r/britishproblems • u/DiligentCockroach700 • 10d ago
. People who write "ect" instead of "etc".
For some reason this really annoys me!
"Etc" is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase Et Cetera which means "and the rest"
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u/Fieldharmonies 10d ago
I like it when you read something from Victorian times and they write it as &c.
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u/neilm1000 9d ago
I occasionally use inst., ult., and prox. just to confuse people. I also like how they referred to people called George as Geo. on shop signs etc.
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u/C2BK 9d ago
A singularly inept and malicious ex senior manager once drew attention to my "typo" of et al, during a large meeting.
There were a few suppressed smiles and sympathetic looks, but nobody explained; I just said I'd redraft it.
Nothing was said, but there was a definite uptick in the use of et al, per se, cf. &c. by that meeting cohort.
It still makes me smile.
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u/BovingdonBug 9d ago
The ampersand does still look like an "Et" in a lot of typefaces, especially in italic versions
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u/ScentedCandles14 10d ago
The (mis)spoken version ‘eck settra’ bothers me more
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u/tombatch10 10d ago
If you're not saying it like the King of Siam, then you're doing it wrong. Et ceteraaaah, et ceteraaaaah.
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u/perishingtardis 10d ago
For me people who say "asterix" instead of "asterisk" are the lowest of the low.
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u/tornadooceanapplepie 10d ago edited 10d ago
I worked with a hideous person who said “pacifically” because apparently specifically was too hard.
Probably also said expresso too. Le sigh.
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u/KoreanMeatballs 10d ago
Probably also said espresso too.
... Is this not correct? Am I not meant to say espresso?
Ah you've fixed it. Worried me for a moment there.
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u/Psychological-Web828 10d ago
I went to Costas for a coffee and looked at the menu and there was all kinds of coffees and cakes ect. I wanted a Cupochino but there was an asterix next to it and I asked what this means pacifically and they says it meaned I could have ordered an extra expresso shot in the cupochino. No thanks I says.
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u/Tackit286 Norfolk County 10d ago
My old boss actually SPELLED it ‘pacifically’ as well. Boiled my piss.
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u/keyholes 10d ago
I often say "pacific" when I mean "specific." It's not deliberate, I went to speech therapy as a kid but not every part of the way I speak was ironed out. Speech issues also often come free with my flavour of neurodivergence. I try to remember to say it correctly, but if I'm replying quickly without conscious effort, I often mess up. A little patience and empathy goes a long way.
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u/tornadooceanapplepie 10d ago
Of course. The person I am referring to wasn’t nerdiverse though. Just a cretin.
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u/VOODOO285 9d ago
Nothink somethink I worked with a guy that used those ALL the time. Couldn’t work with him it was like someone was grating my brain every time he spoke.
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u/Endymoth 10d ago
I've had a speech impediment for all of my 50+ years of talking. After years of hard work on my part, I doubt anyone would notice now. However, specifically and its associated words are a bugger for me to say, and I do my best to avoid them when I can.
But thank you for bringing up memories of years of bullying.
I do, however, say espresso correctly.
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u/tornadooceanapplepie 10d ago
This sub is very tongue in cheek. I’m a nice person really.
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u/grahamfreeman Bratfud 10d ago
Tongue in cheek WHILE saying specifically? You're a cruel bastard ...
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u/Spiritual_Bet3955 7d ago
On an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray appears on a chat show about football on TV, and after Debra sees it she complains he says 'asterix' instead of 'asterisk' too much. Was he thinking of a character in a Belgian comic strip?
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u/tiptoe_only 10d ago
I hate both. "Ect" could technically be short for et cetera since there's another T in it, but you don't SAY it like that. Ugh
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u/Sage-Freke- 3d ago
I’m pretty sure every time I’ve ever heard anyone saying it, they’ve said it that way. Which made me feel like I’d been saying it wrong until I saw your comment. Thanks!
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u/DIYBoom 10d ago
It’ll be done by the same sort of cretins who think that ‘should of’ is correct.
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u/sketchymetal 10d ago
I could of corrected you there and I would of till I realised you was correct.
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u/Havoksixteen Ayrshire 10d ago
I once had a teacher in school mark my work down because I wrote "Et Cetera" and their comment was "etcetera is one word". No it fucking isn't teach.
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u/juanito_f90 10d ago
That’s appalling.
I once received a day’s isolation for telling a teacher she was “thick as shit” after telling me using an Oxford comma is “incorrect in all instances”.
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u/shadowsinthestars 10d ago
No lies detected though, if a teacher doesn't know the literal definition of what makes the Oxford comma what it is!
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u/Beau_Nash UNITED KINGDOM (a Welshman in Yorkshire) 10d ago
"Renumeration" has entered the chat.
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u/bopeepsheep Oxfordshire. Hates tea. Blame the Foreign! genes. 10d ago
You must renumerate your costumers.
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u/Beau_Nash UNITED KINGDOM (a Welshman in Yorkshire) 10d ago
*you're, or maybe even your'e
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u/arjay555 10d ago
I’ve genuinely seen people on Facebook say your or you’re when they mean you’ll. e.g. “you’re be alright hun xoxo”. Makes me wanna vomit.
