word usage - When to use "respectively"?



I have been wondering what it means when people use "respectively" in, before, and after sentences. For example:



We are looking for a babysitter to pick up and supervise our kids ages 6 and 3, respectively, on Monday and Friday.



I don't know if this person used it correctly, but if they did what does it mean? If they didn't use it properly what would be the proper usage?


Thanks in advance.



Answer



Respectively means 'in the order described'. I think this is a lovely example where one might make a number of interpretations concerning the author's intentions:


"We are looking for a babysitter to pick up and supervise our kids ages 6 and 3, respectively" could mean they want someone to pick up their 6-year old and supervise their 3-year old.


"...our kids ages 6 and 3, respectively, on Monday and Friday" could mean they want their 6-year old picked up and supervised on Monday and their 3-year old picked up and supervised on Friday.


I believe some people also use respectively simply to list individual items; "We have two kids, aged 6 and 3 respectively".


I'm not expert enough to say that this is incorrect use of the word, but it is certainly very ambiguous.


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