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common errors > caption(ed)  noun, countable


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Incorrect or non-standard usage, overuse etc

Dear Sir or Madam,

Order No. R5013D English Dictionaries

With reference to the captioned order, I regret to inform you....etc



The problem

 


'Hong Kong Engish'. A number of non-standard words, phrases and usages have come into being in Hong Kong. This is one of them. Although common enough in Hong Kong, it should be remembered that this is not standard English and the word is not used in this way anywhere else in the English-speaking world. Nor is Hong Kong English generally accepted as a valid variant of standard English.

If you need to refer to something that is written in the subject line of a document and you do not wish to repeat it, use 'the above (order etc)...'. However, remember that this sort of language is only used in formal business writing, never in general English.

In standard English a caption is a line of text that goes underneath an illustration and either describes or explains the illustration.


The text below this picture is a caption:


Suspicious-looking character in disguise on the Karakoram Highway, Pakistan. September 2001.



Standard English

Dear Sir or Madam,

Order No. R5013D English Dictionaries

With reference to the above order, I regret to inform you....etc


Dictionaries
Online dictionary links are available for the following words:


caption noun MacMillanCambridgeDictionary.comWiktionary




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