Miscellaneous Entries.
twofold, threefold, fourfold, and the like should each be spelled as one word.
tying. So spelled — not *”tieing.”
tyke (= a child, esp. a small boy) is the standard spelling. *”Tike” is a variant.
typing; typewriting. “Typing” is the standard term for operating an alphanumeric keyboard whether done on a typewriter, a computer, a PDA, or any other device. “Typewriting” refers to typing on a typewriter; on other devices it’s become an obsolescent variant. But “typewriting” continues to be a useful term for (1) the act of operating a typewriter, or (2) the words physically printed on paper by a typewriter.
typographic; typographical. Generally speaking, the second is preferred in both American and British English — but each appears on both sides of the Atlantic. In American English, “typographical” is usually the word when the following word begins with a vowel. It’s most often used in the set phrase “typographical error.”
*Invariably inferior form.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “Human sympathy and understanding are so very much more important in letter-writing than linguistic precision.” Simeon Potter, Our Language 131 (rev. ed. 1966).
