David K. Israel
4 Common Latin Abbreviations Finally Explained
by David K. Israel - June 15, 2009 - 5:48 AM

Lapis-niger.jpgThere are four Latin abbreviations that many people confuse and use incorrectly. (Don’t even get me started on those who say or write ect. instead of etc.—a teacher I had in high school did this all the time and it drove me nutso!)

I thought it would be smart to explain what each abbreviation means in Latin and give an example, just so we know we’re using each correctly, and in the right context.

Let’s start with the more obscure of the four, N.B.

1. N.B.

N.B. is the abbreviation for the Latin nota bene, which means note well. Use N.B. (or NB:) when you want someone to pay close attention to a particular sentence, caveat, parenthetical, etc. For example, NB: The views expressed in this writer’s post are not necessarily shared or endorsed by mentalfloss.com.

2. et al.

Et al. stands for et alia in Latin, or and others. Use it when you want to shorten a list of names. So if we were talking about all the bloggers who write for mentalfloss, we might write, Jason, Mangesh, Sandy Ransom, Stacy et al.

3. i.e.

In Latin, i.e. stands for id est, or that is. Use it in place of in other words when you want to clarify what you just wrote/said. For example: There are many blogs out there, but this one (i.e. mentalfloss.com) is far and away the most informative.

4. e.g.

Exempli gratia in Latin means for example. You want to use e.g. when you’re naming a specific instance, as in: I’ve enjoyed many of Chris Higgins’ posts on this blog (e.g. Daguerreotype Q&A, Old Computer Ads)

« Previous Post   -   Next Post »
Click here to get a Risk-Free issue of mental_floss magazine
Comments (11)

  1. Thank you for addressing a personal annoyance of mine. If you don’t know what something means or how to say it, don’t use it. It makes you seem dumber not smarter.

    posted by Alice on 6-15-2009 at 10:53 am

  2. This is how we were taught to remember when it was appropriate to use e.g. and i.e.

    e.g. – sounds like the begining of the word “example” (egg-zample)

    i.e. – we remembered as “in essence” – not the truth, but it works.

    posted by Amy on 6-15-2009 at 10:59 am

  3. Thanks for these! The mis-use drives me crazy, as well! Also AFFECT and EFFECT (not abbreviations, but still makes me nutz when people use them incorrectly). I keep a writer’s handbook at my desk just to be sure I use words, punctuation, abbreviations, etc. correctly. When in doubt, look it up!

    posted by Hyacinth on 6-15-2009 at 12:19 pm

  4. I was familiar with the other ones, but didn’t know NB until recently. It drove me nuts because I kept seeing it in internal reports. Finally I looked it up in Wikipedia. Thanks for putting it here though!!

    posted by Kate on 6-15-2009 at 2:41 pm

  5. Oooh cool!

    posted by patty cakes on 6-15-2009 at 3:33 pm

  6. QED is one of my favorites, but I have a hard time working it into conversation….so I usually don’t; QED I don’t have a good vocabulary!

    posted by Jamie on 6-15-2009 at 3:35 pm

  7. et. al. means “and other things” it’s neuter plural of alius, -a, -um

    others (people) would be et “alii”

    posted by jim mc nicholas on 6-15-2009 at 8:12 pm

  8. Yeah, ummm… I’m apparently one of the people you hate. I always used i.e. as “for example”, I am humbled. I’m sure it’s been discussed in this forum at some point, but I personally can’t stand “irregardless”.

    posted by Medium Jim Slade on 6-16-2009 at 9:40 am

  9. Yeah, these are things I try to make sure of getting correct. Especially etc. i.e. and e.g. and effect and affect. Though it doesn’t always happen.

    I’ve stopped being anal about perfect grammar though, and feel that as long as I get my point across then that’s what really matters.

    Now what bugs me, people spelling weird wrong. I’m prone to spelling words wrong, or worse correct spelling but the wrong word (e.g. their, there, they’re) but seeing WIERD really gets to me. Maybe because I see it more than I should.

    posted by Dazee on 7-21-2009 at 6:05 pm

  10. Apparently synonymous with i.e. is viz., which also means ‘that is…’. It is a contraction of the Latin ‘videlicet’. I am partial to ‘to wit…’

    posted by Brian on 8-2-2009 at 7:49 am

  11. Thanks for this list. You’ve covered some of my pet peeves. However, in today’s world of text/email spelling, we really can’t expect people to master Latin abbreviations if they can’t manage to understand the difference between “your” and “you’re.” **Sigh**

    posted by JLM on 3-15-2010 at 1:38 pm

Comment

commenting policy