M
MAD, ANGRY
Use angry rather than mad. Remember, dogs go mad, people get angry.
Incorrect: Chaital was mad at Ravi.
Correct: Chaital was angry with Ravi.
MARGIN NOTES
Margin notes are often used in documents to provide tips and warnings. Tips can provide hints, shortcuts, or background information.
Margin notes can include a bolded heading that describes the subject of the note. Margin notes can also provide cross-references to direct readers to additional information elsewhere in the document.
Margin notes should be limited to three or four lines of text. Break the lines of margin notes so that they are all approximately the same width.
MASS NOUNS
Mass nouns describe things that have no boundaries, such as liquids, powders, and substances.
Example: water, milk, juice, salt, sugar, sand, metal, woo.
Mass nouns are also known as uncountable nouns or noncount nouns.
Mass nouns cannot be modified by a numeral without specifying a unit of measure.
Example: I had one quart of milk this morning.
268
Mass nouns can be combined with an indefinite article (a or an).
Example: Mercury is a metal.
MATHEMATICAL EQUATIONS
MAYBE, MAY BE
Maybe is an adverb that means perhaps.
Example: Maybe she forgot to call me when she arrived.
May be is a verb and an auxiliary that suggests a possibility of something occurring.
Example: He may be on the football team next year.
MAY, CAN
May refers to permission. Can refers to ability.
Incorrect: Can I help you?
Correct: May I help you?
Correct: Can he drive a car?
MAY, MIGHT
Use may when seeking or granting permission for something or when suggesting something is possible. Use might to suggest a small possibility for something.
Example: May I help you with something.
Example: I might attend the party.
May and might are interchangeable when expressing the possibility of something happening. Might is more tentative than may.
Example: She may be my new neighbor.
Example: She might be my new neighbor.
MEAN, MEDIAN, AVERAGE
MEGABYTE
A megabyte is 1,048,576 bytes or 1,024 kilobytes.
Megabyte is abbreviated as MB. Leave a space between a numeral and the abbreviation.
Example: I’ll need at least 3 MB of storage for the files.
When used as an adjective preceding a noun, use a hyphen between the numeral and the abbreviation.
Example: I attached a 3-MB file to the email message.
MEGAHERTZ
Megahertz is a measurement for frequency that is equal to one million cycles per second.
The abbreviation for megahertz is MHz. Leave a space between a numeral and the abbreviation.
Example: The graphics processor accesses memory at 70 MHz.
When used as an adjective preceding a noun, use a hyphen between the numeral and the abbreviation.
Example: The computer had a 500-MHz graphics processor.
MEIOSIS
Meiosis is a figure of speech that is used to understate something or to imply that it is less significant or smaller than it really is.
Example: Bringing the gun to school was just a harmless prank.
ME, MYSELF, I
METAPHOR
Metaphor is a figure of speech where the speaker or writer equates one word to another in some way. Metaphors do not use like or as in the comparison.
Example: Mike was an angel in the eyes of his mother.
Example: Leslie is such a stubborn mule.
Metaphors are often used in literature and poetry. A mixed metaphor occurs when the comparison of the two subjects is nonsensical.
Example: The linebacker was a tank, a thunderstorm crashing through the offensive line.
METONYMY
Metonymy is a figure of speech where something is called not by its own name, but by the name of something with which it is associated.
Example: The White House [instead of the president] is trying hard to explain the new policies.
MFR., MFG.
The abbreviation for manufacturer is mfr. The abbreviation for manufacturing is mfg.
MIGHT COULD
Might could is a colloquialism that should be avoided. The combination is redundant.
Might can be used alone when there is a possibility of something occurring. Could can be used alone when someone is able to do something.
MIGHT, MAY
MIGHT OF, SHOULD OF, WOULD OF, COULD OF
This construction is the result of poor pronunciation. The correct phrases are might have, should have, would have, and could have.
Incorrect: If you could of arranged it, I would of gone.
Correct: If you could have arranged it, I would have gone.
MINIMAL PAIRS
Two words that are very similar when pronounced but have different meanings are called minimal pairs.
Example: thick, sick; teeth, tea; that, sat; wonder, thunde.
MISPLACED MODIFIERS
When a modifier such as only, just, nearly, or barely appears in the wrong place in a sentence, it is called a misplaced modifier.
Incorrect: He nearly kicked the football fifty yards.
Correct: He kicked the football nearly fifty yards.
The best rule is to place the modifier immediately before the word it modifies.
MIXED CONDITIONALS
A mixed conditional is a conditional sentence that uses an if clause and whose clauses refer to different periods of time.
Example: If I had studied [past] in school, I would be [present] rich now.
Example: If she had gone [past] on the interview, we would be [present] working in the same office.
