Usage Dictionary

The usage, typography, and style advice I cover below rely on my ear and my research using Garner’s Modern English Usage, Usage and Abusage, The Elements of Style, The Chicago Manual of Style, New Oxford American Dictionary, the Online Etymology Dictionary, and the Google Books Ngram Viewer. For some topics I also reference the Publication Manual of the APA, AP Stylebook, and The Elements of Typographic Style. I lean toward a prescriptive expression of written English, which means that I seek to encourage logical prose that is clear, precise, consistent. I try to maintain this as a stricter resource for those who care enough to keep their writing free from the fluff of every new vogue term and fad phrase—the junk that adds no quality to our language. I am no pedant, but I am no pushover for the daylight onslaught of lazy usage. Language changes, but not all change improves language. Or, to quote one of my favorite books, “simple illiteracy is no basis for linguistic evolution.”

I try to add a few entries every month, though that habit depends on what discrepancies I notice, what questions I have, what I feel like writing about, and how much time I have. If you have suggestions or corrections, please use the means of contact listed in my about page. I am quick to right my own mistakes.

May the below alphabetical navigator aid your search, especially as this dictionary continues to grow, though you are welcome to peruse the entries at your leisure.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a or an
a lot
adviser
affect or effect
all right
all together or altogether
although or though
aluminum or aluminium
am, pm or a.m., p.m.
among
amoral, immoral, or unmoral
amuse or bemuse
antennae or antennas
apostrophes
as or like
autumn or fall
awake, awaken, wake, or waken
ax or axe
bare or bear
bc, ad or bce, ce
bear
beg the question
beseech
between you and me
born or borne
bourgeois, bourgeoise, or bourgeoisie
broth or stock
brussels sprout
burn
bury the lead
can or may
cannot
capital or capitol
cast
celsius or centigrade
cemetery or graveyard
complement or compliment
compose or comprise
condemn or condone
conterminous or contiguous
couldn’t care
creep
curb or kerb
dashes and hyphens
data
daylight saving time
deep-seated
diaereses
dialects
dialogue or dialog
diarrhea or diarrhoea
die
die or pass away
digitize or digitalize
directional words
disinformation or misinformation
disinterest or uninterest
disorganized or unorganized
distinct or distinctive
dream
drink
earth
e.g. or i.e.
elder or older
ellipses
emigrate or immigrate
ensure or insure
envy or jealousy
eponym
erupt or irrupt
espresso
everyday or every day
exclamation points
façade or facade
farther or further
fewer or less
fiancé or fiancée
flammable or inflammable
flaunt or flout
forever
get hold of
gibe, gybe, jibe, or jive
gray or grey
handful
hanged or hung
he or she
healthful or healthy
hiccup
home in on
if or whether
impregnable or impregnatable
indexes or indices
intents and purposes
italics
just deserts
labyrinth or maze
lay or lie
leaped or leapt
learned or learnt
lighted or lit
literati
long sentences
maelstrom
minuscule
minutia
moil or toil
mr., mrs. or mr, mrs
muslim
niggard and niggardly
niggle
nimrod
numerals
octopus
okay, ok, or o.k.
on all counts
one of the . . .
over-punctuation
paragraphing
parallelism
parentheses
passed or past
percent or per cent
perfect synonyms
persona
pore over
principal or principle
prove
quotes
raring to go
regard
reign or rein
repertoire or repertory
rife or ripe
riffle or rifle
sarcophagus or sarcophagous
sceptic or skeptic
seed
sensual or sensuous
sentence spaces
serial comma
shake
shall or will
shined or shone
should have
simulacrum
sink
sneak
someday or some day
speaker attributions
specialty
spell
spill
split infinitives
spoil
stationary or stationery
subjunctives
swim
swing
than me or than i
theater or theatre
thou and thee
till or until
tortuous, torturous, or tortious
try to
unique
up
use or utilize
v. or vs.
veranda
vogue words
website
wet
wet or whet
whiskey or whisky
who or whom
winded or wound
wintry
yogurt or yoghurt
zero