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So, do you?

yes
41 (69.5%)
no
16 (27.1%)
I thought they were the same
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Author Topic: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)  (Read 6150 times)

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Offline antigoon

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #35 on: March 23, 2012, 10:42:20 PM »
anything is better than the singular their.

he, she, he or she.

Offline theseoafs

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #36 on: March 23, 2012, 10:44:25 PM »
cool argument bro

Offline Ħ

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #37 on: March 23, 2012, 10:44:30 PM »
the singular their is NOT good.
Nah, singular their is fine. It's been used by plenty of legitimate authors ( https://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html ), and English's lack of a generic "he or she" or "his or her" is really annoying.
Yup. "Their" is totally fine.
"All great works are prepared in the desert, including the redemption of the world. The precursors, the followers, the Master Himself, all obeyed or have to obey one and the same law. Prophets, apostles, preachers, martyrs, pioneers of knowledge, inspired artists in every art, ordinary men and the Man-God, all pay tribute to loneliness, to the life of silence, to the night." - A. G. Sertillanges

Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #38 on: March 23, 2012, 11:12:47 PM »
Coincidentally it was only recently I stumbled across some page that mentioned these two and clarified them. Up until then, I had no idea anybody got them confused, although I guess I can now understand why.
Only King could mis-spell a LETTER.
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Offline antigoon

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #39 on: March 23, 2012, 11:19:31 PM »
cool argument bro
the singular their is NOT good.
Nah, singular their is fine. It's been used by plenty of legitimate authors ( https://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html ), and English's lack of a generic "he or she" or "his or her" is really annoying.
Yup. "Their" is totally fine.

Yeah I really don't care very much, I just try to avoid it.

Offline Ħ

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #40 on: March 23, 2012, 11:20:55 PM »
cool argument bro
the singular their is NOT good.
Nah, singular their is fine. It's been used by plenty of legitimate authors ( https://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html ), and English's lack of a generic "he or she" or "his or her" is really annoying.
Yup. "Their" is totally fine.

Yeah I really don't care very much, I just try to avoid it.
Oooh I thought of another big one. When people say "try and" instead of "try to". You did it correctly, goon, but when people don't it's SO annoying.
"All great works are prepared in the desert, including the redemption of the world. The precursors, the followers, the Master Himself, all obeyed or have to obey one and the same law. Prophets, apostles, preachers, martyrs, pioneers of knowledge, inspired artists in every art, ordinary men and the Man-God, all pay tribute to loneliness, to the life of silence, to the night." - A. G. Sertillanges

Offline Jaffa

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #41 on: March 23, 2012, 11:41:51 PM »
the singular their is NOT good.
Nah, singular their is fine. It's been used by plenty of legitimate authors ( https://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html ), and English's lack of a generic "he or she" or "his or her" is really annoying.

I agree that the singular their is fine, but I don't think the fact that legitimate authors have used it makes it definitely correct.  Legitimate authors make grammatical errors, too. 

Also, is this thread officially the 'nitpick everyone else's grammar' thread?  Because I'm totally on board if it is. 
Sincerely,
Jaffa

Offline Implode

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #42 on: March 23, 2012, 11:45:27 PM »
<3 grammar

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #43 on: March 24, 2012, 01:03:40 AM »
lolyouguys

Offline snapple

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #44 on: March 24, 2012, 05:38:32 AM »
its the official copy and paste into microsoft word so i can look smart to my online friends with my super awesome grammar skills on the forum about my favorite genre of music progressive rock dream theater which took its name from an old theater in california that mike portnoys dad suggested who they wrote a song about because he died and mike porntoy left the band and then mike mangini came in the band and it made my dick really hard.

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #45 on: March 24, 2012, 05:41:51 AM »
BTW, it's "should've" or "should have" not "should of."  That one makes me want to punch ovaries.  Of grandmothers.
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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #46 on: March 24, 2012, 10:21:29 AM »
Yes. And this too:

All of *a* sudden.

