The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, Revised Edition

Kk
kadi. See CADI.
Kaffir. Historically (and with no derogatory
connotations), a member of the
Xhosa-speaking peoples of S. Africa; also,
the language of these peoples. Since
about the middle of the 20c. it has come
to be accepted that it is grossly offensive
to use the word as a descriptive term for
any black person. It is now an actionable
offence in S. Africa to do so.
Kaiser. A term in almost daily use while
H. W. Fowler was preparing MEU: HWF
therefore commented on its pronunciation.
It is now a fast-fading term, except
in historical contexts concerning the
Holy Roman Empire, etc. Whether the
term is used of the head of ancient empires
or in the name Kaiser Bill (Kaiser
Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany 1888-
1918), the word is pronounced /'kaiza/.
kale, kail. Etymologically, these are
Scottish and northern-counties variants
of the southern word cole, a general name
for various species of brassica, esp. of
the curly variety, including colewort,
borecole, and cabbage. Kale is grown as
a crop (esp. for animal feed) throughout
Britain. In the spelling kail (less commonly
kale) the word is used in Scotland
as a name for (a) certain kinds of curly
brassica, (b) a broth or soup in which
cabbage is a principal ingredient. Numerous
combinations of the word are
current in various parts of Scotland, e.g.
kail-bell, the dinner bell or a call to
dinner; kail wife, a woman who sells vegetables
and herbs; and esp. kail yaird, a
cabbage garden, a kitchen-garden. The
Kaleyard (or Kailyard) School is a name
applied to a group of 19c. fiction writers
including J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) and
S. R. Crockett (1860-1914), who described
local town life in Scotland in a romantic
vein and with much use of the vernacular.
kalendar, kalends. See CALENDAR; CAL­
ENDS.
kangaroo. For the parliamentary sense,
see CLOSURE.
kaolin, a fine soft white clay. Pronounce
/'keialm/.
karat, AmE variant of carat (a measure
of the purity of gold).
kartell. See CARTEL.
kedgeree /'kedsan, -i:/, now the usual
spelling of a word spelt in many different
ways (kidgeree, khichri, etc.) since it was
first recorded in English in the 17c. It is
a loanword from Hindi.
keelson /'kklsan/, a line of timber fastening
a ship's floor-timbers to its keel. Now
the preferred spelling and pronunciation
{COD, 1995), not kelson /'kelsan/.
keep (verb). Used as a transitive verb,
keep + object + from + -ing is normal English
and means 'prevent from something':
Jimmie ... was glad that distance
and duty kept Mr Neville from visiting him
more than twice-T. Keneally, 1972; His
hands held flat over his ears as if to keep
his whole head from flying apart—M. Amis,
1978; I'd been wearing the old sunglasses all
this time, to keep the dental headlights from
blinding me—New Yorker, 1989. The OED
records the use of keep from in the intransitive
sense 'to restrain or contain oneself
from' + an -ing clause: e.g. Nor was
Louis able to keep from turning pale—C.
Yonge, 1877. This use now sounds distinctly
archaic. On the other hand, the
construction is flourishing in N. America:
Maria cut the wheel to the left, to keep
from hitting the cans-T. Wolfe, 1987; Nathan
pulled upward on the frazzled leg of his
shorts and tried to keep from crying—New
Yorker, 1988; He thinks we should all come
...to listen to some ...old university professor
rabbit on about how to keep from going
stale-M. Atwood, 1990.
Kelt(ic). The standard forms now are
CELT and CELTIC.
kennel (verb). The inflected forms are
kennelled, kennelling (AmE kenneled, ken
neling). See -LL-, -L-.
kerb. The standard spelling in BrE of
the word meaning a stone edging to a