The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage phần 7 pot

mausoleum
The tourists meandered through the market stalls or
The tourists maundered through the market stalls.
There are still slightly different implications. While the first sentence connotes
leisurely movement, the second has overtones of confusion.
mausoleum For the plural of this word, see -um.
maxi- This new prefix of the 1960s is derived from Latin maximus “greatest or
largest”. In English it usually means “large-sized”, as in:
maxibudget maxisingle maxiskirt maxi-taxi maxiyacht
Although they are hybrid Latin/English formations, new words with maxi- quickly
lose their hyphens. In some examples the maxi- word is obviously coined to match
a similar word with mini So maxi-taxi, first recorded in 1961, seems to parallel
minicab (1960), and maxiskirt (1966) appeared just a year after miniskirt. Mini-is
also a relatively new prefix (see under mini-).
maxim See under aphorism.
maxima cum laude See under cum laude.
maximum The plural of this word is discussed under -um.
may or might The first of these is now far commoner than the second,
according to grammar research (Biber et al., 1999). This helps to explain why may
is increasingly used instead of might, even to express a remote possibility, as in:
He may have died if the ambulance had been delayed.
Older usage preferred might in such cases because, as the historical past form of
may, it made the sense of possibility more remote. However tense distinctions
among modal verbs have fallen away (see modality). Curiously, might is now
found more often than may in speech, and less often in writing.
For other uses of may and might, see under can or may, and could or might.
May Day or mayday With its capital letters and a space between the words,
May Day (1st May) is celebrated in the northern hemisphere as the first day of
spring. But the traditional games and dancing and celebration of nature gave way
in the twentieth century to parades celebrating the international labor movement.
Without capitals or space, mayday is the international distress call used by ships

and aircraft to radio for help. The rhyming syllables represent the French cri de
coeur m’ aider (or m’aidez) “help me”. The English spelling is a neat example of folk
etymology (see under that heading)—but it ensures that we get the pronunciation
right when in dire straits.
maybe or may be The space makes all the difference. May be with space
between the words is a compound verb, as in It may be vital, where may is the
auxiliary verb (see further under auxiliary verbs).
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me
Maybe is an adverb meaning “perhaps”. It has a slightly informal character
for some people, perhaps because of its frequent appearances in conversation and
“thinking aloud”:
Maybe they’ll arrive tomorrow.
Still it appears often enough in written English, and thereare 106 instances of maybe
to 335 of perhaps in the Australian ACE corpus—a ratio of approximately 1:3. The
affinity between maybe and less formal writing may be seen in the fact that more
than half the instances (60) are found in the fiction samples which make up only a
quarter of the corpus. Yet there are instances in all nonfiction categories of writing
as well, including government and academic prose.
me The pronoun me comes very close to us all, though grammarians and other
language commentators of the past have made us rather self-conscious about it.
People sometimes replace it with myself, as if to avoid putting the spotlight directly
on themselves:
This was a gift to myself from my wife.
There is no need to do this. In fact we draw less attention to ourselves by using the
ordinary me:
This was a gift to me from my wife.
Anxieties about me probably stem from two constructions which are censured by
the grammarian, though they are quite common in informal dialogue. One is the
use of me instead of my as a possessive adjective (especially by young people), as

in:
I rode round there on me bike.
Written down, this me seems ungrammatical—a first person pronoun where a
determiner should be used. In fact it looks worse than it usually sounds. As
pronounced it’s often more like my with a shortened vowel or a schwa (see further
under that heading). When scripting informal dialogue there may be good reason
to write me or m’ instead of my, though it would seem out of place or substandard
in most other kinds of writing.
Another vexed use of me is after and when two subjects are coordinated:
Jim and me left before the rest.
Here me substitutes for I: in standard written grammar it would be Jim and I
left before the rest. But in casual conversation some speakers maintain the object
pronoun whether its role is actually subject or object. It would of course be perfectly
acceptable in:
They farewelled Jim and me before the rest.
There it’s part of the object of theverb (see cases). But when the grammatical reasons
for using I and me are not understood, the choice seems arbitrary. Hence also the
499
mea culpa
substitution of I for me in for you and I or like you and I, which is now common
enough to be regarded as a standard variant, according to the Cambridge Grammar
(2002)
Whatever the vagaries of me in casual speech, its use in writing is still
complementary to I as object and subject pronoun respectively, and it’s not about to
be eclipsed. In noncoordinated constructions the use of me is stable, and the I/me
distinction is matched by we/us, he/him, she/her and they/them (though absent
from you and it). For the moment then, there are more English pronouns with the
subject/object distinction than without it.
mea culpa This Latin phrase meaning “by my fault” comes from the confession
at the beginning of the mass. But it has long been used in secular English to

mean simply “I am to blame” whenever we feel the need to admit responsibility
for a problem—whether it’s the mismatched cutlery on the table or the mistaken
information which has made everyone late for dinner. Its Latin dress still makes it
a rather earnest admission, however, and neither it nor peccavi “I have sinned” can
be used very lightheartedly.
meagre or meager See -re/-er.
meander or maunder See maunder.
meaningful Overworked words lose their cutting edge, and the meaning
of meaningful is threatened in this way. Even worse, meaningful tends to
devalue the words it’s combined with. In clich
´
es such as meaningful dialogue,
meaningful discussion, and meaningful negotiation, we begin to wonder what
meaningless dialogue/discussion/negotiation might be. (Can anything be discussed
or negotiated without some meaning being exchanged?) And does meaningful
mean much in meaningful experience or meaningful relationship? In many cases it’s
redundant, or simply a substitute for “important”, “worthwhile”, or other words
which embody a value judgement. They are better words to use, if meaningful is
intended that way. If meaningful is a synonym for “significant”, then the actual
significance of the meaningful experience should be explained.
If we take the load off meaningful by these various means, it has a better
chance of retaining its essential denotation “full of meaning” in expressions such
as meaningful look, meaningful smile and meaningful pause—and of being a
meaningful component of English.
means This word looks plural, yet it can combine with either a singular or plural
verb, depending on the meaning.
When it means “resources or income”, it’s always plural:
Their means were never large enough for her dreams.
When it means “method of doing something”, it can be either singular or plural,
according to whether the writer means one or several methods:

