Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Prime Ministers of New Zealand (since the emergence of party government in 1891)
1891–1893 John Ballance Liberal 1957 Keith J. Holyoake National Party
1893–1906 Richard John Seddon „ 1957–1960 Walter Nash Labour
1906 William Hall-Jones „ 1960–1972 Keith J. Holyoake National Party
1906–1912 Joseph George Ward „ 1972 John R. Marshall „
1912 Thomas Mackenzie „ 1972–1974 Norman Kirk Labour
1912–1925 William Ferguson Massey Reform 1974–1975 Wallace Rowling „
1925 Francis Henry Dillon Bell „ 1975–1984 Robert D. Muldoon National Party
1925–1928 Joseph Gordon Coates „ 1984–1989 David Lange Labour
1928–1930 Joseph George Ward Liberal 1989–1990 Geoffrey Palmer „
1930–1935 George William Forbes „ 1990 Mike Moore „
1935–1940 Michael J. Savage Labour 1990–1997 James B. Bolger National Party
1940–1949 Peter Fraser „ 1997–1999 Jenny Shipley „
1949–1957 Sidney G. Holland National Party 1999– Helen Clark Labour
Avoirdupois weight
1 grain = 0.065 gram
1 dram = 1.772 grams
1 ounce = 16 drams = 28.35 grams
1 pound = 16 ounces = 0.4536 kilogram
= 7,000 grains (0.4535923 exactly)
1 stone = 14 pounds = 6.35 kilograms
1 hundredweight = 112 pounds = 50.80 kilograms
1 short ton = 2,000 pounds = 0.907 tonne
1 (long) ton = 20 hundredweight = 1.016 tonnes
weights, measures, and notation
°F °C °C °F SI units
–40 –40 –40 –40
1. Base units
–10 –23 –10 14
0 –18 0 32 Physical quantity Name Abbreviation
10 –12 10 50 or symbol
20 –7 20 68
length metre m
30 –1 30 86
mass kilogram kg
40 4 40 104
time second s
50 10 50 122
electric current ampere A
60 16 60 140
temperature kelvin K
70 21 70 158
amount of substance mole mol
80 27 80 176
luminous intensity candela cd
90 32 90 194
100 38 100 212
(approx.) (exact) 2. Supplementary units
Appendix 6
Greek Alphabet
A a alpha a eta ē nu n ' ( tau t
beta b theta th xi x ) * upsilon u
gamma g iota i omicron o Φ + phi ph
delta d kappa k ! pi p , - chi kh
English, like all languages, is used at many differ- compound formations (e.g. airhead and couch
ent levels of formality depending on the context potato), and blends (e.g. ginormous from gigantic
and purpose of the speech or writing. In the most and enormous), contractions such as I’ll, he’s, and
formal register, a machine might be said to be mal- gonna (for going to), as well as special processes
functioning; in a neutral or everyday register (stan- such as rhyming slang (e.g. butcher’s = butcher’s
dard English) it will be described as not working, hook = look) and back slang, in which words are
and in informal contexts it will be said to be bust or reversed (e.g. yob = boy).
kaput. Each situation or context calls for its own Inclusion of informal terms in dictionaries is not
different kind of language. No one style of vocabu- a new idea: Samuel Johnson included some in his
lary and grammar is superior to another; it is their Dictionary of the English Language (1755),
appropriateness to the occasion that matters. In although he used the disapproving term ‘low word’.
general people naturally vary the way that they Much informal vocabulary is short-lived, and rela-
speak or write in different situations, be they mak- tively few words and uses pass into standard Eng-
ing a speech, chatting to a friend, or writing to an lish. Exceptions include bogus, clever, flog, joke,
elderly relative. prim, rogue, and snob, which were all classed by
The technical term for a particular level of use in Johnson as ‘low words’. Conversely, some words
language is register. Register is not the same as that were once standard have passed into vulgar
accent: a person with a strong regional accent may slang (e.g. arse, shit, and tit): this is taboo language,
speak standard English, and a speaker of Received typically relating to sex or bodily functions.