Offline antigoon

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #47 on: March 24, 2012, 10:32:31 AM »
You mean, instead of suddenly?

Offline emindead

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #48 on: March 24, 2012, 10:37:31 AM »
The day I learned what i.e. and e.g. stands for cherubim sang with joy.

Offline theseoafs

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #49 on: March 24, 2012, 11:11:41 AM »
You mean, instead of suddenly?
No. Some people say "all of the sudden" and it is ridiculous.

Offline snapple

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #50 on: March 24, 2012, 11:18:23 AM »
Irregardless.

Offline Implode

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #51 on: March 24, 2012, 11:25:30 AM »
The horrible thing about that one is that now it's considered a legitimate word.

Offline rumborak

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #52 on: March 24, 2012, 11:35:19 AM »
BTW, it's "should've" or "should have" not "should of."  That one makes me want to punch ovaries.  Of grandmothers.

Yeah, that one makes me question the intelligence of whoever uses it.

English has some weird constructions though. One is "You had better do X". "Had" makes no sense in there.

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Offline ariich

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #53 on: March 24, 2012, 11:36:43 AM »
eg = example
ie - that is

Didn't know people didn't know that.
This exactly. Kids these days!

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Offline snapple

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #54 on: March 24, 2012, 02:07:30 PM »
The horrible thing about that one is that now it's considered a legitimate word.


My phone didn't autocorrect it either. I wish it would have said "Wait, are you fucking retarded?"

Offline Ħ

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #55 on: March 26, 2012, 03:38:41 AM »
for all intensive purposes
"All great works are prepared in the desert, including the redemption of the world. The precursors, the followers, the Master Himself, all obeyed or have to obey one and the same law. Prophets, apostles, preachers, martyrs, pioneers of knowledge, inspired artists in every art, ordinary men and the Man-God, all pay tribute to loneliness, to the life of silence, to the night." - A. G. Sertillanges

Offline ariich

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #56 on: March 26, 2012, 03:53:29 AM »
for all intensive purposes
I really hope this one was a joke Hayden.

all INTENTS AND purposes.

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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #57 on: March 26, 2012, 04:26:03 AM »
for all intensive purposes
I really hope this one was a joke Hayden.

all INTENTS AND purposes.
Yeah, I've never heard anyone screw that one up.
Hef is right on all things. Except for when I disagree with him. In which case he's probably still right.

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #58 on: March 26, 2012, 04:51:43 AM »
for all intensive purposes
I really hope this one was a joke Hayden.

all INTENTS AND purposes.
I hear people say it all the time. You british people are just so much smarter. I think it's the accent.
"All great works are prepared in the desert, including the redemption of the world. The precursors, the followers, the Master Himself, all obeyed or have to obey one and the same law. Prophets, apostles, preachers, martyrs, pioneers of knowledge, inspired artists in every art, ordinary men and the Man-God, all pay tribute to loneliness, to the life of silence, to the night." - A. G. Sertillanges

Offline ariich

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #59 on: March 26, 2012, 05:13:54 AM »
for all intensive purposes
I really hope this one was a joke Hayden.

all INTENTS AND purposes.
I hear people say it all the time. You british people are just so much smarter. I think it's the accent.
Nothing to do with British and everything to do with knowing what things mean. Pretty sure the vast majority of Americans in this thread/forum would know that one.

You don't write "would of" instead of "would have" just because that's how stupid people say it, do you?

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Offline Orbert

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #60 on: March 26, 2012, 07:49:15 AM »
I've heard people say "for all intensive purposes" a few times.  It's annoying.

And I've also seen "would of" written instead of "would have" and "should of" instead of "should have".  In that case, I can understand it because it's the way it's usually pronounced, even though it's wrong.  The first one is just people getting it wrong.


