MSGID: 1:153/716.0 0dd36754   
   REPLY: 2:221/6.0 60d43b94   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
   AK>  It's shame for me that I am so lazy and don't ask   
   AK>  you for more. :)   
      
      
             Your usual pace is about right for me.  I often wish I could answer   
   more messages, but there are only so many hours in a day.  :-Q   
      
      
      
   AK>  Maybe because of my melancholic mood last time.   
      
      
             ... while I was busy editing a rather lengthy document & not saying   
   much in E_T, so it all worked out.  I hope you're feeling better now, anyway.   
      
      
      
   AH>  Looking at the punctuation, I'd have written:   
   AH>  Do you have school tests on grammar rules etc.?   
      
   AK>  I'll try to remember it. Once upon a time I wanted   
   AK>  very much to learn English punctuation. ;)   
      
      
             It can be quite a challenge because at advanced levels US & British   
   conventions are different... and I've yet to find any resource which examines   
   both in the same degree of detail.  As a Canadian, however, I'm at liberty to   
   "mix & match" in my efforts to identify what works best for me... [wry grin].   
      
      
      
   AK>  Do you have a special rule on "etc."?   
      
                            [...]   
      
   AK>  If I say that question verbally, should I mention   
   AK>  the full stop after "etc"?   
      
      
             When we say "et cetera" aloud, we don't abbreviate it.   
      
             We do use various other abbreviations when we're speaking aloud.  In   
   some cases (e.g. RSVP) we spell out the initial letters.  In other cases (e.g.   
   GUI, pronounced "gooey") we treat abbreviations as if they were words....  :-)   
      
             While many sources regard "period" & "full stop" as synonymous, BTW,   
   my inclination is to think of a period as a punctuation mark (.) which is used   
   in various ways but may be called a "full stop" at the end of a sentence.  I'm   
   very careful to make such distinctions in my own writing.  However, it seems I   
   am often overruled because double spacing isn't allowed in programming jargon.   
   While it try to make my writing understandable to my audience, I am constantly   
   thwarted by programmers who believe they can make it more efficient... (sigh).   
      
      
      
    AH>  (While I've seen no evidence of it myself I imagine some   
    AH>  folks might argue that because the periods are often left   
    AH>  out of various other abbreviations nowadays they can leave   
    AH>  out the period with "etc." too.  And not evverybody agrees   
    AH>  about how to handle end punctuation in various cases).   
      
      
             Oops!  I added a sentence at the last minute there & probably should   
   have waited until the next day to post my reply.  I made two errors... but the   
   one which really matters, for purposes of this discussion, is the order of the   
   end punctuation.  "And... in various cases" belongs inside the parentheses, as   
   does the sentence immediately before it.  With corrections:   
      
         (While I've seen no evidence of it myself I imagine some   
         folks might argue that because the periods are often left   
         out of various other abbreviations nowadays they can leave   
         out the period with "etc." too.  And not everybody agrees   
         about how to handle end punctuation in various cases.)   
      
      
      
   AK>  Does AFAIC mean "As for me"? For instance, "AFAIC, I never   
   AK>  read yellow press".   
      
      
             The meaning is very much the same, but I'd use these alternatives in   
   different circumstances.  I'm reminded here of a quotation from the KJV of the   
   Bible in which Joshua explains what he intends to do regardless of what others   
   may or may not decide to do:  "Choose you this day whom ye will serve [...] as   
   for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  I figure he's making a personal   
   statement akin to your example.  But if you ask me to comment on what somebody   
   else has done or on a point of grammar I might say "AFAIC they should lock him   
   (or her) in jail & throw away the key" or "AFAIC you can say XXX or YYY".  :-)   
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)   
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