Thread: The First Abbreviation ever Made?

could it be ETC for Et Cetera?
and is it just me that I always feel like spelling it this way ECT..rather then ETC because of the way it is pronounced?

Pronounced /et set-er-uh/ so etc. is fine.

hi candid...I pronounce it like this:
/e-xe-te-ra/...maybe because of the French in me....who knows.

You are pronouncing it correctly, but in French. The English pronunciation is as candid petunia says.

Pronounced /et set-er-uh/

for /Et-Ce-Tera/
in that case should not the spelling be 'ECT'?

The word is spelled 'etcetera'. The first three letters are E, T, C. Ergo, the abbreviation is etc.

from dictionary.com

Pronunciations with  [k] substituted for the first  [t]:  [ek-set-er-uh], or  [ek-se-truh], although occasionally used by educated speakers, are usually considered nonstandard.

if you break it down it is actually 4 syllables it works out Et Ce Te Ra.
I looked it up and it is spelt :

Et cetera (in English, /ɛtˈsɛtərə/ or /ɛtˈsɛdərə/; Latin pronunciation: [ɛt ˈkeːtɛra]) is a Latin expression that means "and other things", or "and so forth". It is taken directly from the Latin expression which literally means "and the rest (of such things)" and is a loan-translation of the Greek "καὶ τὰ ἕτερα" (kai ta hetera; "and the other things". The more usual Greek form is "καὶ τὰ λοιπά": "and the remainder"). Et means "and"; cētera means "the rest".

I am simply wondering why it is spelt not according to the way it is pronounced.

Originally Posted by Sam W

The word is spelled 'etcetera'. The first three letters are E, T, C. Ergo, the abbreviation is etc.

I have just realised youwent with the first three letters.
I was looking at it from a point of view of abbreviation.

Don't ! - Adam said it to Eve when she went to bite the apple...

Originally Posted by Bloggsworth

Don't ! - Adam said it to Eve when she went to bite the apple...

lol...
and what was the reply to that??

Originally Posted by Nacian

I have just realised youwent with the first three letters.
I was looking at it from a point of view of abbreviation.

That is what an abbreviation is. A shortened version of a word. It's usually, but not always, the first three or four letters of the word.

Oh I see.
I was thinking more along the lines of
NUT for National Union of Teachers although I would have put it this way NTU for National Teacher Union because it flows better.
another is SMT Senior Management Team.
I believed there was one set rule for abbreviations.
how strange.

'National Union of Teachers' is abbreviated to 'NUT' because there are four words in it. The beginning of each word, with the obvious exception of 'of', is used to make the abbreviation.

'Etcetera' is one word. Therefore, the first three of its letters are used for the abbreviation.

thank you Sam this actually really helps.
however it makes me think why the need to abbreviate one word?
sorry I do not mean to go on I just want to clear it up.
*goes off searching*

Originally Posted by Nacian

I have just realised youwent with the first three letters.
I was looking at it from a point of view of abbreviation.

Abbreviated, it is etc. et cetera

Originally Posted by Sam W

'National Union of Teachers' is abbreviated to 'NUT' because there are four words in it. The beginning of each word, with the obvious exception of 'of', is used to make the abbreviation.

'Etcetera' is one word. Therefore, the first three of its letters are used for the abbreviation.

et cetera is two words, last time I looked...

et - and
cetera - the rest