Bryson•s Dictionary for Writers and Editors

gerrymander / Getty J(ean) Paul � 139
Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland), with its capital at
Bonn, in 1949. The two Germanys (not -ies) were reunited on
October 3, 1990. The sixteen states, or Länder, are Baden-Württemberg,
Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg,
Hesse, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, North
Rhine–Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony,
Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia.
gerrymander means to distort or redraw to one’s advantage,
especially a political boundary. Not to be confused with jerrybuilt.
gerunds are verbs made to function as nouns, as with the italicized
words in “I don’t like dancing” and “Cooking is an art.” Two
problems commonly arise with gerunds:
1. Sometimes the gerund is unnecessarily set off by an article
and preposition, as here: “They said that the valuing of the
paintings could take several weeks.” Deleting the italicized
words would make the sentence shorter and more forceful.
2. Problems also occur when a possessive noun or pronoun
(called a genitive) qualifies a gerund. A common type of construction
is seen here: “They objected to him coming.” Properly
it should be: “They objected to his coming.” Similarly,
“There is little hope of Smith gaining admittance to the club”
should be “There is little hope of Smith’s gaining admittance
...”
Gestapo. Short for Geheime Staatspolizei, German secret police during
the Third Reich.
Gesundheit! Interjection made in response to a sneeze.
Gethsemane. Olive grove at Jerusalem where Jesus was betrayed.
gettable.
Getty, J(ean) Paul. (1892–1976) Not John. U.S. oil man and benefactor;
his son Jean Paul Getty II (1932–) is also often given wrongly as
John.