Re: including "and so on" in a "such as" list ...

[Robin Whitmore <rwhitmore -at- weebly -dot- com>]

I think in these days of more casual writing, and the audience becoming
more used to that, using "and so on," or even "etc." is not a bad thing. In
fact, in reading your sentences about wild animals, I definitely noticed
the difference between the two, and had a better understanding in the first
sentence that there are quite a few more animals to be aware of. So if your
SMEs feel strongly that readers need to have that understanding of "more,"
then there's no reason to not include "and so on." Especially if it
clarifies.

On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 8:14 AM, Lesli Ritchie <Lesli -dot- Ritchie -at- mediware -dot- com>
wrote:

> Hi Monique,
>
> I agree with you that it's not necessary to add "and so on." It's
> redundant and (at least in my humble opinion) sounds a little hokey.
>
> -Lesli
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lesli -dot- ritchie=mediware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lesli -dot- ritchie=mediware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
> On Behalf Of Monique Semp
> Sent: Friday, December 04, 2015 11:12 AM
> To: TechWR-L
> Subject: including "and so on" in a "such as" list ...
>
> Hello, WR-L-ers,
>
> I know (?) that itâs incorrect to end a list preceded by âsuch asâ with
> âand so on.â After all, the âsuch asâ list, by definition, doesnât include
> the complete list of possibilities. But Iâve had more than one reviewer
> want to include âetc.â so that itâs explicitly stated and doubly-clear that
> not everything is included in the list.
>
> By way of example: âBe careful when approaching wild animals, such as
> wildebeests, unicorns, elephants, and so onâ, instead of the correct form,
> âBe careful when approaching wild animals, such as wildebeests, unicorns,
> and elephants.â
>
> How awful is it to include the âand so onâ to make sure that the sentence
> is clear for readers who arenât likely to notice/know the rule about âsuch
> asâ vs. âthat isâ (e.g., vs. i.e.)?
>
> -Monique
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and
> content development | http://techwhirl.com
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as Lesli -dot- Ritchie -at- mediware -dot- com -dot- 
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications?  Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions?  Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and
> content development | http://techwhirl.com
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as rwhitmore -at- weebly -dot- com -dot- 
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications?  Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions?  Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>



-- 
*Robin Whitmore*
Senior Tech Writer
Weebly
460 Bryant Street, #100
San Francisco, CA 94107
rwhitmore -at- weebly -dot- com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and content development | http://techwhirl.com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications?  Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions?  Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives