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Friends don’t let friends use “cf.” | Scientist Sees Squirrel

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(My writing pet peeves, part 2) Scientific writing is sprinkled with Latin.  Yes, there are “Latin” (or “scientific”) names of organisms, and those can be unexpectedly fascinating; but that’s not m…

(My writing pet peeves, part 2) Scientific writing is sprinkled with Latin. Yes, there are “Latin” (or “scientific”) names of organisms, and those can be unexpectedly fascinating ; but that’s not my topic today. Instead, it’s those little words and phrases, often abbreviated: i.e., e.g., versus, sensu lato . Danger lurks for those who don’t use them carefully – and it lurks in cf. especially, it seems . In fact, the misuse of cf. is high on my list of writing pet peeves. It also carries a broader lesson, which I’ll get to. So what’s the problem with cf. ? It’s that I frequently see it used as

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