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mediocre
His ultimate means of gaining public attention was to fake disappearance.
We’ve tried all the means that are available to ordinary citizens.
As the last example shows, the use of words such as all, many, several (or any plural
number) confirms the need for a plural verb; and the use of a, any, each and every
would show where a singular verb is needed.
measles Should it be Measlesis rampant at the school or Measles are rampant . . .?
See agreement section 4b.
media In English this has long been used as the plural of the Latin medium “a
vehicle or channel of communication”, especially in reference to the various forms
of visual art, such as fresco, mosaic, relief, oil-painting, charcoal, gouache. During
the twentieth century media acquired a collective sense in referring to the various
channels of mass communication, such as radio, TV and newspapers. The media,
first recorded in the 1950s, is now a byword for the mass media at large.
Because of this collective usage, media is sometimes coupled with a singular verb
and/or pronoun:
A politician is no sooner elected than the media begins to get its teeth into him.
The same sentence could equally well be:
A politician is no sooner elected than the media begin to get their teeth into him.
For some people the second version is the only “correct” one, because they insist
that media is plural. No-one could deny that it’s a plural word in Latin, but its
collective use in modern English makes it more like team and committee, which can
take singular or plural verbs and pronouns, depending on the meaning intended.
(See further under collective nouns.) An Oxford Dictionary citation from 1966
notes the use of media as a singular noun “spreading into upper cultural strata”;
and the fact that the dictionary still calls it “erroneous” is a remarkable example
of a linguistic shibboleth. Many Latin loanwords undergo new grammatical and
sense developments in the context of English. (Compare stamina, discussed under
stamen.)

Webster’s English Usage (1989) notes two further developments of the word:
media as a count noun (for example in a new recording media), and the use of
medias as its plural—the further reaches of its assimilation.
For the different uses of plural media and mediums, see under -um.
medieval or mediaeval. See under ae/e.
mediocre This word is spelled the same way everywhere in the English-
speaking world. Even in North America the -re is standard spelling, never
replaced with -er (see -re/-er)—no doubt to avoid having -cer for the last syllable,
which might suggest a soft c sound. In similar words such as ochre/ocher and
sepulchre/sepulcher, the h keeps the c hard.
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medium
Some people take the word mediocre “middling” very literally, to mean “at
the middle point of a scale”, and argue that it cannot be qualified by words
such as “rather” or “very”: it either is or is not “in the middle”. But for most
people mediocre is more general in its meaning, appraising things as “ordinary and
unremarkable”. Taken that way there’s no problem at all in qualifying the word
with adverbs of degree. Compare unique.
medium The plural of this word is discussed under -um.
meet (up)(with) For centuries the verb meet has worked simply and
effectively, with no extra particles:
We met the director in her office.
They meet at the bar after work.
In grammatical terms the first sentence is transitive, the second intransitive (see
further under transitive); but each is self-sufficient.
The very simplicity of this seems to make English-speakers want to add to it,
and many are inclined to use meet with as the transitive form, and meet up as the
intransitive:
We met with the director
They meet up at the bar

There are some subtle differences in meaning perhaps, a certain formality about
meet with and a sense of the importance of the encounter; while meet up seems to
connote a more ordinary get-together. These differences in connotation may justify
their use on occasions, though meet itself would often be sufficient.
Some usage commentators, especially British ones, present a different argument
for avoiding meet with in the sense of “come into the presence of”. They find it
unfortunate that it coincides with meet with in the sense “incur or experience”,
as in:
I hope it meets with your approval.
She met with huge resistance.
Yet dictionaries allow both kinds of meaning for meet with, and the distinction
is clear from whether the object of meet with is animate (as with “director”) or
abstract (as with “approval” and “resistance”). The second is more common than
the first (by a ratio of 11:5) in the Australian ACE corpus.
As if this were not enough, meet is quite often accompanied by up as well as
with when it means no more than meet in its simple, transitive sense of “encounter
or come together with”. See for example:
At the conference they met up with their former colleagues.
This usage seems to have originated in the US in the nineteenth century, and is
current in Australia. Although the use of two particles after a simple verb may
seem excessive, we take it for granted in quite a few other verb phrases, such as
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melted or molten
come up with and walk out on (see further under phrasal verbs). Their flavor is
slightly informal, but they are established idioms.
mega- Derived from Greek,thisprefixmeans“huge”.Inphysical measurements,
such as those calibrated in megahertz, megatons and megawatts, mega- means
exactly “one million or 10
6
”. It takes its place among the standard metric prefixes,

represented by the symbol M (see Appendix IV ). In the computer term megabyte
mega- equals 2
20
.
But in other scientific and scholarly words, mega- means just “impressively
large”, as in:
megalith megaphone megaspore megastructure
Note that megapod meaning “having large feet” can be applied generally in
zoological description; whereas macropod, literally again “having large feet”, is
strictly the term for the kangaroo family of animals. (For other uses of macro- see
under that heading.)
Megalo- is an older form of mega-, which combines only with Greek words,
as in megalomania, megalopolis and megalosaur. The older megalocephalic is being
replaced by megacephalic.
In the past, the words coined with mega- were scholarly ones. A few of them
have however taken root in everyday English, and provided the stimulus for more
informal uses of mega- since World War II. Recent formations such as megabucks,
megadeath, megastar and megastore are familiar journalistic terms, in which its
meaning varies from “vast in numbers” to “awesomely large or great”. Australia
has been dubbed Meganesia; and in casual conversation you’ll hear mega used
instead of “very” as an intensifier: It’s megatrendy. It even occurs on its own as an
exclamation: “Mega!” as a substitute for “Great!”
meiosis See under figures of speech.
Melanesia See under Polynesia.
melodious or melodic For musicologists and others, melodic is the one to
use when you’re talking technically about the structure of music, and distinguishing
its melodic component from the rhythm and harmony. But for other general
purposes, melodic and melodious are synonyms. Both can be applied to a tune or
pattern of sound which appeals to the ear. Effectively melodic has more applications
than melodious, and this may explain why it’s the commoner of the two, according

to the evidence of English databases. Apart from its use as banter in “I heard your
melodious voice . . .”, melodious has a somewhat literary flavor these days, which
also helps to account for its decreasing use.
melted or molten In modern English we conventionally speak of melted
butter and melted ice, but molten lead and molten lava. The twin adjectives are
reminders of the fact that there were once (in Old English) two verbs relating to
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memento
the process of becoming liquid. Their parts were merged in Middle English, and
molten was used as an alternative past participle for the verb melt,asinmolten
tallow. Melted first appeared in the sixteenth century, as the regular past participle
(see irregular verbs). As it became established molten lost its connection with
the verb and was confined to the adjective role, especially to phrases in which it
combined with metals or other substances that are liquefied only by great heat.
Nineteenth century authors could write figuratively of “molten passions”, but
such hyperbole is probably too much for twenty-first century taste. We do however
make figurative use of melted, as in “At those words he melted . . .”, to express a
much gentler human emotion.
memento This word has been used in English for a token of remembrance
since the eighteenth century. Occasionally it appears as momento, a variant which
is now registered in international dictionaries such as the Oxford Dictionary
(1989) and Webster’s Third (1986). The first evidence of momento comes from
a mid-nineteenth century American source, according to Webster’s English Usage
(1989); and it’s very frequent in Australian internet documents (Google 2006). The
Macquarie Dictionary (2003) presents it as a variant of memento. Butthe Australian
Oxford (2004) is reluctant to do so, no doubt because it obscures the etymology of
the word (the Latin root mem- “remember” in the first syllable). The respelling
suggests folk etymology at work on the word, reinterpreting it to emphasise
the special moment, rather than as a means of remembering or commemorating
something.

