Hi... Basic Rules for Using Abbreviations These are some basic rules that should be followed by a student using abbreviations in his writing: 1. When in doubt, spell it out. In any style of writing it is better to write words out completely than to risk the improper use of an abbreviation. 2. Check a dictionary for the correct and acceptable format of any abbreviations to be used. Some terms can be abbreviated in more than one way and it is vital students choose the shortest form while maintaining the clarity of the writing. 3. Students must learn to be consistent within a body of work. When a student uses an abbreviated form of a word once within a body of work, it is vital he or she continues to use the same abbreviated form. Flipping between two forms of a word can create confusion for the reader. 4. When the choice exists between an abbreviation and a contraction, a student should be instructed to use the abbreviated format of the word at all times. The abbreviated format is easier to read and easier to type than the contraction. For example it is more acceptable in formal writing to use the abbreviated form of continued (cont.) then it is to use the contraction form (cont'd). 5. When an abbreviation is only one or two keystrokes shorter than the full word the word should not be abbreviated, unless it is to maintain consistency in a work where abbreviations are used.

There are a few accepted abbreviations that are okay to use in a formal setting, such as number (No.), incorporated (inc.) There are also abbreviations that sound nothing like what they are supposed to mean, for example i.e. (means "that is" or "for example" and comes from the latin phrase "id est") as for using abbreviations in casual chat, it is acceptable to abbreviate long words as long as it will be obvious to the other person which word it is supposed to be

Marie-Hélène's dscrptn is the bst I've sn yt on how to abbrev. wds.

In my personal point of view, whenever a long text or a full paper is written, it is always a good practice and is deemed necessary that the involved subject matter (that is, the phrase that is preferred for abbreviation), is spelt IN FULL when it is firstly introduced, followed by a bracket, containing the abbreviation of the subject matter, right after the full spelling. From there on, whenever the subject matter is again mentioned, the abbreviation (listed in the previous bracket) may be applied without any problem. Unfortunately, very often I see a lot of passages, especially some academic or technical papers in a particular research field area, that do not follow such practice, and it always gives me a very hard time to guess the original term or even the related meaning.

Hi Eric, here is a dictionary of abbreviations for you . www.talktalk.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/english/.../d0081473.html