Author Topic: The State of Our English  (Read 31598 times)

Joe Carillo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4646
  • Karma: +202/-2
    • View Profile
    • Email
Language is largely a matter of point of view
« Reply #15 on: August 15, 2009, 01:42:35 PM »
Hmmm...no reply.    Joe is probably poring over his grammar/ethics/manners rerferences to see if I have a point!     :D

I was actually putting the finishing touches to this week's edition of the Forum. 8)

Anyway, Max, I think the whole thing boils down to a matter of point of view. If I were a storyteller, for instance, it would be perfectly all right to write “Sometime ago, my dog Butch brought home a big, fat quail” even if, in fact, I had a dozen dogs in my kennel—so long as my having those other 11 dogs has no bearing on the story I am about to tell. I don’t have to bother my readers with the fact that I have those 11 other dogs, much less enumerate the names of my dogs as Buck, Spot, Bantay, Brownie, etcetera. Only my dog Butch—with no commas hemming him in—matters to the story both to me and to my readers.

As always, language is largely contextual. We don’t have to qualify our every written word or utterance for all audiences—much less for the whole world. It’s enough that our main target audiences understand us perfectly with minimum qualification of our statements. To overqualify our statements at every turn could, in fact, be an exercise in superfluity and be counterproductive to the communication effort. Of course, when someone is not in the know about the context or the culture whereof we speak, and if that someone asks us to clarify this or that detail, that’s the only time when we ought to supply the clarifying details.

Spreen

  • Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 24
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Re: The State of Our English
« Reply #16 on: August 15, 2009, 02:00:48 PM »
Sir, is the word "etcetera" a single word that should be spelled out in two as in "et cetera," or two words that should be spelled out as just one word as in "etcetera"?  ;)

Joe Carillo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4646
  • Karma: +202/-2
    • View Profile
    • Email
Et cetera or etcetera?
« Reply #17 on: August 15, 2009, 04:01:10 PM »
Sir, is the word "etcetera" a single word that should be spelled out in two as in "et cetera," or two words that should be spelled out as just one word as in "etcetera"?  ;)

Both spellings are correct.

Here are the entries for them in my digital Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary:

et cetera
Etymology: Latin
Date: 12th century

 : and others especially of the same kind  : and so forth

etcetera
Function: noun
Date: 1597

1 : a number of unspecified additional persons or things
2 plural   : unspecified additional items  : ODDS AND ENDS
 

Herrybraun

  • Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
    • Botox Leeds
    • Email
Re: The State of Our English
« Reply #18 on: October 01, 2018, 04:14:50 PM »
Our British-English, I thinks is top most state of English.

Joe Carillo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4646
  • Karma: +202/-2
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: The State of Our English
« Reply #19 on: October 01, 2018, 06:46:15 PM »
Herry, I must say that I respect your opinion that British-English is the topmost state of English. I believe in the adage that matters of taste are not to be disputed.