For the plural of memento, see -o.
memento mori See under danse macabre.
memorandum and memo Both these refer to a genre of inter-office
communication in government and industry, one which is more public and less
personal than letters. Both forms of the word are current, and the longer one
has more formal overtones, especially in any quasi-legal document which is a
Memorandum of Agreement or Memorandum of Association. Its plural may be
memoranda or memorandums. (See further under -um.)
In government offices memorandum is the standard form, yet memo is well
established in its own right, and the two appear in equal numbers in the Australian
ACE corpus. The Oxford Dictionary (1989) has recorded the use of memo as a
noun for over a century, and Webster’s English Usage (1989) even has evidence of
it being used as a verb. Its plural is memos, as is usual for abbreviated words ending
in -o (see under -o.)
m´enage or man`ege These French loanwords refer respectively to the
management of one’s house and the management of one’s horse, so they are not to
be confused. Without their accents, they are easily mistaken for each other. One
way to remember the difference is that m
´
enage is like menial, and involves the
504
meronymy
humdrum business of running a household; whereas man
`
ege which embodies the
Latin root manus “hand” has to do with handling a horse.
M
´
enage also refers to the structure of a household, and the people who comprise
it. So the m

´
enage
`
a trois (literally “household with three”) is a discreet way of
referring to a nonstandard household of three persons—a husband, wife and a
third who is the lover of one of them.
mendacity or mendicity These two are dangerously alike. Mendacity
refers to the falseness of something, or a particular falsehood. A mendacious report
embodies false and deceptive statements. But those accused of mendicity have
the consolation of knowing that they are poor but honest about their condition.
Mendicity is a formal word for begging, and a way of life for a mendicant
(“beggar”).
-ment This suffix, borrowed from French and Latin, forms many an English
word. It makes nouns out of verbs, especially those which are French in origin.
Here is a sample of them from the letter A:
accomplishment advertisement agreement alignment amusement
announcement arrangement assessment
Only a handful of -mentwordsareformedwith English verbs, including catchment,
puzzlement and settlement, and a special subgroup prefixed with em-oren-:
embitterment, embodiment, encampment, enlightenment and enlistment.
Most words ending in -ment can express the action of the verb they embody, as
well as the product which results from the action:
the development of the program a new housing development
an investment in their future devaluing our investments
The spelling of words with -ment usually means leaving the verb intact, as in all the
examples so far. Verbs ending in -e retain it, in keeping with the general rule before
suffixes beginning withaconsonant (see under -e). Notehoweverthatwhen the verb
ends in -dge, two spellings are possible, as with abridg(e)ment, acknowledg(e)ment,
judg(e)ment and lodg(e)ment. (See further under judgement or judgment.) For the
spelling of argument see under that heading.

Note also that -ment words based on certain verbs ending in l may have one or
two ls before the suffix, as with enrollment and fulfillment. In Australia and Britain
such words often have only one l, because that is the spelling of the simple verb
(enrol, fulfil), whereas in North America the two ls of the simple verb are taken
into the -ment word. However the spellings forestalment and instalment reflect
outdated spellings of the verb. See further under forestallment and installment.
merino For the plural of this, see -o.
meronymy See under metonymy.
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meta-
meta- Derived from Greek, this prefix essentially meant “with, beyond or after”
(in space or time), and often involved a change of place or condition. The idea of
change is the one in metamorphosis (as well as metaphor and metathesis); and the
meaning “after” is the original one in metaphysics, though in modern English it has
been reinterpreted there as “beyond, transcending”.
All those kinds of meaning are to be found in modern formations with meta
In anatomical words such as metacarpus, metatarsus and metathorax, meta- means
“beyond” in a simple physical sense. Metabolism and metachromatism build on the
idea of change. Andthe most widely used sense of all, “transcending”, is exemplified
in new words such as metalanguage, metapsychology and metempirics.
metal or mettle These two spellings have evolved from one and the same
word, to distinguish its concrete meaning from the more abstract one. The spelling
metal remains close to the form and meaning of the original Latin and Greek
word metallum/metallon. The word’s more abstract and figurative meaning “spirit,
strength of character” began to appear in the late sixteenth century, and by
the beginning of the eighteenth had acquired its distinctive spelling (mettle),
conforming with an English spelling pattern.
metaphor Metaphors are a life-force of language. They lend vitality to routine
commentary on anything, as when a golfing shot is said to be “rocketing its way to
the ninth green”. The metaphorical word “rocketing” brings lively imagery to bear

on a familiar subject, stimulating the reader’s imagination.
Metaphors help to extend the frontiers of language all the time. Figurative uses of
words often begin as metaphorical extensions, and end up as permanent additions to
the word’s range of meaning. The notion of seeking one’s “roots” and discovering
unknown “branches” of one’s family are thoroughly established, and to understand
them we do not need to invoke the “tree” metaphor on which they’re based.
When metaphors like those become ordinary elements of the language, they are
sometimes referred to as dead metaphors. Yet even dead metaphors have a phoenix-
like capacity to revive, as when President Gerald Ford declared that solar energy
is something that cannot come in overnight! The imagery in familiar metaphors
is latent rather than dead. A mixed metaphor is achieved by using two (or more)
divergent metaphors in quick succession. Between them they create a dramatically
inconsistent picture, as when someone is said to ‘‘have his head so deep in the sand
he doesn’t know which side of the fence he’s on”—to quote a former premier of
Queensland, who knew how to use the mixed metaphor (or “mixaphor”) to divert
and disarm those interviewing him.
Metaphors, like most stimuli, need to be indulged in moderation—not too many
at once, andnoneexploitedtoo hard. An extended metaphor can workwellprovided
it’s not used relentlessly. The effectiveness of the metaphor in this passage begins
to flag after the third or fourth attempt to extend it:
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metonymy
The boss entered them for all kinds of new competitive activities. They were
spurred into presenting themselves at the starting gate for every government
grant (whether it was the right race or not), and feeling thoroughly flogged, they
yearned for greener pastures
Like the hard-worked public servants of that example, a metaphor can be
overextended. It then becomes too obvious, and runs the risk of parodying itself.
Metaphors and similes. Metaphors work best allusively, likening one thing to
another by passing implication. Their contribution is much less direct and explicit

