Latinisms are unnecessary. All can be replaced by an equivalent term taken from a modern language. Yet, they survive.
Some have entered habits : etcaetera, q.e.d., sic., etc. Some add some exotism : verbi gratia, ipse dixit, s.c. (scilicat quod), q.v. (quod vide), ut supra, etc. Some add funky quirks : viz, qua, convertando, mutatis mutandis, etc.
A few can be part of the thinker's toolbox. There are nine, in fact. Three kinds, three per kind.
The first trio helps exposition : e.g. (exempli gratia, for example) ; i.e. (id est, that is) ; v. (vide, see ; the "quod" being usually useless). Explaining, illustrating and citing are frequent ploys. NB. v. is not cf. (confer, compare).
The second trio helps creation : memo (memorandum, don't forget) ; n.b. (nota bene, please note) ; p.s. (post scriptum, oh, I forgot to mention). Identifying to do lists, precisions, and afterthoughts are common comments.
The third trio helps editing : add. (addendum, to add) ; del. (deleatur, delete) ; err. (erratum, error). These are quite self-explanatory.
There is no inkhorn in this list. No reader should find them pedantic. All seemed to have survived for a good reason : cleaner, wiser, sexier work.
