Et cetera, Re, and Sic

Et cetera, Re, and Sic Et cetera, Re, and Sic Et cetera, Re, and Sic By Maeve Maddox When the Latin-loving educated classes finally started taking English seriously enough to write their works in, they brought a lot of Latin terms with them. Some of the terms remain in the language, among them et cetera, re, and sic. Et cetera Commonly abbreviated etc., the Latin phrase et cetera is used at the end of a list to indicate things in addition to those already enumerated: When you go shopping, be sure to buy such staples as flour, rice, sugar, etc. In older texts, you may see it abbreviated as c. The symbol , called the ampersand, originated as a ligature for the Latin word et (and). Note: In writing and printing, a ligature is two or more letters joined together to form one character, like the letters e+t. Etc. is frequently misspelled as â€Å"ect† and mispronounced as [ek setera]. These errors can be avoided by noting that the first part of the phrase is et, not â€Å"ek.† The exact translation of et cetera is â€Å"and the others: et=and, cetera=the others. Re: Another Latin word commonly used in English is re. The Latin phrase â€Å"in re† means â€Å"in the matter of,† or â€Å"concerning.† Traditionally, the word has been written at the top of a letter, either in all caps or with an uppercase R and a lowercase e, followed by a colon: RE: Re: Until recently, Re: was understood as a way to announce the subject of the message to follow: Re: Your letter of May12, 2014 As is the case with many formerly familiar Latin expressions in English, the meaning of Re: has become blurred, and its use is shifting. Many web users believe that it is an abbreviation for regarding. Others use it in email subjects to mean â€Å"Reply.† Sic The Latin word sic in square brackets after a word in quoted material means that something in the quotation is in error. The writer quoting the material inserts [sic] to indicate that the misspelled word or inaccurate fact occurs in the original: The most usual use of [sic] familiar to the general reader is its use to signal a misspelled or word: According to the document, â€Å"Every store on Main Street has the responsibility to provide it’s [sic] own parking.† {Sic] is also used to signal an error of fact. For example: Simpson says, â€Å"In Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur, that the young Arthur draws Excalibur [sic] from the stone and is recognized as the rightful king.† The error being flagged by [sic] does not point to a misspelling; it has to do with the fact that in Malory, the sword drawn from the stone is not Excalibur. Arthur obtains Excalibur much later, from the Lady of the Lake. Related posts on DailyWritingTips: Regarding Re: What Does Sic Mean? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing LightExcited ABOUT, not "for" 50 Synonyms for "Song"

Definition and Examples of Janus Words in English

Definition and Examples of Janus Words in English Janus word is a word (such as cleave) having opposite or contradictory meanings depending on the context in which the word is used. Also called antilogy, contronym, contranym, autantonym, auto-antonym, and contradictanyma. Examples and Observations To weather can mean to endure or to erode.Sanction can mean to allow or to prohibit.Fix can mean a solution (as in find a quick fix) or a problem (left us in a fix).Clip can mean to separate (as in clip the coupon from the paper) or to join (as in clip the answer sheets together).Left as a verb in the past tense means to have gone; as an adjective, it means remaining.Wear can mean to last under use or to erode under use.Buckle can mean to fasten or to bend and then break.The verb bolt can mean to secure, lock or to start suddenly and run away.Screen can mean to conceal or to show.Fast can mean moving quickly (as in running fast) or not moving (as in stuck fast). The Verb Table in British English and American English In British English, when you table a document, you add it to the agenda for a meeting, usually by placing copies on the table at the beginning of the meeting because it was not ready in time to be sent out. In American English, however, when you table a document, you remove it indefinitely from the agenda. Writers on both sides of the Atlantic should be aware of this possible source of confusion.(R.L. Trask, Mind the Gaffe! Harper, 2006) Literally [T]his usage of literally [to mean figuratively] . . . is not the first, nor will it be the last, instance of a word that is used in a seemingly contradictory way. There are many such words, and they arise through various means. Called Janus words, contranyms, or auto-antonyms, they include cleave (to stick to and to split apart) . . . and peruse and scan (each meaning both to read closely and to glance at hastily; skim). Usage writers often criticize such words as potentially confusing and usually single out one of the meanings as wrong, the right meaning being the older one, or the one closer to the words etymological meaning, or the one more frequent when 18th-century grammarians began to examine language systematically.  (Jesse Sheidlower, The Word We Love to Hate. Slate, Nov. 1, 2005) Factoid [Factoid is a] term created by Norman Mailer in 1973 for a piece of information that becomes accepted as a fact, although it is not actually true; or an invented fact believed to be true because it appears in print. Mailer wrote in Marilyn: Factoids . . . that is, facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority. Lately, factoid has come to mean a trivial fact. That usage makes it a contranym (also called a Janus word) in that it means both one thing and its opposite . . ..(Paul Dickson, How Authors From Dickens to Dr. Seuss Invented the Words We Use Every Day. The Guardian, June 17, 2014) Schizophrenic Words Best and worst both mean to defeat. Cleave means both to cling to and to split apart. Fast means both speedy and immobilized (as well as several other things). Dress means to put on apparel, as a person does, or to take it off, as is done to a chicken. And while you are reflecting on such oddities, you may as well know that bleach means also blacking; bluefish also greenfish; bosom also depression; emancipate also to enslave; and help also to hinder.​(Willard R. Espy, The Garden of Eloquence: A Rhetorical Bestiary. Harper Row, 1983)