# Plural for APPENDIX [appendixes vs appendices]



## mylam

I'm editing a paper that is written in APA style (American Psychological Association, for those of you lucky enough not to know), and the APA Publication Manual insists that the correct plural of _appendix_ is _appendixes._
They also decree that Merriam-Webster is the final authority. 

Now while they have every right to use whatever they please, and I know that both are used, _appendixes_ just sounds ugly to me. I'm curious who here uses _appendixes_ and who uses _appendices_.

Any comments?


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## panjandrum

Over here we have Appendices at the back of our reports.


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## elroy

I have never seen _appendixes_ and always use _appendices. _


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## SweetMommaSue

*Appendixes**!*  

That brings back memories of my high school English teacher. . . we were repeatedly told* never *to say that!  *Appendices *gets my vote.  I didn't even know that appendixes was a valid spelling/word.  

Smiles!
SMS


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## mylam

Well, thanks for the opinions. Sounds like we should start a letter campaign to Merriam-Webster telling them that we prefer _appendices_. As if they'd listen to us!


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## Mariaguadalupe

Some clients are just too finicky!  They make their own rules.  I'd go with appendices too!


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## foxfirebrand

_Appendices_ is correct, but let's not tell those nutballs you're working for-- let them find out the hard way.

To me the minor but very annoying problem was, why does Merriam-Webster list the _-ixes_ plural as a preferred choice?  I didn't even know it _was_ a choice.

I dimly remember learning that the medical term, denoting that little doohickey in the lower gut that gets inflamed and has to be removed, takes the "wrong" plural, by way of perverse exception-- a phrase that suits the organ itself, or would if it were really an organ.  And that seems apt enough.

"Honey, I'm home!"
"How'd your day go?"
"Hectic.  Seems like everyone who came in today had a nasty case of acute appendicitis.  I now know it's possible to take out three appendixes in less than an hour."
"Wow!"
"And only one of those poor sick people needed a manicure-- if it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have had a customer all day!"

Somehow I can't imagine a beautician saying "I took out three appendices," so there might be something to the medical exception to the rule.

All of which settles the nagging question about Merriam-Webster, at least for me-- they list _appendage_ as the primary definition, and "supplementary material" as secondary.  Wouldn't that account for the quirky reversal of preference, re plural forms?

Anyway, if it's worth your while, you can hash it out with the APA whackos along those lines.  They'll probably diagnose you with OCD or some even more exotic and/or up-to-date alphabet-soup "disorder."  Hey, there might be a better living in it than editing papers for people who outsource tasks that fall out of their area of expertise, such as editing-- and then try to micromanage the process.

If those anal-retentive neurotic control freaks know better than you do about grammatical niceties, they shouldn't have bothered to *hire* you!  That's what you need to tell them-- then hand them a bill for diagnostic services rendered.
.


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## mylam

Just in defense of the person I'm editing the paper for, it isn't her insistence on _appendixes_ rather than _appendices_. She definitely doesn't know grammar!!  
It is the APA Publication Manual that's so obsessive. They have myriad picky little rules, many of which are ill-advised, and some of which are just plain wrong (imho, of course!). 
So the easiest way to change their opinion of the correct plural of appendix is to get Merriam-Webster to change, since the APA believes M-W is the end-all of orthographic knowledge.


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## panjandrum

I have just had a look in the OED; it lists both plurals, with no suggestion in the heading or in the examples that either version is particularly used for any of the definitions.


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## jediracer

Chicage manual says to use "appendixes"

boo-ya.


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## river

As stated above, both _appendixes_ and _appendices_ are correct. Some style guides suggest that "_appendixes_ is preferable outside scientific contexts." Best to check with your local authority.

Just found this:  "the "-ces" form is more common in British English, and the "-xes" form in American English." Not sure if its true, though.


