Bryson•s Dictionary for Writers and Editors

124
Fifth Third Bancorp / Fischer, Bobby
marching on Madrid and a fifth column of sympathizers waiting
in the city.
Fifth Third Bancorp. U.S. banking group.
filament.
filet, fillet. Use the first when the phrase or context is distinctly
French (filet mignon), but otherwise use fillet.
filial.
filibuster.
filigree.
Filipino (masc.)/Filipina (fem.). A native of the Philippines.
fille de joie. (Fr.) A prostitute.
Fillmore, Millard. (1800–1874) Thirteenth U.S. president (1850–1853).
finagle. To secure by cajoling; to use trickery.
finalize is still objected to by many as an ungainly and unnecessary
word, and there is no arguing that several other verbs—finish,
complete, conclude—do the job as well without raising hackles.
fin de siècle. (Fr.) “End of the century”; normally applied to the end
of the nineteenth century.
Fine Gael. Irish political party; pronounced feen gayle.
finial. Ornament on the pinnacle of a roof or similar.
finical, finicky. Both mean fussy, overprecise.
Finisterre, Cape. Westernmost point of Spanish mainland.
Finnegans Wake. (No apos.) Novel by James Joyce (1939).
fiord, fjord. Either is correct.
Firenze. The Italian for Florence.
first and foremost. Choose one.
first come first served. (No comma.)
first floor. Depending on context, it may be pertinent to remember
that in Britain and elsewhere in the English-speaking world, the
first floor is not the ground floor but the floor above it.
First Man in the Moon, The. H. G. Wells novel (1901); note in, not on.
Fischer, Bobby. (1943–2008) American chess player; world champion
(1972–1975).