Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

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Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

It was the coup de’grace of et all!...or was it?

Over the years, I have seen the words “coup de’grace” and “et all.” One day fine day, I decided to look them up and see how they were to be correctly used; unfortunately, I could not find either of them! Perhaps I am spelling them wrong? (Which could very well be the case with “coup de’grace, but I am certain that is how I say “et all” spelt.)

Can someone please tune me in on if these are even words and if so the correct way of spelling and using them?

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jenga, try:

"coup de grace" and
"et al" or "et al." (with or without the period, that is).

You'll find the first comes from French and the second comes from Latin. To the best of my recollection they mean, respectively, "decisinve blow" and "and others." "Et al" is actually an abbreviation from the Latin "et alli."

speedwell2 Feb-16-2004

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blech. "decisive." Darn it, I win spelling bees all over the place and then forget to pay attention to spelling ever after. :)

speedwell2 Feb-16-2004

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"et al" is a shortened form of "et alia" which means, basically, "and all the rest." If you want to talk about a group, but not list all its members, that's what you use. For example:

The thing I like most about Hollywood superstars (Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, et al) is the way they...

Bad example. I couldn't even think of anything to finish that sentence.

carriegood1 Feb-27-2004

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Both are frenchy expressions, the first one could have 2 meanings : In a game, a sports or... when you mark the ultimate point which will give you the victory
or
when you give the death to anyone after a fight or because he ask you to do it, it could be the same for a pets or an animal etc...
The second one ( et All) means "et tout" in French and in English "everything" or the expression " ...things like that!"
Frenchy promess!!

Alex1 Mar-02-2004

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I thought coup de grace was a fencing word that meant final or deadly thrust or blow
how about coup d' itet (or nearly) meaning about the same

Maurdi Jun-08-2004

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Maurdi:

You mean "coup d'état", and it means something completely different:

It means a violent overthrowing of a government.

A "cutting off [the head] of a State"

David

David5 Aug-30-2004

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Are you sure? I believed that et al. means "et alii" in Latin....

Michael2 Dec-02-2004

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hey i need to know the word coup de grace means? and the a has a ^ above it so aneone know? its for school so plz tell me thnks cya!!

calumroberts Mar-03-2005

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The ^ above a letter is called a 'circumflex accent'; the one you can type with your keyboard is called a 'caret'.

A coup de grâce literally translates as 'stroke of mercy', and means a finishing blow.

Persephone_Imytholin Mar-03-2005

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When speaking English, rather than French, the accent is optional. Use it or don't use it, but pick one and be consistent throughout your document.

speedwell2 Mar-03-2005

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I hate French, at school I DELIBERTLY tried NOT to learn it(then again, fluent in German, Greek, Old and 'Vulgar' Latin, know a lot of Chinese(Mandrin), etc).

So you first of, 'et al', is a shortened ersion of 'et alli', and means literally 'and all', many people think it means 'and evrything', but this would be et 'et omni(a)'.

As for 'Coup de grace', to my best knowledge on this repulsive language, it means 'moment of mercy', or 'act of mercy', as with many languages it is not easy to translate directly. As a lecturer, I would ignore any Frenh refernces(as a matter of fact, according to marking criteria, am supposed to 'ignore' any 'quotes' in French, Latin 'et al'!).
Good luck, one piece of advice is in your essays please try and NOT use such expressions as they will not win you marks. It would be to your benefit to use the vernacular(native) language eligantly rather then these expressions. Latin, as much as I love, is really rarley used in ANY marking criteria.

Good luck!

craighudson1970 Apr-02-2005

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