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haema- or hema-?
haema-: The Americans decided, around the early 1800s, to lop off the a from what used to be ligatured ae. Except for encyclopedia, British spelling still prefers the ae spellings. This also applies to -haemia, where US spelling is -hemia.
haemorrhage
Even if you can spell it correctly the first time, the use of haemorrhaging in terms of making a financial loss is starting to become tiring. Stick to describing severe wounds and avoid haemorrhaging cash or haemorrhaging money etc.
hail(s) from
Does anyone ever "hail" from somewhere outside the written world? "Hey mate, where does your friend hail from?" What's wrong with the word come?
Haiti
Haiti is not an island on it's own.
at hand or on hand?
The more common expression in the US is on hand, though at hand does does occur occasionally. In the UK, both at hand and on hand are both used regularly, but presumably at hand is being sidelined by the US on hand. [I haven't got a pair of scissors at/on hand at the moment.]
harbor or harbour?
harbour: Even if the British DVD version of Pearl Harbor used the -or spelling, don't forget that it is harbour in British English. The reason for the preserved -or spelling in the film title is because the name of the harbour was/is Pearl Harbor, so the film was called Pearl Harbor no matter what language it was released in.
hardcore or hard-core?
Spell it hardcore whether it's used as a noun (thing) or adjective (description).
harebrained or hairbrained?
A bad decision may be described as hare-brained (UK) or harebrained (US), but never 'hairbrained'.
head-
It's: headteacher, but head master, head mistress.
headlines and minor sentences
Headlines and minor sentences (For Sale, No Smoking etc) are often exempt from the 'normal' rules of English usage. General rules for good headlines are to avoid passives (Area is no-go zone say police) and make them active (Police warn of danger zone). Another good rule is to avoid a string of nouns (Deputy head schools teachers over violence).
help and decide or help decide?
You either help decide something or help to decide, but not 'help and decide'.
high street or High Street?
You go shopping on the high street, but you might live somewhere called High Street.
hijack
Only a plane, boat, train or bus etc can be hijacked. A school, theatre or office building cannot be. The term only applies to moving vehicles.
hike
Americans like using hike to mean a rise, but it's not the done thing in Britain. Here, a hike usually involves mountains or valleys and sore feet. Avoid: price hike, pay hike, petrol hike etc.
hippopotamuses or hippopotami?
The accepted plural form is hippopotamuses but traditiionalists will insist on hippopotami. Both are correct.
a historic or an historic?
a historic: The use of 'an' before words such as historic is one of those things that self-appointed pedants like to tick other people off for not using. They will argue until they are blue in the face that it should be 'an'. They are wrong.The fact that BBC news newsreaders and correspondents are some of the more frequent abusers of this so-called 'rule' does little to quell the hysteria surrounding its use.
Do not be afraid to use the correct 'a historic', 'a hotel', 'a historian' or even 'a hotelier'. The only exception to this would be a direct quote where the speaker says "an historic". Although journalistic praxis is to not correct grammar abusage in reported speech, such as in "I never did nothing", sometimes journalists (or subs) will iron out obvious grammatical errors that don't such as the the wrong use of a word (affect,effect). If I had my way, the proper use of the direct quote should be to follow "an historic" with the very useful "(sic)". That would soon put paid to this old wive's tale.
No matter how many people use 'an historic', including on the BBC, they are still wrong to do so. It's a historic for the same reason that it's: a happy, a house, a hippy, a harvest, a habit, a hobbit, a handbag, a half, a handle, a health centre, a heart, a hill and a horrible, hotblooded-hoodie holding her househusband hostage. How much more convincing do you need?
historic or historical?
depends: This particular nutcracker gets up a lot of people's noses. If you don't know the difference between this one, they'd argue, you shouldn't be in any of the following lines of work: journalism, translation, communications or (God forbid) teaching. Mind you, these are usually the same people who will insist that you use 'an historic' and still pronounce the H, or aitch. So, what is the difference? Something 'historic' means a point in time of significant importance (such as the declaration of independence) and 'historical' usually refers to something being connected to the field or study of history, or a person simply relating to history because they existed, like a 'historical figure'.
hit hard or hard-hit?
Don't be caught writing: He was hard hit by the credit crunch. Instead, write that he was hit hard. A noun can be described as using hard-hit, such as in The hard-hit man finally made it back.
holiday or vacation?
holiday: Britons go on 'holiday' and Americans go on 'vacation'. To Americans, 'holiday' means the British 'bank holiday' or 'public holiday', while 'the holidays' in American is the (usually) politically correct term for the Christmas holidays. I once worked for an American company that decided to change 'holiday' to 'vacation' in all their European brochures and instructed phone staff (in Britain) to no longer use 'holiday'.
hoard or horde?
A hoard of cash and a horde of visitors.
hodgepodge or hotchpotch?
The British spelling is hotchpotch and the American spelling is hodgepodge.
homepage or home page?
Seriously, no one but the complete novice uses the term homepage. It's web page, website (UK) or web site (US).
hopefully
Do you ever say something like: "Hopefully I'll get the job/day off/meet the person of my dreams etc'? If you do, you aren't alone, but be aware that the use of 'hopefully' in this way grates on many people's ears. What 'hopefully' should mean, they argue, is 'in a hopeful way' or 'with hope'; such as in "The boy looked up hopefully at the stars and prayed that his wish come true". The first form – and I would argue the, *cough*, 'modern' form – is very wide spread and in common usage, but a certain creed of person will regard it as barbaric and 'incorrect'.
hotchpotch or hodgepodge?
The British spelling is hotchpotch and the American spelling is hodgepodge.