Pronunciation (the standard accent of English as
spoken in the south of England) may use the latest
street slang. Formal and technical language
Unless otherwise stated, the words and senses In more formal writing, as is found in reports,
recorded in this dictionary are classed as standard official letters, etc., sentences tend to be longer
English. Standard English is generally appropriate with more subordinate clauses, and the passive is
in most situations and contexts. It is typically the commoner than it is in standard or informal Eng-
language of official communications, broadcast- lish. The indefinite personal pronoun one is more
ing, and printed matter. It is not the same as ‘cor- likely to be used than the less formal you, and upon
rect English’; a particular form of dialect or slang may be used rather than on. Formal vocabulary
may have syntactical rules that are just as strict and includes such words as ascertain, desirous, pur-
consistent as those of standard English. chase, and endeavour. More formal words are
sometimes also used for humorous effect, for
example purloin (meaning steal). Formal words are
Informal language usual in instructions and notices: alight (from a bus
Informal language is used more in conversation or train), conveyance (for vehicle), enquire (rather
than in writing, especially among people who know than ask), notify (rather than tell), and select
each other, or by particular social groups or occupa- (rather than choose). The language of technical
tions. It is sometimes called slang; slang also refers writing has its own terminology: for example,
specifically to the informal vocabulary of particu- gravid, meaning pregnant, occurs only in medicine
lar groups of people, for example teenagers or and biology.
members of the armed forces. Informal language is
also sometimes described as colloquial language.
Informal speech is marked by short sentences, a Old uses and literary language
preference for the active over the passive voice, Some expressions that were formerly common are
and unconventional syntax features such as omis- no longer in ordinary use but remain in the general
sion of the subject—as in Just been shopping or word stock, and are employed to give a deliberately
Wanna go for a drink? old-fashioned effect, for example in historical
Informal vocabulary typically includes exten- fiction or in humorous contexts. This dictionary
sions or reversals of meanings of established words distinguishes between archaic expressions, which
(e.g. wicked = very good), shortenings of words have generally not been everyday currency for a
(e.g. brill from brilliant and cred from credibility), century or more (e.g. fain or bedchamber), and
types of language
those that are dated: these may still be encoun- English. This dictionary gives a wide coverage of
tered occasionally, especially among older people, Scottish and Irish English expressions, such as
or they may be words that were coined relatively agley, dreich, howff, jaggy, and scoosh (Scottish)
recently but then fell out of use again, such as and fáilte, gossoon, and make a hames of (Irish).
gasper (a cigarette) or wizard (excellent).
Some words are found chiefly in literature or
poetry written in an elevated style, such as corus- World English
cate, dolorous, enshroud, or eve. Many such expres- English is spoken as a first language by more than
sions are old words that have dropped out of 300 million people throughout the world, and used
ordinary use. as a second language by many millions more. One
The table above gives some standard English in five of the world’s population speaks English
words with their equivalents in different registers. with a good level of competence, and within the
next few years the number of people speaking Eng-
lish as a second language will exceed the number of
Dialect native speakers. This could have a dramatic effect
on the evolution of the language: in the process of
A dialect is a non-standard form of language that is
being absorbed by new cultures, English develops
used in a particular local region. Examples of Eng-
to take account of local language needs, giving rise
lish dialects are those of NE England (known as
not just to new vocabulary but also to new forms of
Geordie) and of Liverpool (known as Scouse). A dis-
grammar and pronunciation. At the same time,
tinction can be made between traditional dialect,
however, a standardized ‘global’ English is spread
which is generally to do with rural life and farming
by the media and the Internet.
practices which have mostly died out, and contem-
The main regional standards of English are
porary dialect, where speakers may not be aware
British, US and Canadian, Australian and New
that a particular term is in fact a regional one. This
Zealand, South African, Indian, and West Indian.
dictionary aims to include the more frequently
Within each of these regional varieties a number of
encountered contemporary dialect terms, such as
highly differentiated local dialects may be found.
claggy, emmet, and scran, but in general does not
This dictionary includes thousands of region-
set out to record traditional dialect.
