Mini Lesson 1 Abbreviations From the UWF Writing

Mini Lesson #1 Abbreviations From the UWF Writing Lab’s 101 Grammar Mini-Lessons Series

Abbreviations are used regularly in the list of works cited and in tables but rarely in the text of a formal paper (except within parenthesis). Some abbreviations are considered standard in any piece of writing. �Often, abbreviation rules are specific to the format and style of writing.

�Using medical abbreviations ◦ AIDS – acquired immune deficiency syndrome (all capital letters) ◦ abd – abdomen, abdominal (lower case letters) ◦ Bx – biopsy (can be either upper case and lower case or all lower case) ◦ Cx – cervix, complications, complaint (always upper and lower case) ◦ L&D – labor and delivery (upper case with the ampersand) ◦ q – every (lower case) qd = every day, qh = every hour, q 2 h = every 2 hours, qhs= every night at bedtime, etc.

�Common Scholarly Abbreviations ◦ ed. – editor, edition, edited by (lower case) ◦ Ed. D – doctor of education ◦ e. g. – for example (rarely capitalized) ◦ esp. – especially ◦ et al. – and others (lower case, period follows “al. ”) ◦ Eng. – English BUT eng. – engieering ◦ fig. – figure (lower case) ◦ ibid. – ibidem, in the same place ◦ i. e. – id est, that is

�MLA abbreviation ◦ Time Designations – write words out in the text, but use abbreviations on the Works Cited pages �Months – Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. �Days of the week – Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. �a. m. and p. m. are not capitalized �BCE – before the common era / CE – common era �AD – after the birth of Christ / BC – before Christ

�MLA continued ◦ Publishers’ Names �Cambridge UP – Cambridge University Press �Harper – Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc. ; Harper. Collins Publishers, Inc. �Houghton – Houghton Mifflin Co. �Little – Little, Brown and Company, Inc. �MLA – The Modern Language Association of America �Norton – W. W. Norton and Co. , Inc. �Random – Random House, Inc. �St. Martin’s – St. Martin’s Press, Inc.

�MLA Continued ◦ Titles of some works of literature abbreviated including �parts of the Bible �works by Shakespeare �works by Chaucer �Greek and Roman texts �Beowulf (Beo. ) �Don Quixote (DQ) �Gulliver’s Travels (GT) �Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SGGK) �works by Dante �works by Milton

�State Postal Abbreviations � ALABAMA � ALASKA � ARIZONA � ARKANSAS � CALIFORNIA � COLORADO � CONNECTICUT � DELAWARE � DISTRICT � FLORIDA � GEORGIA OF COLUMBIA AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA

� HAWAII � IDAHO � ILLINOIS � INDIANA � IOWA � KANSAS � KENTUCKY � LOUISIANA � MAINE � MARYLAND � MASSACHUSETTS � MICHIGAN � MINNESOTA � MISSISSIPPI � MISSOURI HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO

� MONTANA � NEBRASKA � NEVADA � NEW HAMPSHIRE � NEW JERSEY � NEW MEXICO � NEW YORK � NORTH CAROLINA � NORTH DAKOTA � OHIO � OKLAHOMA � OREGON � PENNSYLVANIA MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA

� RHODE ISLAND � SOUTH CAROLINA � SOUTH DAKOTA � TENNESSEE � TEXAS � UTAH � VERMONT � VIRGINIA � WASHINGTON � WEST VIRGINIA � WISCONSIN � WYOMING RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

�APA abbreviations ◦ “To maximize clarity, use abbreviations sparingly” APA Manual page 106 ◦ Do not abbreviate �day, week, month, year ◦ Do abbreviate �hour – hr �minute – min �millisecond – ms �nanosecond – ns �second – s

�APA continued ◦ Never begin a sentence with a lower case abbreviation ◦ Follow APA guidelines for using statistical abbreviations and symbols �Note that there is both an English character set of abbreviations and a Greek character set