[Filligree]

Ctrl is always a modifier.

So "C" is the letter C, "C-x" is ctrl-x, "C-c" is Ctrl-c, and there's no ambiguity. You can't bind anything to Ctrl on its own.

[anthk]

"xev" differs. And xmodmap.

[Filligree]

Fair. I was talking specifically about emacs.