Saturday, July 3, 2010

i.e. versus e.g.

I really didn't know there was a difference between i.e. and e.g. before today. Turns out that there is. I.e. is Latin for id et and e.g. is Latin for exempli gratia. So, you use i.e. when you want to say "in other words" and you use e.g. when you want to say "for example."

I = in other words and E = example.

If you said "I really like playing board games (i.e. Settlers of Catan and Risk)," that would mean "I like to play only Settlers of Catan and Risk." If you said "(e.g. Settlers of Catan and Risk)" that would mean "I like to play games like Settlers of Catan and Risk."

You can read more about this at this website. I am sure that I've made this mistake many times before.

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