Latin Terms You Need To Know

If you want to drive people away, use Latin terms in your writing!

Why? Because not everyone will understand them.

But it’s good to know what these words and expressions mean if ever you read or hear them.

Here are the most common ones:

et cetera (etc.)               and so on, and more
exempli gratia (e.g.)     for example
id est (i.e.)                       that is / in other words
et alia (et al.)                   and others
circa (c.)                            around / about
de facto                            in reality
ergo                                  therefore
per se                                by itself / essentially
re                                       about | concerning
vice versa                         positions reversed
pro forma                        for form’s sake
nota bene (NB)               take note | worth noting
per                                     for each
per annum                       for each year
per capita                         for each head
post scriptum (PS)         written later
versus (vs.)                       against

I confess that I still use PS, versus and vice versa. Old habits die hard, don’t they?

And you? Do you use any of these words and expressions in your writing?