General Forum

Author

Comment

Apr 1, 2014 - 6:15AM

It annoys me putting periods in i.e. and e.g. when one isnt needed between the t and c in etc.

I.e. - Id est. Makes sense.

E.g. - Exempli gratia. Makes sense.

Etc. - Et cetera. Annoyed.

If you dont have to put a full stop after the t in etc, then you shouldnt have to use them in ie and eg.

Ian

Apr 1, 2014 - 9:33AM

Re: It annoys me putting periods in i.e. and e.g. when one isnt needed between the t and c in etc.

The full stops are used to indicate contractions. Note that they're not necessarily required. But, in your examples:

Id has been contracted to 'i' and est to 'e' - so it's represented as i.e.

Exempli has been contracted to 'e' and gratia to 'g' - so it's represented as e.g.

Et has NOT been contracted (so no full stop is required) but cetera has been contracted to 'c' - so it's represented as etc.