Chicago Style Workout 36: Word Usage, Part 7

/ April 30, 2019

Zipper carnival ride at night

Do carnival rides make you nauseous? . . . or nauseated?

This month’s workout, “Word Usage, Part 7,” once again centers on section 5.250 of CMOS 17. This time we’re focusing on words beginning with the letters n as in “nauseous” through p as in “proven.” We hope these questions help you to prove (and improve) your editorial acumen without giving you a stomachache.

As you take the quiz, keep in mind that we are looking for usage that would be considered correct even by the most demanding of sticklers (and see our disclaimer below).

Good luck!

Subscribers to The Chicago Manual of Style Online may click through to the linked sections of the Manual (cited in the answers). (We also offer a 30-day free trial of CMOS Online.)

Note: Style guides and dictionaries sometimes disagree. This quiz is designed to test your knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style.

[Editor’s note: This quiz relies on and links to the 17th edition of CMOS.]

Chicago Style Workout 36: Word Usage, Part 7

1. nauseous; nauseated. Any carnival ride that lasts longer than ten minutes makes me _____.
2. nonplussed. When it comes to word usage, I’m known as somewhat of a guru; even the most frequently misused words leave me entirely nonplussed.
3. obtuse; abstruse. Ludwig Wittgenstein devoted a lot of attention to an _____ piece of mathematics known as the diagonal proof.
4. onto; on to; on. The gymnast held _____ the bars.
5. outside. She was standing outside the shop when it started to rain.
6. palette; palate; pallet. Our perpetually flooded basement mandated the use of _____ for storage.
7. peak; peek; pique. That article on semicolons _____ my interest; I just had to take a _____.
8. personally. The senator personally shook hands with her constituents.
9. peruse. Pressed for time, I barely had a chance to peruse the letter.
10. proved; proven. It was ____ to be true.

 

Photo by Nomad Tales, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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