Grammar tip of the day

[kate]

Because I use these A LOT in my technical writing, thought it might be useful for others out there.

i.e. = "that is" (or, "in other words")
e.g. = "for example"

Memory trick: Imagine that i.e. means “in essence,” and e.g. sounds like "egg sample."

Also, since I'm thinking of it, American dialogue attribution punctuation/capitalization, which only has a few variations but is something people get endlessly wrong. (For American English, punctuation is always within the quotes. Commas before attribution (she said), periods before non-attribution (actions other than saying, asking, exclaiming, etc.).)

"I say," she said.
"I say!" she exclaimed.
"I say?" she asked.
"I say," she said, "this is ridiculous."
"I say." She turned to me and stuck her tongue out. "This is ridiculous."

Comments

[angrboda]

Wondering this as well.

I've always put it inside the quotations, because although 'I say," he said.' is technically only one sentence, it feels a bit like two and the quotations are part of the first sentence. (This makes total sense in my head!)

[kate]

No, that makes sense. UK English has different rules about the punctuation, I just don't know them well enough to put them out there like I did for American English.

ETA: But china_shop explains below. It's only quotes where the writer is quoting someone else's statement, not dialogue (and that was my understanding as well, I just wasn't confident enough to put it in writing).