nota bene

[cameo]

Could someone give me a few examples to illustrate the usage of nota bene?
The one I have is "the margins of his book were generously supplied with pencilled NBs".
Still am not sure how to use nota bene in a sentence.
Thanks.

 

[jimreilly]

It just means (in Latin) "note well" or, more loosely "pay attenton to this" and is used all by itself. You will find it usually all by itself, not as a part of a longer sentence, and you will also find it abbreviated N.B.

English is filled with so many things taken from so many other languages!

 

[foxfirebrand]

Like many marginal. parenthetic and footnote terms used by editors and scholars, nota bene doesn't have a strong presence in the spoken language. In that respect it's more like i.e. or e.g.-- than etcetera, for example, which people actually say.
.

 

[Tamlane]

I've also found that 'gloss' has been used in English to refer to notes inbetween the lines, or in margins. I think the use began when clergymen would scribble between the lines of text, when translating, to include some useful colloquialism or alternet view of text, or a different translation of a word. The notes in certain texts are still used today when investigating Latin and other languages used by the clergymen. Unfortunately I can't cite a source other than a professor I know who finds etymology all too interesting.

I've also found that 'gloss' has been used in English to refer to notes inbetween the lines, or in margins. I think the use began when clergymen would scribble between the lines of text, when translating, to include some useful colloquialism or alternet view of text, or a different translation of a word. The notes in certain texts are still used today when investigating Latin and other languages used by the clergymen. Unfortunately I can't cite a source other than a professor I know who finds etymology all too interesting.

I looked it up using a few online dictionaries and, to my wonder, the word is actually still in use in that original meaning. But like foxfirebrand said, I don't think it is used much in spoken English like the other terms... if at all.

 

[cameo]

Thank you all very much!