Chapter C

Christmas and all synonyms, as Yule-tide.

city of New York, but New York City, its official name.

a city of Kentucky, or any city of a class, because common nouns.
this City, meaning San Francisco or any other place clearly meant.

a chief-justice.

the Chief-justice of Missouri.

an aged justice, or a former chief-justice.

castile soap. See merchandise.

china goods, china silk, etc. See merchandise.

cisalpine, transatlantic, etc.

county of Holt, but Holt County, its exact name. See counties.

the County, meaning one in particular; in lieu of full name.

a county--any one.

Counties: Holt County is the name of the political division or
corporation, and when =the County= is used as a shorter expression,
it is clearly a synonym for the full name.

the Congress of the United States, or Congress, the Legislature.

the Congressman, meaning a special one. Several congressmen and
senators were there. In this sense the nouns are common.

=Congressman= illustrates De Vinne’s rule that a title not a synonym
for a specified person (one only) should not begin with a capital.
See Association.

Centuries take a lower-case letter: fifteenth century, nineteenth,
twentieth, etc. This is an exception to the rule concerning
historical epochs, but custom has made it proper.

a club, meaning any.

the Club, meaning the Century Club.

Columbia College, Stanford University, etc.

the Constitution of the United States, of any particular state or
society.

a constitution, meaning any.

the Continent, meaning of Europe, or when used as a substitute for
the full name of any other continent.

coolie, negro, greaser, gringo, gipsy. See nicknames, which are never
capitalized.