A Dictionary of Cont..

one may say it has no content. The plural word
contents means the topics treated, or more often
a list of these topics. When it means a list, it is
treated as a singular, as in is there a contents?
In speaking of a physical container, the plural
form contents means what is contained in it, and
the singular content means its capacity. The
singular may also be used to mean amount as
in the ulcoholic content. When used with a
physical meaning, the plural contents requires
a plural verb, as in the contents were surprising,
but it is not a true plural and cannot be used
with a numeral.
contentious. See controversial.
contest. In England a contested election is one in
which there is more than one candidate. In
America it is that (It was a hotly contested election)
but it is also an election in which the
validity of the returns is challenged (Contested
elections are determined by Congress).
In sports, the American contestant is the
English competitor, though the American usage
(which is standard in England but simpby not
employed very much) is coming into use in
England more and more.
context means that part of a discourse or writing
which precedes and follows a given passage or
word, which gives the passage or word its exact
meaning. Where a word has many meaningsand
some words in English have twenty or thirty
meanings and thousands have two or more meanings-it
is often only the context that can tell us
just which meaning is to be understood.
Out of context, whole passages can be misunderstood.
Thus Iago’s great speech in Othello,
beginning
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls
is taught to millions of children as a noble and
high-minded utterance. And so, taken by itself,
it is. But in the context of the play it is profoundly
cynical.
To quote out of context with the deliberate
intention of misleading is a moral, not a grammatical,
fault. But it is very common, especially
in the advertising of books and theatrical performances.
Thus a notice before a theater may
inform the public, on the authority of a distinguished
critic, that this is “Miss W’s most
brilliant performance.” Whereas the critic had
written “Miss W’s most brilliant performance
falls short of most other actresses’ mumbling in
their sleep.”
contiguous. See adjacent.
continually; continuously. See constantly.
continuance; continuation. Though continuance
and continuation are synonymous in meaning
the act or fact of continuing, continuance means
duration or time of continuing (His continuance
in ofice was made endurable only by the devotion
of his friends). Continuation means prolongation,
either of time or space. Thus the continuance
of a house would refer to the time of its
continual standing. The continuation of a house
could refer to an extension, such as a wing, or
to the future time in which it would be permitted
117 contrive
to remain standing (The continuation of its
occupancy of this site was debatable).
Continuance has a special legal meaning in
American usage: the adjournment of a step in
a proceeding to a future day (At the attorney’s
request a continuance was granted).
continue may be followed by an infinitive, as in
continue to talk, or by the -ing form of a verb, as
in continue talking. Both forms are acceptable.
Continue may be followed by an adjective
describing what continues, as in he continued
silent. It may also be followed by an adverb
describing the continuing, as in he continued
silently. See also resume.
continuing action tenses. See progressive tenses.
contract; catch; get. One of the many meanings
of contract is to acquire, as by habit or contagion
(He contracted the habit of smoking.
He contracted enormous debts). In reference to
the acquirement of a disease, it is a little stilted,
though widely used. To catch or to get a cold is
better than to contract one, though the rarer
diseases or the more common diseases under
their rarer names are more fittingly contracted.
One contracts tuberculosis, one gets a sty or a
boil. A child will probably get a light case of
measles, but contract a severe one.
contradictory; contradictious. Ideas, statements,
and terms that are opposed, admitting no middle
ground, and mutually exclusive, are contradictory.
Persons who delight in having ideas
and making statements that are contradictory to
those expressed by their associates are contradictious.
They are not, however, often so called.
Quarrelsome, captious, perverse, argumentative,
cantankerous are terms more generally employed
to describe such people. Contrary is used
a great deal colloquially.
contrary; opposite; adverse; reverse. Opposite
means symmetrical antithesis in position, action
or character. It and contrary, adverse, and reverse
refer to two things that differ from each
other in such a way as to suggest a relationship.
Contrary, except when specifically applied to
persons, describes something impersonal whose
opposition happens to be unfavorable (a contrary
opinion, contrary winds). Reverse describes
that which faces or moves in the opposite
direction (a reverse judgment, the reverse of a
page). Adverse suggests something hostile in its
opposition, being not merely opposite but opposing.
Adverse fortune is worse than ill fortune
in that it implies an active malignance in the
bad luck.
contrary-to-fact statements. See subjunctive mode
and infinitives.
contrast. See compare.
contribute may sometimes be followed by an infinitive,
as in it contributed to save our lives.
The construction is found in older literature but
is rare today. The -ing form of a verb with the
preposition to, as in it contributed to saving our
lives, is generally preferred.
contrive may be followed by an infinitive, as in
I contrived to meet him. It may also be followed
by a that clause. But in this case, the clause verb
must be a subjunctive or a subjunctive equiva-