than that of similes. Compare:
The ball rockets its way to the ninth green.
The ball flies like a rocket to the ninth green.
In a simile, the comparison is spelled out in a phrase beginning with like or as,
and the image it raises is set alongside the statement, not integrated with it as in a
metaphor. But similes do allow for more complex comparisons which cannot be
set up in a single word. See for example:
Talking with him is like wrestling with an octopus—he weighs in with one
heavyweight topic after another.
Similes, like metaphors, sometimes become regular idioms of the language:
mad as a gumtree full of galahs
as happy as a bastard on Father’s Day
Examples like those lend color and (in the second case) irony to everyday talk.
Note finally the difference between a metaphor and a metonym.Inametaphor,
both the object referred to (e.g. “ball”) and the metaphorical word (“rocket”) are
expressed; whereas a metonym actually replaces the object of reference. See further
under metonymy.
meteor, meteoroid or meteorite These words are sometimes
interchanged, yet they refer to different phases in the life of a celestial object. It
begins as a meteoroid, an inert mass of mineral traveling in space far from the
earth’s orbit. When drawn into the earth’s orbit and through earth’s atmosphere, it
becomes white-hot and is seen as a fiery streak through the heavens. In this form
it’s called a meteor or “shooting star”. Small meteors burn up to nothingness in
the skies, but larger ones shoot through to the earth’s surface, sometimes creating
a great cavity in it. The cold and once again inert mass which remains is the
meteorite.
meter or metre See metre.
metonymy This is a figure of speech in which you name something by
something with which it is regularly associated. So the bar comes to stand for
the legal profession, because of the railing in a courtroom which divides the public

507
metre or meter
space from the area which is exclusively for legal personnel. The press stands for
journalists and reporters whose writing is made public by the newspaper press. A
metonym thus often stands for an institution of some kind. They can also be used
in reference to familiar practices. In phrases such as on the bottle, the word bottle
is a metonym for heavy consumption of alcohol, and the kitchen sink can be one
for female domestic duties.
Metonymy (which works by associated objects) should be distinguished from
meronymy, the figure of speech which names a part of something as a way of
referring to the whole. Thus the “roof over our heads” is a meronym for “house”.
In traditional rhetoric this was called synecdoche. See further under that heading.
metre or meter In Australian English these words mean several different
things, unlike other -re/-er pairs (see under that heading).
A metre is first and foremost a measure of length, the standard SI unit for it, and
the one from which the metric system itself takes its name (see Appendix IV). But
metre is also the word/spelling for a particular rhythmic pattern in poetry. Both
words come from the Greek metron “a measure”.
The word meter “measuring instrument” is a native English word, based on
the verb mete “distribute or give out”, which once meant “measure”. Our spelling
thus serves to remind us of the different origins of the gas meter and the poetic
metre. Yet whether we need such a reminder—and whether there’s any real danger
of confusing them—is doubtful. In American English the spelling meter is used for
both, as well as for the SI unit.
-metre or -meter
Is a micrometre the same as a micrometer?
Not at all. The spelling -metre is attached to words that are units of length within
the metric system, like millimetre, centimetre and kilometre (see Appendix V).
A micrometre is one millionth of a metre, but the special instrument that measures
minute lengths such as that is a micrometer.

Note that words ending in -meter are of two kinds:
1 measuring instruments, such as:
altimeter barometer odometer speedometer thermometer
2 poetic metres, such as:
hexameter pentameter tetrameter
The use of hexa meter etc. alongside (poetic) metre is an unfortunate inconsistency
of British (and Australian) English. In American English meter is used throughout.
See previous entry.
metres square or square metres See under square metres.
metric or metrical Since Australia’s metrication in 1970, the word metric is
usually associated with the SI units of our metric system; whereas metrical is used
508
metrication and the metric system in Australia
as the adjective associated with poetic metres. In the past metric could also be used
for the latter. So as with some other –ic/-ical pairs, the two adjectives are developing
distinct areas of meaning. See -ic/ical.
metrication and the metric system in Australia Australia went
metric with the Metric Conversion Act (1970), and dispensed with the old imperial
system of weights and measures. The metric system originated in France, and
after the international metric convention of 1870–5 it was officially adopted by
many other nations in Europe and South America. Metric measurements were once
standardised by reference to physical objects kept in Paris, such as the platinum–
iridium bar from which the metre was calibrated. But measurements of length are
now standardised by reference to wavelengths of light, and the standards themselves
are checked regularly by laboratories in many parts of the world.
English-speaking countries have generally been rather slow to implement the
metric system. In the US the metric system was legalised by act of Congress in
1866, but attempts to make it the officialsystemin the 1890s were resisted, especially
by the manufacturing industries. Only now, with the adoption of the metric system
by the US Army and Marine Corps and by NASA for their weapons and equipment,

is there some pressure for a general change; and the US Metric Board, set up in 1975,
has responsibility for developing a national conversion program. In Canada, the
SI system was accepted in 1971, and is supported in government documents and
in technical and scientific work. Canadian children are taught the metric system
in school, though it’s still unfamiliar to older adults. In Britain, the changeover
began officially in 1965, and the currency has been fully decimalised. Yet metric
and imperial systems still coexist, as the “pint” of beer is dispensed as a fraction of
a litre, and goods sold by the pound are costed by the kilo.
In Australia the changeover to the metric system in the 1970s was well managed,
and few would turn the clock back, even if they still mentally calibrate distances
in miles, and people’s height in feet and inches. A few of the old imperial units
survive in Australia as our official units in special fields (see imperial weights and
measures). In schools however the metric system is the only one now taught, and
the rising generation will ensure that Australia stays metric.
1 The metric system is essentially the one based on the seven key units of the
Syst
`
eme International des Poids et Mesures (international system of weights and
measures). They are:
metre for length
kilogram mass
second time
ampere electric current
kelvin thermodynamic temperature
candela luminous intensity
mole amount of substance
509
metrication and the metric system in Australia
From these SI base units, others—either decimal fractions or multiples of them—are
named, such as the millimetre and kilometre.

