[fraserharris]

ie -> in example. Burger King is the only example I explicitly recall.

[toomanybeersies]

i.e. -> id est. Usually translated to English as "That is". Implying that subject is the definite case.

Stealing from wiktionary: "The three U.S. states on the west coast have mild seasonal variations in temperature (i.e., warm winters and cool summers)."

e.g. -> exempli gratia. Usually translated to English as "For example". Implying that the subject is simply one example of many.

Stealing from wiktionary again: "Continents (e.g., Asia) contain many large bodies of water."

[mbrookes]

Ah, right, no. "i.e." is an abbreviation for the Latin "id est", meaning "that is".

"For example" would be "e.g.", ("exempli gratia" in Latin.)

"E.g." is illustrative, whereas "i.e." is exhaustive.

I hadn't heard "i.e." expanded to "in example" before - that explains one source of misunderstanding (despite being grammatically incorrect in its own right).

Edit: It seems you've since been unfairly downvoted for explaining what you meant. Please folks, don't do that. I asked the question, and @fraserharris answered honestly.

[xenophonf]

I forget where I picked this up, but I use the following to keep them straight:

i.e. == in essence

e.g. == example given

[ericleung]

I can never remember the Latin, but in my mind, I usually substitute i.e. to mean "in essence" and e.g. as "e.g.xample" to remember which means which.

[vsl]

So THAT is why many people get it so wrong. I never understood (as a non-native speaker from a 24h country, I still struggle with pm/am and have to look it up every time, so I get why other non-natives may mix it up, but I'm seeing I.e./e.g. confusion mostly among native English speakers... for whom the Latin origin must be a similar situation I now realize).

[rockinghigh]

ie means id est (that is).