procure the nomination protests that
he is "not a candidate" he tells the truth in order to deceive.

_Cannot_ for _Can_. "I cannot but go." Say, I can but go.

_Capable_. "Men are capable of being flattered." Say, susceptible to
flattery. "Capable of being refuted." Vulnerable to refutation. Unlike
capacity, capability is not passive, but active. We are capable of
doing, not of having something done to us.

_Capacity_ for _Ability_. "A great capacity for work." Capacity is
receptive; ability, potential. A sponge has capacity for water; the
hand, ability to squeeze it out.

_Casket_ for _Coffin_. A needless euphemism affected by undertakers.

_Casualties_ for _Losses_ in Battle. The essence of casualty is
accident, absence of design. Death and wounds in battle are produced
otherwise, are expectable and expected, and, by the enemy,
intentional.

_Chance_ for _Opportunity_. "He had a good chance to succeed."

_Chin Whiskers_. The whisker grows on the cheek, not the chin.

_Chivalrous_. The word is popularly used in the Southern States only,
and commonly has reference to men's manner toward women. Archaic,
stilted and fantastic.

_Citizen_ for _Civilian_. A soldier may be a citizen, but is not a
civilian.

_Claim_ for _Affirm_. "I claim that he is elected." To claim is to
assert ownership.

_Clever_ for _Obliging_. In this sense the word was once in general
use in the United States, but is now seldom heard and life here is
less insupportable.

_Climb down_. In climbing one ascends.

_Coat_ for _Coating_. "A coat of paint, or varnish." If we coat
something we produce a coating, not a coat.

_Collateral Descendant_. There can be none: a "collateral descendant"
is not a descendant.

_Colonel_, _Judge_, _Governor_, etc., for _Mister_. Give a man a title
only if it belongs to him, and only while it belongs to him.

_Combine_ for _Combination_. The word, in this sense, has something of
the meaning of conspiracy, but there is no justification for it as a
noun, in any sense.

_Commence_ for _Begin_. This is not actually incorrect, but--well, it
is a matter of taste.

_Commencement_ for _Termination_. A contribution to our noble tongue
by its scholastic conservators, "commencement day" being their name
for the last day of the collegiate year. It is ingeniously defended on
the ground that on that day those on whom degrees are bestowed
commence to hold them. Lovely!

_Commit Suicide_. Instead of "He committ