Style Guide Q-Z
rebut/refute/repudiate
rebut means ‘to contest or deny something’; refute means ‘to successfully prove that a claim is wrong’. As the Guardian says, “When a politician claims to have refuted an allegation, what they mean is rebut.”
repudiate means ‘to deny or refuse to accept something’.
regard/regards
The phrase meaning ‘concerning’ is in regard to or with regard to — or, as regards. However, the plural regards means ‘best wishes’ as in give her my regards.
repellent
not ‘repellant’ unless meant as a noun (as in insect repellant).
reticent
means ‘shy, restrained’ and not ‘reluctant’.
riffle/rifle
riffle means ‘to flick through a book or magazine’; rifle means ‘to ransack’.
rock ‘n’ roll
but rock and roll is probably more appropriate in formal writing.
romantic/Romantic
Occasionally, upper case is needed for clarity of meaning when referring to the art movement.
a romantic painting
a Romantic painting
routeing/routing
routeing when related to the word route; routing relates to rout, a disorderly retreat or a decisive defeat.
runner-up
and runners-up.
selfsame
not ‘self-same’.
shoo-in
A dead cert is not a ‘shoe-in’.
since
Avoid using it to mean ‘because’ — use ‘as’ or ‘because’.
skilful/skilfully
skillful is US English.
skulduggery
not ‘skullduggery’.
spelled/spelt
According to the Guardian style guide, spelled is the past tense (she spelled it out for him) and spelt is the past participle (the word is spelt like this). Also, spilled and spilt, spoiled and spoilt.
stationary/stationery
stationary refers to something that isn’t moving; stationery refers to writing materials.
supersede
not ‘supercede’.
swat/swot
You swat flies and swot for exams.
systemic/systematic
systemic means ‘relating to the system’ as in a systemic problem; systematic means ‘methodical’.
targeted/targeting
not ‘tt’.
titivate
means ‘make yourself look smart’; it is not a synonym for titillate, which means ‘mildly excite’.
tortuous/torturous
tortuous means ‘long and winding’, as in a tortuous road; torturous involves pain and suffering.
translator/interpreter
A translator works with the written word; an interpreter works with the spoken word.
trooper/trouper
A trooper is a soldier and some people swear like them; a trouper is a member of a troupe (a group of travelling entertainers) or a dependable person. You can be a real trouper.
uber
as in uber-trendy. No umlaut is needed unless quoting German.
umm and ahh
so umm-ed and ahh-ed [according to the Guardian style guide].
unexceptionable
does not mean ‘unexceptional, ordinary’. It means ‘not worthy of objection’.
unique
unique means ‘the only one’, so something can’t be very unique. However, Pinker argues that phrases like truly unique are okay and that even quite unique implies that the thing described differs from the others in a number of ways.
until
not ‘up until’.
U-turn
not ‘u-turn’.
venal/venial
venal means ‘open to bribery’; venial means ‘something that can be easily forgiven’.
waiver/waver
Someone may waive their rights, meaning ‘choose to give up’; someone who wavers is hesitating.
website/webpage
no hyphen and lower case.
while
not ‘whilst’.
X-ray
with a capital X and a hyphen.
zero
The plural of zero is zeros, but note that the sniper zeroes in on his or her target.