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Original poster

ect is not short for et cetera

195 replies

BlueMountainHusky · 21/10/2021 18:01

It is etc. not bloody ect.

ECT is electroconvulsive therapy.

I have seen it on this web site literally hundreds of times this week alone.

It's like a contagious form of ignorance that is spreading like a plague.

Is it unreasonable to be driven nuts by the sheer number of people who think it's just ect.

If I don't come back, I have seen it again and my head has exploded.

OP posts:
WeDidntMeanToGoToSea · 22/10/2021 06:29

*a bit like how 'alone time'... (yes, very very colloquial way of putting it)

Geamhradh · 22/10/2021 06:54

Any particle added to a verb modifies the meaning slightly.

The original meaning of "swap out" was "exchange" but it was almost exclusively limited to quite technical fields- numbers, IT, study and research parameters etc.

I suppose it's moved nearer to the more generic meaning of "swap" + particle (swap over/swap for etc) as more and more of our lives are centred around digital matters. Which seems logical.

Chunkymenrock · 22/10/2021 07:13

@CorianderAndCream

It's called a typo
No it isn't. It's an actual choice as it autocorrects to 'eat'.
Geamhradh · 22/10/2021 07:20

Autocorrect works in two different ways depending on the software/tool.
It can be either corrective or predictive. Most phones work on predictive. So will "help" you type more quickly by giving you a word you already use a lot. It won't think "oh, Brenda didn't mean to say "ect", she meant "etc". (I just looked at mine and it wanted to change "ect" to "ext" )
Desktops/laptops etc are mainly corrective.

ElJardinDeLosSuenos · 22/10/2021 07:59

Is ‘cue’ not correct in this context, though?

“The child opened her birthday present - cue excited screaming as tickets to her favourite band appeared!”

In other words, the opening of the present was the cue, or signal, for what happened after. Like others, I’ve seen both ‘que’ and ‘queue’ used in this way, but either would be incorrect.

ElJardinDeLosSuenos · 22/10/2021 07:59

Sorry, that was in response to @BatshitCrazyWoman

maternitycoat · 22/10/2021 08:14

Its correct. It's short for ec cetera

Hang on, shouldn't that be ecc?

ECT is short for Ec tetera?

No?

I definitely learned the words et cetera at primary school. Maybe they don't teach it anymore

spotcheck · 22/10/2021 08:23

I generally think it's twatty to point out other people's grammar and spelling mistakes, but I do really hate 'ur'.

All's I can think of when I see it is that I would really like to visit the site one day. If possible.

maternitycoat · 22/10/2021 08:27

@CoffeeRunner

Unique means one of a kind. The only one.

It is not the same as unusual.

If you want to choose a unique baby name you will need to make it up.

Yes but there are names which are quite unique and others which are very unique
Geamhradh · 22/10/2021 08:38

@spotcheck

I generally think it's twatty to point out other people's grammar and spelling mistakes, but I do really hate 'ur'.

All's I can think of when I see it is that I would really like to visit the site one day. If possible.

You know people who still have character counting limits on their texts? Blimey. Most people 20-25 years ago used abbreviations like that. I've not seen it used for about the last decade though. There used to be a "text speak" module on one of our courses but it was binned in about 2004 as the kids were going "sorry, what exactly is this?" Only us oldies even knew what it was all about.
Bbq1 · 22/10/2021 08:59

@LifeOfBriony

"Hope your well"
  • my what?
I see this all the time along with loose for lose and bare instead of bear. I also can't cope with "I done it'. My biggest bugbear of all is how some people type an entire post out without A SINGLE fullstop. The other is listing items without a comma. As a result, the posts don't make sense on first reading and I have to reread, mentally adding punctuation to understand . I know some people aren't great at spelling and that's fine but so many of these are basic rules of grammar.
CurryLover55 · 22/10/2021 09:01

I am literally having a heart attack! Literally is so overused & misused.

CurryLover55 · 22/10/2021 09:02

Aloud instead of allowed pops up on selling sites quite a bit

FudgeSundae · 22/10/2021 09:09

Ooh I have one! “I was balling”/“I balled”… no, you mean bawling/bawled, as in crying. Wtf is balling?!

KirstenBlest · 22/10/2021 09:23

@CurryLover55

I am literally having a heart attack! Literally is so overused & misused.
It literally makes whoever using it sound thick
KirstenBlest · 22/10/2021 09:24

And it literally isn't needed in literally every sentence. I am literally sick of thee word.

KirstenBlest · 22/10/2021 09:24

the not thee

LittleDandelionClock · 22/10/2021 09:28

@ElJardinDeLosSuenos

Is ‘cue’ not correct in this context, though?

“The child opened her birthday present - cue excited screaming as tickets to her favourite band appeared!”

In other words, the opening of the present was the cue, or signal, for what happened after. Like others, I’ve seen both ‘que’ and ‘queue’ used in this way, but either would be incorrect.

Yeah that is correct. Smile I have seen some people put 'I am in the que' or even 'I am in he cue' a few times (instead of in the queue.) Although tbf queue is a funny/awkward one to get right. As is yacht. I always have to check the spelling of balloon and tattoo too, as I am never quite sure how many Ls, Os, and Ts there are!!!

Also, I have never heard of swapped out for swapping something!

LittleDandelionClock · 22/10/2021 09:29

*I am in THE cue, not HE queue. Not a mis-spelling, but a typo! Grin

5zeds · 22/10/2021 09:31

You’ve not heard of dyslexia then? How ignorant. Have a little google.

brokenbiscuitsx · 22/10/2021 09:33

@wallysally

Yanbu and

" Web site "instead of "website"

And asking questions without a ? at the end really bug me too!
Grin

There was a whole post on here yesterday about having to commute to another work ‘sight’ and it was spelt ‘sight’ rather than ‘site’ the whole way through.

It took a lot not to post and say it was ‘site’ but then I thought I better not as Ill be called a grammar nazi or something.

Which, maybe I am Grin

ErrolTheDragon · 22/10/2021 09:46

" Web site "instead of "website"

For the life of me I can't see why that would annoy anyone. ConfusedThey're both perfectly comprehensible ways to refer to sites on the Web.
This wiki page uses both.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listoffwebsitesfoundeddbefore_1995

liveforsummer · 22/10/2021 09:52

@Chunkymenrock everyone's autocorrects are different as it's based on your personal commonly used words. They are also sometimes incredibly stubborn. I'll write the odd word and it decides I mean something else and change it. Sometimes I have to change it back 2-3 times or actually select it in the predictive box before I can move on. Of course I might not always notice. It did it in this post. Changed decides to decided twice both times I wrote it. It's a law unto it's self sometimes.

ErrolTheDragon · 22/10/2021 09:52

@RobertaFirmino

Why 'hate' Americanisms, though?

I never said I did. I was simply wondering. What I do hate is the unnecessary 'out' in 'swapped out'. Poor comprehension can be irritating too.

'Swapped out' can be used to convey that the first thing is being put aside in favour of the second. The main place I'm aware of it is in the context of computer memory management, where chunks of memory can be 'swapped out' to disk as others are 'swapped in'.
MindyStClaire · 22/10/2021 09:57

@Geamhradh? I fucking love you. Smile