Abbreviation rules

Lessons for copyeditors

By Jeff South
VCU School of Mass
Communications
General rules
Save space
Make reading easier

2
Months without dates
Always capitalize and write out:

The election is in November.

School starts in August.
He hopes to graduate in December.
It will start in January 2000.
The battle ended in October 1866.
If theres just a month and a year, no 3
comma!
Dates
Abbreviate months of > 5 letters:
Jan. 5, 1997
Feb. 28, 1864 Dont use ordinal
Aug. 10, 2000 numbers like:
Sept. 9, 1999 Feb. 2nd
Oct. 14, 1784 Aug. 23rd
Nov. 1, 1965 Dec. 12th
Dec. 22, 1696

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Dates
Write out months of 5 or fewer
letters:
March 30, 2000 Dont use ordinal
April 5, 1974 numbers like:

May 26, 1998 March 10th

June 12, 1863 May 1st
July 31, 1997 June 23rd
(But July Fourth is
OK!)
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Now you try!
June 3rd
June 3
They will visit in Oct.
They will visit in October.
December 7, 1941
Dec. 7, 1941
He graduated in May, 1997.
He graduated in May 1997.

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Now you try!
Nov. 12th
Nov. 12
January 1999
Correct.
Which months are never
abbreviated?
March, April, May, June, July

7
Copy-edit
The tax was scheduled to expire on
January 15, 1999, but in August
1998, legislators passed a bill to
extend the levy until July 1st, 2005.
The tax was scheduled to expire on
Jan. 15, 1999, but in August 1998,
legislators passed a bill to extend
the levy until July 1, 2005.
8
Days of the week
Simple rule:
Always write them out!
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday...

9
Places
Write out states when they stand
alone:
She is from New Jersey.
He was born in Alaska.
Killer bees invaded Texas.

10
Places
Abbreviate the state if:
Its preceded by a town or city
The state has 6 or more letters
Dont abbreviate: Alaska, Hawaii,
Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Utah
Check AP Style for state
abbreviations

AP doesnt use the postal code 11

abbreviations!
Places
He is from San Mateo, Calif.
The game will be in Morgan, W.Va.
They met in Austin, Texas.
She lives in Hilo, Hawaii.

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Omit the state if...
You write for a publication
covering that state:
A tornado flattened Hopewell today.
The new city manager is from Norfolk.
Its a widely known city
(See Datelines in the AP Stylebook.)
The 1998 Olympics were in Atlanta.
A hurricane hit Miami last year.

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Always include the state
if...
The town straddles the state line:
The meeting was held in Bristol, Va.
There could be some confusion:
After growing up in Springfield, Ill.,
he worked in Springfield, Va.

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Now you try!
They flew to San Francisco, Calif.
They flew to San Francisco.
She taught in Knoxville, Tennessee.
She taught in Knoxville, Tenn.
Anchorage, Alaska, is a beautiful
place.
Correct.

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Now you try!
A winter storm hit Ogden, UT.
A winter storm hit Ogden, Utah.
He is from Fairfax.
Correct.
The mine collapsed near
Allentown, Pa.
Correct.

16
Streets and addresses
If its an exact address, abbreviate
everything you can (the direction &
street, boulevard and avenue):
901 W. Main St.
2005 Grove Ave.
70 Monument Blvd.
If theres no street address, spell out:
He lives on Floyd Street.
The building is on Monument Boulevard.

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Streets and addresses
Always write out road, drive,
circle and court.
1067 Staples Mill Road
10215 Windbluff Drive

18
Now you try!
945 West Franklin Street
945 W. Franklin St.
on First Street in Richmond.
Correct.
Its at 10532 West Broad St.
Its at 10532 W. Broad St.

19
Now you try!
The city has condemned homes
at 98 Cedar Rd., 7853 E. Hill St.
and 309 Commerce Avenue.
The city has condemned homes
at 98 Cedar Road, 7853 E. Hill St.
and 309 Commerce Ave.
Whats your address?

20
Names and titles
On first reference,
use a persons full name
On subsequent references, use the
last name only (for adults; for kids,
use the first name)
Generally, no courtesy titles (Mr.,
Mrs., Ms.) unless theres confusion
Use courtesy titles in a direct quote

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Now you try!
Mr. Tom Ferguson will speak.
Tom Ferguson will speak.
Mrs. Allen will accompany me, the
candidate said.
Correct.
The Smiths both ate the shrimp, but
only Mr. Smith got sick. He was up all
night, Mrs. Smith said.
Correct.

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Names and titles
If used directly before a name,
abbreviate:
Gov. Mark Warner
Dr. Terry Oggel
Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine
Rep. Robert Scott
Sen. John Warner
Formal titles accompany only the full name.
Example: Sen. Barbara Boxer, not Sen. Boxer. 23
Names and titles
Dont abbreviate:
Superintendent Albert Williams
Commonwealths Attorney David
Hicks
Professor Paula Otto
Attorney General Mark Earley
President Eugene Trani
Chairman Yasser Arafat
Formal titles accompany only the full name.
Example: Delegate Viola Baskerville, not Delegate 24
Baskerville.
Which titles to abbreviate?
Professor
No.
District Attorney
No.
Governor
Yes: Gov.
President
No.

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Which titles to abbreviate?
Lieutenant Governor
Yes: Lt. Gov.
Senator
Yes: Sen.
Congressman
No, and try not to use it anyway.
U.S. Representative
Yes: U.S. Rep.