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## C. E. Whitehead

Appendices is an older plural; appendixes is a corruption of that plural in which it has been regularized to a simple "es" plural for a word ending in s, z, or x.
These corruptions eventually make it into the language and sometimes become preferred over the original.
Other plurals that are doing this, for example, are alumnuses--? can't be right; but I have read in a dictionary that it is in use (for alumni, alumnae, the old Latin plural of Alumnus, Alumna). Ugh. It sounds awful because I am used to the other. That's all. But I think alum, alums are the common alternatives now:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=65068

--cew


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## maxiogee

jediracer said:
			
		

> Chicage manual says to use "appendixes"
> 
> boo-ya.



Yes, but who listens to chic (New-)Age manuals!


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## panjandrum

... and certainly no one listens to juvenile comments without smilies 



			
				jediracer said:
			
		

> Chicage manual says to use "appendixes"
> 
> boo-ya.


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## anniemac

I've always thought that the plural of appendix was appendices.

In the Oxford dictionary it now also gives appendixes as well as appendices.

Are they both considered to be acceptable plurals of appendix, or is the appendicies one still more widely accepted? Some websites state that appendixes is not an accepted plural form.

thanks!


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## panjandrum

Please see earlier posts in this now-merged thread.
I'm happily continuing with appendices for the extra sections at the end of a report, though I have to confess to an occasional shudder when I hear someone asking about Appendisee 3  
It's almost enough to make a body turn to appendixes.


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## roxcyn

If that is how the organisation wants you to write it then go ahead.  I prefer either spelling, it doesn't matter to me.  Have a nice day.

Pablo


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## roxcyn

anniemac said:


> I've always thought that the plural of appendix was appendices.
> 
> In the Oxford dictionary it now also gives appendixes as well as appendices.
> 
> Are they both considered to be acceptable plurals of appendix, or is the appendicies one still more widely accepted? Some websites state that appendixes is not an accepted plural form.
> 
> thanks!



They seem to be both acceptable because my spell check does not say "appendixes" is wrong.  And an organisation as APA would not use it if it was not used by some people.


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## fizogu

Although the plural of appendix can be either appendixes and appendices the appendices form is more commonly used. This is true in American usage and in British usage. However, in British usage this is MORE true. 
Here are some facts and figures in:
Richard Bowen's take on the plural of appendix


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## GreenWhiteBlue

I say "appendices".  Of course, I also use "data" and "graffiti" as plurals, so be forewarned.


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## funky monk

Myram!

I, too, have to labour under the yoke that is APA format. There's always a few terms I have to sit down and work out - but 'appendices' just gets my goat.

To make it worse, my supervisor is an American and an APA stickler, which makes it all a bit more of a gamble...

Still, to pacify the purist in me, I'm sure I'll be using appendices...

All the best!


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## gasman

I must admit that I am shattered. My Collins, that most English of dictionaries, gives "appendixes" and then "appendices". I have never seen the usage till today!


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## timpeac

I wonder if the "appendixes" version relates to the body. I would say "they have both had their appendixes out". If I heard "they have both had their appendices out" I would wonder why they both had books out.


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## gasman

In medical terms, I have never heard "appendixes" but then I haven't come across such a usage in any situation before. The only variant I know of is of the medical term "appendicectomy" but in some US instances I have, unhappily, met "appendectomy", though just what an "append" is, other than a verb, is beyond me.


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## word bird

This problem is common in America now and possibly other English speaking and writing countries.  The pluralizing of words that are Latin derived has changed from the Latin rules to the common pluralizing rule of simply adding the s or es.  This is just another corruption of our language as we "progress" into the future.  Another example:
     condominium, condominiums  (correct Latin rule requires condominia)

For those of us who are older or who have had a more "traditional" education this change just sounds crude or sloppy.  But, realistically, this and other simplying rules will continue to come and are probably a good thing.

It's like losing the beauty of the language of the King James Version of the Bible as we strive for more "accuracy" in translation.

By the way, I am not a scholar but assumed that some of you who have posted in this stream were.  Why have you not addressed this in reference to the Latin derivation of this word and the pluralization rules of the English language.  Should you not have?


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## mplsray

mylam said:


> Well, thanks for the opinions. Sounds like we should start a letter campaign to Merriam-Webster telling them that we prefer _appendices_. As if they'd listen to us!


