A Dictionary of Cont..

connected 114
question of punctuation, of where we put a
period and a capital letter. A sentence which
begins with a coordinating conjunction could
have been printed as a continuation of the preceding
sentence. In current English we like short
sentences, and a long sentence is sometimes
easier to read if it is printed as two independent
sentences.
connected. See identified.
connection. The spelling connection, deplored in
British style manuals, is standard in America.
Connexion is now so rare in the United States
that it would be regarded as a ludicrous misspelling.
connotation; denotation. To denote is to mark,
indicate, designate (The silver bars denoted their
wearer to be a captain). To connote is to signify
in addition to the primary meaning, to :involve
as a condition of accompaniment. A word den&es
the indispensable minimum of definition.
A word connotes all of the attributes which are
not denoted but which are associated with it.
Thus the word pig denotes a young swine of
either sex. It connotes filth and gluttony and
high-pitched squealing, the little pig that ‘went to
market, the one that built his house of bricks,
various characters in literature that have gone
by that nickname, and whatever else, in addition
to its basic denotation, the word may conjure up
in the mind of one who hears or reads it.
connubial. See matrimonial.
conscious; aware. To be conscious of something
is to have an inner realization of it. We are conscious
of guilt or innocence, of exhaustion (He
was hardly conscious of his own motives. He
was conscious of blushing), and so on. We are
aware through our sense perceptions which lead
to consciousness (Half awake, he was aware of
a hammering at the door and conscious of a
rapidly rising panic fear).
An act, the motives of which are conscious, is
likely to be deliberate or purposive. We are not
likely, that is, to blunder into it. But conscious
should not be used loosely as a synonym for
deliberate.
consecutive; successive. Both consecutive and successive
apply to things which follow one upon
the other. But successive refers merely to the
position of one thing in relation to another
(Successive disasters reduced him to poverty);
whereas consecutive denotes a close and uninterrupted
sequence, sometimes with the implication
of an established order. Three successive
days would be any three days in which the last
two followed the first and the last followed the
second. Three consecutive days would ‘be three
days in a row, such as January the lirst, second,
and third, or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
consensus. The term for general agreement or
concord is consensus, not concensus, as it is
often erroneously spelled, possibly because of
some confused notion that there has been a
census of ideas and this is its final tabulation.
Consensus of opinion is, strictly, a redundancy,
since consensus means agreement of
opinion, but it is used so often that it must be
accepted.
consent (noun). See permission.
consent. This verb may be followed by an infinitive,
as in I wilZ not consent to go, or by the -ing
form of a verb with the preposition to, as in
Z will not consent to going. Both forms are standard.
See also allow.
consequent; consequential. As adjectives consequent
and consequential both mean following
as an effect or result or as a logical conclusion
(The rapid increase of trade and the consequent
influx of wealth. These privileges will draw consequential
dificulties in their train). Both words
formerly also meant, of persons, important or
self-important, those, that is, whose acts or
wishes of necessity have consequences. But
this meaning is now confined to consequential
(Goldsmith was sometimes content to be treated
with an easy familiarity, but upon occasions
would be consequential and important. He is a
consequential man and must be treated with
respect). Indeed, this is now becoming the primary
meaning of consequential and we encounter
it in its other, basic meaning less and less
frequently.
conservative. Fowler inveighs against the use of
conservative as an adjective to mean moderate
when qualifying a noun such as figure or estimate
as “perhaps the most ridiculous of slipshod
extensions.” But the processes of language are
indifferent to ridicule and have extended meanings
in ways far more slipshod than this (as, for
instance, in slipshod extension). When conservative
(in its strict meaning of disposed to preserve
existing conditions) became opposed in politics
to liberal, it is not surprising to find it being used
as an antonym in other senses. Certainly in
American usage conservative is now standard
in the meaning of moderate.
consider is to contemplate, meditate, reflect upon.
A considered opinion is one that has been
weighed and mulled over. That consider should
have become, even in standard use, a synonym
for think is not astonishing, for vanity leads us
to regard our most irrational impulses as pondered
thoughts and courtesy leads us to at least
imply as much for the figmentitious fancies of
our friends. But the careful speaker or writer
will bear the distinction in mind and not write
such sentences as He considered him an enemy,
fhough he had no grounds for thinking so.
Consider may be followed by an infinitive,
especially a perfect infinitive with have, as in
I consider him to have acted disgracefully, but
a that clause is generally preferred, as in I consider
that he has acted disgracefully.
considerable. Traditionally, this word is used only
in speaking of immaterial things, such as considerable
trouble, considerable influence. Its use
with material things, as in considerable money
is not known outside the United States and is
questionable here.
In older American speech, though now almost
never heard, the adjective considerable was used
for the adverb considerably (He was considerable
tired before he was through). This usage,
from the contexts in which it appears, was
plainly regarded as rustic. It was not an Amer-