alisms encountered in different English-speaking
areas of the world, although its scope must neces-
Scottish and Irish sarily be limited. In general it is the similarity
Scottish and Irish English have a long history and a rather than the difference between the regional
number of distinctive features, which have in turn varieties that is striking, particularly in terms of
influenced North American and other varieties of grammar.
types of language
Electronic text communication takes a number of time conversations. Plain text is favoured, since it
different forms, chiefly email, posting to online ensures that a message will be readable on almost
chat rooms and newsgroups, and SMS (Short Mes- any hardware or software configuration, but this
saging Service) messages between mobile phones. means that one cannot use italics, bold face, and
Although all electronic communication shares cer- other presentational effects to indicate tone, atti-
tain features, each form is developing its own tude, significance, etc. Instead, capital letters,
specific conventions. punctuation, and emoticons (arrangements of key-
The vocabulary, syntax, and style of electronic board characters to represent facial expressions)
text communication is much more fluid than that are used to ‘comment’ on one’s text.
found in formal writing, and may also be highly Sentences often follow patterns typical of
personalized. Electronic communication is typi- speech, with features including the omission of
cally very informal in nature and characterized by subjects (e.g. Going back to the missus every Sunday
many features more often found in conversational instead of He’s going back to the missus every Sun-
speech. day) and the use of ‘fillers’ such as like and innit.
Informality or light-heartedness is also signalled
by the user’s choice of spelling, correct forms often
SMS (text messages) being less favoured than phonetic or semi-
phonetic spellings (the shop seems to have bin closed
Text messages are necessarily the most abbrevi-
for a cuppla daze). Other features of spelling and
ated form of communication; most mobile-phone
punctuation include the writing of two or more
networks restrict users to around 160 characters
words as one (abit, alot), the disregard of commas
per message and the handset does not facilitate the
and full stops, and the omission of the apostrophe
composing of lengthy messages. Although many
(e.g. dont instead of don’t).
users develop their own codes, there are basic prin-
ciples that govern the formation of abbreviations: Some of the more established abbreviations used
in all types of electronic communication are listed
2 certain words or syllables can be represented by below:
letters or numbers that sound the same but
take up less space. For example, ‘U’ sounds the AFAIK as far as I know
same as ‘you’ and ‘C’ sounds the same as ‘see’ AFK away from the keyboard
(e.g. CU = see you), while the number ‘8’ can be
ASL age, sex, location
substituted wherever the sound /-ayt/ occurs in
ATB all the best
a word (e.g. GR8 = great, L8R = later)
B be
2 words are shortened by simply omitting certain BAK back at the keyboard
letters, especially vowels (e.g. MSG = message) BBL be back late(r)
2 abbreviations are formed from the initial let- BCNU be seeing you
ters of familiar fixed phrases, such as BFN ‘bye BFN bye for now
for now’ or TTYL ‘talk to you later’. B4 before
BRB be right back
These principles, and the abbreviations them- BTW by the way
selves, are also found to a lesser extent in conversa- C see
tions in chat rooms and in email. A fuller list of CUL8R see you later
SMS abbreviations is given below. F2F face to face
F2T free to talk
FWIW for what it’s worth
Chat rooms and email FYI for your information
The language used in email, chat rooms, and news- GAL get a life
groups is not as restricted by space considerations GR8 great
as text messaging , but short messages are favoured HAND have a nice day
because they save disk space, are more likely to be H8 hate
read by ‘browsing’ users, and because composition HSIK how should I know?
time is limited if users are participating in real- HTH hope this helps
english in electronic communication
IANAL I am not a lawyer, but… ROTF(L) rolling on the floor (laughing)
(as a disclaimer) SIT stay in touch
IMHO in my humble opinion SOM1 someone
IMO in my opinion SPK speak
IOW in other words TTYL talk to you later
JIC just in case TX thanks
JK just kidding U you
KIT keep in touch WAN2 want to
KWIM know what I mean? W/ with
L8R later WKND weekend
LOL lots of luck/laughing out loud WU what’s up?