Apart from those, there are:
a) two supplementary units, namely the radian (a unit of plane angle) and the
steradian (a unit of solid angle); and
b) the so-called derived units: ones whose values are a product of certain base
units. The standard unit of area is the metre squared, while that of density is
based on kilograms per metre cubed. Derived units with special names (such as
the joule which calibrates energy, and the watt which calibrates power) are also
calculated from a formula involving the base units: in the latter case 1 kilogram
metre squared per second cubed.
The (non-SI) units employed within our metric system are also defined in terms
of metric units. Thus the litre, our measure of liquid volume, is defined as 10–
3
m
3
;
and the definition of bar, used in measuring pressure, is 10
5
pascals. Other familiar
non-SI units are the hectare, tonne, day, hour, minute, and the degree Celsius.
All the units mentioned so far are in general use in Australia. A few others have
become officially “declared units” for limited uses only. Examples are the knot
and the (nautical) mile, for marine and aerial navigation as well as meteorology;
the tex (a measure of linear density), used in measurements of yarns, fibres
and cords; and the kilogram per hectolitre, used in measurements of grains and
seeds.
2 Writing metric units. Both base and derived units in the metric system have
official symbols, many of which are written with a capital letter because they are
proper names. This applies to units such as the ampere (A), the joule (J) and the
watt (W), as well as to our scales of temperature: Kelvin (K) and Celsius (C). By
convention the symbol for litre is L (also a capital, to make it more conspicuous

than an ordinary lower case l would be). Other metric items written with upper
case are the symbols for prefixes which express multiples of any base unit, including
mega-(M), giga- (G), tera- (T), peta- (P) and exa-(E). The symbols are all listed in
Appendix IV.
Note that metric symbols are never pluralised, whether they are upper or lower
case. See for example:
The generator’s output is 600 MW (= megawatts)
The city-to-surf run is 14 km (= kilometres)
But when metric units appear as full words, they’re almost always lower case
(e.g. watt, metre), the only exception being Celsius. As full words they should
be pluralised like ordinary English nouns with an s (e.g. watts, metres
), except in
the cases of hertz, lux and siemens which have zero plurals. (See further under zero
plurals.)
510
micro-
Other points to note are:
a) either full words, or symbols (not a mixture of them) should be used in any
expression: either kilometres per hour or km/h, but not km/hour etc. The
symbols lend themselves to use in tables and diagrams, and the full words are
most likely in discursive text.
b) only one unit should be used in expressing quantities, i.e. not both metres and
kilometres. The writer chooses the unit so as to ensure as far as possible that
the numerical values are between 0.1 and 1000. So working in metres makes
best sense if you’re comparing distances such as 75.2 m and 106.5 m. (In
kilometres they would be 0.0752 km and 0.106 km respectively.)
c) between the figure and the abbreviated unit of measurement a space is
needed.
metronymic See under patronymic.
metropolis Though Greek in origin, this word was mediated through late Latin

to modern Europe. Yet its plural has always been metropolises since it was recorded
in English in the sixteenth century.
miall or myall See myall.
miasma The plural of this word is discussed under -a section 1.
micro- Derived from Greek, this prefix means essentially “very small, minute”,
as in microcosm, micro-organism, microprint and microprocessor. In twentieth
century scholarship, science and technology, it developed a number of new
meanings as well.
One is “small in scale or focus”, as in:
microclimate microeconomics microstructure
Another is associated with physical measurements, where micro- has the precise
meaning of “one millionth” of a given unit, as in:
micrometre micro-ohm microsecond microvolt
As such it’s one of the standard prefixes in the metric system.
Note that microwaves are not a precisely defined element of this kind. They
have traditionally been explained within a range of wavelengths, and the range
itself has been shifting down the scale in dictionary definitions over the last
two or three decades, from something “less than 10 meters and especially less
than one meter” Webster’s New World Dictionary (1966); to between 100 cm and
1cmWebster’s International (1986); to between 30 cm and 1 mm in the Oxford
Dictionary (1989). Whatever the niceties of their length, microwaves are familiar in
the kitchen nowadays, and the abbreviation micro- begins to embody the meaning
“microwave”, as in micro-oven (not a very small oven).
511
Micronesia
Other new meanings have developed out of the use of micro- to mean
“amplifying what’s very small”, as in microphone and microscope. From the latter
the prefix has come to mean “associated with the microscope”, as in microbiology,
microphotography and microsurgery. The microdot, microfiche and microfilm all
depend on magnifying processes to yield the information stored on them; and

through this micro- has come to refer generally to the vehicles on or in which vast
amounts of data are stored, such as the microchip and the microcomputer. The last
word is sometimes abbreviated to micro, and in informal usage at least, it stands in
its own right as a word for “personal computer”.
Micronesia See under Polynesia.
might or may, and might or could See may or might, and under could
or might.
migrant or immigrant In Australia migrant is the standard term for
someone who has migrated from another country to make a permanent home here.
The word is enshrined in institutions such as the Adult Migrant Education Service
(AMES).
In other parts of the world migrant connotes temporary rather than permanent
residence in another country. In migrant labor it refers to itinerant workers, as
it does in migrant workers in the Middle East. The term immigrant is therefore
needed for the permanent resident.
Australia does not play host to a mobile workforce of the kind known elsewhere,
and so there’s no confusion if we refer to newly arrived permanent residents as
migrants. But anyone who writes about them for readers in other parts of the
English-speaking world would do well to use immigrant rather than migrant, to
ensure being properly understood.
mileage or milage Thefirstofthese spellings is given preference in all modern
dictionaries. The second is however a recognised alternative, and certainly the one
we might expect by all the general spelling rules which apply to roots ending in -e
(see further under -age). Perhaps milage will gradually gain ground in countries
where the mile continues to be an official unit of distance, and the word is
in regular use. But there’s less chance in Australia since we switched to metric
measurements, and the mile has only a residual role as a measure of distance. (See
under metrication.)
Mileage itself has acquired a number of uses in motoring, where it stands broadly
for the word “distance” or “performance over a distance”. Yet as soon as we get

