A Dictionary of Cont..

caught 88
mittee of a political party exercising a certain
control over its affairs or actions.
caught. See catch.
causative verbs. Many English verbs that name a
particular action, such as he walked and he
swam across the river, can also be used to mean
“cause something to perform that action,” as in
he walked the dog, he swam his horse across the
river. Sometimes we use cause, make, or have to
express this idea, as in I had him swim across
the river. Sometimes we use the syllable en to
form verbs meaning “cause to be,” as in blacken
and enfeeble. Verbs of this kind are called
causatives.
At one time English had a great many pairs
of verbs, each having a different form, one of
which was a causative and one of which was
not. Today we are more likely to use one verb
in both senses, as is the case with walk and
swim. Some of the old pairs are now felt to be
completely unrelated verbs, for examplle drench
which was the causative of drink, and fell, the
causative of fall, as in he felled the tree. Others
have survived into the modern period as pairs.
Three of these, lay and lie, set and sit, raise and
rise, are confusing to many people. As a matter
of fact, they are no longer the simple pairs they
once were. For a discussion of when one of these
forms is to be used and when the other, see the
causatives lay, set, raise. In addition, some irregular
verbs, such as shine, shone, have parallel
regular forms, such as shine, shined, that are
causatives, as the light shone on the water and
he shined the light on the water. All such verbs
are listed in this dictionary. As a rule the usual
form of the verb, in this case shone, may also be
used as a causative, as in he shone the light on
the water. Some grammarians object to this
practice, but it is acceptable to most people.
cause. When used as a verb, this word may be followed
by an infinitive, as in it caused me to go.
It may also be followed by the -ing form of a
verb, as in it caused my going, but the infinitive
construction is preferred. Formerly cause might
be followed by the simple form of a verb, as in
I have caused him kill a virtuous queen. This
is no longer natural Engiish, and a to- infinitive
is now required here.
cause. See source.
cavalry; Calvary. It would seem ludicrous to point
out that these words have different meanings,
were it not that they are frequently confused
(In New York City there is exactly one good
cop. . . . He’s in Cavalry Cemetery-facetiously
quoted in The World, The Flesh, and H. Allen
Smith, 1954). Cavalry is mounted soldiers collectively.
Calvary is the place where Jesus Christ
was crucified, though the name is sometimes
applied to an open-air representation of the
Crucifixion.
caviar to the general. Hamlet, speaking to the
players at Elsinore, recollects a play that was
never acted or, if acted, only once, for the play
. . . pleas’d not the million, ‘twas caviar to the
general. That is, it was like caviar (a strange
delicacy for which a taste must be acquired),
esteemed by epicures but repugnant to the generality,
to what is now called “the masses.”
This is a cliche of the literary. It is intended,
presumably, to show that they lcnow Hamlet,
that they know the true meaning of a passage
which the uneducated would misunderstand, and
it implies that they, too, are members of a discriminating
minority. Actually, its use marks
them as unoriginal and pretentious.
Incidentally, such fragments as we have of the
play that Prince Hamlet so esteemed are incredibly
bad.
cay. See quay.
cease. This word may be followed by an infinitive,
as in he ceased to go there, or by the -ing form
of a verb, as in he ceased going there. The -ing
construction is heard more often than the infinitive.
See end and stop.
cedilla. See diacritical mark.
ceiling is an overhead interior lining of a room
(The chandelier was suspended from the ceiling).
The word has recently been used metaphorically
(perhaps through its aeronautical
application where the ceiling is the distance
between the earth and the base of the lowest
cloud bank, or, sometimes, the maximum height
to which a specific aircraft can rise) to mean
the top limit (A new ceiling has been fixed on
rents).
In America this metaphorical usage has become
so common that it must be accepted as
standard. But like all vogue words it is being
overworked and like all metaphors is liable to
ludicrous application and misuse. Sir Ernest
Cowers quotes an official document in which it
is said that under certain circumstances a fixed
ceiling will be “waived.” But you can’t waive a
ceiling and the term is too near to its literal
sense to be so completely detached from it. He
quotes another document in which a ceiling on
floor space is established in a certain construction
project. Limit would certainly have been a
happier word.
celebrant; celebrator. To celebrate is to make
known, to glorify, honor, praise (For the grave
cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee).
A celebrated beauty is one whose beauty has
gained wide renown. Among the ways of glorifying
is to commemorate, with demonstrations
of joy or sorrow or respect. Thus we celebrate
birthdays, wedding anniversaries, the Sabbath,
and so on. Among the most solemn of glorifications
is the performance of religious rites and
ceremonies. The Mass is celebrated. Marriages
and funerals are celebrated.
Because of the gaiety attendant upon most
minor commemorations, celebrate has come, in
its most common contemporary sense, to mean
to be gay and lively and boisterous, often to
drink and to revel. One who is so enjoying himself
is a celebrator or a celebrater. Celebrant is
usually reserved for an officiating priest in the
celebration of the Eucharist or a participant in
some public religious rite. Such statements as