[Accujack]

>"&c" is the archaic form of "etc", the ampersand being a ligature of "et" - Latin for "and".

"etc" is an abbreviation for and contraction of "et cetera", Latin for "and so on". "&c" is, I think, an artifact of a particular time in history when writing skills were spreading rapidly but the process of writing itself was cumbersome and time consuming, necessitating macro-type abbreviations like that. It's not particularly archaic.

[Pigalowda]

It is Latin shorthand created by Cicero’s educated slave, Tiro. The system was created to record senate meetings and conversations for Cicero to go over later.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tironian_notes

[musicale]

> the ampersand being a ligature of "et"

I have been noticing recently that certain ampersands contain (to me) very clearly readable "et" abbreviations, while others are more stylized.

[noduerme]

>> a particular time in history when writing skills were spreading rapidly but the process of writing itself was cumbersome

I feel like I'm previewing the 22nd Century's review of "LOL", "WTF" and "THOT".