Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words - Bill Bryson [14]
celebrant, celebrator. “All this is music to the ears of James Bond fan club members . . . and to other celebrants who descend on New Orleans each November 11” (New York Times). Celebrants take part in religious ceremonies. Those who gather for purposes of revelry are celebrators.
celibacy. “He claimed he had remained celibate throughout the four-year marriage” (Daily Telegraph). Celibacy does not, as is generally supposed, indicate abstinence from sexual relations. It means only to be unmarried, particularly as a result of a religious vow. A married man cannot be celibate, but he can be chaste.
cement, concrete. The two are not interchangeable. Cement is a constituent of concrete, which also contains sand, gravel, and crushed rock.
cemetery. Not -ary.
center around. “Their argument centers around the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act” (Times). Center indicates a point, and a point cannot encircle anything. Make it “center on” or “revolve around.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the full name of the U.S. institution that deals with matters of public health. Note the plural, “Centers.”
centrifugal/centripetal force. Centrifugal force pulls away from; centripetal force draws toward.
chafe, chaff. The one may lead to the other, but their meanings are distinct. To chafe means to make sore or worn by rubbing (or, figuratively, to annoy or irritate). To chaff means to tease good-naturedly. A person who is excessively chaffed is likely to grow chafed.
chamois. The plural is also chamois, for both the antelope and the cloth for wiping cars.
chilblain. Not chill-.
children’s is the only possible spelling of the possessive form of children.
chord, cord. A chord is a group of musical notes or a type of arc in geometry; a cord is a length of rope or similar material of twisted strands, or a stack of wood. See also VOCAL CORDS.
Christ Church, Christchurch. Christ Church is the spelling and full name of the Oxford college (not Christ Church College). The communities in New Zealand and England are Christchurch.
CinemaScope is the correct spelling for the wide-screen film system.
circumstances, in the and under the. A useful distinction can be drawn between the two. In the circumstances should indicate merely that a situation exists: “In the circumstances, I began to feel worried.” Under the circumstances should denote a situation in which action is necessitated or inhibited: “Under the circumstances, I had no choice but to leave.”
City of London, city of London. They are separate things. The City of London, often referred to simply as “the City,” is an area of 677 acres, or about a square mile, in the east-central part of greater London. Historically and administratively it is quite separate from the great metropolis to which it gave its name. Occasionally this can be a source of confusion—for instance, when distinguishing between investigations of the London police and the City of London police. The City is London’s financial district and is sometimes informally referred to as the Square Mile.
claim. Properly, to claim means to demand recognition of a right. You claim something that you wish to call your own—an inheritance, a lost possession, a piece of land. But increasingly it is used in the sense of assert or contend, as here: “They claim that no one will be misled by the advertisement” (Boston Globe).
For years authorities decried this looser usage, insisting that we replace claim in such constructions with assert, declare, maintain, contend, or some other less objectionable verb, and for years hardly anyone heeded them. The battle, I think, is now over. Even Fowler, who disliked the looser usage, eventually conceded that “there is no doubt a vigor about claim—a pugnacity almost—that makes such words [as assert, etc.] seem