[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Does one "fail an exam" or "fail to pass an exam"?

One fails in an exam or one passes in an exam.
You could fail a test though.

There is no call for failing to pass an exam, or succeeding in passing an exam!

[ashish.uno]

I have observed that may people on this forum are using 'et al' as a replacement for 'etc.' It might seem in tune with times or even fashionable. However both are used in different contexts. For "et al" means "and others" and is invariably used for people.
For example the correct way to say would be "this scientific paper was published by Dr. Kalam, Dr. Saraswat et al."
It would be wrong to say "this scientific paper was published by Dr. Kalam, Dr. Saraswat etc."

Similarly it would be correct to say "I love modern hatchbacks like punto, i20 etc."
But it would be incorrect to say "I love modern hatchbacks like punto, i20 et al."

Hope this clears things a bit.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks!

this scientific paper was published by Dr. Kalam, Dr. Saraswat et al

From your example, I can see that this is something more likely to be experienced by those with academic studies, which explains why I never use it.

Both et al and etc are Latin, though, so neither could be said to be modern.

Latin has survived better in India than in Britain. Cum is the very common example in ordinary usage, but we see a lot of it in reports of legal procedings, with stuff like suo moto. In UK, even the lawyers have largely given up Latin.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Latin has survived better in India than in Britain.

Yes. In fact in our Parliament, English is spoken in Latin, since most of the English words have become 'unparliamentary'

Book of unparliamentary words guides ‘clean’ debate - Indian Express

[Thad E Ginathom]

...a bulky tome: Unparliamentary Expressions, published by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, whose 2004 edition runs into 900 pages.

Goodness! Nice article, thanks.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Latin has survived better in India than in Britain. Cum is the very common example in ordinary usage, but we see a lot of it in reports of legal procedings, with stuff like suo moto. In UK, even the lawyers have largely given up Latin.

I guess 'Habeas Corpus" is one latin phrase which has survived in all English speaking courts, USA, UK etc.

[sgiitk]

et al is now gradually been replaced by and coworkers.

To me the tome for the Queens English is Fowler's Modern English Usage.

[AVR]

et al is also used where the entire list has been mentioned once and hence doesn't require to be repeated while etc is primarily to mention there are others and arguably in a vague fashion.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

et al is now gradually been replaced by and coworkers.

To me the tome for the Queens English is Fowler's Modern English Usage.

Cow orkers!

(Or that's how I always pronounce it )

[carboy]

Chitale Bandhu Chivda gets a Engrish.com entry - From the makers of Baby Food | Engrish.com

[VeluM]

Frequently used:

Common - instead of "come on"
Loose - instead of lose
Costed - as the past tense of Cost

:P

[Thad E Ginathom]

Loose - instead of lose

Even the British can't get that one right. One of my regular mistakes.

[ike]

What exactly is the difference between "further up the road" and "down the road" and when are these words used ?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by ike

What exactly is the difference between "further up the road" and "down the road" and when are these words used ?

I think they mean the same, they are expressions like in the following video.

George Carlin- "Everyday Expressions" - YouTube

[VeluM]

People insist on using "costed". I hear it so often that I myself at times get confused :(