Grammar: All about (O)

Grammar: Which word to use (O)

https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-o

1.CORRECT USAGE

1.1. Similar words mean different things…

obtuse or abtuse?

obtuse means “mentally slow or emotionally insensitive” ; often confused with abstruse (hard to understand) or obscure.

on side or onside?

“The referee kept the home crowd on side by ruling the goal onside”

ordinance or ordnance?

ordinance decree; ordnance relates to the army; eg Ordnance Survey – Britain’s national mapping agency (ordnance because such work was originally undertaken by the army).

1.2 Use the right word in context…

oedipal complex 

the female equivalent is electra complex.

onboard

one word: “Once onboard, they got so drunk that the onboard explosion went undetected.”

Avoid “aboard” except in the phrase “All aboard!”

oriented, disoriented

not orientated, disorientated

2. SPELLINGS

2.1 To hyphenate (or not)?

Note: overreact, override, overrule and most other words with the prefix “over” do not need a hyphen

YES

off-license [US: off-license]

old-timer

one-time

one-sided

one-stop shop

one-to-one basis / meeting

out-and-out

EXCEPTIONS

off-licence BUT offshore / beat / hand / side

off-campus (adj) BUT off campus

2.2 One word or two?

One word

oilfield / well

online / ongoing

oohing and aahing, oohs and aahs

outgrow, outgun, outmanoeuvre

overall

Two words

2.3 Frequently misspelt

obliged NOT obligated

occurred (two Rs)

omelette NOT omelet

ophthalmic

opossum

orangutan

2.4 Change with form or plural

octopus, platypus; plural octopuses, platypuses NOT octopi, platypi

oxen rather than “oxes” is the plural of ox

2.5 Take note of capitals

[ic = initial capitals | lc = lowercase]

ic

OAPs (old age pensioners)

OK (not okay!)

oceans, seas: capped up, eg Atlantic Ocean, Red Sea.

orchestras: take initial capitals, eg London Symphony Orchestra (LSO after first mention), Berlin Philharmonic, etc.

lc

the opposition

3. EXPRESSIONS

one in six, one in 10

Phrases of this sort should be treated as plural because we are talking not about the noun “one” but the noun phrase “one in six”, signifying a group of people:

• “more than one in six Japanese is 65 or older … “  (singular – sounds wrong)
• “more than one in six Japanese are 65 or older … “ (plural – sounds right)

Similarly, “17%”, “one-sixth”, “Two out of every seven” and “three out of 10” also function identically taking plurals.

on to not onto

on to rather than onto

4. PUNCTUATION & STYLE

or

need not be used when explaining or amplifying – rather than “the NUT, or National Union of Teachers” say “the NUT (National Union of Teachers)“ or, even better, “the National Union of Teachers” at first mention and then just “the NUT” or “the union”.

outside

not “outside of”.

over

is already an adverb, so “overly” is unnecessary. The same applies to “regardlessly” (regardless of how you feel about it), last, not “lastly”, and least, not “leastly”.

Oxford comma 

a comma before the final “and” in lists

• Not necessary – straightforward lists: “he ate ham, eggs and chips.”
• Helpful – to separate out ‘and’: “he ate cereal, kippers, bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade, and tea”.
• Essential – to clarify meaning: “I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis, and JK Rowling.” Whereas “I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis and JK Rowling.” treats Martin Amis and JK Rowling as a couple.

5. GRAMMAR

oxymoron

does not just vaguely mean self-contradictory.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms are used in conjunction, such as bittersweet, compassionate conservatism, “darkness visible” (Paradise Lost), “the living dead” (The Waste Land); one of Margaret Atwood’s characters thought “interesting Canadian” was an oxymoron!