This week we’re going to look at two words which have some dissimilarities on both sides of the pond (The Atlantic Ocean). Lend and loan are semantically similar as they refer to borrowing something (often loan is used with money), but in America loan can be used as a verb whereas this is not so common in Britain, where loan is usually only used as a noun. However, there are numerous instances where both are now accepted in standard English.
For example,

Could you possibly lend me your umbrella?
Could you possibly loan me your umbrella?

One other difference between these two words is that only lend can be used in a metaphorical way. For example:

Can you lend me a hand?

We can NOT say “Can you loan me a hand?” But if you want to lend or loan me any money, then please feel free to do so

~Rob

This week we take a look at two abbreviations that many native English speakers sometimes forget or mix up. The letters i.e., and e.g. are very useful indeed, particularly when you are reading or writing a paper that is formal or academic in nature. Both terms come from the now (more or less) dead language, Latin*.

The abbreviation e.g. stands for exempli gratia in Latin and it means “for example”. So, for example “The Bob n’ Rob Show really has a lot to offer (e.g.: study guides, show transcripts, an informative blog and other great resources, to name but some).

i.e. means “namely”, or “in other words” or “that is” and it stands for the Latin id est. It is often used to clarify or to reiterate or reemphasize a point. For example, Bilingual development has been shown to foster general cognitive advantages i.e., research indicates that monolingual children are less advanced cognitively than their bilingual peers.
Note that with these abbreviations, i.e., is followed by a period AND a comma, whereas e.g.: is usually followed by a period AND a colon (two dots above one another).

So, watch out for these points the next time you read some formal writing.

Rob

* Latin has numerous terms and abbreviations that are still used in academic forms, not to mention that some churches (in Italy and other catholic countries) still use Latin as the language to say Mass in. So, it’s certainly not completely ‘dead’.

Yet another reason to listen to the Bob and Rob Show: improve your English so you don’t get thrown in (put in) jail.

This news article is about a judge who orders three Hispanic men to study English - or go to jail. Perhaps I should send them a free membership?

~Bob