MOB mobile X kiss
MSG message XLNT excellent
MYOB mind your own business XOXOX hugs and kisses
NE any YMMV your mileage may vary (i.e. your
NE1 anyone experience may differ)
NOYB none of your business YR your
NO1 no one 2 to, too
OTOH on the other hand 2DAY today
PCM please call me 2MORO tomorrow
PLS please 2NITE tonight
PPL people 3SUM threesome
R are 4 for
Emoticons
Emoticons typically represent a facial expression and are used chiefly to mark the tone of the
preceding sentence or to indicate the writer’s feelings. The following are some of the more
commonly seen:
:-D laughing
Appendix 11
Guide to Good
English
Position
Subjunctive Most adjectives can be used in two positions:
The subjunctive is a special form (or mood) of a either before the noun they describe, where they
verb expressing a wish or possibility instead of are called ‘attributive’, as in a black cat and a
fact. It has a limited role in English: gloomy outlook, or after a verb such as be, become,
It was suggested he wait till the next morning. grow, look, or seem, where they are called ‘predica-
tive’, as in the cat was black and the prospect looks
Fundamentalist Islam decrees that men and
gloomy.
women be strictly segregated.
Some adjectives are nearly always used in the
In these sentences, the verbs wait (in the first) predicative position and cannot stand before a
and be (in the second) are in the subjunctive; the noun (e.g. afraid), while others are only found in
ordinary forms (called the indicative) would be the attributive position (e.g. main).
waits and are.
There are other typical uses of the subjunctive:
Adjectives following a noun
2 after if (or as if, as though, unless) in hypotheti- In many fixed standard expressions, adjectives
cal conditions: denoting status are placed immediately after the
guide to good english
nouns they describe, e.g. in court martial, heir Conjunctions
apparent, poet laureate, president elect, situations
vacant, and the village proper. In other cases, an A conjunction is a word such as and, because, but,
adjective follows a noun as a matter of sentence for, if, or, and when, used to connect words, phras-
structure rather than peculiarity of expression: es, clauses, and sentences. On the use of and and
but at the beginning of a sentence, see SENTENCES
The waiter picked up our dirty glasses in his below.
fingertips, his eyes impassive.
Prepositions
Position of adverbs A preposition is a word such as after, in, to, and
Adverbs normally come between the subject and with, which usually stands before a noun or pro-
its verb, or between an auxiliary verb and a main noun and establishes the way it relates to what
verb: has gone before (The man on the platform, They
came after dinner, and What did you do it for?).
She dutifully observes all its quaint rules. It is sometimes stated that a preposition should
Roosevelt’s financial policy was roundly always precede the word it governs and should not
criticized in 1933. end a sentence. However, there are cases when it
is either impossible or not natural to organize the
But for emphasis, or when the adverb belongs sentence in a way that avoids a final preposition:
closely to what follows the main verb, it comes
2 in relative clauses and questions featuring
after the verb and before a following adverbial
verbs with linked adverbs or prepositions:
phrase:
What did Marion think she was up to?
There is little chance that the student will
function effectively after he returns home. They must be convinced of the commitment
they are taking on.
2 in passive constructions:
Sentence adverbs
The dress had not even been paid for.
Some adverbs (such as clearly, happily, hopefully,
thankfully, unhappily) refer to a whole statement, 2 in short sentences including an infinitive with
and form a comment associated more closely with to or a verbal noun:
the speaker or writer than with what is said. In It was my dancing he objected to.
this role they are called ‘sentence adverbs’.
Sentence adverbs often stand at the beginning of
the sentence:
Plural nouns treated as singular word (his, her, etc.) to use when referring to a
Other nouns are plural in form but are treated as subject whose gender is not specified. The safest
singular, either always or in some meanings. Chief option is to put his or her:
among these are the names of branches of knowl- Every student should hand in his or her assign-
edge or science, such as acoustics and mathemat- ment by Tuesday.
ics, activities such as billiards and gymnastics, and
diseases such as measles: But this can be awkward, especially when the sen-
tence continues for some time with repeated ref-
Acoustics is taught as part of the extended
erences back to the original subject. In cases like
course.
this it is now acceptable to use a plural form of
The figures show that measles is on the increase. pronoun:
Other plural nouns, such as data, media, and agen- Every student should hand in their assignment
da, are now commonly treated as singular. by Tuesday.