specific about the distance involved, it’s given in kilometres, as in:
What’s the mileage to Adelaide? About 300 kilometres.
512
millennium, millenarian or millenary
The word “kilometrage” has yet to be established, and in the meantime mileage
lives out an active retirement. It still figures in casual idiom:
He gets a lot of mileage out of that story.
militate or mitigate
Confusion between these two is a persistent
malapropism of English usage, with mitigate appearing instead of militate.
Militate means “be a force”, or “work”, usually against something. The word
is related to military, and once meant literally “serve as a soldier, go to war”.
Nowadays it’s only used in the more metaphorical sense, as in:
The fact that they are city people militates against their surviving on that desert
island.
But instead of this, you may see (or hear):
“The fact that they are city people mitigates against their surviving ”
This is an unfortunate misuse of mitigate which means “make less harsh”. The
word can be used in either a physical or figurative sense, as in:
The sun mitigated the effect of the cold wind.
The magistrate may mitigate the penalty for first offenders.
Since mitigate means almost the opposite of militate, the effect of substituting one
for the other is quite disconcerting. It probably happens because of uncertainty
about the meaning of mitigate, which has no relatives among modern English
words. (Perhaps litigate contributes to the confusion.) At any rate, mistaken use
of mitigate is rather obvious because of the use of against following it, or just
occasionally for or in favor of. Mitigate needs no particle after it, being a transitive
verb. See further under transitive and intransitive.
millennium, millenarian or millenary The first word means essentially
“a thousand years”. But in Christian tradition the millennium was often used to

connote the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, anticipated at the end of the
Bible (Revelation 20:1–7). From this it has acquired the more general denotation of a
future “golden age”, in which every human ideal is realised. The latter meaning is at
the heart of millenarian, both adjective and noun, which may be used, respectively,
to describe anything relating to the millennium, and a believer in it. The word
millenary can substitute for millennium as well as millenarian.
Note the single n in millenarian and millenary, both of which are based on
the classical Latin adjective millenarius. Millennium with two ns is a neo-Latin
formation dating from the seventeenthcentury,andformedfrommille “a thousand”
and -ennium meaning “a period of years” (cf. biennium, triennium). The spelling
discrepancy has helped to foster millenium, which occurred in more than 25% of the
instances of the word in the British Guardian newspaper in 1990. It is one of the best
513
milli-
attested spelling variants in the files of both Oxford and Webster’s dictionaries; and
it appears in the headword list of several dictionaries, including two by Longman
in 1978 and 1981, according to Kjellmer’s research (1986). Data from Australian
internet documents (Google 2006) show millenium appearing in 1 in 5 instances of
the word, but it’s not yet an accepted variant in Australian dictionaries. We might
well ask why not? Etymology is of course with millennium, but it need not be
regarded as the sole arbiter of correctness when the strength of analogy is with
millenium.
The plural of millen(n)ium can be either millen(n)ia or millen(n)iums. See further
under -um.
milli- This prefix is derived from Latin mille “a thousand”. In the metric
system however it means “a thousandth part”, as in milligram, millimetre and
millisecond, and this very precise meaning is the one most widely known and
used.
A different and rather less precise meaning is the one attached to milli- in
biological words such as millipede and millipore, which refer to creatures with

supposedly a thousand feet and a thousand pores. Alternative spellings millepede
and millepore help to connect the words with mille “a thousand”, rather than milli-
“a thousandth part”. There seems little point however, when the figure of a thousand
is so wide of the mark: a millepede has up to 400 feet (200 pairs of legs) but nowhere
near one thousand. The spelling millipede is probably helped by centipede, and
is given preference over millepede in modern dictionaries, apart from the Oxford
Dictionary (1989).
milliard In Britain and elsewhere this term has been used to refer to “a thousand
million”, by thosewhowished to avoid using thetermbillion for this purpose. (They
wanted to keep billion for “a million million”.) However milliard has never had
much currency, and the Australian Government Style Manual (1988) recommended
firmly against it. The so-called “American” billion is now established in Australia,
and recognised in Australian and international standards. See further under
billion.
mimic For the spelling of this word when used as a verb, see -c/-ck
miner or mina See myna.
mini- This twentieth century prefix is probably an abbreviation of miniature (on
which see below). Its earliest use in the US in the 30s was to refer to new and more
movable/portable instruments, such as the minipiano and the minicam(era). They
were followed by the minicar (1945) and the miniprinter (1950). It was during the
60s however that the prefix “took off”, and since then it’s been used to name new
vehicles (minibus, minivan), garments (minicoat, miniskirt) and sports (minigolf),
514
miniscule
as well as less tangible items such as the minibudget and the miniseries. New
formations sometimes carry a hyphen which is quickly shed as the word becomes
established.
Note the spelling of miniature. The ia suggests two syllables in the middle,
but they are always pronounced as one. As often the spelling connects the word
with its Latin antecedent miniare “paint red”, which is connected to minium “red

lead”. The tiny decorations and illustrations in medieval manuscripts were often
done with red ink, and from this we have derived the prime meaning for miniature
nowadays, i.e. “very small scale (reproductions)”.
Note also the spelling of minuscule “very small, diminutive”. The normal
pronunciation diverts us from the need for the first u—again a reminder of the
word’s origins and the Latin diminutive ending -usculus that’s built into it. The
lack of general knowledge of Latin combines with common pronunciation to
produce the spelling miniscule, for which there are seven citations recorded since
1898 in the Oxford Dictionary. It still dubs that spelling “erroneous”, whereas the
major American dictionaries (Webster’s, Random House) have it as an acceptable
alternative. Webster’s English Usage (1989) notes increasing use of it since the 1940s,
in parallel with the growing use of mini- as a prefix. In the Australian ACE corpus
miniscule is the only spelling to appear; and an independent search of Australian
newspapers in 1990 showed the instances of miniscule outnumbering minuscule by
a ratio of 4:1.
minimal or minimum Most of the time, these words simply complement
each other: minimal is the adjective and minimum the noun, and it’s a matter of
grammar which you use to express “the least possible”. Yet like many a noun,
minimum can be pressed into service as an adjective, and then it takes the place of
minimal. Compare:
They got here in minimal time.
They got here in minimum time.
In such contexts, the two words are at most stylistic variants, with minimal
having a slightly more literary flavor than minimum. Note however that minimal
sometimes seems to have an evaluative cutting edge to it, which minimum as an
adjective does not. Compare:
They gave minimum time to their patients.
They gave minimal time to their patients.
The first sentence seems to say that the amount of time given to patients was only
as large as was absolutely necessary, whereas the second can also imply that this

was negligible and reprehensible.
miniscule For the use of this spelling as a variant for minuscule, see under
mini
515
minority
minority This word is a slippery one, as when someone says:
The motion was lost by a minority of three.
Does this mean that out of say 25 people, only 3 voted for it? Or that the number
of people voting for the motion was 3 less than the number who voted against it,
so that the vote ran 11:14 against?
According to the second interpretation minority means “the shortfall between
the votes for and against”. In the first, minority just identifies the smaller set of
voters, in contrast with the majority. This is certainly the meaning in:
A minority of members wanted more frequent meetings.
In phrases like this one, minority means “less than half”, and so in a group of 25
could be any number from 12 down. The inherent vagueness in this use of minority
makes some people qualify it, as in “a small minority” or “a large minority”. Yet
expressions like those are problematic in other ways: the first seems tautologous
and the second contradictory.
Problems like these with minority (and majority) mean that it’s best to
paraphrase them whenever precision counts. For example:
The motion was lost by a vote of 11 to 14.
(instead of “a minority of three”)
Only about a third/quarter/fifth (etc.) of the members wanted
(instead of “a small minority”)
Just under half the members wanted more meetings
(instead of “a large minority”)
Note that the use of minority with noncomposite items, as in “a minority of her
time” is sometimes challenged, echoing a reaction to the same kind of construction
with majority. For a discussion of this, see under majority.

