xact
number, as does several. That is true, even in the phrase, a married
couple, for the number is carried in the adjective and needs no
emphasis.
_Created_ for _First Performed_. Stage slang. "Burbage created the
part of Hamlet." What was it that its author did to it?
_Critically_ for _Seriously_. "He has long been critically ill." A
patient is critically ill only at the crisis of his disease.
_Criticise_ for _Condemn_, or _Disparage_. Criticism is not
necessarily censorious; it may approve.
_Cunning_ for _Amusing_. Usually said of a child, or pet. This is pure
Americanese, as is its synonym, "cute."
_Curious_ for _Odd_, or _Singular_. To be curious is to have an
inquiring mind, or mood--curiosity.
_Custom_ for _Habit_. Communities have customs; individuals,
habits--commonly bad ones.
_Decease_ for _Die_.
_Decidedly_ for _Very_, or _Certainly_. "It is decidedly cold."
_Declared_ for _Said_. To a newspaper reporter no one seems ever to
say anything; all "declare." Like "alleged" (which see) the word is
tiresome exceedingly.
_Defalcation_ for _Default_. A defalcation is a cutting off, a
subtraction; a default is a failure in duty.
_Definitely_ for _Definitively_. "It was definitely decided."
Definitely means precisely, with exactness; definitively means
finally, conclusively.
_Deliver_. "He delivered an oration," or "delivered a lecture." Say,
He made an oration, or gave a lecture.
_Demean_ for _Debase_ or _Degrade_. "He demeaned himself by accepting
charity." The word relates, not to meanness, but to demeanor, conduct,
behavior. One may demean oneself with dignity and credit.
_Demise_ for _Death_. Usually said of a person of note. Demise means
the lapse, as by death, of some authority, distinction or privilege,
which passes to another than the one that held it; as the demise of
the Crown.
_Democracy_ for _Democratic Party_. One could as properly call the
Christian Church "the Christianity."
_Depot_ for _Station_. "Railroad depot." A depot is a place of
deposit; as, a depot of supply for an army.
_Deprivation_ for _Privation_. "The mendicant showed the effects of
deprivation." Deprivation refers to the act of depriving, taking away
from; privation is the state of destitution, of not having.
_Dilapidated_ for _Ruined_. Said of a building, or other structure.
But the word is from the Latin _lapis_, a stone, and cannot properly
be used of any but a stone structure.
_Directly_ f
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