 
Merriam-Webster is interested in the actual use of educated speakers, and would not be interested in what we have to say unless we were able to show research which gave a different result than theirs (I'm sure they would be pleased, for example, if you could show a first use of a word in print which predated what their research indicated).

But I'd like to point out that The Century Dictionary of 1895 gives for the plural "_appendixes_ or _appendices_," so _appendixes_ has been a standard form for a very long time. And, although this might represent his opinion alone and not necessarily that of others of his time, Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary did not consider _appendices_ to be a naturalized English word, giving the only English plural as _appendixes._


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## maxeylynch

The logic of using appendixes over appendices may follow from the recommendations for indexes vs. indices: while both may be acceptable to use to refer to a section of a book where topics & names are "indexed", the word "indices" is probably better used to refer to statistical measurements of trends or tendencies, such as indices for prices or unemployment.  The American Library Association promotes "indexes" as the appropriate plural to describe end-of-book sections so that the distinction between books and stats is maintained. On the otherhand, I do recognize that appendixes & appendices are here being discussed as describing the same thing while indexes & indices can describe different things.  I'd say, go by the APA rule since that is what is specified by the publisher and, in private purpose, use whichever form is most communicative to the recipient audience.


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## jediracer

timpeac said:


> I wonder if the "appendixes" version relates to the body. I would say "they have both had their appendixes out". If I heard "they have both had their appendices out" I would wonder why they both had books out.



Well you'd be incorrect. In medical terms, when talking about the appendix, (as in the vermiform appendix), the plural is appendices. This is what you would use if you were following the AMA Style Guide.

In reference to supplementary material collected and appended at the back of a book, the plural form is appendixes, according to the Chicago Manual Style Guide.

I don't know a whole lot about the APA Style Guide, but I am 99.99999% sure it will tell you the preferred style is also appendixes.


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## timpeac

jediracer said:


> Well you'd be incorrect. In medical terms, when talking about the appendix, (as in the vermiform appendix), the plural is appendices. This is what you would use if you were following the AMA Style Guide.
> 
> In reference to supplementary material collected and appended at the back of a book, the plural form is appendixes, according to the Chicago Manual Style Guide.
> 
> I don't know a whole lot about the APA Style Guide, but I am 99.99999% sure it will tell you the preferred style is also appendixes.


No I wouldn't. I said what impression the word makes on me and only I can know that.

Personally I do not speak in medical terms, I speak in general usage - and I'm 99.99999% sure that most people where I live would say "both my father and brother had their appendixes out last year" and "you can find all the appendices of the book at the end".


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## George French

Should we allow ourselves to be dictated to by some organisation.

Yes
No
It is their publication; so their styles *should* be used if you want to publish with them. If they for some reason they really want to publish something by you then you ought to (must) stick by your principles. Or even get them to change their principles if it really matters to you.

But; it does depend on the price ticket.... and whether publication is important to you. This is *not* censoring..... [or is it?].

GF.. (It's with a *c*!   .)


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## Loob

timpeac said:


> I'm 99.99999% sure that most people where I live would say "both my father and brother had their appendixes out last year" and "you can find all the appendices of the book at the end".


My usage is exactly the same as timpeac's.


[I can't work out why you feel he should follow American style guides, jediracer]


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## veruscio

Hi!

Interesting topic! Well, I have just looked this word up in my _Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary_ (Fourth Edition-1989) and, according to the text, it seems to have different plurals depending on the meaning:

*appendix*
1. (pl -dices) section that gives extra information at the end of a book or document.
2. (pl -dixes) small tubeshaped bag of tissue attached to the intestine.

Regards,

Verónica


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## mplsray

veruscio said:


> Hi!
> 
> Interesting topic! Well, I have just looked this word up in my _Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary_ (Fourth Edition-1989) and, according to the text, it seems to have different plurals depending on the meaning:
> 
> *appendix*
> 1. (pl -dices) section that gives extra information at the end of a book or document.
> 2. (pl -dixes) small tubeshaped bag of tissue attached to the intestine.



I just took a look at a number of online dictionaries which I know to have printed versions and all of them but two gave _appendixes_ and _appendices_ for the plural of _appendix_ in all senses.

