I’ve seen .: used two times now, and I really wonder what is? The first time I saw it was in an extract from the Swedish dictionary SAOL in NE. They used it something like this so:
History.: since year x
More lately I saw it used in this comment by @nodsocket@lemmy.world like so:
What make bikes so expensive?
R.: The willing of people to buy them.
What is this? Were does it come from? Should I use it?
Edit: thanks for all the answers :). It turns out it was actually used for abbreviation in the dictionary, they wrote “hist.” instead of “historia”.
I’ve seen it as an easier to type version of the “therefore” symbol which is three dots in a triangle ∴
The symbol is used in math and logic. Try reading the word “therefore” in place of the symbol and see if it makes sense in context.
Normally, it’s just abbreviation with a double colon afterwards.
Instead of
In example:
I.e.:
FYI, “i.e.” comes from the Latin id est, meaning “that is”.
“e.g.” means “for example”, from the Latin exempli gratia.
The meaning is a little different, though the two are often interchanged. You should use “i.e.” to clarify a singular meaning (think “in other words…”) and use “e.g.” to give one of potentially many examples.
See https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/ie-vs-eg-abbreviation-meaning-usage-difference for more examples and explanations.
For English speakers, you can mentally substitute “idiom explained” and “example given” as a mnemonic to help remember the difference.
Good to know. I’m not a native English speaker. I was going for the equivalent of the German “z.B.” - “zum Beispiel”.
The abbreviation i.e. is short for “id est,” literally “that is.” English-language alternatives would be “that is to say” or “in other words.”
The abbreviation e.g. is short for “exempli gratia,” meaning “for example.”
The way I remember it is “i.e.” means “In other words” and “e.g.” means “for Example”.
I used to mix those two up all the time!
“R.:” looks like an abbreviated form of “Reply:”/“Response:” but since “History” isn’t abbreviated it just looks like a typo to me.
Maybe the period is for abbreviation. In that comment, from a cursory glance, maybe R. means Response.
Am I missing some comments somewhere? All I see are people telling you the difference between the latin ie and eg. Nobody has commented on your query.
I can see 4 top level comments earlier than yours that address the OP, without being involved in the ie eg debate. I’m on the same instance as you too so idk why you wouldn’t see them. caching problems with your app or browser?
Must be the app, as now I cannot even see my own comment that you replied to.
