Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[cora]

hello everybody
I would like to know why we'll mention "e.g." as giving an example
could someone answer it for me
thank you so much

sincerely, Cora

[wanderkind]

There are many words in English that have roots in Latin, but sometimes we directly use Latin words. However, when we use Latin words we occasionally use them in a short form (abbreviation).

e.g. Abbreviation of Latin exemplī grātiā.
exemplī grātiā = "for the sake of example"
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/e.g.

Some other examples of abbreviations of Latin in English:

i.e. is used to explain, clarify or rephrase a statement rather than listing options
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/i.e.

etc. = et cetera (“and the rest”)
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/etc.#English

n.b. = nota bene
Take special note
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nota_bene#English

There's actually lots of Latin phrases you can hear used in English (and not as an abbreviation), especially in the field of Law. If you're curious about others, here are a couple links.
http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/50-common-latin-phrases-every-college-student-should-know/
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/fw-latin-phrases.htm