Timeline for Et cetera vs Et al
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 2020 at 23:41 | comment | added | Jim Balter | @Pacerier The cases are quite different: the second one says "a wide range of spirits"; the sentence could end there, but gives some examples ... "etc." represents the rest of the spirits, those that weren't explicitly enumerated. The first sentence does not name a class of documents and then gives explicit examples; rather, it names some types of documents, and then "etc." representing the rest, but the rest of what? And unlike the second sentence, the first sentence is an instruction, but fails to instruct. Imagine assembly instructions: "You'll need a flat head screwdriver, etc." | |
| Jul 8, 2014 at 8:49 | comment | added | Pacerier | Why do you say that the first sentence is incorrect usage? Whether "etc" is interpreted as ambiguous or unambiguous depends on the context isn't it? We could argue that the second sentence is equally ambiguous to someone without knowledge of alcohol. | |
| Jul 12, 2011 at 5:27 | vote | accept | Vamsi Emani | ||
| Jul 8, 2011 at 6:13 | history | answered | Stuart Allen | CC BY-SA 3.0 |