and what not 为何译作“等等”？

有读者问：有这样一句话：

They ransacked his house and took away his books, clothes, typewriter, manuscripts, furniture and what not.

为什么 and what not 被译作“等等”?

and what not 形式上为否定，实义上则为肯定，故可译作“等等”。它是一种省略结构，在此相当于 and I don't know what else they did not take away。 其本意是：我不知道还有什么东西他们没有拿走。

与 and what not 相似的还有 or what not, and I don't know what, and （或 or）what have you， and God knows what 等。这些说法皆起源于美国口语，所以许多英国词典未予收纳。著名的《朗文当代英语词典》 （Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ）曾收入 and what not, 但在其后年版本中却又不见了。