Etc = End of Thinking Capacity .  It’s important to be specific. Avoid using the following: • etc. • . • “and so on.” Etc = End of Thinking Capacity .  It’s important to be specific. Avoid using the following: • etc. • . • “and so on.” Etc = End of Thinking Capacity  Example: I am familiar with several programming languages: Java, C++, etc. If it’s not important to tell the reader which languages the writer knows then it’s better to write this way: I am familiar with several programming languages. If the writer wants the reader to know which languages he or she knows, then it’s better to write all of them: I know Java, C++, C#, and Perl. Etc = End of Thinking Capacity  Example: I am familiar with several programming languages: Java, C++, etc. Can you guess what other languages the writer knows? Does he know C#? Unless the reader knows the author, he can not know what “etc.” means in this sentence. What if the list is very long? Instead of: Even integers are numbers like 2, 4, etc. Write: Even integers are numbers like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. When you make the list longer, it’s easy for the reader to guess what comes next. What if the list is very long? Instead of: Many of the pioneers of computer science theory were mathematicians: Alan Turing, John Von Neumann . Write: Many of the pioneers of computer science theory were mathematicians. Examples include Alan Turing, John Von Neumann, Charles Babbage, and Donald Knuth. When you make the list longer, it’s easy for the reader to guess what comes next. About author Hans Anderson  2007-Present: Lecturer at FPT Greenwich Programmes, FPT University.  2007: M.S., Computational Mathematics, University of Minnesota  2001: B.A., Computer Science, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN . Etc = End of Thinking Capacity .  It’s important to be specific. Avoid using the following: • etc. • . • “and so on.” Etc = End of Thinking. following: • etc. • . • “and so on.” Etc = End of Thinking Capacity  Example: I am familiar with several programming languages: Java, C++, etc. If it’s