Q: I have recently come across the symbol & and
wondered what its name is and when you use it. Could you also say something about the use
of et cetera and et al?
A: First, the sign “&” is called an AMPERSAND meaning
“and”. It is used as a space-saver and is more often found in “business addresses
than in everyday writing. Since it may suggest a closer relationship than “and”, it
has use of indicating that three or more items should be considered, in groups; Oliver
& Boyd and Longman, for example, are two, not three, publishing houses.
ET CETERA, nearly always abbreviated to ETC. and &C., means “and other things” and
is most properly confined to footnotes and reference works. In formal writing, lists of
items can be preceded instead by “such as” or “for example”, or followed by “and
so on” or “and so forth (for things)” or “and others (for people)”. ET CETERA
should be limited to things, and not used for events or people. Do not write and etc,
since they are redundant. Also don’t use etc. at the end of a list beginning with
expressions such as “include”, “such as”, or “for example.” Also put a comma
before etc. unless only one item has been mentioned.
In legal documents and in the condensed style of footnotes and bibliographies, people are
referred to as ET AL., Latin abbreviation for “and others”.
Q: Are there usage guides concerning the words “close” and
“shut”?
A: CLOSE, CLOSED and SHUT as verbs have the same meaning, though
CLOSE is sometimes more formal. They can both be used after verbs of position besides
“be” and after verbs of movement like “push”. “The doors slammed, closed/shut.”
But CLOSE has many senses for which
SHUT is no substitute; to close a deal or a bank account, to close with an offer, the
stock market closed up. Some people may associate CLOSE with ENCLOSURE and, thus, a
shutting IN, while to SHUT a door might suggest shutting OUT. At the same time, we need to
use SHUT with the word IN: “The cat got shut in the cupboard.”
Both CLOSED and SHUT can be used as adjectives, but only CLOSED goes in front of the noun;
“a closed window” but “the window is closed/shut.
You can also say that a road, border or airport is CLOSED but nоt SHUT. Likewise, CLOSE
is sometimes used to say that something is brought to an end, but SHUT does not have this
meaning (as in the deal/bank account example above). Finally, you can use CLOSE or SHUT to
say that work or business stops for a short time in a public building, but CLOSED is more
acceptable.
“A notice hanging in the window
said, ‘Closed for Columbus Day.’”
“It was 9:30 and most of the shops were already closed/shut.”
Q: I’ve come across the words ТНEЕ and THOU. Can you help me
understand them better?
A: These are archaic forms of pronouns in English with little
modern use. In Shakespeare’s literature and the King James Version (translation) of the
Christian Bible they are widely used but today only one speaking-group of old-fashioned
Quakers (religious body) uses THEE in their special grammar.
It is useful to understand the meaning of these forms, though, you would only need to
write them in composing period dialogues. TНОU is the subjective form (like “I”),
THEE is objective (like “me”), and THY, THINE are genitive (like “my”,
“mine”). They are the singular forms of “you”, the plural being YE.
Q: When I hear the term INDIAN I’m not always sure if the person
is from India or America.
A: It is still easy to confuse the two meanings of INDIAN,
particularly when Americans are reading British English or vice versa. Blame it all on
Columbus who mistook the NATIVE AMERICANS for people of India. In American contexts, the
word INDIAN might still mean a member of one of the indigenous peoples of the continent,
while in a British context it usually means a person from India. But even in America,
people have had to ask, “Do you mean Indian INDIAN or American INDIAN?
This dilemma is being solved today by evolving new terms for the native peoples of
America. Some prefer “Native American”, “Amerind”, or “Amerindian”. Both
“Redskin” and “Injun” are considered pejorative as are related names for sports
teams.