Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/65

Rh chargeable: Do not spell this word chargable. Remember its components are charge + able and the "e" is retained before the second "a."

cherubim and seraphim: Do not use these plurals as singulars. There is no such thing as a cherubim.

chew the rag: A low phrase sometimes used as an equivalent for "wrangle;" as, "stop chewing the rag," meaning, "cease wrangling." The use of expressions of this kind can not be too severely condemned.

childlike, childish: There is a distinction between these words. The one is used in a good sense, the other is spoken in derogation.

chin music: A low phrase sometimes used as an equivalent for "talk," but not uttered by persons of refinement.

chuck-full is the American colloquial form of choke- or chock-full, but this form finds no literary favor, and indeed the expression is far from elegant, both in sense and sound.

circus: This word should not be used as a synonym of "frolic;" as such it is a vulgar perversion.

cite, from the French citer (Latin cito, frequentative of cieo, call), means "mention by name, summon" and has no relationship with site, similarly pronounced, which means "local position," and is derived from Lat. situa, pp. of sino, put.