Depending on their meaning, they are either
countable nouns, which can be used with a or an
and have plural forms, e.g. agendas, or mass Either … or … and neither … nor …
nouns, which do not have a plural form but are A problem arises when one of the alternatives in
used in the singular with words such as this and an either ... or ... or neither ... nor ... construction is
much: singular and the other plural. Here, the normal
The media has lost interest in the subject. choice is to make the verb agree with the one clos-
er to it:
This data is in a form that can be used by other
institutions. t Either the twins or their mother is responsible
for this.
Some plural words adopted unchanged from other
languages, such as spaghetti and graffiti, develop But often a better solution is to recast the sen-
singular meanings: tence to avoid the problem:
The furniture had been damaged and graffiti t Either the twins are responsible for this or
was daubed on the walls. their mother is.
Comma
The role of the comma is to give detail to the
At word level
structure of sentences and to make their meaning A comma is used to separate adjectives having the
clear by marking off words that either do or do not same range of reference coming before a noun:
belong together. It usually represents the natural a cold, damp, badly heated room
breaks and pauses that you make in speech, and The comma is omitted when the adjectives have a
operates at phrase level and word level: different range of reference (for example, size and
colour) or when the last adjective has a closer rela-
At phrase level tion to the noun:
You should use a comma to mark off parts of a sen- his baggy green jacket
tence that are separated by conjunctions (and, but,
yet, etc.). This is especially important when there a distinguished foreign politician
is a change or repetition of the subject, or when Commas are used to separate items in a list or
the sentence is a long one: sequence:
Mokosh could foretell the future, and she could The visitors were given tea, scones, and cake.
change herself into any form she pleased.
(The final comma before and is regarded by many
Readings are taken at points on a grid marked people as unnecessary and left out; this dictionary
out on the ground, and the results are usually always includes one.)
plotted in the form of computer-drawn diagrams. Leave out the comma between nouns that occur
It is not normally correct to join the clauses of a together in the same grammatical role in a sen-
compound sentence without a conjunction: tence (called apposition):
p His was the last house, the road ended with My friend Judge Peters was not at home.
him. But use one when the noun is a piece of extra
Nor is it correct to separate a subject from its verb information that could be removed from the
with a single comma: sentence without any noticeable effect on the
meaning:
p Those with the lowest incomes and no other
means, should get the most support. His father, Humphrey V. Roe, was not so
fortunate.
A comma also separates parts of a sentence that
balance or complement each other, and can intro-
duce direct speech, especially in continuation of
dialogue:
Semicolon
The main role of the semicolon is to mark a gram-
He was getting better, but not as fast as his
matical separation that is stronger in effect than a
doctor wished.
comma but less strong than a full stop. Normally
Then Laura said, ‘Do you mean that?’ the two parts of a sentence divided by a semicolon
An important function of the comma is to prevent balance each other, rather than leading from one
ambiguity or momentary misunderstanding: to the other:
Mr Hogg said that he had shot, himself, as a small The sky grew bright with sunset; the earth
boy. glowed.
Commas are used in pairs to separate elements in Honey looked up and glared; the man scurried
a sentence that are asides or not part of the main away.
statement: You can also use a semicolon as a stronger division
All history, of course, is the history of wars. in a sentence that already contains commas:
Commas are also used to separate a relative clause What has crippled me? Was it my grandmother,
that is non-restrictive (see relative clauses frowning on my childish affection and turning it
above): to formality and cold courtesy; or my timid,
guide to good english
fearful mother, in awe of everyone including,
finally, me; or was it my wife’s infidelities, or my
Hyphens
own? In print a hyphen is half the length of a dash, but
in writing there is often little noticeable differ-
ence. While the dash has the purpose of separat-
Colon ing words and groups of words, the hyphen is
meant to link words and parts of words. The use of
Whereas a semicolon links two balanced state-
hyphens is very variable in English, but the fol-
ments, a colon leads from the first statement to
lowing guidelines reflect generally agreed princi-
the second. Typically it links a general or intro-
ples.