Example: If I were [present] smarter, I would have [past] invested in Apple Computer back in the early 1980s.
Example: If she didn’t work [present] so many hours, she would have [future] more time with her family.
Example: If I am going [future] to get that promotion, I would not have [past] sent out so many résumés trying to find another job.
Example: If I were [future] working for that company when it goes public, I would be [present] very rich.
MIXED METAPHOR
MNEMONICS
Mnemonics are memory devices that help you remember something. Mnemonics are often used to remember how to spell certain words.
Example: i before e except after c.
Example: Scream e-e-e when walking past the cemetery.
Example: I lost an e in an argument.
Example: A desert is sandy, while a dessert is super sweet.
MODIFIERS
Modifiers are words that limit certain aspects of a sentence.
Some modifiers—such as only, just, nearly, and barely—can easily end up in the wrong place in a sentence.
Incorrect: He only threw the ball ten feet.
Correct: He threw the ball only ten feet.
The best rule is to place the modifier immediately before the word it modifies. When a modifier improperly modifies something, it is called a dangling modifier. See Dangling Modifiers.
Incorrect: Cleaning the windows every six months, the building seemed to look better. [Buildings can’t clean their own windows.]
Correct: Cleaning the windows every six months, the maintenance staff made the building look better.
Adverbs can be placed almost anywhere in a sentence, but their placement can sometimes obscure their meaning.
Unclear: The people who listen to public radio often [adverb] like classical music. [Does everyone who listens to public radio, even for a few minutes, like classical music?]
Clear: The people who often listen to public radio like classical music.
You can add variety to your sentences by the way you place modifiers. You can use:
Initial modifiers.
Midsentence modifiers.
Terminal modifiers.
Combining modifiers.
Initial Modifiers
Consider these ideas for using initial modifiers:
Dependent clause
Example: Although he was tired, Bob wrote the report.
Infinitive phrase
Example: To please his boss, Bob wrote the report.
Adverb
Example: Slowly and laboriously, Bob wrote the report.
Participial phrase
Example: Hoping to be promoted, Bob wrote the report.
Midsentence Modifiers
Consider these ideas for using midsentence modifiers:
Appositive
Example: Bob, an expert on regulations, wrote the report.
Participial phrase
Example: Bob, hoping to catch up on his work, stayed after hours.
Terminal Modifiers
Consider these ideas for using terminal modifiers:
Present participial phrase
Example: Bob worked on the report, hoping to please his boss.
Past participial phrase/adjectival phrase
Example: Bob worked on the report demanded by his boss.
Combining Modifiers
Consider the following idea for combining modifiers:
Example: Slowly and laboriously, Bob, an expert on regulations, worked on the report, hoping to please his boss.
Misplaced Modifiers
MONITOR
MONOSYLLABIC
Monosyllabic words have only one syllable.
Example: her, his, its, just, not, both, sinc.
MOOD
Mood refers to the attitude of the writer. Mood helps discern between facts and the hypothetical. Hypothetical statements use could, would, or might.
Three attitudes can accompany a verb:
Indicative mood—used to make a statement or ask a question
Imperative mood—used to give directions, to give orders, or to make a strong suggestion (these verbs don’t need a subject, which is understood to be “you”)
Example: Get out of my office.
Example: Answer the phone.
Subjunctive mood—used with dependent clauses to express a wish
Example: He wishes she were fired.
This mood may be used with if and a condition:
Example: We could have won the contract if we’d bid lower.
The sentence may begin with that to express a demand.
Example: That would be in your best interest to do.
MORE THAN, OVER
More than and over can be used interchangeably to indicate an excess.
Example: The thief took more than ten thousand dollars in the robbery.
Note: Some writers disapprove of using more than before a number.
Over is normally used when referring to age, time, distance, or height.
Example: We rode together for over 50 miles without saying a word.
MORPHEME
The smallest unit of meaning in the English language is a morpheme. A word can have more than one morpheme.
Example: Unhappy has two morphemes: the prefix un-, meaning not, and happy.
Example: The word steel consists of only one morpheme.
MOST OF ALL, ALMOST
Most of all is a colloquial expression. Use most of or almost instead.
Incorrect: We walked most of all the way.
Correct: We walked most of the way.
Correct: We walked almost all the way.
MOTOR, ENGINE
MOUSE TERMINOLOGY
When writing about the use of a computer mouse in procedures and instructions, follow these guidelines:
Use pointer or mouse pointer rather than cursor.
Do not use the plural of mouse (mice).
Use mouse button for the left mouse button.
Use right mouse button for accessing secondary menus.
Use right-click to mean clicking the right mouse button.
Hyphenate double-click and right-click.
Use click, not click on.
Use drag rather than click and drag.
Do not combine keyboard and mouse actions in the same sentence.