Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Public Service Announcement (Use of etc. and e.g.)

<rant mode one>
I'm seeing this everywhere lately, so consider this when you use e.g. and etc. together:

The abbreviation e.g. means for example, which implies a list that is incomplete—just a sampling of what's available.

The abbreviation etc. means and the rest, which means there are more, but you don't want to bore the reader. (As a side note: sometimes that's just shoddy research.)

When you put both of them together, What does it mean? It's redundant. You've already told the reader that what follows is just a sampling. You don't need etc. to remind them that there are more.

</rant mode off>

Table of contents for all copyediting posts.

Update, January 16, 2024: I just realized this is basically the same thing I said in August of 2021. Obviously nobody is listening—as if I expected anything different, given my small audience : )

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