ductory statement to an example, a cause to an
effect, or a premise to a conclusion. The hyphen is used to join two or more words so
as to form a single word (often called a compound
He was being made to feel more part of the word), e.g. free-for-all, multi-ethnic, right-handed,
family: the children kissed him goodnight, like a and punch-drunk. Straightforward noun com-
third parent. pounds are now much more often spelled either as
You also use a colon to introduce a list: two words (boiling point, credit card, focus group)
or as one, even when this involves a collision of
The price includes the following: travel to
consonants, which used to be a reason for putting
London, flight to Venice, hotel accommodation,
in the hyphen (database, earring, breaststroke). In
and excursions.
American English compound nouns generally
written as two words in British English are often
written as one word.
Apostrophe There are two cases in which a compound
The principal role of the apostrophe is to indicate spelled as two words is made into a hyphened
a possessive, as in Tessa’s house and the town’s form or a one-word form:
mayor.
2 when a verb phrase such as hold up or back up is
Singular nouns form the possessive by adding ’s
made into a noun (hold-up, backup);
(the dog’s bark = one dog), and plural nouns end-
ing in -s add an apostrophe after the -s (the dogs’ 2 when a noun compound is made into a verb
barks = more than one dog). When a plural noun (e.g. a date stamp but to date-stamp). Note that
ends in a letter other than s, the possessive is a normal phrasal verb should not be hyphenat-
formed by adding ’s : the children’s games, the ed: write continue to build up your pension not
oxen’s hoofs, etc. continue to build-up your pension.
Beware of an apostrophe wrongly applied to an
A hyphen is often used:
ordinary plural, particularly in words ending in -o
but also in quite harmless words such as apples 2 to join a prefix ending in a vowel (such as co-
and pears (e.g. p pear’s 30p a pound). and neo-) to another word (e.g. co-opt, neo-
Beware also of confusing the possessive whose Impressionism), although one-word forms are
with who’s, which is a contraction of who is (e.g. becoming more usual (cooperate, neoclassical).
p Who’s turn is it?). 2 to avoid ambiguity by separating a prefix from
For names ending in -s, the best course is to add the main word, e.g. to distinguish re-cover (=
’s when you would pronounce the resulting form provide with a new cover) from recover and re-
with an extra s in speech (e.g. Charles’s, Dickens’s, sign (= sign again) from resign.
Thomas’s, The Times’s); and omit ’s otherwise (e.g.
Bridges’, Connors’, Herodotus’). With French 2 to join a prefix to a name or designation, e.g.
names ending in (silent) -s or -x, add ’s (e.g. anti-Christian, ex-husband.
Dumas’s, le Roux’s) and pronounce the modified 2 to stand for a common second element in all but
word with a final -z. the last word of a list, e.g. two-, three-, or four-
An apostrophe should not be used in the pro- fold.
nouns hers, its, ours, yours, and theirs.
Be careful to distinguish its from it’s. Its (no 2 to clarify meanings in groups of words which
apostrophe) is a possessive meaning ‘belonging to might otherwise be unclear or ambiguous (e.g.
it’, whereas it’s (with an apostrophe) is a contrac- twenty-odd people came to the meeting).
tion meaning ‘it is’ or ‘it has’: You should also use a hyphen to clarify the mean-
Give the cat its dinner. ing of a compound that is normally spelled as sep-
arate words, when it is used before a noun: an up-
It’s hard to know where to start. to-date record but the record is up to date.
An apostrophe is not normally used in the plural There is no need to insert a hyphen between an
of abbreviated forms (e.g. several MPs were stand- adverb ending in -ly and an adjective qualified by
ing around), although it is used in the possessive it, even when they come before the noun: a highly
(e.g. the BBC’s decision to go ahead with the broad- competitive market, recently published material.
cast). When the adverb does not end in -ly, however, a
Another important use of the apostrophe is to hyphen is normally required to make the meaning
mark contractions such as I’ll, they’ve, couldn’t, clear when the adverb precedes the noun: a well-
and she’s. known woman (but the woman is well known).