Abbreviations

 

Use abbreviations ONLY when they are clearly appropriate.

 

Appropriate abbreviations. Feel free to use standard abbreviations for titles immediately before and after proper names.

 

Mr. Ralph. Meyer                         Thomas Hines Jr. 

Ms. Nancy Linehan                      Anita Lor, Ph.D.

Dr. Margaret Simmons                 Robert Simkowski, M.D.

Rev. John Stone                          Maryellen Pienta, M.S.

St. Joan of Arc                             Margaret Chin, LL.D.

Prof. John Schibrowsky               Polly Stern, D.D.S.

 

Do NOT abbreviate a title if it is not used with a proper name: My history professor [not prof.] was an expert on naval warfare.

 

Familiar abbreviations for the names of organizations, corporations, and countries are also acceptable.

CIA, FBI, AFL-CIO, NAACP, IBM, UPS, CBS, USA

 

When using an unfamiliar abbreviation (such as NAB for National Association of Broadcasters) throughout a paper, write the full name followed by the abbreviation in parentheses at the first mention of the name.  You may use the abbreviation alone from then on.

 

Other commonly accepted abbreviations include B.C., A.D., A.M., P.M., No., and $.  The abbreviation B.B. ("before Christ") follows a date, and A.D. ("anno Domini") precedes a date.

 

Do not use these abbreviations, however, when that are not accompanied by a specific figure: We set off for the lake in the morning [not A.M.].

 

Inappropriate abbreviations: In formal writing, abbreviations for the following are NOT commonly accepted.

PERSONAL NAME     Charles [not Chas.]

 

UNITS OF MEASUREMENT    pound [not lb.]

 

DAYS OF THE WEEK    Monday [not

 

HOLIDAYS     Christmas  [not Xmas]     

 

MONTHS      January, February [not Jan., Feb.]

 

COURSES OF STUDY     political science [not poly. sci.]

 

DIVISIONS OF WRITTEN WORKS      chapter, page [not ch.,p.]

 

STATES AND COUNTRIES      Florida [not FL or Fla.]

 

PARTS OF A BUSINESS NAME     Adams Lighting Company [not Adams Lights Co.]

 

Do NOT use etc.  or i.e. in formal writing.  They may be used correctly in footnotes and bibliographies, however. 

 

 

Numbers

 

1. Spell out numbers of one or two words.  Use figures for numbers that require more than two words to spell out. (twelve, twenty-one, 132, 19,400)

• The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens blasted ash twelve miles inot the sky and devasted 230 miles of land.

2. If a sentence begins with a number, spell out the number or rewrite the sentence.

• One hundred fifty children in our program need treatment.

 

EXCEPTIONS--Generally, figures/numerals are acceptable for the following:

• Dates: July 4, 1776, 56. B.C.
• Addresses: 77 Latches Lane, 519, West 42nd Street, Atlanta, GA 30329
• Percentages: 55 percent or 55%
• Fractions, decimals: 1/2, 3.137
• Scores: 7 to 3, 21-18
• Statistics: average age of 37
• Surveys: 4 out of 5
• Exact amounts of money: $105.37, $0.05
• Divisions of books or plays: Act I, scene i
• Identification numbers: serial no. 1098
• Time of day:  1:30 P.M.

 

 

Italics (underlining)

 

In handwritten or typed papers, underlining represents italics.

 

Titles of works.  Titles of the following works are italicized or underlined.

 

TITLES OF BOOKS     All Quiet on the Western Front

 

MAGAZINES     Time, Newsweek

 

NEWSPAPERS     Stars and Stripes

 

PAMPHLETS     Don't Let Your Cat Go AWOL

 

LONG POEMS     Paradise Lost

 

PLAYS     Julius Caesar

 

FILMS     The Bucket List

 

TELEVISION OR RADIO PROGRAMS     The Colbert Report, Kim Kommando

 

LONG MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS     The Nutcracker

 

WORKS OF VISUAL ART     Mona Lisa

 

COMIC STRIPS     Dilbert

 

SOFTWARE     Windows, Acrobat Reader

 

WEB SITES     AVID Online

 

Names of ships, trains, aircraft, spacecraft.  Italicize or underline names of specific ships, trains, aircraft, and spacecraft.

Challenger, Rome Express, Queen Elizabeth II, Apollo III

 

Foreign words.  Italicize or underline foreign words used in an English sentence.

Instead of sticking to standard protocol, I decided to establish my own modus operandi.

 

EXCEPTION: Do not italicize or underline foreign words that have become part of the English language-- "laissez-faire," "per diem, or "que sera," for example.

 

 Words as words, etc.  Italicize or underline words used as words, letters mentioned as letters, and numbers mentioned as numbers. 

You used too many ands in that sentence.

 

Some children have trouble pronouncing the letter r.

 

A big 3 was painted on the door to the lab.

 

NOTE: Quotation marks may also be used instead of italics or underlining to set off words mentioned as words.

 

Inappropriate underlining.  Underlining to emphasize words or ideas is distracting and should be used sparingly.

 

ON THE WEB: Electronic grammar exercises.  Look in Mechanics, Numbers and italics (underlining).

 

 

 

The above content is from A Pocket Style Manual, Fourth Edition by Diana Hacker