capacity. Compare [ABILITY].
caption is not to be used in the sense of title, save as to a legal document “showing the time, place, circumstances and authority—under which it was made or executed.” “The affectation of fine big-sounding words which have a flavor of classical learning has had few more laughable or absurd manifestations than the use of caption (which means seizure, act of taking) in the sense ... of heading.”—R. G. White, Words and Their Uses, ch. 5, p. 98.
carnival, which comes from the Latin caro, flesh, + levo, take away, and alludes in Catholic countries to the pre-Lenten “farewell to meat,” which concludes with Mardi Gras, has been stigmatized by Dr. William Mathews as an “outlandish term” which “has not a shadow of justification” in the popular sense of a gay festivity or revel. Inasmuch as the pre-Lenten farewell is marked by festival, frolic and fun, the stigmatization is undeserved, and such expressions as “the crows are holding high carnival on the hill” are not merely permissible but good.
carry: Although formerly used with the meaning of “conduct,” “guide,” or “escort” the term in this sense is now archaic. Do not say “Mr. A. carried Miss B. to the party;” say rather, “... escorted Miss B....” Compare also [BRING].
case: Not to be applied to persons. The expression sometimes used of an eccentric or vicious person, “He is a case” or “a hard case,” is an objectionable colloquialism.
casket, which is from the French casque, helmet, is frequently now used in the United States as a euphemism for coffin, which is from the Greek kophinos, basket. Such innovations are not to be recommended. They savor of pedantry, or, worse still, of pride. If coffin is not good enough for the worthy deceased or for his purse-proud relatives, why rest content with the simple casket, when by a mere figure of speech sarcophagus may save the reputation of both the living and the dead?
casuality is an obsolete form of casualty, and should be treated as such.
cataclasm and cataclysm are often interchanged. The Greek kata, down, is combined in the one case with klaō, break, and in the other with klyzo, wash. Where sudden overwhelming change is intended, as by revolution, cataclasm is to be preferred to cataclysm, which, though sometimes used to signify such a change, is strictly applied to an overwhelming flood of water, and, specifically, to the Noachian deluge.
catch on, to: A colloquialism having two distinct meanings, the first bordering on the vulgar, is used by persons with little sense of refinement in speech for “to understand”; the second, used instead of “to suit the popular fancy” or “to please the popular taste.”