What is the difference between 'ie' and 'eg'?

Blog reader Fritz asks:

I realised just recently that I have been using ‘eg’ and ‘ie’ as though they were interchangeable, yet I have a nagging suspicion that this isn’t the case. Can you enlighten me?

The two Latin abbreviations do indeed have subtly different meanings –  eg stands for ‘exempli gratia’, which means ‘for example’ while ie stands for ‘id est’, which means ‘that is’.

The first would be used as you might expect, to give an example: ‘He enjoyed romantic comedies, eg When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless In Seattle.’

The second would be used to signal some added detail such as a clarification, definition or metaphor: ‘He thought a life without romantic comedies would be like a blunt pencil, ie pointless.’

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Author: em-admin

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