Google dictionary has this information about the origin of ex Is short for exempli gratia, and is in common use to introduce an example within a sentence Submit a sample of academic writing, e.g., a dissertation chapter However, some authors use ex. In writing, though, the use of former doesn't seem so rare In informal english, especially us english, it is acceptable to say
I saw your ex with this hot dude yesterday Or, she is still in touch with all of her exes. In legal language i have come across the term ex post facto Isn't ex redundant in this phrase Post facto also means after the fact, so it should be sufficient This is commonly used in
My ex baseball coach taught me Ex by itself (no hyphen) doesn't seem right either Whichever rule you choose and stick to, you'll be swimming against the linguistic tide with much of your text! However, these days, no one pays attention to such niceties, which means that everybody pretty much gets called whatever Just ask them how they wish to be addressed That guarantees that you won't address them in a way contrary to their own preferences.
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