creditable is sometimes confounded with credible, but the one word means that which redounds to one’s credit, whereas the other signifies that which is worthy of belief.
crime, sin, vice: Exercise care in the use of these words. Crime is an abstractly, flagrant violation of law or morality in general; sin, disagreement in word, thought, deed, or desire, whether by omission or commission, with the divine law; vice is the habitual deviation from moral rectitude.
crow, a colloquialism for exult.
crush implies to force out of shape, therefore, it is pleonastic to say “crush out,” of a mutiny.
cultivation, culture: Discriminate carefully between these words. While one of the various senses of cultivation is culture, culture should be used only of the development of the individual.
cunning, meaning “artful,” and by extension “innocently artful,” and hence “bright,” “amusing,” or “characterized by quaint and playful moods,” is often improperly introduced to imply “dainty,” “choice,” especially if applied to anything diminutive. Such usage is not permissible. A kitten may properly be said to be cunning, but not a brooch, although (in archaic usage) that may exhibit the cunning or skill of the artificer.
curious, in such expressions as “It is a curious fact” has been hypercritically censured. The propriety of the usage is unquestionable. “Curious first ... denoted a state of mind, interest or diligence in inquiry or prosecution; then it was predicated of things which exhibit evident tokens of care (cura), dextrous application, ingenuity; and, as such things are out of the common and are apt to arrest attention, it naturally acquired the sense of ‘novel,’ ‘unusual,’ or more generally ‘novel and noticeable.’”—Fitzedward Hall, False Philology, p. 25.
cuss: A vulgar corruption of “curse,” designating a worthless or disagreeable person, and as such it should be avoided.—To cuss and swear, that is, “to use blasphemous language” is a phrase that also should be avoided by persons having pretensions to refinement.
custom, habit: It is the custom of a person to do a thing until it becomes a habit. From a voluntary act of the will it has grown into an involuntary practise. It will thus be seen that whereas a custom is followed, a habit is acquired. Moreover, as involuntary acts are not predicated of bodies of people, habits are of necessity compared to individuals, “The custom of social nipping tends to individual habits of dissipation.”
customs. Compare [EXCISE].