_Ampers &._ (Vol. ii., pp. 230. 284.; Vol. viii. _passim_).--MR. INGLEBY
may well ask what "and-per-se-and" can mean. The fact is, this is itself a
corruption. In old spelling-books, after the twenty-six letters it was
customary to print the two following symbols with their explanations
&c. et cetera.
& (per se), and.
Children were taught to read the above "et-cee, et cetera" and "et-per-se,
and." Such, at least, was the case in a Dublin school, some ninety years
ago, where my informant, now many years deceased, was educated. As _se_ was
not there pronounced like _cee_, but like _say_, there was no danger of
confounding the two names. In England, where a different pronunciation of
the Latin word prevailed, such confusion would be apt to occur; and hence,
probably, English teachers substituted _and_ for _et_; from which, in
course of time, the other corruptions mentioned by MR. LOWER were
developed.