Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/62

capacity catch reed, and must be distinguished from canon, a rule or law, which comes from the Greek kanon, rule.

capacity. Compare.

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."—, 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.