Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) by Bill Bryson

Author:Bill Bryson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Usenet
ISBN: 9780767922692
Publisher: Anchor
Published: 2008-05-20T07:00:00+00:00

Nn

NAACP. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Nacogdoches, Texas.

NAFTA. North American Free Trade Agreement, a 1994 trade pact signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian-dominated enclave in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

Nags Head, North Carolina.

Nagurski, Bronko. (1908–1990) Canadian-born American football player; real name Bronislau Nagurski.

Naipaul, V.S. (for Vidiadhar Surajprasad) (1932–) Trinidad-born British writer; awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001.

naïve, naïvety.

namable. That which can be named.

namby-pamby.

Namen (Flemish)/Namur (French). Belgian city.

nano-. Prefix meaning one-billionth.

naphtha. Note naph-tha, not nap-tha-.

Napoleon I. (1769–1821) born Napoleon Bonaparte; emperor of the French (1804–1815).

narcissism.

narcissus. Bulbous flowering plant of the lily family; pl. narcisssuses/narcissi.

Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.

NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

nasal.

Nascar. National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

NASDAQ. National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations; stock market specializing in technology stocks.

Nash (or Nashe), Thomas. (1567–1601) English dramatist.

National Governors’ Association. (Apos.)

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Note Institutes plural. It is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

NATO. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As of 2007, the member countries were Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

Natty Bumppo. Main character in James Fenimore Cooper’s Leather-stocking Tales.

Naugahyde is a trademark.

naught, nought. Although dictionaries increasingly treat the words as interchangeable, traditionally the first means nothing (as in “His efforts came to naught”), while the second is used to signify the figure zero. The game is noughts and crosses (known in the United States as tic-tac-toe).

nauseous is an adjective describing something that causes nausea (“a nauseous substance”). To feel sick is to be nauseated.

Navajo/Navaho. The first is generally preferred, the second accepted.

naval, navel. The first pertains to a navy and its possessions or operations; the second to belly buttons and like-shaped objects. The oranges are navel.

navigable.

Nazism. Not -ii-.

n.b. (or NB). Abbreviation of nota bene (Lat.), “note carefully.” Note that n.b. is spelled with periods and NB without.

NCAA. National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Ndeti, Cosmas. (1971–) Kenyan distance runner.

Ndjamena (or N’Djamena). Capital of Chad.

’Ndrangheta. Organized crime group in Calabria, Italy.

Neandertal increasingly is the preferred spelling for the extinct species of human, though the formal scientific rendering Homo neanderthalensis still generally keeps the -thal spelling. Neanderthal man as a term for the species is both sexist and old-fashioned.

near disaster. “His quick thinking saved an RAF jet pilot from a near disaster.” Not quite. The pilot was saved from a disaster. A near disaster is what he had.

neat’s-foot oil. A substance used to treat leather.

Nebuchadnezzar. (c. 625–551 BC) King of Babylon (605–561 BC).

nebuchadnezzar, an exceptionally large bottle of champagne, twenty times the size of a normal bottle.

nebula. The plural can be either nebulae or nebulas.

necessarily, necessity.

needless to say is a harmless enough expression, but it often draws attention to the fact that you really didn’t need to say it.

nefarious.

negligee.

negligible.

Negretti & Zambra. Maker of musical instruments.

Nehemiah. Jewish leader in fifth century BC after whom an Old Testament book is named.

Nehru, Jawaharlal. (1889–1964) Indian prime minister (1947–1964).

Neiman Marcus, the department store group, no longer hyphenates its name.

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