Tag Archives: grammar facts

When to Use I.E. Versus E.G.

Now You Know

You should know when to use “i.e.” and when to use “e.g.” Many people use these interchangeably, but as you look into what “i.e.” and “e.g.” actually mean, you start to see how they are distinct.  Specifically, “i.e.” is an abbreviation for the Latin “id est”, more or less meaning “that is”.  “E.g.”, on the other hand, is an abbreviation […]

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The Difference Between an Acronym and an Initialism

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You should know the difference between an acronym and an initialism. Both acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, but there is a key difference between the two, at least at present. Due to rampant misuse of the term “acronym” some dictionaries are now starting to add an extra definition to it, allowing acronyms to expand their scope to include initialisms.  So […]

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It’s Bad Rap, Not Bad Wrap

Now You Know

You should know that the expression to describe when someone is falsely convicted of a criminal charge or is on the receiving end of unjustified criticism is “bad rap”, not “bad wrap”. Further, “rap” in this sense is not an acronym of “Record of Arrest and Prosecution”, though has since been backronymed as such.  The reality is that the meaning […]

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When Adding a Second “PS” at the End of a Letter, It’s “PPS”, Not “PSS”

This, of course, is because “PS” stands for “postscript”. This comes from the Latin “post scriptum” (sometimes written “postscriptum”), which translates to “written after”, or more to the point, “what comes after the writing”. Thus, PSS would mean “postscript script”, which doesn’t really make sense in this context. Rather, the correct way to write this abbreviation is “PPS” for “post-postscript” […]

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