Latin and other non-English words

Do not use non-English words or phrases, such as de facto or ad hoc, in English content, even if you think these terms are generally known and understood. They may not be, or the language may not be understood by a translator or by the machine translation process. Find a straightforward substitute in English instead.

In general, do not use Latin abbreviations for common English phrases.

Use these terms

Instead of these abbreviations

for example

e.g.

that is

i.e.

namely

viz.

therefore

ergo

It is all right to use etc. (meaning “and the rest”), but only in situations where space is too limited for an alternative, such as on a button label. Otherwise, see and so on for alternatives.

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