Is there ever a legitimate reason to use the word “firstly” rather than “first,” or “lastly” rather than “finally”?
Posted by Lyrissa Lidsky on December 17, 2010 at 07:51 PM
Comments
What we need to censure is “absolutely!” when the person means “yes.” And the Brits need to get over the abortion “Having said that, ….”
Posted by: jimbino | Dec 18, 2010 4:46:58 PM
“Firstly” is British English. Our colleagues at Oxford and Cambridge and elsewhere use it all the time; check out their publications and scholarly presentations. Strunk and White are both from the US; their preferences reflect American English.
Posted by: LLL | Dec 18, 2010 1:57:15 PM
Strunk & White FTW!
Posted by: Orin Kerr | Dec 18, 2010 1:47:22 PM
Use letters instead of numbers.
I recall the late Bill Buckley on TV with responses: “A,” … “B,” … “C” … and [then] “4,” …. etc. Buckley was a man of letters – and numbers.
Posted by: Shag from Brookline | Dec 18, 2010 6:53:15 AM
Strunk & White, The Elements of Style: “Secondly, thirdly, etc. Unless you are prepared to begin with firstly and defend it (which will be difficult), do not prettify numbers with -ly. Modern usage prefers second, third, and so on.”
Posted by: Lisa | Dec 17, 2010 9:32:25 PM
The better question is is there ever a legitimate reason to use “finally” rather than “last”?
Posted by: anon | Dec 17, 2010 8:04:13 PM