minus This mathematical word has been steadily acquiring more general uses,
as a preposition, adjective and noun, but their status is not entirely clear. Some of
these new uses are labeled as “colloquial” or “informal”, while others are presented
without comment.
Several dictionaries including Webster’ s (1986) and the Australian Oxford (2004)
attach the “informal” label to prepositional use of minus,asin:
He reappeared minus his tie.
The word undoubtedly draws attention to itself, in a way that “without” would
not. Yet is it a matter of (in)formality? The Macquarie Dictionary (2005) registers
this use of minus as a preposition without any restrictive label; but it does label as
colloquial the use of minus as a nontechnical adjective with the meaning “lacking,
absent, nonexistent”, as in:
Its impact was minus.
516
miscellanea
Dictionaries have no qualms about minus as an adjective when it means “negative”
in a mathematical sense: a minus value, the minus sign. In fact they do not always
spell out the idea that “negative” is to be understood mathematically, and so the
more general sense “lacking or absent” could almost be accommodated.
Nonmathematical uses of minus as a noun are unproblematical. By now it’s
established as a general-purpose word, often coupled with plus as in:
The college had pluses and minuses for me.
Dictionaries express this meaning variously as “deficiency”, “deficit” and
“disadvantage”, but without any restrictive labels.
minuscule For the variable spelling of this word, see under mini For the uses
of minuscule letters, see lower case.
mis- This prefix, meaning “bad or badly”, occurs in many an English verb and
verbal noun, witness:
misadventure misalliance miscarry misconduct misdeed misdeliver
misfit misgivings mishit mislay mislead mismanage mismatch

misnomer misprint misrepresent misspell mistake mistrial
misunderstand
Mis- is actually a coalescence of prefixes from two different sources:
1 mis- which goes back to Old English, and is found in other Germanic
languages (in modern German miss-)
2 mes- an early French prefix derived from Latin minus “less”.
Both imply that a process has gone wrong, and the use of the older English mis-
was reinforced by the arrival of French loanwords with mes- from the fourteenth
century on. For a while the two prefixes were interchanged in a number of
words, but by the seventeenth century mis- was the standard spelling for all.
For Shakespeare and his contemporaries it was a very popular formative for new
words.
Note that when words formed with mis- match those formed with dis- (as with
miscount/discount, misplace/displace), they often contrast in meaning. The older
misinformation, dating from the sixteenth century, contrasts with the twentieth
century disinformation: incorrect information is supplied by accident in the first
case, whereas in the second it’s a deliberate strategy, as in counterespionage. Yet
in the case of mistrust/distrust the meanings are quite similar (see further under
distrust).
Compare dis
miscellanea This is a Latin plural (see -a section 2), literally “miscellaneous
articles”, and like data and media it raises questions of agreement in English.
517
misinformation or disinformation
It normally refers to a literary collection and is not unnaturally given a singular
pronoun and verb:
This miscellanea is a great advance on the other one
However the cognoscenti would construe the same sentence in the plural:
These miscellanea are a great advance on the others.
The first may seem awkward: the second pretentious. The word miscellany

provides an escape route from both. It means the same and is unquestionably
singular.
Note also the spelling of miscellaneous. The ending is -eous rather than -ious
because of its connection with miscellanea. Other adjectives ending in -eous are
discussed at -ious.
misinformation or disinformation See mis
Miss, Mrs or Ms Both Miss and Mrs are abbreviations of Mistress, which was
once the general title for a woman. Mrs is the earlier abbreviation, which in
the seventeenth and eighteenth century could be applied to any adult woman,
irrespective of whether she was married or not. Only in the nineteenth century
were Mrs and Miss used to identify different kinds of marital status. Dissatisfaction
with the conspicuous Miss/Mrs distinction—as well as the spinsterlyassociationsof
Miss in some people’s minds—has fostered the adoption of Ms by many women and
institutions. Its present connotations of “liberated woman” and “career woman”
will no doubt fade with its use by older women. It certainly makesaneatcounterpart
to Mr. (See further under forms of address.)
A curiously academic objection is sometimes raised against Ms: that it can be
mistaken for MS or ms (abbreviations for “manuscript”). The pedantic answer
would be that the letters of those abbreviations normally match each other in
either upper or lower case, whereas the female title has only an initial capital.
The pragmatic answer is that Ms is almost always followed by a personal name
(except as the title of a well-known magazine), and this serves to distinguish it from
abbreviated references to a manuscript.
The plurals of Mrs and Ms are discussed under plurals section 3.
misspelled or misspelt See under -ed.
mistakable or mistakeable See under -eable.
mistrust or distrust See distrust.
mitigate or militate See militate.
mitre or miter See -re/-er.
518

modality and modal verbs
mixed metaphors See under metaphor.
moccasin or mocassin The first spelling is the only one recognised in
most dictionaries. The second is however recorded in Webster’s (1986) and the
Oxford Dictionary (1989) as an alternative, and quite a few of the Oxford
citations show it, whether they refer to the shoe, or to the plant or animal which
also embody the name. The spelling with one c seems to come closer to the
original Indian word (its most obvious relatives are mokussin, in the Narragansett
language, and mohkisson in Massachusetts). But like many a foreign word without
relatives in English, its pattern of consonants gets varied. See further under
single for double.
modality and modal verbs What is modality? It depends who you ask.
Grammarians differ in their definitions of it, though most would agree that it’s
the factor which differentiates the two following sentences:
The books are coming tomorrow.
The books should come tomorrow.
In both sentences there are auxiliary verbs (are/should). But while the auxiliary in
the first expresses purely grammatical things such as the verb’s tense and aspect,
the one in the second expresses something of the speaker’s attitude to the fact being
stated, her involvement in it and the degree of confidence she expects others to
have in it. These extra dimensions of linguistic communication are what is now
generally called modality, and modal verbs are a large subgroup of auxiliary verbs
which express it. (For the connection between modality and mood, see under
mood.)
Most modal verbs express more than one kind of modality, depending on
the sentence they occur in and the broader context of communication: whether
information isbeingexchanged, or whether people areformulatingactions in words,
such as making offers or issuing commands. The table on the next page shows the
uses of the commonest modals. (There are periphrastic equivalents for some of
them, e.g. can/be able to: see auxiliaries.)

