The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style : A ...

54 case of letters
to cause to tilt or tip, or to turn (a ship)
on one side. It originates in the Latin carina,
a ship’s keel.
To career (verb, intransitive) is to rush
or move at high speed, perhaps wildly. In
a description of a market scene in Niger,
a book of true adventure contains an example
of the strict use of career:
A man trying out a camel careered out
of control, much to the amusement of
the crowd.
The word is no longer used often. We
are more likely to hear something like
this on our television sets:
Cable Car Thirteen careened almost
out of control down one of the steepest
hills in San Francisco.
Or this, broadcast by a competing station:
. . . Car Number Thirteen went careening
down the Hyde Street hill.
In newspapers, this is what we will read
ad infinitum:
. . . The car . . . hit another automobile
and careened into Biscoe.
. . . He and his family were injured as
the car careened out of control in the
same village.
Apart from cars: an editorial warned
of “careening” comets; TV news described
roller-coaster fans who “careen
the curves”; and in press items, bandits
“careened” from a crime scene and a
senator “careened around the world.”
But The New York Times used the authentic
word in a story about new legs
for war veterans:
Within seconds, the two men were
skipping, lurching, careering forward.
. . .
Case of letters. See Capitalization; I
and i; Pronouns, 10A (end).
Case of pronoun. See Pronouns, 10;
WHO and WHOM, 1.
CAUGHT and CAUGHT UP. For
aeons, insects have been getting caught
in webs. All of us have been caught in
the rain and caught in traffic.
Not long ago it became popular to encumber
that simple verb with a superfluous
adverb. A network anchorman and
two local radio broadcasters provide the
examples: “What happens when the telephone
company gets caught up in its
own web?” / “They got caught up in yesterday’s
strong earthquake.” / “In your
case, you’ll be going early, so you won’t
be caught up in the 8:30 dinner crush.”
To catch up has long meant to come
from behind through speed or effort:
“The Braves were losing to the Twins by
two runs but caught up in the ninth inning.”
Another meaning of caught up, used
only in the passive, adds the implication
of gradualness or unwittingness to
caught: “Many who came to listen to the
speech were caught up in the mob hysteria.”
/ “She did not intend to abandon
New York but was caught up in the
glamour of Hollywood.” That adaptation
of the phrase is useful.
In the contexts of the broadcast sentences,
however, “up” contributes nothing.
All it tells us is that the speakers are
caught in the web of a fad.
See also UP.
CAUSATIVE, CAUSE. See FAC-
TOR, 1.
CELEBRANT and CELEBRA-
TOR. See Confusing pairs.
CELEBRATED. Both are wellknown
cases, famous cases, some may
say infamous or notorious cases, but is
either a “celebrated” case? A network