The exceptions were the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English here, which makes the same distinction which the book you cite makes, and the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which had _appendixes_ as the only plural for the body part and both _appendixes_ and _appendices_ as the plurals for the book part. Both of those dictionaries, as well as the one you cite, are geared to the student learning English as a foreign language--for the Longman, see this Wikipedia entry--and I wonder if this is a case of simplifying the reality for the purpose of instruction.


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## natkretep

My own use accords with the OALD as mentioned by veruscio. This accords with the practice for other nouns with variable plurals: the foreign plural for the more academic context and the English plural for the everyday context. Therefore, in maths you are more likely to have _formulae _and elsewhere you are more likely to have _formulas_.


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## veruscio

natkretep said:


> My own use accords with the OALD as mentioned by veruscio. This accords with the practice for other nouns with variable plurals: the foreign plural for the more academic context and the English plural for the everyday context. Therefore, in maths you are more likely to have _formulae _and elsewhere you are more likely to have _formulas_.


 
Yes, I think you are right, Natkretep. In my opinion, this seems to be the reason for using different plurals for each meaning.

Verónica


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## Loob

mplsray said:


> I just took a look at a number of online dictionaries which I know to have printed versions and all of them but two gave _appendixes_ and _appendices_ for the plural of _appendix_ in all senses.
> 
> The exceptions were the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English here, which makes the same distinction which the book you cite makes, and the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which had _appendixes_ as the only plural for the body part and both _appendixes_ and _appendices_ as the plurals for the book part. Both of those dictionaries, as well as the one you cite, are geared to the student learning English as a foreign language--for the Longman, see this Wikipedia entry--and I wonder if this is a case of simplifying the reality for the purpose of instruction.


I'm intrigued by your comment, Ray. LDCE and CALD are both BrE publications, and they seem to me to reflect current BrE usage*, rather than usage simplified for foreign students.

* My usage and that of Tim and Nat accords with LDCE, but it's true that some English speakers use _appendixes_ rather than _appendices_ for the book thingy.


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## timpeac

Loob said:


> I'm intrigued by your comment, Ray. LDCE and CALD are both BrE publications, and they seem to me to reflect current BrE usage*, rather than usage simplified for foreign students.
> 
> * My usage and that of Tim and Nat accords with LDCE, but it's true that some English speakers use _appendixes_ rather than _appendices_ for the book thingy.


Yes - I agree. I'm interested (and a little bit pleased and a tad surprised) to see that my comment above stating that I would tend to use "appendixes" for the organ and "appendices" for the book has been codified.

The comment about a simplified usage makes no sense. The simple thing would be to state that you should use "appendices" for everything.


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## panjandrum

Include me with the Loob'n'timpeac set.
It is odd that our usage is directly opposite to that recommended by AE authorities (see jediracer's post #28).


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## neal41

There is a general tendency in all languages to regularize irregular forms. With every passing century there are fewer strong verbs. How many people today say "I shew" instead of "I showed"?

I would probably say 'appendices' most of the time, but I say 'indexes' most of the time. In a few more decades no one will say 'indices' and 'appendices' will probably be fading fast.


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## mplsray

timpeac said:


> Yes - I agree. I'm interested (and a little bit pleased and a tad surprised) to see that my comment above stating that I would tend to use "appendixes" for the organ and "appendices" for the book has been codified.
> 
> The comment about a simplified usage makes no sense. The simple thing would be to state that you should use "appendices" for everything.


 
That would be the _simplest_ thing, but if, as others have mentioned, the suggested use reflects common British usage, then the suggested rule is a simplification from the use shown in all the other dictionaries I consulted (including the Oxford English Dictionary), in which both _appendixes_ and _appendices_ are shown as being used for the plural of the body part, and both _appendixes _and_ appendices_  are shown as being used for the plural of the book part. If I were faced with a similar suggestion in a French dictionary, it would complicate my learning the French usage. 

For that matter, compare the problems faced by those learning English as a foreign language when faced with the problem of making the genitive form of a name such as _Davis_. It would be so easy to tell them--that is, it would be the simplest thing to tell them--to always add apostrophe-_s_ when forming the genitive of any singular noun ending in _s_, but that would fly in the face of such widespread uses as _Jesus'_ and _for goodness' sake_.

