Genealogy Chat

Thanks Gillian for the pm and also Roger & Lysianne. Yes after 'viz' is an explanation. Someone has copied out what is entered on several death certificates and a lot have New Tag on them, two examples below Cause of death New Tag pulmonary tuberculosis Cause of death New Tag Carcinoma of stomach, cachexia actually I've just noticed that all the ones with New Tag on them are Australian.

I think next tag would mean next colum, in computerised language, like when you use the tab key.

Hi Joseanne I'm afraid I can't help with New Tag; was it on an actual birth certificate, or a transcription, on computer? It sounds like computerese to me, but if it was on an actual certificate, I'm stumped.... However, 'viz.' usually means 'that is to say', 'namely', or 'in other words'. It often follows words that need an explanation, so it is followed by a clarification or enlargement upon the words that have gone before. It is quite old-fashioned and is often restricted to official documents nowadays. Hope that's some help Lysianne (who should be writing a sociology essay about religion's role in functioning societies, which is why I'm on here instead)

I don't know about New Tag, but viz is short for the Latin word videlicet which means 'to wit' or 'namely' as for example in 'we visited three cities viz. .London, Bristol and York'. Hope that helps Roger.

What does 'New Tag' mean? It seems to be written on death certificates before the cause of death. Also what does the word 'viz' mean.