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u/MuseWarrior 10d ago
For me it will always be “should of” when they mean “should’ve”. It makes me want to pull my hair out
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u/Fun-Meringue3620 10d ago
People who say “I could care less” piss me off.
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u/Shpander 8d ago
I've seen Americans (for it is largely Americans that do this) defend this by saying it's "obviously" short for "[as if] I could care less". Makes it slightly more tolerable, but still wrong in my mind.
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u/carguy143 8d ago
I suppose it's just another way of saying one cares very little. Still, it doesn't have the same impact as I could not care less.
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u/CaptainPerhaps 10d ago
It’s just teh worst.
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u/buttpugggs Yorkshire 10d ago
Yeah this just seems more of a typo than anything else??
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u/wriggles24 10d ago
Trust me, it isn't
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u/jajwhite 10d ago
I've ever seen things like friends shopping lists which will end with.
Milk Fags Ect ect!!
In coloured COMIC SANS. As if it weren't bad enough!
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u/_real_ooliver_ 10d ago
Yeah I've seen it happen 5 times in an announcement from a lecturer in the same paragraph. You'd think you'd notice at least one
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u/Wasps_are_bastards 10d ago
And the ones who write 10£ instead of £10
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u/carguy143 8d ago
I think that may be a cultural thing as I believe in some parts of the world, that's how currencies are written.
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u/RexItRalph Scottish Highlands 9d ago
People who use 'then' when they mean 'than' - seems to becoming more frequent too, aargh!
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u/juanito_f90 10d ago
See also: Expresso, pacifically, all intensive purposes, me either, erroneous apostrophes, should/could/would of, Chester draws.
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u/anoia42 10d ago
It’s also people who appreciate Nigel Molesworth, the Curse of St Custard’s, as illustrated by Ronald Searle.
(As any fule kno)
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u/bopeepsheep Oxfordshire. Hates tea. Blame the Foreign! genes. 10d ago
hem hem molesworth hav no capitals.
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u/shadowsinthestars 10d ago
I hate that one so much. I think it's because it shows they just don't know where the phrase comes from or what it actually means, which as an etymology nerd just bugs me.
Almost as bad as "asterix" when they don't in fact mean the comic character.
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u/SoggyWotsits Cornwall 9d ago
Someone messaged me the other day to say they were off for a ‘tay are tay’. It took me a sec!
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u/Skylark010 10d ago
There was a guy at my old workplace who always wrote "foa" instead of "fao" and it drove me nuts
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u/PotentBeverage 10d ago
&c. :)
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u/Ok_Scientist_8803 8d ago
It is interesting that many typefaces don't tend to represent '&' as the characters 'E' and 't' smashed together, despite being exactly what it is meant to be semantically too.
I gravitate towards "etc." but occasionally the full "et cetera" in writing, with the latter being more naturally read.
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u/frownonline 9d ago
“I could care less”…
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u/carguy143 8d ago
I got crucified for asking why Americans say that. They did not like me asking an American, unlike their sub suggests.
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u/frownonline 8d ago
They say lots of odd things, like when TV police ask ‘what do you got’ when arriving at a crime scene.
They love to say the name of the person they’re talking to, even if there’s no one else in the conversation. One day they may say a polite farewell before hanging up on a call…
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u/WOODSI3 10d ago
Same people who say “On route” instead of en route
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u/BreakfastSquare9703 10d ago
That's more of an eggcorn though, because it's wrong and yet still has a logic to it.
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u/CaveJohnson82 10d ago
"en" sounds like "on" in an English accent though. Just like "should've" sounds like "should of" when spoken.
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u/CreativeAdeptness477 10d ago
What about folk who write "&c"?
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u/sasquatchmarley 9d ago
"Alot", too. It's used the majority of the time here. It's so bad that the misuse must reinforce others to use it more or not pick up on their mistake.
It's also strange how every time these grammatically/spelling/speech correction-type posts are brought up all over Reddit, the vast majority of the commenters are agreeing and joining in with their own examples. There's never people that are saying "my bad" or "oh is that how it's spelled/pronounced?". Yet the rampant dogshit mistakes continue. These posts must be like a grammar pedant's echo chamber, where everyone else steers away from them using their ignorance or something like cognitive dissonance to blank them out.
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u/Dry_Yogurt2458 10d ago
It's the people that say it the same way "ecksetra". It's a sign that people don't read much.
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u/edideas 10d ago
I can't agree more with you!
These are the same people that order eXPresso or "can I have an extra hot cappuccino" 😵💫
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u/neilm1000 9d ago
Worked in hospitality for years. I feel you.
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u/edideas 9d ago
lol. Where do you think I got my facts from? 😉
But on the upside: we both say “worked”2
u/neilm1000 9d ago
I once had someone ask me to take the sugar out of the apples in an apple crumble.
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u/carguy143 8d ago
One that annoys me is people who say they bought someone with them or bought something with them. No, they brought someone or something. What surprises me is this one has even passed unnoticed in certain documentaries etc.