The table below represents uses of modals in main clauses: others can be found
in subordinate clauses. The sequence of tenses in a sentence may dictate a slightly
different choice (see under sequence of tenses). Compare: I will come with I said
I would come.
Note that the choice of modal verb often varies according to whether the first,
second or third person is involved. Must expresses inclination or obligation with the
first person (as inImustgo soon), and possibility, deduction, obligation or frequency
with the third (as in He must come or The sun must rise). The relationship between
those communicating can also affect the type or range of modality implicit in the
expression. (See further under can or may.)
519
modality and modal verbs
can could may might must shall should will would
possibility
weak * * * * –
moderate – +
strong * *
deduction
weak * + *
strong *
obligation
weak *
moderate ++
strong *
inclination
weak – +
moderate ++
strong –
permission + –––
ability * +

frequency ––
The symbols
∗
major use, + secondary use,–occasional use are estimates only of
their relative frequency.
Modal verbs are fluid rather than fixed in meaning, and most have changed and
extended their meanings over the centuries. Yet in their form they are more rigid
than any other kind of verb. One form serves for all persons e.g. I/you/he must, and
there is no regular adjustment for tense even though there were once present/past
contrasts among them (as with shall/should, will/would). They have no infinitive
forms.
In writing as well as speaking, the various shades of modality are enormously
important. Speakers express and control relationships with each other through
them; and writers use modals as way of fine-tuning the factuality and the force of
the statements they make. Modals are often used to modify claims which could be
challenged or prove difficult to substantiate, as in:
The number of applicants may go down with the recession.
Inexperienced writers sometimes rely too much on modal verbs to cover
themselves. Yet whether they use the same modal repeatedly, or “juggle” the whole
set of modals that express possibility, it becomes conspicuous—because the modal
is always the first item in the verb phrase. If you need to be tentative and want to
avoid “sticking your neck out”, the stylistic strategy needs also to include modal
520
momentous or momentary
adverbs expressing degrees of certainty (likely, perhaps, possibly, probably etc.) as
well as downtoners. (See further under hedge words.)
Rewording the tentative statement is better still, so that the terms in which it’s
expressed are themselves appropriate and do not need to be toned down.
modeled or modelled, modeling or modelling The choice between
these is discussed at -l/-ll

modifiers This term is used in two ways in English grammar:
1 to refer to whatever qualifies the head of a noun phrase, either as premodifier
or postmodifier (see under noun phrases)
2 to refer to words or phrases that soften the impact of others, such as rather,
somewhat or a bit. Some grammarians call them downtoners, though in this
book we refer to them as hedge words (see under that heading). Compare
intensifiers, words or phrases which reinforce or emphasise the force of others.
modus This Latin word meaning “way” is caught up in a number of phrases
used in English. Two familiar examples are modus operandi “way of working or
proceeding”, and modus vivendi “way of life or living”. Both also have specific
meanings in law. A modus operandi is the characteristic way in which a criminal
works; and modus vivendi is used of an interim working arrangement which
precedes a legal settlement.
In logic the phrases modus ponens and modus tollens refer to two different kinds
of reasoning. See under deduction.
Mohammed See Muhammad.
mold or mould See mould.
mollusc or mollusk Both spellings are recognised everywhere, but mollusc
is the primary spelling in Australian and British English, and mollusk in American
English. The spelling mollusc is matched by that of related adjectives such as
molluscan and molluscoid, and is thus the more consistent one to deploy.
molt or moult See moult.
molten or melted See melted.
momento or memento See memento.
momentous or momentary These adjectives express very different
meanings of the word moment. Momentary expresses the idea of a very short
span of time, as in “a momentary lapse of dignity”. Momentous picks up the idea
of importance expressed in “an event of great moment”, and is usually found in
phrases such as “momentous event” or “a momentous occasion”.
521

monarchal, monarchical, monarchic or monarchial
The adverb momentarily has several meanings, including:
r
“for a brief span of time” The car stopped momentarily
r
“with every moment” Their excitement increased momentarily
r
“occurring at any moment” This aircraft will be taking off momentarily
The potential for ambiguity is obvious with such a pile-up of senses, and where
precision counts some alternative is needed. The word momently is no help, having
all three of those meanings in American English, and at least the first twoinAustralia
according to the Macquarie Dictionary (2005).
monarchal, monarchical, monarchic or monarchial Even repub-
licans may need to distinguish between these adjectives, and to know that while
monarchal means “relating to a/the monarch”, monarchical and monarchic can
express a connection with either monarch and/or the monarchy. Like many other –
ic/-ical pairs, there’s little to choosebetweenthem (see under -ic/-ical). Monarchical
gets preferential treatment in most dictionaries however and is probably more
common. Monarchial is a leftover variant of monarchal, which Fowler (1926)
declared superfluous.
money, moneys or monies In ordinary usage money is a mass noun with
a collective sense, and there’s no need to pluralise it:
All the money they earned was pooled.
But in law and accounting, money is a countable noun which can be pluralised to
express the idea of individual sums of money. (See further under count nouns.)
For example:
The moneys derived from rents can be offset by the expenses of managing the
flats.
The spelling moneys is given preference over monies in all dictionaries, and is in
keeping with the usual y/i conventions (see -y>-i-). When money becomes a verb,

the preferred spelling again is moneyed, not monied.
mongoose Should you ever encounter not one but two of these small ferret-
like animals, native to India, the plural to use is mongooses. (Neither the animal
nor the word has any connection with goose, so “mongeese” is unthinkable.) The
word was borrowed from the Marathi language in western India; but the Marathi
spelling mangus has been anglicised to clarify the pronunciation.
mono- This Greek prefix meaning “one or single” derived from loanwords such
as monochrome, monologue, monopoly and monotony. New words formed with it
are usually technical, though the items named may be familiar enough:
monofil monocle monohull monorail monoski monotype
Most other words formed with mono- are scholarly, like monogamy, monograph,
monolingual and monosyllabic, or definitely scientific names for chemicals:
522