These words are all Greek to them!
The British government plans to “phase out” Latin abbreviations such as etc., i.e., and e.g. on more than 4,000 street signs to avoid perplexing foreigners.
“We promote the use of plain English. We advocate simple, clear language. Terms like eg, ie and etc, while common, make reading difficult for some,” the GOV.UK website proclaims.
But critics say the phrases, which stand for “for example (exempli gratia) ” and “and the rest (et cetera),” and “that is” (id est)— are part of Europe’s cultural heritage.
“It unites us with other cultures throughout Europe and the world who have a connection with the Romance languages. It’s a very concise language which is used specifically for its precision and I think it’s short sighted to be giving it up,” said Roger Wemyss Brooks of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, which teaches Latin.
Vince Mitchell, of England, took to Twitter to gripe about the ban, blasting, “If you can’t learn ie, eg or etc, go home.”
British government officials also plan to axe abbreviations on GOV.UK websites, saying it even confuses some smart English folks.
“Anyone who didn’t grow up speaking English may not be familiar with them. Even those with high literacy levels can be thrown if they are reading under stress or are in a hurry – like a lot of people are on the web,” the government site states.
The officials also claim the abbreviations are confusing for website users with disabilities, including the visually impaired, etc, etc., etc.