It’s been a while since we last flexed our grammar muscles here at the last word. And since few things are more gratifying than showing off for the ladies, here’s the latest exercise in pedantry: e.g. versus i.e. (Hint: they’re not interchangeable.)
e.g. is short for exempli gratia, a Latin phrase that means “for example”
i.e. stands for id est, which is Latin for “that is”
You see? Both serve to clarify, but each has a different meaning. The surest way to avoid eliciting scorn* from the nearest know-it-all, therefore, is to stick with the English.
*Check out the 1995 film Get Shorty to see what I mean. Or click here to read the actual quote, which includes an F-bomb here and there.
UPDATE: “&c.” is simply a variant of “etc.”—the “&” a sort of ligature formed by the joining of “e” and “t.”
by Curtis Smith