The Grammarian – Latin abbreviations to be cut short

The GDS (Government Digital Service) has announced that it is set to abolish Latin abbreviations on its websites, to avoid confusing non-English speakers.

So, in the near future:

• e.g. (exampli gratia) = will be replaced by ‘such as’
• i.e. (id est) = replaced by ‘that is’
• etc. (et cetera) = replaced by ‘for example’

That presumably means that no CV’s will henceforth be accepted on government websites, at least after 2017 AD….oops, sorry, can’t say AD (anno Domini).

It’s a shame that in this post-BREXIT world, the quality of civil servants will drop as well, since there probably won’t be any posts available for any M.A’s (Magister Artium) or indeed Ph.D’s (Philosophise Doctor) and certainly no advertised salaries paying £x p.a. (per annum)

So long then Latin abbreviations, R.I.P (requiescat in pace).