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e.g. - for example

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    e.g. - for example

    So, you're going through some computer-based training (or i-learning as these things have to be called now) for a new accounting system, and the help box says:

    "Type the first line of the address, e.g. 1ST FLOOR, CONEYBEARE HOUSE"

    What do you take that to mean?

    a) That you need to type 1ST FLOOR, CONEYBEARE HOUSE exactly as it appears, and nothing else, in order to pass the test

    b) That you need to type in the first line of an address, and that the system has helpfully suggested what that might look like

    ?

    Well the answer is (a).

    I had a bit of a row about this yesterday at work. But in the end, it was blamed on the software being from the US.

    USians don't really use "e.g." in that way, as a matter of course, do they/you?

    #2
    e.g. - for example

    Only dim ones, I bet. Same as here.

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      #3
      e.g. - for example

      It is indeed very annoying. They're muddling "ie" (id est, that is) up with e.g.

      There's nothing worse than being "wrong" but for the right reasons. In real life, no-one gives you the credit that you get for doing this in exams.

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        #4
        e.g. - for example

        I don't really understand this thread. But that's OK. I don't really understand much at the moment.

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          #5
          e.g. - for example

          Absolutely barking mad to this native New Yorker.

          I've NEVER seen it used that way.

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            #6
            e.g. - for example

            It sounded like a cop-out to me, thanks for confirming.

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              #7
              e.g. - for example

              It's just wrong, i.e., incorrect.

              Funnily enough, Grammar Girl has a piece on this topic.

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                #8
                e.g. - for example

                A far simpler way to avoid confusion is to not use the abbreviations at all. There's nothing wrong with writing "for example" rather than e.g. and there's nothing wrong with writing "that is" (or something similar) instead of i.e. Often people think that it shows them to be clever or intellectual by using the Latin abbreviations, but when they get it wrong they just look thick.

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                  #9
                  e.g. - for example

                  Hold yore horses. A bit of a pressident from the MASTER (and by master i do not mean beak chiz).

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                    #10
                    e.g. - for example

                    boris wrote:
                    Often people think that it shows them to be clever or intellectual by using the Latin abbreviations, but when they get it wrong they just look thick.
                    On a semi-related note, I have just been reminded of the time when Taki was writing his dreadful column for the Sunday Times years ago, and referred to himself as "a soi-disant anti-Semite". He thought that "soi-disant" meant "so-called" instead of "self-styled".

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                      #11
                      e.g. - for example

                      It does mean "so called" as well.

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                        #12
                        e.g. - for example

                        Surely only because so many people have misused it, though?

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                          #13
                          e.g. - for example

                          I suppose so but I think it's fairly longstanding. I learned the French word as meaning so-called 20 years ago.

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                            #14
                            e.g. - for example

                            TonTon wrote:
                            Surely only because so many people have misused it, though?
                            et sim par

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