language at least five h
Page 516 and 517:
think 510 you think for and as much
Page 518 and 519:
threadbare 512 punishment, to show
Page 520 and 521:
time 514 or manner of production ca
Page 522 and 523:
token 516 one another,” as in tho
Page 524 and 525:
tower 518 hawk’d at and kill’d)
Page 526 and 527:
transmit 520 ing one who is transie
Page 528 and 529:
excursionist; he’s on a short out
Page 530 and 531:
tru6tworthy 524 uting); a person wh
Page 532 and 533:
ultimately 526 The story, by the wa
Page 534 and 535:
understood 528 with humorous modest
Page 536 and 537:
UIlhOWIl 530 differently referred t
Page 538 and 539:
UIltil 532 until. See tin. untimely
Page 540 and 541:
usual 534 here?, he usen’t to dri
Page 542 and 543:
sordid and improper in the transact
Page 544 and 545:
happened, although we can also say
Page 546 and 547:
vertebra 540 Robert Frost’s “Me
Page 548 and 549:
7 ViCtUdS 542 not proves the superi
Page 550 and 551:
wad is generally taken to mean a sm
Page 552 and 553:
wapiti Do you wish some more potato
Page 554 and 555:
washing 548 washerwoman. American u
Page 556 and 557:
weather 550 ing to make ambiguous.
Page 558 and 559:
wheal 552 used to make a negative s
Page 560 and 561:
while is grammatically comparable t
Page 562 and 563:
who 556 to use that after a persona
Page 564 and 565:
the victim was attached to a horse
Page 566 and 567:
witness 560 fossfls, in fheir own w
Page 568 and 569:
WOdS 562 keep his promises and fulf
Page 570 and 571:
wring 564 which two persons struggl
Page 572 and 573:
Yiddish 566 already, but not in a s
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