In short, I continue to consider the rule suggested to be a simplification of a more complicated reality.


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## Boudicea

*appendix
*/uh'pendiks/ _noun_, _plural _*appendixes*, *appendices */uh'penduhseez/.
*1.* matter which supplements the main text of a book, generally explanatory, statistical, or bibliographic material.
*2.* _Anatomy
_*a.* a process or projection.
*b.* the vermiform appendix.
[L: appendage, addition]
*Usage: *This word has variant plural forms, _appendixes _being the English plural, and _appendices _being derived from the Latin plural. Either form is acceptable.  - Source - Macquarie Dictionary.


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## englishjasmin

I am doing a table of content, and I have three different appendixes in the document. I want to put a header for it into the context in the form shown below. Is the heading "Appendixes" correct in English or shall I use something else? See below the example of what I am doing. Note: I need to use British English in the document.

*[Title of the article]*
Chapter 1......1
Chapter 2......10
Chapter 3......15

*Appendixes:*
Appendix 1....20
Appendix 2....22
Appendix 3....24

*Tables
*Table 1....7
Table 2....16
Table 3....12

<<Moderator's note:

I have merged this with an earlier thread.  Please read from the top.  >>


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## SwissPete

I found the following *here*:





> The correct plural of _appendix_ depends on the circumstances. When referring to the text at the end of a book or article, the plural is _*appendices*. In the sense of the organ, appendixes is the only plural. Compare vacuum, which can pluralize to vacua or vacuums depending on the meaning._


Is there a difference between British English and American English?

PS: You are doing a table of _content_, not _context_.


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## englishjasmin

Thank you. Based on your reply it shall be "Appendices". The remaining question for the native speakers is if they agree and if there is any difference between British and American English in the use of the word Appendix / Appendices?


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## englishjasmin

Rather important question: Shall I use Annex or Appendix?


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## Egmont

1. The source of the recommendation, Wiktionary, can be AE or BE depending on who edited the page last.

2. As an AE speaker, I'd use "appendices" as the plural of "appendix" in this context. I've never used the plural in a medical context. I'm willing to believe that it's "appendixes" there, but I can't confirm that.

3. To me they're appendices, not annexes.


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## englishjasmin

I just found somewhere on the internet that appendix is something that relates to the text of the document or is refereed to in the document (e.g. the detailed calculation can be found in appendix 3). Annex is something that can exist by its own and is not directly related or refereed to in the document (e.g. you write a document on respiratory problems of seniors, and you put an annex on heart attack risks because it might interest seniors although it has nothing to do with respiratory problems).


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## Cagey

For _annex_ see these:
annex/annexe
appendix -annex
appendix/annex?
Further questions should be added to one of these threads. 

(It seems that 'annex' in reference to a document is a British usage.  I speak American English and am not familiar with it.)


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## bicontinental

I always use appendi*ces* (not appendixes) for any type of appendix in multiples. (AE speaker). I can't remember the last time I heard appendixes.
Likewise, it is appendicitis and not appendixitis!!


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## natkretep

Jasmin: I have seen _annex_ used before, but in academic contexts (which yours seems to be), I would use _appendix._ As other have said, the plural in this context should be _appendices_ not _appendixes_.


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## englishjasmin

I am keen on the interpretation, that annex is something unrelated and appendix is something related to the subject matter. For example, I give you a box with a cake and a annex a book that I recommend you to read *vs*. I give you a box with a cake and append chocolate sauce that should be served with the cake. 

That logic shall apply to documents. If the appendix goes along with the paper or clarifies it more in detail, it is indeed an appendix. Annex to the paper would for example a list of all studies published by the organization - it's not an appendix because it has nothing to do with the paper ---you would also not formally call it an annex and probably you would not even mention it in the context - that is why appendix is frequently used and annex not.


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## natkretep

Thanks, Jasmin. I generally encounter _annexes_ in the context of company reports, whereas I generally see _appendices_​ in academic writings. But the distinction has never been clear to me, so thank you for that clarification.


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