Latin Abbreviations
PROGRAM: “IN A WORD”
EPISODE: LATIN ABBREVIATIONS
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Candace Hastings with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
For a dead language, Latin still exerts an awful lot of influence on how we write and speak English.
In particular, we still use a number of abbreviated Latin words and phrases, and those abbreviations sometimes cause confusion.
Two of the most common abbreviations, a.m. and p.m. for ante meridiem and post meridiem, are seen so often that you may not even register the fact that they’re abbreviations. Another common Latin abbreviation is “e-t-c” for et cetera. In Latin the phrase means, “and others.” It’s used at the end of a list to suggest there are more items that you don’t intend to mention, as in “You should study the parts of speech: nouns, verbs, prepositions, etc.” Because “etc” is used as part of a list, it’s preceded by a comma, and because it’s an abbreviation, it’s followed by a period.
Two other common (and often confused) Latin abbreviations are “i.e.” and “e.g.” “I.e.” stands for id est or “that is” and introduces words that clarify your meaning. You can replace it with “in other words” or “that is to say.” For instance, you might write, “She went to Fish Camp, i.e., the Aggie version of freshman orientation.” The abbreviation “e.g.” stands for exempli gratia which introduces an example. So you could say, “Students should get involved in activities, e.g. student government or sports.” One way to differentiate between these two very similar abbreviations is to think of “e.g.” as standing for “example given” and “i.e.” as “in essence.”
Many more Latin abbreviations can be found in academic writing. For instance, “ibid” is probably familiar to anyone working in a discipline that uses The Chicago Manual of Style. Specifically, ibid is used in footnotes to indicate that you’re referring back to the same source mentioned in the previous note. It’s short for ibidem, which means “in the same place”. While you see abbreviations like this in footnotes, you won’t see many in the main text of an academic article, since abbreviations tend to be seen as informal–and, therefore, are inappropriate in formal academic prose.
In less formal writing, you may want to swap out these abbreviations in favor of other, more familiar phrases. In fact, in most casual communication, you’re probably better off avoiding the more obscure Latin abbreviations, unless you want to come off as a windbag, know-it-all, blowhard, braggart, etc.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Candace Hastings, helping you make every word count.
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
EPISODE: LATIN ABBREVIATIONS
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Candace Hastings with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
For a dead language, Latin still exerts an awful lot of influence on how we write and speak English.
In particular, we still use a number of abbreviated Latin words and phrases, and those abbreviations sometimes cause confusion.
Two of the most common abbreviations, a.m. and p.m. for ante meridiem and post meridiem, are seen so often that you may not even register the fact that they’re abbreviations. Another common Latin abbreviation is “e-t-c” for et cetera. In Latin the phrase means, “and others.” It’s used at the end of a list to suggest there are more items that you don’t intend to mention, as in “You should study the parts of speech: nouns, verbs, prepositions, etc.” Because “etc” is used as part of a list, it’s preceded by a comma, and because it’s an abbreviation, it’s followed by a period.
Two other common (and often confused) Latin abbreviations are “i.e.” and “e.g.” “I.e.” stands for id est or “that is” and introduces words that clarify your meaning. You can replace it with “in other words” or “that is to say.” For instance, you might write, “She went to Fish Camp, i.e., the Aggie version of freshman orientation.” The abbreviation “e.g.” stands for exempli gratia which introduces an example. So you could say, “Students should get involved in activities, e.g. student government or sports.” One way to differentiate between these two very similar abbreviations is to think of “e.g.” as standing for “example given” and “i.e.” as “in essence.”
Many more Latin abbreviations can be found in academic writing. For instance, “ibid” is probably familiar to anyone working in a discipline that uses The Chicago Manual of Style. Specifically, ibid is used in footnotes to indicate that you’re referring back to the same source mentioned in the previous note. It’s short for ibidem, which means “in the same place”. While you see abbreviations like this in footnotes, you won’t see many in the main text of an academic article, since abbreviations tend to be seen as informal–and, therefore, are inappropriate in formal academic prose.
In less formal writing, you may want to swap out these abbreviations in favor of other, more familiar phrases. In fact, in most casual communication, you’re probably better off avoiding the more obscure Latin abbreviations, unless you want to come off as a windbag, know-it-all, blowhard, braggart, etc.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Candace Hastings, helping you make every word count.
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]