usage of "and so on"

Status
Not open for further replies.

popri

Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan
I think Japanese people have a tendency to say "and so on" so often when they speak English.
e.g.) I like chocolate, cookies, and so on.

But I feel "and so on" is more used in writing English.

I feel native speakers would say "and everything" and “something like that", instead.
Is it OK to use "and so on" in every day conversation?

Thank you in advance.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
A Japanese speaker suggested to me that it was a form of strategic ambiguity, and said she used it a lot in English and Japanese as a catch-all in case things were missing.
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Yes, and so on is used frequently in conversation, at least in AmE. I would not use it in your example sentence though.
 

Charlie Bernstein

VIP Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I think Japanese people have a tendency to say "and so on" too often when they speak English.
(e.g. I like chocolate, cookies, and so on.)

But I feel "and so on" is more used in written English. Could be.

I feel native speakers would say "and everything" [yes] and “something like that" [no], instead.
Is it OK to use "and so on" in everyday conversation? Yes. It's fine.

Thank you [Don't say "in advance." It's obviously in advance!].

Much more tragic are the rampant use of the faux-erudite "et cetera" and the knuckle-dragging "and stuff like that." Avoid them at all costs.

Now look up the difference between "every day" and "everyday." They have very different meanings.
 

popri

Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan
Dear GoesStation:

Thank you for writing me.
You said that you would not use the phrase in my example sentence.
Could you please tell me some examples, then?
 
Last edited:

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Dear GoesStation:

Thank you for writing me.
You said that you would not use the phrase in my example sentence.
Could you please tell me some examples, then?

You could say something like "I like chocolate, cookies, and all kinds of sweets."
 

popri

Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan
Thanks to all of you.
I think I understand now.
By the way, what's nuckle-dragging?
I couldn't find it in the dictionary.
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Try looking up knuckle-dragging here.
 

bubbha

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2016
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
Taiwan
"and so on" is overused by native Chinese speakers when they write or speak English because 1) the equivalent Chinese phrase 等等 is used more often in Chinese than its equivalent in English, and 2) the Chinese word 等, which usually simply marks the end of a list, is often translated as "etc." or "and so on".

My two peeves are the following:

"including A, B, C, and so on" ("including" implies an incomplete list, making "and so on" redundant.)
"A, B, and C etc." ("etc." includes within it the meaning "and", so the first "and" is redundant.)
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Maybe we need to improve our translations to ignore 等 as a list marker.
 

popri

Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan
Dear Rover_KE :

Thank you for writing.
I feel I'm so stupid, but I finally understand thanks to you.
I just didn't make sense why "knuckel-dragger" meant a stupid or loutish person,
but the word describes the way gorillas walk. Right? What a word!
And I do use "stuff like that." very often.:oops:

等 or 等々(=等等)is also used in Japanese. That's why Japanese people very often use "etc." and " and so on."
But I think it important to remember the havit of saying some sort of phrases like this in our mother tongue doesn't fit to other language.
Thanks again, all of you.
 

SoothingDave

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
If "and so on" bothers you all, I wonder what you would make of the people in my dialect that pepper their sentences with:

'n'at
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
If "and so on" bothers you all, I wonder what you would make of the people in my dialect that pepper their sentences with:

'n'at

I had to Google that one.

I knew an older lady who grew up as an Anglophone in Montreal. Her verbal tic was "...kind of thing," added to the end of pretty much any statement.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
I just didn't make sense why "knuckle-dragger" meant a stupid or loutish person,
but the word describes the way gorillas walk. Right?

I think the idea is that the person is like a less developed human, like a Neanderthal, Homo Habilis, etc- probably somewhere between a gorilla and a human. :up:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top