
US: fill out (a form)
UK: fill in (a form)
Further / Farther
Further - refers to an extension of time or degree; e.g., “We need to study this further.”
Farther - refers to length or distance; e.g., “I went farther north.”
Envelop - verb
Envelope - noun
Dwarfs / Dwarves
“Dwarfs” is correct.
“Dwarves” used by Tolkien, and widely adopted ever after
Pesky North, South, East, West
Points of compass: small first letters - north, south, east, west.
Regions: Capitalized first letters - I’ll be in the North; I’m heading South; I’m a Northerner.
Descriptions of places: small first letters - eastern Siberia; western France.
Descriptions of widely-known places: capitalized first letters - Southern California; Lower East Side.
Dad, Mum - capitalized first letters only when used as a substitute for the name as a term of address (“hey, Dad!”); all other times - dad, mum. (AP Style)
“Best-seller” not “bestseller”, according to AP (US English). (Hyphen-Hell).
“Fact” Avoidance
Use of “fact”, as in “proving the fact that…” not used in English like in some other languages (when a “fact” has yet to be established/confirmed)
Examples:
“To prove the fact that he left the country” - possible; but, better: “To prove whether/if he left the country”
“Documents that confirmed the fact of the export” - better: “Documents that confirmed that the goods were exported”
But on its own - “We need to prove the fact” - possible!
% / Percentage Points
Percentage points are the unit for the arithmetic difference of two percentages
That is, rises or falls in pecentages are measured in percentage points, not percent
E.g.: Home computer possession in 1990 stood at 5%; in 2010 it was 70%. So, there was an increase of 65 percentage points, not 65% (the increase was ~93% if the population remained constant)
No./Nos.
E.g., “Addendums (or Addenda) Nos. 1, 2 and 3”;
not “Addendum(s) No. 1, 2 and 3”;
never “Addendum(s) NN 1, 2 and 3”;
never “Addendum(s) N. 1, 2 and 3”.
“Ms.” (US) / “Ms” (UK), not “Miss” or “Mrs(.)”
Miss & Mrs./Mrs considered non-PC.
Separate Words
“Mr. Smith” (US) or “Mr Smith” (UK) (i.e., with a space); not “Mr.Smith” or “MrSmith” (without). Similarly, “St. Petersburg”, not “St.Petersburg”, etc.
To “serve notice” - *very* formal giving (serving) of notice of, e.g., writs
To “give notice” is used in most/all cases when a court is not somehow connected, e.g., giving notice to a landlord/counterparty/friend of some intention; to serve notice in such cases would, to most people, not be correct English, although some would say it’s ok (http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/serve+notice)