Something that might be worth noting is that we're having this discussion on an Internet message board, a medium that not everyone embraces.  I don't have any stats to back it up, but if I had to guess, I would think that the average literacy rate (whatever that means) is somewhat higher here than the general population.  We have chosen to communicate using a medium that promotes well-written statements and positions, as opposed to the quick-think-type format of a chat room, or text messaging.  Again, I don't know, but I'd think that that means more of us would tend to know a bit more about grammar than average, because we use it more and choose to do so.  Not necessarily causation, but correlation.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2012, 07:57:07 AM by Orbert »

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #61 on: March 26, 2012, 07:50:36 AM »
And many people slur it all together even more when they talk. So it comes out like, "would a".

Offline Orbert

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #62 on: March 26, 2012, 07:58:29 AM »
I type "woulda" and "dunno" and "don't wanna" and stuff like that sometimes, even here, but it's in situations where people understand that it's vernacular speech.  Never in a formal paper or anything like that.

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #63 on: March 26, 2012, 08:22:33 AM »
I'm kind of stuck on the assertion above that using "their" in the singular is somehow wrong.

For example:

I love Dream Theater.  I own all of their albums.

Whenever I go to Olive Garden, I love to enjoy one of their Greek Salads.


Those are two grammatically correct sentences, no?





Offline ariich

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #64 on: March 26, 2012, 09:24:35 AM »
"They" in the singular is mostly if you need to be non-specific with gender.

We have "he played soccer" and "she likes ponies", or "his hair was a mess" and "her tits are great" (apologies for possible sexism), but nothing similar that is neutral, which is why "they" or "their" gets used. You'd only really use neutral in two situations: not knowing the gender of the person, or talking about a hypothetical person who could be either gender. The other option is to use "(s)he" or "his/her", but that looks more unwieldy I think.

In those examples you're talking about a group of people, which is why you'd usually use "they".

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Offline Orbert

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #65 on: March 26, 2012, 11:16:23 AM »
I'm kind of stuck on the assertion above that using "their" in the singular is somehow wrong.

For example:

I love Dream Theater.  I own all of their albums.

Whenever I go to Olive Garden, I love to enjoy one of their Greek Salads.


Those are two grammatically correct sentences, no?

When you talk about Dream Theater, you're really talking about more than one person.  You own of all the albums that they have made, so you own all of their albums.  Same with Olive Garden.  You like the Greek salads that they make at Olive Garden, so you like their Greek salads.  In this context, they are singular entities but represent a collective.

What I hate is the use of "their" simply because the gender is unknown or unclear, as Rich points out.  When Facebook says something like "Dan Smith has updated their status" it's just stupid.  99% of the time, they have the person's gender anyway, it would not be difficult to modify the message to say "updated his status" or "updated her status".

Offline Implode

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #66 on: March 26, 2012, 11:18:36 AM »
When you talk about Dream Theater, you're really talking about more than one person.  You own of all the albums that they have made, so you own all of their albums.  Same with Olive Garden.  You like the Greek salads that they make at Olive Garden, so you like their Greek salads.  In this context, they are singular entities but represent a collective.

While I agree with you, that logic becomes a little weak when considering the differences between British and American English in how collective nouns are treated.

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #67 on: March 26, 2012, 11:44:11 AM »
No, the logic is sound.  You may be thinking of how "be verbs" are used differently, but collective possession is expressed the same way, I believe.

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #68 on: March 26, 2012, 11:45:25 AM »
Ah, yes. That's right. Thank you for clearing that up in my head.

Offline ariich

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Re: Do you know the difference between i.e. and e.g.? (don't look it up!)
« Reply #69 on: March 26, 2012, 01:28:39 PM »
What I hate is the use of "their" simply because the gender is unknown or unclear, as Rich points out.  When Facebook says something like "Dan Smith has updated their status" it's just stupid.  99% of the time, they have the person's gender anyway, it would not be difficult to modify the message to say "updated his status" or "updated her status".
For me facebook always says his or her. The only times it ever says "their status" is if the person is hiding their gender, for whatever reason they are choosing to do so.

Ariich is a freak, or somehow has more hours in the day than everyone else.
I be am boner inducing.