Abbreviations Made Easy

By Author: Tim North
Total Articles: 7
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Which is better usage: USA or U.S.A.?

The punctuation of abbreviations is an area that is subject to
considerable differences of opinion. For example, as demonstrated
by the question above, not everyone agrees on when (or if) to
use full stops.

It's an indication of just how confused this area is that even
the basic terminology isn't agreed upon. You'd think that a
simple term like abbreviation was easy to define, wouldn't you?
Sure you would, yet some camps distinguish between abbreviations
and contractions (giving each different punctuation rules), while
others lump everything in together as abbreviations.

A common definition of abbreviation goes something like this:

An abbreviation is a shortened version of a word or phrase
and is often followed by a period. For example, c.o.d.,
ft-lb, St. or publ.

Unfortunately, there is rarely any cogent explanation of what
is meant by "often followed by a period", so just *when* does an
abbreviation take a period, and when doesn't it?

In an effort to provide ...
... clear answers to these questions, I
present the following more precise definitions:

An ABBREVIATION is a shortened form of a word that does not
include the full word's final letter.

A CONTRACTION is a shortened form of a word that does include
the full word's final letter.

Here are some examples of abbreviations:

Tues. Tuesday approx. approximately
doz. dozen Aug. August
Prof. Professor Aust. Australia
a.m. anti meridian p.m. post meridian
i.e. id est e.g. exempli gratia

Abbreviations are followed by a full stop. You can think of the
full stop as being a replacement for the missing final letter.

Note that abbreviations like "p.m." are actually two separate
abbreviations: "p." for "post" and "m." for "meridian."

Here are some examples of contractions. Contractions should not
be followed by a full stop as they retain the final letter of the
original word.

Rd Road govt government
St Street ft feet
Mr Mister mfg manufacturing
Dr Doctor Mme Madame
Pty Proprietary Ltd Limited
dept department yds yards

* * *

Not everyone will agree with this approach. Still, in my view,
distinguishing between abbreviations and contractions is a better
way to proceed than the ambiguous definition quoted earlier that
relies on you guessing what "often followed by a period" means.

I hope you find this useful.
About the Author Tim North
http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
info@BetterWritingSkills.com