GRAMMARIAN: All about (B)

Grammar: Which word to use (B)

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

1. CORRECT USAGE

1.1. Similar words mean different things…

benefactor or beneficiary?

A benefactor gives something; the beneficiary gets it.

born out or borne out?

Born out of necessity BUT borne out by the facts; borne back ceaselessly into the past.

birthdays or anniversaries?

Birthdays are for people. Institutions, events etc have anniversaries.

balk or baulk?

Balk to obstruct, pull up, stop short; baulk area of a snooker table

1.2 Use the right word in context…

burgeon

means to bud or sprout, so you can have someone with burgeoning talent; often misused to describe anything that is growing or expanding, especially population

burned/burnt

burned is the past tense form (he burned the cakes); burnt is the participle, an “adjectival” form of the verb (“the cakes are burnt”)

2. SPELLINGS

2.1 To hyphenate (or not)?

YES

back-scratching,

be-all and end-all

bell-end

below-par

bite-size [note: NOT bite-sized]

black-cab driver [a person who drives a black cab  BUT black cab-driver,a black person who drives a cab]

boo-boo [a mistake]

bric-a-brac

EXCEPTIONS

back-yard (adj) BUT backyard (noun)

bio-based economy, bio-products BUT biodegradable, bioengineering, bioethics, biofuel

brand-new [note: only use in quotations – new is sufficient!]

break-out sessions

buy-to-let mortgages (hyphenate before a noun) BUT buy to let

buy-in BUT buyout

2.2 One word or two?

One word

backstory, backstreet

ballboy, ballgirl, ballgame, ballgown, ballpark

bloodsports

blowjob

body usually 2 words (body fluid) UNLESS it relates to a noun (bodybuilder)

bookcase, bookkeeper, bookseller, bookshelf

boyband, boyfriend

breastfed

buildup

babysit

bellringing, bellringers

bestseller, bestselling

birthplace, birthrate, birthright

blastfurnace

businesslike, businessman/woman

buildup (noun) BUT build up (verb)

byelection, bylaw, byline, bypass, bystander

Two words

back catalogue, back yard, back door

blood bank

bona fide

bow tie

box office, box set

2.3 Frequently misspelt

benefited, benefiting NOT benefitting

berserk NOT beserk

blokeish NOT blokish

bon vivant NOT bon viveur

bolognese sauce NOT bolognaise (French spelling)

bolshie NOT bolshy

brinkmanship NOT brinksmanship

brussels sprouts NOT Brussel sprout

bumf NOT bumph

2.4 Change with form or plural

bacteria BUT bacterium (so don’t write “the bacteria is…”)

bailout (noun) BUT bail out (verb); i.e. in financial difficulty

ballot BUT balloted

biceps (singular and plural) = there is no such thing as a bicep!

bogey; as in golf or a ghost BUT bogie; trolley, truck

bourgeois (adjective) BUT bourgeoisie (noun)

buffalo BUT buffaloes

bureau BUT bureaus (furniture) or bureaux (organisations)

2.5 Take note of capitals

[ic = initial capitals | lc = lowercase]

ic

Countries (all ic): Bermuda

Events (all ic): Bloody Sunday

Institutions (ic with lc preposition) : Bank of England

Bridges (all ic): Golden Gate Bridge, Waterloo Bridge

Regions (all ic): Black Country, Beverly Hills

Names (ic): Beyonce

Trademarks (always all ic): Bluetooth, Birds Eye, BBC One

ic + lc

Holidays (lc + ic) bank holiday Monday, etc

lc

Ages (all lc): bronze age, ice age, iron age, stone age

Drink (lc): bloody mary

Expression (lc): baker’s dozen

3. EXPRESSIONS

bated breath NOT baited breath

beyond the pale NOT not beyond the pail

pale is derived from the Latin palus, a stake as used to support a fence (cf palisade); hence the figurative meaning of beyond the pale as being outside the boundary, unacceptable

buoyed up by NOT buoyed by

4. PUNCTUATION

BRACKETS

Braces { }

Braces (also known as curly brackets), are used in various programing languages, certain mathematical expressions, and some musical notation.

They should never be used in place of parentheses ( ) or square brackets [ ].

Square brackets [ ]

Square brackets should be used in the following circumstances:

• Parenthesis within parenthesis: “In his twenties, he toured the country giving lectures to physics students (subsequently published as M-theory for Morons [2008]).”
• Clarification: The president stated that he “will not sign the bill they [Republican members of the House] have been talking about.”
• Translation: “Smith writes in his autobiography: ‘I seldom spoke in French class. When I did, I usually just said je ne sais pas [I don’t know].’”
• Change in capitalisation: “Under the terms of his employment contract, his ‘[p]erformance-based stock options shall not vest until December 31, 2015.’”
• Indicating errors: “The final report indicated that ‘pilot error were [sic] the most likely cause of the crash.’”
• Objectionable content: “He told them to ‘sit the [expletive] down.’”

5. GRAMMAR