etc.

The abbreviation etc. is very popular among non-native writers of English. It is often used in wrong ways in academic research papers and theses. There are some good reasons for avoiding its use, particularly for writers of Thai English. The abbreviation etc. is short for et cetera. Like several other abbreviations that are popular with writers of Thai English, it is an abbreviation of a Latin term. Unless writers feel absolutely sure of their command of the English language, it is probably not a good idea to try writing expressions using Latin words. Even if using the abbreviation etc. appears to be highly intelligent, serious, and technical, if used wrongly it will not impress the reader. Writers of academic research papers and theses sometimes forget that at some point, there will be a reader for all writings produced in an academic setting. In the Latin language, the words et cetera mean and the rest. This means that one use for the abbreviation etc. is in a list where other things are included, but are not mentioned by the writer. An important point to recall is that the other things not mentioned should all be understood or known by the reader and writer, for the term etc. to apply. One correct example would be:

There are seven days in every week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.

This is an appropriate use of the abbreviation etc. because the writer and reader both know the names of all the days of the week, and can fill in the blanks represented by the term etc. In cases where the reader will not immediately know the terms that the writer leaves out by substituting them for the term etc., it can be unhelpful to wrong to use etc. Another correct example of the use of the term etc. follows:

The birds of Thailand represent nearly one thousand species, including grebes, shearwaters and petrels, storm petrels, cormorants, darters, frigatebirds, pelicans, bitterns, herons and egrets, etc. 

This is a somewhat less certain use of the abbreviation etc., depending on how many readers will know all the thousand species of birds in Thailand. If this sentence appears in an academic research paper or thesis meant to be read by professional ornithologists who have specialized knowledge about the birds of Southeast Asia, it is possible that the unnamed birds will be known to all readers. A safer way to say something similar would be:

The birds of Thailand represent nearly one thousand species, including grebes, shearwaters and petrels, storm petrels, cormorants, darters, frigatebirds, pelicans, bitterns, herons and egrets. 

Since the sentence states that the examples mentioned are among the thousand species, the reader will understand that they do not represent all of the species, and there are other examples not named in the sentence. For this reason, it is not really necessary to use the term etc. here. Or we might state:

The birds of Thailand represent nearly one thousand species, including grebes, shearwaters and petrels, storm petrels, cormorants, darters, frigatebirds, pelicans, bitterns, herons and egrets, and many others.

In this case we are restating what is obvious, since we have already told the reader that Thailand has nearly one thousand species of birds. If we mention a few, the reader knows that we have not given the complete list. In the same way, if the sentence contained the words for example instead of using the word including:

The birds of Thailand represent nearly one thousand species, for example grebes, shearwaters and petrels, storm petrels, cormorants, darters, frigatebirds, pelicans, bitterns, herons and egrets.

There is no need for the abbreviation etc. here at the end of the sentence, because when we tell the reader that we are giving examples, it is clear that this is not a complete list. The list is longer than we have room to cite in this sentence.

A mistaken example where etc. really should not be used would be:

I had many different feelings after receiving my degree and graduating from Thammasat University, such as pride, nostalgia, etc.

The writer clearly had a lots of feelings about graduating, but it is unlikely that the reader will be able to read the writer’s mind and guess what those feelings were. In this case, the writer has used the abbreviation etc. just to save the bother of writing out a longer list of feelings. The result is a sentence which is less clear and does not really give all the information a reader needs to understand what the writer is trying to express. For this reason, it is best not to use etc. except in very explicit occasions when the reader will surely be able to complete any list where items are left out. We should use it when we mean such phrases as and so on or and so forth. Because the Latin words et cetera mean and the rest, the abbreviation etc. contains the word and. For this reason, we should never add the word and to etc. If we mistakenly wrote and etc., that would be writing too many ands, like saying and and the rest. There should always be a full stop after the term etc., since it is an abbreviation. Another point to remember is that the full stop at the end of the abbreviation etc. should serve as final punctuation at the end of a sentence. Some writers of Thai English place a comma after etc., even if it is at the end of a sentence. This is a mistake.

Even many native speakers of English are not sure how to pronounce etc., since it is a Latin term, and most native speakers of English do not know how to pronounce Latin. They pronounce it wrongly as excetra or eksetra. There should be no sound of the letters x or k in the abbreviation etc. Instead, it should be pronounced with the letter t in the Latin word et clearly heard.

Some more appropriate examples of using the term etc. in sentences:

• Noppadon Pakprot, Deputy Governor for Tourism Products and Business said, “The Thailand Shopping & Dining Paradise 2017 highlights seven types of products and services from 2,000 participating partners, including hotels and accommodation; transportation (airlines/yachts); dining; entertainment and theme parks; department stores and malls; health and wellness and beauty centres; jewellery and accessories shops, etc.
• Metered taxis are often in the news for overcharging tourists, harassing them, driving dangerously, etc. This gives Thailand a bad name and chases away the goose that lays golden eggs, since tourists account for 10 per cent of our GDP.
• Marshall McLuhan, a famous media guru from the 1970s and 80s was way ahead of his time when he said, “The media is the message, the audience is the content”. As it relates to building leaders, this is what forward-thinking leadership development and design experts have figured out. Most leadership training is content and topic based (coaching, influencing, strategy, etc.).
• battery (noun): a device that is placed inside a car engine, clock, radio, etc. and that produces the electricity that makes it work.

A further complication is that there are many ways to spell the Latin term et cetera. While et cetera is commonly accepted as the correct way to write these words, sometimes they are written without a space, as etcetera. There are also older spellings that may be seen in historical writings, such as et caetera or et coetera. These complicated issues may make some writers of academic research papers and theses decide to save time by avoiding the use of the term etc. except when it is absolutely inevitable.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)