Usage Dictionary
The usage, typography, and style advice I discuss rely on 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. My opinions lean toward a prescriptive expression of written English, which does not mean I enjoy a Scrooge-like affinity for pointless and outdated rules, but rather that I study linguistic change with a critical eye; I discourage muddling seemingly similar words, blurring meanings of opposite forms, and swapping standard spellings. In good faith, my articles seek to encourage logical prose that is clean, clear, precise, and consistent. I try to add a few entries every month, though that can range wildly. It all depends on what usage discrepancies I notice, what questions I have (I also reference this resource), 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.
The below alphabetical navigator may aid your search, especially as this dictionary continues to grow, though you are welcome to peruse the entries at your leisure.
a or an
a lot
adviser
affect or effect
all right
all together or altogether
aluminum or aluminium
among
amoral, immoral, or unmoral
antennae or antennas
apostrophes
as or like
autumn or fall
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
burn
bury the lead
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
deep-seated
diaereses
dialects
dialogue or dialog
diarrhea or diarrhoea
die
die or pass away
directional words
disinterest or uninterest
dream
drink
earth
e.g. or i.e.
ellipses
emigrate or immigrate
ensure or insure
envy or jealousy
eponym
everyday or every day
exclamation points
farther or further
fewer or less
fiancé or fiancée
flammable or inflammable
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
learned or learnt
lighted or lit
literati
long sentences
maelstrom
minuscule
moil or toil
niggard and niggardly
niggle
nimrod
numerals
octopus
okay, ok, or o.k.
over-punctuation
paragraphing
parallelism
parentheses
passed or past
percent or per cent
perfect synonyms
persona
pore over
principal or principle
prove
quotes
regard
reign or rein
repertoire or repertory
rife or ripe
riffle or rifle
sarcophagus or sarcophagous
sceptic or skeptic
seed
sentence spaces
serial comma
shake
shined or shone
should have
simulacrum
sink
sneak
someday or some day
speaker attributions
spell
spill
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
use or utilize
veranda
vogue words
website
wet
wet or whet
whiskey or whisky
who or whom
wintry
yogurt or yoghurt
zero