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I lament the loss of this "word"? And does a period belong at the end? There are other abbreviations that seem to have gone by the wayside that were commonly used, viz: e.g., i.e., etc. (now spelled ect. [sic] for some odd reason and sic.

I still use them, but since they have their source in abbreviations for academic writings, especially footnotes, I try to make sure I use them in a context of people who would be expected to know them. They save time and space.

Well, if etc., in things you read is now commonly spelled ect., that is just plain 100% totally and absolutely wrong. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Period.

I often see e.g. and i.e. used in my readings, both with and without the periods. That seems to be a change occurring in English now.

I suspect ect. is mere typo transposition. On the other hand, a lot of people now say and write "quite" for "quiet," which I blame on not teaching phonics. Grates on me as badly as unnecessarily split infinitives.

Perry: or "your" for "you are". But I do NOT understand the bias concerning split infinitives. I think the only reason English teachers have stressed that is because they wanted to emulate the classic language of Latin in which, since the infinitives were only one word, were impossible to split, but we English speakers are free of those shackles and thus are allowed to glorify the language by uttering words immortal such as "to boldly go where no man has gone before".

I think it quite copacetic to very carefully split infinitives to make sure the expression conveys a more exact meaning. The principle applies to other verb forms as well. The overarching principle is first, what communicates best, and second what sounds best. I just read a local biography written by a journalist that sounds (silently) atrocious. His writing is not even good journalese, though there was nothing wrong with the grammar.

Perry, I am loving it, your: "to very carefully split infinitives".

To bravely go or to go bravely, that is the question.

No. Just go.