One of the blogs I read, Copyblogger, posted an article on common mistakes made when writing. One of the things they wrote about was the use (or misuse!) of the Latin abbreviations i.e. (id est) and e.g. (exempli gratia). Here’s what they had to say about the abbreviations:
6. i.e. vs. e.g.
Ah, Latin… you’ve just gotta love it. As antiquated as they might seem, these two little Latin abbreviations are pretty handy in modern writing, but only if you use them correctly.
The Latin phrase id est means “that is,” so i.e. is a way of saying “in other words.” It’s designed to make something clearer by providing a definition or saying it in a more common way.
Copyblogger has jumped the shark, i.e., gone downhill in quality, because Brian has broken most of his New Year’s resolutions.
The Latin phrase exempli gratia means “for example”, so e.g. is used before giving specific examples that support your assertion.
Well! I feel rather silly. I’ve been using these two abbreviations incorrectly for a long time. I thought both of them meant essentially, “for example.” Apparently I was wrong!
I don’t know where I learned it – perhaps it was ages ago in elementary school, or on one of the countless websites I’ve read over the years – but I had it in my head that the abbreviation i.e. stood for “in example.” Apparently, that’s not the case.