[OT] "i.e." and "e.g." [was: svn commit: r12801 ...]

[Julian Foad <ju...@btopenworld.com>]

Peter N. Lundblad wrote:
> On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 kfogel@collab.net wrote:
>>All instances of "i.e." above should be "e.g.".
> 
> OH, well, I never understood the difference.

These are both abbreviations of Latin expressions.  You are free to write in 
English instead. :-)

"e.g." ("exempli gratia") means "for example".

"i.e." ("id est") means "that is", and so is used to specify the particular 
thing that you are talking about.  It is similar to "viz." ("videlicet"), 
meaning "namely".

For example:
   "Bring some alcohol, e.g. beer, to the party."
   "I see you brought your favourite drink, i.e. beer."

- Julian

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