Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors
AaAachen. City in Germany; in French, Aix-la-Chapelle.
a/an. Errors involving the indefinite articles a and an are almost certainly more often a consequence of haste and carelessness than of ignorance. They are especially common when numbers are involved, as here: "Cox will contribute 10 percent of the equity needed to build a $80 million cable system" or "He was assisted initially by two officers from the sheriff's department and a FBI agent." When the first letter of an abbreviation is pronounced as a vowel, as in "FBI," the preceding article should be an, not a.
Aarhus. City in Denmark; in Danish, erhus.
abacus, pl. abacuses.
abaft. Toward the stern, or rear, of a ship.
abattoir.
Abbas, Mahmoud. (1935-) President of Palestinian National Authority (2005-).
ABC. American Broadcasting Companies (note plural), though the full title is no longer spelled out. It is now part of the Walt Disney Company. The television network is ABC-TV.
abdomen ...
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