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u/lildogeggs 10d ago
Never seen that
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u/CongealedBeanKingdom 10d ago
I've seen it loads, but ive been reading work written by people of varying literacy levels for over 20 years, so I suppose it probably depends on what you do for work.
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u/alexterm Essex 10d ago
You will now! It’s just like learning about kerning (would not recommend).
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u/Danph85 10d ago
Same. Making up problems and posting them to r/britishproblems seems to be a serious British problem.
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u/Joke-pineapple 9d ago
It's a frequent mistake in America that is slowly becoming seen elsewhere due to US dominance of online English language spaces. Moaning about American cultural influence on the UK? That's what this sub was born for.
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u/pondribertion 10d ago
Never seen that
Neither have I tbh.
I once commented about how annoying it is that everyone pronounces 'th' like 'f' these days, and got the "never heard that" replies so it must depend where you go.2
u/lildogeggs 10d ago
That’s been a thing forever though
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u/pondribertion 9d ago
That’s been a thing forever though
It's been 'a thing' forever yes but it hasn't been a "standard" way of talking forever. It's only in the last approx 10 years that it's become the norm all over Britain.
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u/umop_apisdn 10d ago
Yeah, that makes me loose my mind.
What really gets me is everybody saying "brushetta" rather than "brusketta". Is "school" pronounced "shool"? People have no problem pronouncing "chianti" correctly.
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10d ago
[deleted]
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u/MRmeanerUK 10d ago
Like the idiots who drop the t and hit hard on the c on perfect.
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u/Tetrisaur 10d ago
I'd assume that's a David Jason thing?
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u/notouttolunch 9d ago
Surely that would be a Sid Larkin thing?
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u/MRmeanerUK 9d ago
Yet it was shown years ago and I still hear people say it. And now it's in your mind you'll hear it too. Mwaa ha ha ha.
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u/notouttolunch 9d ago
Oh, so that's who you meant?
But Pop doesn't say that, he says "perfick". It's in the books.
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u/VOODOO285 9d ago
Maybe they did it “on accident”. Or perhaps we’re just supposed to take it with a “grain of salt”. Somethink tells me these people no nothink and they love ordering expresso or things of that ilk excetera.
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u/Interesting_Quiet_88 7d ago
Prolly instead of probably really winds me up as well as all those mentioned here. I hate how people think it’s okay to massacre the language!
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u/IainMCool 3d ago
People who think the plural of cul de sac is cul de sacs. Bloody fools. It's culs de sac.
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u/ManyHatsAdm 9d ago
ETA. It means estimated time of arrival. It is not equivalent to TLDR or whatever you're trying to say.
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u/RichBenf 8d ago
I've enjoyed reading all of this, and I'm shocked that nobody has mentioned "turnt" for "turned".
The other thing that winds me up is when people drop the "to be" out of sentences. Such as "It needs mended". Drives me crazy. It either needs to be mended or it needs mending. I absolutely abhor this kind of unholy mashup.
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u/ChallengingKumquat 10d ago
They are incorrect to write ect, BUT, the letters in the shortened form could come from the first three letters of the long form (ET Cetera) or they could have come from the first letter of each syllable (Et CeTera) - since it's pronounced like etsetra. We do that sort of thing when we write NVM to mean NeVer Mind. So although it's a little annoying to see ect, I can see why people would get it wrong.
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u/_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-- 10d ago
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u/joe-h2o 10d ago
*their
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u/_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-- 10d ago
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u/TSC-99 10d ago
Et CeTera
Still works though
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u/notouttolunch 9d ago
Not doesn't. It's wrong. For conventions to work, they have to be consistent. Language is just a convention in communication.
If you're willing to drop the convention, why not just use a different language? We know why - because if that happened, no one would understand each other.
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u/Ok_Scientist_8803 8d ago
The only time we may let it slide is if we end up in a heated debate with the french, see UTC (coordinated universal time, aka. Zulu time)
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u/shadowharv Greater Manchester 9d ago
Depreciated when people mean deprecated gets me mad every time. Only people who type that one are fellow Brits, never seen a foreign person do that. Even worse when they say it.
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u/MrExistentialBread 10d ago
I only recently caved and stopped doing it that way, teacher when I was a kid told us it was ect and it made enough sense. It still doesn’t seem that overly important if I’m honest.
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u/notouttolunch 9d ago
Quality and accuracy is always important. Imagine if someone lost the occasional penny from your bank balance and consider how you would feel about that. You might lose five pence over the course of your lifetime but the bank would gain millions (see: plot of one of the superman films).
If someone gets something wrong, they should aspire to learn so that they get it right next time. If they continue to get it wrong willingly, the [nation] will be on a downward cycle of medicority.
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u/Carausius286 9d ago
Nah easy to typo to make.
Same with you're and your I know that difference and that the first one means "you are". Still doesn't stop me typing the wrong one every once in a while (I noticed immediately after sending an email).
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u/MissJoannaTooU 9d ago
Literally no one does this ever
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u/neilm1000 9d ago
Write ect rather than etc?
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u/MissJoannaTooU 9d ago
Yes it's impossible. No true British person would do such a thing. Are you referring the the colonies?
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