This is an essay on the overuse of "respectively".

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

WP:RESPECTIVELY‎

The following article on "respectively" appeared in the original edition (1926) of Modern English Usage by H.W. Fowler, p. 500. Its copyright has expired and it is now in the public domain. I couldn't put it better. The original was tightly formatted; I have reformatted it for legibility. --Macrakis (talk) 00:17, 1 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Respectively

respective(ly). Delight in these words is a wide-spread but depraved taste ; like soldiers & policemen, they have work to do, but, when the work is not there, the less we see of them the better ; of ten sentences in which they occur, nine would be improved by their removal. The evil is considerable enough to justify an examination at some length ; examples may be sorted into six groups:

A, in which the words give information needed by sensible readers ;
B, in which they give information that may be needed by fools ;
C, in which they say again what is said elsewhere ;
D, in which they say nothing intelligible ;
E, in which they are used wrongly for some other word ; &
F, in which they give a positively wrong sense.

A. Right Uses

There are two other chapters in which Strauss & Debussy take respectively a higher & a lower place than popular opinion accords them.

But for r., the reader might suppose that both composers were rated higher on some points & lower in others ; r. shows that higher goes with Strauss, & lower with Debussy.

That training colleges for men & women respectively be provided on sites at Hammersmith & St Pancras.

But for r. he might take both colleges to be for both sexes ; r. shows that one is for men & the other for women.

This makes it quite possible for the apparently contradictory messages received from Sofia & Constantinople respectively to be equally true.

R. shows that the contradiction is not, e.g., between earlier & later news from the Near East, but between news from one & news from the other town.

B. Foolproof Uses

The particular fool for whose benefit each r. is inserted will be defined in brackets.

Final statements are expected to be made today by Mr Bonar Law & M. Millerand in the House of Commons & the Chamber of Deputies respectively

(r. takes care of the reader who does not know which gentleman or which Parliament is British, or who may imagine both gentlemen talking in both Parliaments)

The Socialist aim in forcing a debate was to compel the different groups to define their r. attitudes

(the reader who may expect a group to define another group's attitude)

It is very far from certain that any of the names now canvassed in Wall Street will secure the nomination at the r. Republican & Democratic Conventions

(the reader who may think Republicans & Democrats hold several united conventions)

We have not the smallest doubt that this is what will actually happen, & we may discuss the situation on the footing that the respective fates of these two Bills will be as predicted

(the reader who has read the prediction without sufficient attention to remember that it is double)

C. Tautological Uses

After each is given in brackets the expression or the fact that makes r. superfluous.

Having collected the total amount, the collector disburses to each proper authority its r. quota

(each ... its)

He wants the Secretary for War to tell the House in what countries they are at present stationed, & the numbers in each country respectively

(each)

Madame Sarah Bernhardt & Mrs Bernard Beere respectively made enormous hits in 'As in a Looking Glass'

(hits, plural)

The October number of the Rassegna is chiefly remarkable for the r. articles of the Marchese Crispolto Crispolti on Pope Benedict V & the War & by the Marchese Colonna di Cesarò on Zionism & the Entente

(the mention of each article immediately after its author's name)

In the Preussische Jahrbücher for May the most noteworthy articles are those respectively by Werner Weisbach, who writes on Germany in modern Italian political criticism, & by Professor Hans Delbruck, who contributes an extremely interesting comparison between...

(as in the last).

D. Unintelligible r.

The writing-room, silence-room, & recreation-room, have respectively blue & red arm-chairs.

A certain estate is for sale ; its grounds border three main roads, namely, Queen's, Belmont, & King's respectively.

E. r. for Another Word

The writers of these mean no more than both (to be placed in the second after Fellow).

The two nurses' associations respectively organized in Scotland make no secret of their membership.

He was a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, & of the University of London respectively.

F. Reversal of Sense

It is recognized that far too little is known by Englishmen & Americans about their r. countries; in this country there is only one lectureship on American history, & that is at King's College, Strand.

This can only mean that Englishmen know too little of England, & Americans know too little of America—which is no doubt true, but is not the truth that the writer wished to convey ; 'about each other's countries' would have served both writer & reader.

The simple fact is that respective{ly) are words seldom needed, but that pretentious writers drag them in at every opportunity for the air of thoroughness & precision they are supposed to give to a sentence.

Wikipedia:Respectively