9 Everyday Words That Everybody Is Using Completely Wrong
3. Id Est (i.e.)
What People Think It Means: For exampleWhat It Actually Means: That is The abbreviation i.e., short for Latin "id est" meaning that is (not to be confused with atrocious browser Internet Explorer which is less useful to us than a dead language), is often mistaken for yet another Latin abbreviation: e.g., which stands for exempli gratia or for example. Many think that the two can be used interchangeably; the confusion is certainly warranted as theyre certainly very similar abbreviations, and the only Latin the average person knows is from Harry Potter spells. However this isnt true. "I.e." is used only when youre indicating something that means the same thing as before, i.e. in other words. E.g., on the other hand, is used for presenting something like egg-samples. Ha!
Canadian student. Spends probably an unhealthy amount of time enthusing over musicals, unpopular TV shows, and Harry Potter. Main life goal: to become fluent in Elvish.