# “Without restriction of generality” same as WLOG?

Does the term "without restriction of generality" mean the same as "without loss of generality"?

EDIT: I encountered the phrase in this paper (PDF).

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in what context did you encounter it? –  Holdsworth88 Aug 15 '12 at 10:15
Yes. It has the distinct smell of a Germanism. It's the literal translation of Ohne Beschränkung der Allgemeinheit or Ohne Einschränkung der Allgemeinheit which mean exactly the same as WLOG. In lectures and informal notes the abbreviations OBdA and OE are very common. It's hard to be entirely sure without context or source, though. –  t.b. Aug 15 '12 at 10:20
@Holdsworth88: in a paper on triangulation, it says without restriction of generality, let $(p_1^{1},p_1^{2})$ denote an initial edge of triangulation... –  PeteUK Aug 15 '12 at 10:24
@t.b.: The primary author is Petra Wiederhold which sounds Germanic to me. –  PeteUK Aug 15 '12 at 10:26

Yes, it means exactly the same as without loss of generality (in the linked paper the authors assume that $(p_1^{(1)},p_1^{(2)})$ is an initial segment of the triangulation, not just any segment).