Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Bill Bryson [21]
Cancún. Mexican resort.
candelabrum (or candelabra), pl. candelabra (or candelabras). Note not candle-.
Candlemas. The Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary; February 2.
Canetti, Elias. (1905–1994) Bulgarian-born British writer; awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981.
canine.
canister.
cannabis.
Cannae. Site of battle in southern Italy where Hannibal routed the Romans.
canneloni.
Cannizzaro, Stanisloa. (1826–1910) Italian chemist.
cannon, canon. A cannon is a gun. Canon is an ecclesiastical title; a canon is a body of religious writings or the works of a particular author.
cannonball. (One word.)
cannot help but is an increasingly common construction, and perhaps now may be said to carry the weight of idiom, but it is also worth noting that it is both unnecessarily wordy and a little irregular. “You cannot help but notice what a bad name deregulation has with voters” would be better (or at least more conventionally) phrased as either “You cannot help notice…” or “You cannot but notice…”
canoodle.
canopy.
Canova, Antonio. (1757–1822) Italian sculptor.
cant, jargon. Both apply to words or expressions used by particular groups. Cant has derogatory overtones and applies to the private vocabulary and colloquialisms of professions, social groups, and sects. Jargon is a slightly more impartial word and usually suggests terms used in a particular profession.
cantaloupe.
Canton, China, is now normally referred to by its Pinyin name, Guangzhou. It is the capital of Guangdong Province, formerly Kwantung.
Cantonese is still used to describe the food of the region, however.
Canute. (c. 995–1035) King of England, Norway, and Denmark; sometimes spelled Cnut.
canvas, canvass. The first is the fabric; the second is a verb meaning to solicit, especially for votes.
Cape Canaveral, Florida; called Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973.
Capek, Karel. (1890–1938) Czech author.
Cape Town (two words), South Africa.
Cape Verde. Atlantic island nation off African coast; capital Cidade de Praia.
capital, capitol. Capitol always applies to a building, usually the place where legislatures gather in the United States. It is always capitalized when referring to the domed building in Washington, D.C., housing the U.S. Congress. The rise on which the U.S. Capitol stands is Capitol Hill. In all other senses, capital is the invariable spelling.
Capitol Reef National Park, Utah; not -al.
Capodichino International Airport, Naples, Italy.
cappuccino, pl. cappuccinos.
carabinieri, not cari-, for the Italian security force roughly equivalent to the French gendarmerie. Like gendarmes, carabinieri are soldiers employed in police duties. They are separate from, and not to be confused with, the state police (polizia statale in Italian), who also deal with criminal matters. Carabinieri is a plural; a single member of the force is a carabiniere. See also GENDARMES.
Caracalla, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. (186–217) Roman emperor.
Caracci, Lodovico (1555–1619), Agostino (1557–1602), and Annibale (1560–1609), family of Italian painters.
carafe. A container, especially for wine or water.
Caraqueño. A person from Caracas, Venezuela.
carat, caret, karat. A carat is the unit of measurement used by jewelers; a caret is an insertion mark (^) associated with proofreading; a karat is a measure of the purity of gold.
Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi/Amerighi da. (c. 1569–1609) Italian painter.
caraway seeds.
carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide. Carbon dioxide is the gas people exhale; carbon monoxide is the highly poisonous gas associated with car exhausts.
carburetor.
carcass.
Carcassonne. Walled city in southern France.
cardamom. A spice.
cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers. Cardinal numbers are those that denote size but not rank: one, two, three, etc. Ordinal numbers are those that denote position: first, second, third, etc.
CARE. International charity, short for Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere. Originally the R stood for Remittances and the E for Europe.