I am working on history project and found this closing line on official letters dating back to 1930s.
Does anyone know what it actually mean / stands for?
thanks for your help!
2007-09-16 23:06:51 · 2 answers · asked by benastrada 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Other - Education
It dates from the days when men would sign off their letters 'I am your most obedient servant, Ebenezer Scroggins' and they later realized that was silly so shortened it to '&c' which is a form of 'etc'
2007-09-16 23:16:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
Yes. In that era, endings were very complicated. "Yours truly" is a late invention. So the "I am &c. (etc.)" was used informally to shorten someting like "I am your humble servant, ever willing to do your bidding." This wouldn't make sense if writing to a friend, it was just a polite ending and everyone knew the writer didn't mean it.
2007-09-16 23:17:22 · answer #2 · answered by Elaine P...is for Poetry 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