• Vanth@reddthat.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    9 months ago

    When to use “i.e.” versus “e.g.”. I have to think through the full Latin phrases every time.

    • xor@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      9 months ago

      my mnemonics are:
      e.g. = egxample, i.e. = in eother words

    • lars@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      9 months ago

      I think writers and readers both stumble over them. I avoid both altogether these days.

      • Vanth@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        9 months ago

        That’s fair. Had an opportunity to use “e.g.” today but just said “for example” instead.

        I had another interesting one. Reviewing a document someone else wrote that said an old thing was “grandfathered” in and the document didn’t apply to it. A Chinese-american coworker (who has been speaking English for decades) didn’t know that one, “grandfathered”. Another unnecessary term when “previously approved” or “previously authorized” would be so much clearer.

        This is all reminding me of a Wikipedia article I stumbled on ages ago about people who want English kept “pure” to Germanic and early modern English roots. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_purism_in_English. E.g. (lol), saying birdlore instead of ornithology, and bendsome instead of flexible.