A Dictionary of Cont..

admiration the hackneyed metaphor sought to
invoke by declaring that he was chilled to the
marrow. Deeper into the body a chill cannot go.
The glory of the ultimate assertion was his and
it is to be hoped that he had an appreciative
audience to do him honor. But the splendor has
long since faded and repetition has blunted rapture.
The phrase is now retirable.
Chinese. The singular and the plural are both
Chinese. At one time this word had a distinct
plural, as seen in Milton’s lines: where Ch,ineses
drive with sails and wind. In time this dropped
out of the language and the remaining form
Chinese was used for both singular and plural.
Later, this was felt to be a simple plural and
attempts were made to form a new singular,
such as a Chinee and a Chinaman. A Chinee
was never standard English, but a Chinantan is
accepted in Great Britain today. In the United
States the preferred form is Chinese, as in one
Chinese and two Chinese.
chip of the old block. How well dost thou appear
to be a chip of the old block? wrote John
Milton in 1642, accepting the English version
of the saying. Theocritus (270 B.C.) had it a
chip of the old flint, but then he was nearer to
the Old Stone Age, where the figure no doubt
originated. The saying, calling attention to a
likeness between son (occasionally a daughter)
and father, usually in a favorable way and jocularly,
is a cliche and is to be avoided.
choice. See nice; see option.
choose. The past tense is chose. The participle is
chosen. The form choosed is sometimes heard
but is not standard.
Choose may be followed by an infinitive, as
in I do not choose to run, or by the -ing form of
a verb, as in I do not choose running. The infinitive
construction is preferred. Choose may also
be followed by a that clause but the clause verb
must be a subjunctive or a subjunctive eq,uivalent,
as in Z do not choose that he run. An infinitive
construction, such as Z do not choose to
have him run, is generally preferred.
chord; cord. A combination of three or more
tones in harmonic relation is spelled chord. So
of course is any figurative extension of the: idea
(His proposal struck a responsive chord) ,, The
string of a musical instrument and the geometric
term for that part of a straight line between two
of its intersections with a curve are also spelled
chord.
A string or small rope composed of several
strands twisted or woven together is spelled
cord, as is any extension of the idea (an electric
cord, a cord cloth). One hundred and twentyeight
cubic feet of firewood is also spelled cord.
In America the spinal cord and the vocal
cords are now so spelled almost always. In England
they are sometimes spelled chord and
chords.
chose, chosen. See choose.
Christian name. See first name.
chronic means habitual, inveterate, constant, having
continued a long time (Being a chronic
smoker, he had a chronic cough. Mrs. Jone,s was
city
a chronic invalid and the house was filled with
her chronic complaining). Chronic should not
be used as a mere intensive or a synonym for
severe. It is the exact opposite of acute.
chrysalis. The plural is chrysalises or chrysalides,
not chrysales. A new singular chrysalid, with a
regular plural chrysahds, is also in use. It is not
as well established as the similar formation
orchid, but it is thoroughly acceptable.
cinema. See motion pictures.
circle (“social group”). See clique.
circumlocution. See locution.
circumstances, under the. It is sometimes objected
that since circumstances are those things or
conditions that lie around us, we cannot be
under them. But that is silly. Things can be conceived
as ensphering us as well as surrounding
us on a plane. The weather, as Fowler points
out, is certainly a circumstance and we are
certainly under it when it is inclement. Many
people, especially in England, prefer to say in
the circumstances and the phrase is correct. But
so is under the circumstances.
cirrus. The plural is cirri.
cite and quote are synonymous in one meaning:
to repeat a passage from a book or a speech by
way of authority. Quoting, strictly, means repeating
the actual words and citing means mentioning
them, referring to them, or bringing
them forward as proof or confirmation. But
since the processes are inextricable, usage does
not, and cannot, draw a fixed distinction between
the two words in this sense.
Each word has other meanings, however, in
which they are not synonymous. To cite has an
old meaning of to rouse to action (cited to the
field of battle) and a special military meaning
of to mention in orders, as for gallantry (He
n’as cited for bravery under tire). To quote
means to enclose words within quotation marks
(He quoted the general directly in his report)here
cited would be incorrect-and to state a
price or to state the current price of (He quoted
him ten cents a pound).
city; town. To say that a town is a collection of
inhabited houses and that a city is a large or
important town isn’t of much help to someone
who is in doubt which to call a specific place.
Size is relative and importance is often subjective.
In the United States a city is an incorporated
municipality, usually governed by a
mayor and board of aldermen or councilmen.
In Canada it is a municipality of high rank and
the distinction between it and a town is usually
based on population. In England a city is a
borough, usually the seat of a bishop, upon
which the dignity of the title of city has been
conferred by the Crown.
The City in England is that part of London
in which the commercial and financial interests
are chiefly centered. It corresponds to New
York’s Wall Street district.
Idiomatically, city takes the definite article,
town does not. We go to town, but to the city.
We live in town, but in the city. We get out of
town, but out of the city, and so on.