The sj.com crew has one of it's regular threads on writing that makes people mad, called Sportswriting pet peeves in 15 words or less. What always surprises me about these threads is the number of things cited that appear everywhere regularly. I wonder if the perpetrators ever learn anything from them. I chime in on my continuing crusade against the unnecessary use of respective and respectively.
Monday, February 14, 2005
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2 comments:
you have convinced me about "respectively"; I vow never to use it again.
One question -- I checked the grammar books (Fowler, Garner), and they say things like "9 times out of 10" the word is unnecessary. What is the one? where it is necessary?
Ted: Over the years, I have run across a very few examples where without the word, it might be confusing as to which name in a series owned which stat (or whatever). I wish I could give you a concrete example; basically, it's an example of knowing it when you see it. If you really feel that it won't be clear without "respectively," then go ahead (or, perhaps better yet, restructure the sentence to make things clearer without it).
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