To point out that it's "etc" not "ect"

"Common knowledge" is going to be an ongoing problem now everyone is unable to live without "AI". Remember, "AI" doesn't know what it doesn't know.

I have written computer code for the better part of half a century.

If you are vague, ambiguous or unclear, you either have a system that won't work, or worse, a system which works in unexpected ways.

That's why "AI" is never going to work. Because those vague "Can you do <x>" for me type of prompts rely far too much on an assumption of shared knowledge. The lack of which the machine is expert at hiding from you with misplaced chattiness.

The vast majority of people don't do Latin at school!

Their loss. It's probably one of the most useful subjects I did at school.

YABU to point it out because that should be common knowledge

true, i guess it can then depend on the context, but then if there is ambiguity you could then dissect a persons points by point till you understand their full point, at least at times thats what i prefer to do, but sometimes i do assume

The vast majority of people don't do Latin at school!

Someone above said it ought to be obvious because it's short for et cetera.

But first, not everybody knows it's short for et cetera. I only learnt that as an adult. When I was a child, I heard people say "et cetera" out loud but would probably have assumed it was spelt "excetera" because the t is very weakly pronounced. I think some people assume it is "Ec[k] Cetera" which would make more sense to shorten to ect than etc.

Secondly, even if you know that it is correctly et cetera, the letters ect are also in order in that phrase. People may be thinking "Et Ce Tera".

I have always spelt it correctly as far as I know, but I was a big reader and so spelling comes easily to me, I am more likely to get the spelling than the pronunciation right for lots of words. To me, ect just looks wrong so I would automatically correct it, but it is possible that people get it wrong because they are overthinking it, rather than that they are underthinking it.

I also just think it's snobbish and rude to look down on people because they don't happen to have the same abilities or lfie experiences as you. I don't know the correct spelling of etc because I have some kind of superior intelligence/knowledge, I just happen to find it really easy to memorise and store the spellings of words to the point I don't even really have to think about it.

&c.

If there is any ambiguity, then it's dangerous to assume.

Eats shoots and leaves.

I stopped writing ect. and other silly mistakes when my year 6 teacher took the red pen to my work quite liberally. Thanks Mr Milroy!

that always puzzles me, yes in many ways the ways a word is phrased is important, but in general if you can understand a persons point they are trying to make then why do some fixate on grammer and spelling as a way to dismiss the points ?

The credence of a statement or argument may be destroyed completely if the spelling or grammar is incorrect.

but then it could be either or topic wise,

I think you should keep this shit out of AIBU when there's a specific board for it.

I loathe pedants - they're so fucking smug.

You are correct - I had actually forgotten that! Either way, it still demonstrates that people using “ect” is not logical!

If you're that concerned, it's etc.
Not etc

ect is the one i usually use out of habit

I came across a post on another platform recently where the poster said that they were "apart of" a particular group.

So, they're saying they are separate from, and not a part of the original group?

Not unreasonable and it pisses me off too....but I guess given the spelling of the word you could use ect instead of etc but it doesn't sit right with me AT ALL 😆

YAbU. Grammar pendants are so dull

Sekketry and nucular - both on BBC news.

I suppose as long as the meaning is clear.

I did it at our local comp. Harrow had some unique ideas about education that I only realised when I went to Uni.

The entire borough also studied French from ages 8-14. Which has remained ever since. I'm not fluent, but can read a website without needing translation.

(I admit I may not be typical).

and it's "i.e." 😀

Actually, it's two words: et cetera (Latin for 'and the rest) and in English it is usually pronounced ett sett'era*. Furthermore, etc. is correctly spelled with a full stop after it because it's an abbreviation.

*For Romans of Caesar's era, C was always hard so for him it would probably have been ett kett'era. (And yes, that means his name was pronounced Kaiser.)

So many people here use phased when they mean fazed.

Flogging a dead horse, is the cliche that comes to mind, I’m afraid.

The other day I wanted to tell a poster that she meant ‘perspective’, not ‘prospective’, but desisted - didn’t want the accusations of ‘spag shaming’ that would almost inevitably follow. But I did think she might like to know.

Ditto any time a poster writes ‘discrete’ when she evidently means ‘discreet’.