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Names and titles
the Rev.
Always includes the
the Rev. Billy Graham

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Names and titles
For state and federal legislators,
put political party ID after name
Use R or D, then a hyphen ...
Then the state abbreviation
(for members of Congress)
or the city (for state legislators)

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Names and titles
Examples of state and federal
legislators, on first reference:
U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.,
U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.,
State Sen. John Watkins, R-
Chesterfield, ...
Delegate Emily Couric, D-
Charlottesville,
You can also write: ...
Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of 29
Massachusetts ...
Now you try!
U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Dem.-
Conn., is the vice presidential nominee.
U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., is
the vice presidential nominee.
Former U.S. Rep. Richard Cheney, R-
Wyoming, is Bushs running mate.
Former U.S. Rep. Richard Cheney, R-
Wyo., is Bushs running mate.

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Military titles
See AP Stylebook
Many titles are abbreviated
Use titles only with full name

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Military titles
Abbreviate Spell out
Gen. Warrant Officer
Col. Petty Officer
Maj. Seaman
Lt. Ensign
Sgt. Airman
Adm. Partly spell out
Cmdr. Staff Sgt.
Pvt. Lance Cpl.
Pfc. Rear Adm.

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Now you try!
the Reverend Jerry Falwell
the Rev. Jerry Falwell
Adm. Elizabeth Cross
Correct.
Prof. Ted Smith
Professor Ted Smith
former Senator Robert Dole, R-Kansas, ...
former Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., ...

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Periods in abbreviations
Use periods if the abbreviation
spells an unrelated word:
c.o.d. - not cod (like the fish)
U.S. - not US (like Give US liberty!)
U.N. - not UN (like UN-American)

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Speaking of U.S. and U.N.
Write out United States and United
Nations when they are nouns
Abbreviate them when they are
adjectives
In the United States ...
the U.S. Army
the U.N. peacekeepers
at the United Nations today ...

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Pop quiz!
A (US / U.S. / United States) embargo
A U.S. embargo
A (UN / U.N. / United Nations) treaty
A U.N. treaty
Andrew Young served as (US / U.S. / United
States) ambassador to the (UN / U.N. /
United Nations).
Andrew Young served as U.S. ambassador to
the United Nations.
in the (US / U.S. / United States).
in the United States.

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Periods in abbreviations
Otherwise, no periods
North Atlantic Treaty Organization >
NATO
American Medical Association > AMA
Virginia Commonwealth University >
VCU
Federal Bureau of Investigation > FBI

37
Periods or not?
The Virginia Education Association
is known as the V.E.A.
No periods: VEA
The speed limit is 65 mph.
Correct as is. No periods: mph
The students used 35 mm cameras.
Correct as is. No periods
(and no hyphen either just a space).
Class started at 8 am.
Need periods: at 8 a.m.

38
a.m. and p.m.
Why does a.m. take periods?
Because it does, so does p.m.
6 a.m.
7:45 p.m.

39
Academic degrees
Lowercase when written out
Uppercase and use periods
when abbreviated
masters degree or M.A.
medical degree or M.D.
bachelor of arts or B.A.
doctor of philosophy, doctoral degree,
doctorate or Ph.D.
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Copy-edit
The United Nations resolution,
passed at 3 A.M., called on the U.S.
to intervene in Kosovo.

The U.N. resolution, passed at 3

a.m., called on the United States to
intervene in Kosovo.

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Copy-edit
Phil Oswald, Ph.D., published an
article on UN treaties that were
opposed by the U.S.

Phil Oswald, Ph.D., published an

article on U.N. treaties that were
opposed by the United States.

42
Organizations
Spell out first reference:
Public Relations Society of America
Abbreviate subsequent references:
PRSA
Some organizations can be
abbreviated on first reference:
NAACP, AFL-CIO, FBI

43
Organizations
When an abbreviation is
unfamiliar, use a shortened name
of the organization
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic
Commerce > the bureau
Office of Instructional Technology >
the office

44
Now you try!
Central Intelligence Agency
CIA (or the agency)
National Organization to Reform
Marijuana Laws
NORML (or the organization, the group)
Drug Enforcement Agency
DEA (or the agency)
School of Mass Communications
the school

45
Symbols
Always write out cents (not )
and percent (not %)
Always use numerals with cents
and percent
5 cents, 50 cents, 92 cents, 1 cent
1 percent, 20 percent, 100 percent

46
Symbols
Use $ if it accompanies a number:
$3 $10.99 $2 billion
Round sums, like clock hours, carry no
zeros or punctuation:
Average gasoline prices rose
from $1 to $1.65.
Spell out casual uses of money:
The homeless man asked for a dollar.
I gave him my two cents.

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Now you try!
The Washington Post costs $0.50.
The Washington Post costs 50 cents.
We paid several dollars for the book.
Correct.
That doesnt make cents.
That doesnt make sense.
The plane cost 1 million dollars.
The plane cost $1 million.

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Symbols
Use & only when its part of a
groups name:
Dow Jones & Co.
Florida A&M

49
Miscellaneous
Abbreviate time zones:
Eastern Standard Time > EST
No periods in call letters
WCVE, WRVA
Always spell out Fort and Mount
Mount Vernon, Fort Pickett,
Fort Worth, Mount Trashmore

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Miscellaneous
Abbreviate Saint when it is part
of a proper noun (river, city,
school, a holy persons name)
St. Paul, Va.; St. Lawrence River;
St. Catherines School
Never abbreviate Christmas

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Miscellaneous
Abbreviate Co. (company), Corp.
(corporation), Ltd. (limited) and
Inc. (incorporated) when they
appear at the end of a companys
name:
Reynolds Inc.
Philip Morris Co.
Circuit City Corp.
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Now you try!
Merry Xmas
Merry Christmas
Fort Lee
Correct: Fort Lee.
Mount Saint Helens
Mount St. Helens

53
Now you try!
Weyerhaeuser Company
Weyerhaeuser Co.
Westvaco Corporation
Westvaco Corp.
W.R.I.C.
WRIC

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