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