Bryson•s Dictionary for Writers and Editors

Holyroodhouse, Palace of / homonym, homophone � 163
the devastation wrought by a hurricane or mudslide. However,
a clear exception is in references to the slaughter of Jews by Germany
during World War II, when it describes the entire extermination
process. In such contexts, the word is capitalized.
Holyroodhouse, Palace of, Edinburgh, Scotland; pronounced holly-.
Home Counties. In British usage, the counties immediately around
London.
homely. If writing for an international audience, you should be
aware (or beware) that the word has strikingly different connotations
between America and elsewhere. In Britain and most
of its former dominions homely means comfortable and appealing,
having the warm and familiar qualities associated with
a home. In America, for obscure reasons, it has long signified
something that is unattractive, particularly in respect to the
human face. If the audience is international and confusion
likely to follow, clearly a more neutral term is advised. In any
case, to describe someone as homely, in the American sense, is
inescapably subjective, generally uncharitable, and may cause
needless hurt.
homogeneous, homogenous. Homogeneous means consistent and
uniform; homogenous is almost always restricted to biological
contexts, where it describes organisms having common ancestry.
homonym, homophone. Both describe words that have strong similarities
of sound or spelling, but different meanings. A homophone
is a word that sounds like another but has a different
meaning or spelling, or both. A homonym is a word that also has
a different meaning, but the same spelling or sound. Thus blue
and blew are both homonyms and homophones. However, bow
as in a ship and bow as in a tie are homonyms (because they are
spelled the same) but not homophones (because they have different
pronunciations). In short, unless the intention is to em-