Are You Using ‘Etc.’ Correctly?
Imagine you’re writing out a shopping list for an upcoming party you’re hosting. You could list out the supplies as “Plastic spoons, plastic forks, plastic knives,” and “Paper plates, tablecloth, and napkins,” or you could write “Plastic spoons, etc.” and “Paper plates, etc.” A handy way to indicate that a
list is not complete is to end it with “etc.” But what do these three little letters really mean? The Latin phrase et cetera means “and others especially of the same kind.” In English, the noun “etcetera” (one word) is used to mean “a number of unspecified additional persons or...
