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up vote 2 down vote favorite

As in:

Many factors are to blame for this disaster, such as: «bulleted list»

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I want to state that I'm just giving some examples, among many factors. – John Assymptoth Mar 4 '11 at 15:57
Better to exclude "such as," since it doesn't contribute any useful information. – Neil Mar 4 '11 at 15:58
Note that some style guides advise against using an incomplete sentence before a colon; that is, both what comes before the colon and what comes after should be grammatically independent sentences, which could theoretically stand on their own. They recommend either "many factors are to blame for this disaster: <list>", or "many factors are to blame for this disaster, such as these: <list>". Many others would say it doesn't matter, though. – Cerberus Mar 4 '11 at 16:03

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

A few possible options:

  • Many factors are to blame for this disaster, including[, but not limited to*, the following]:
  • Many factors are to blame for this disaster, some of which are:
  • Many factors are to blame for this disaster. These include:
  • Many factors are to blame for this disaster, e.g.

but not limited to may be considered superfluous, as including does not indicate a complete list of the factors.

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"but not limited to" is worth its weight in gold when you are dealing with a group looking for someone to blame. Sometimes you have to stress that the list isn't complete. – user1579 Mar 4 '11 at 17:33
up vote 4 down vote

", for example:"

", like:"

", including:" [added in response to your comment]

or just ":"

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But I want to state that I'm just giving some examples, among many factors. – John Assymptoth Mar 4 '11 at 15:56
Love "including". Thanks. – John Assymptoth Mar 4 '11 at 16:23

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