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 there’s just a month and a year, no comma!
3
Dates
 Abbreviate months of > 5 letters:
Jan. 5, 1997
Feb. 28, 1864
Don’t use ordinal
numbers like:
Aug. 10, 2000
Feb. 2nd
Sept. 9, 1999
Aug. 23rd
Oct. 14, 1784
Dec. 12th
Nov. 1, 1965
Dec. 22, 1696
4
Dates
 Write out months of 5 or fewer letters:
March 30, 2000
April 5, 1974
Don’t use ordinal
numbers like:
May 26, 1998
March 10th
June 12, 1863
May 1st
July 31, 1997
June 23rd
(But July Fourth is OK!)
5
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.
6
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:
It’s preceded by a town or city
The state has 6 or more letters
Don’t abbreviate: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho,
Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Utah
Check AP Style for state abbreviations
AP doesn’t use the postal code abbreviations!
11
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.
12
Omit the state if...
 You write for a publication
covering that state:
A tornado flattened Hopewell today.
The new city manager is from Norfolk.
 It’s a widely known city
(See “Datelines” in the AP Stylebook.)
The 1998 Olympics were in Atlanta.
A hurricane hit Miami last year.
13
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.
14
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.
15
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 it’s an exact address, abbreviate
everything you can (the direction &
“street,” “boulevard” and “avenue”):
901 W. Main St.
2005 Grove Ave.
70 Monument Blvd.
 If there’s no street address, spell out:
He lives on Floyd Street.
The building is on Monument Boulevard.
17
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.
 It’s at 10532 West Broad St.
 It’s 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.
 What’s your address?
20
Names and titles
 On first reference,
use a person’s 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 there’s confusion
 Use courtesy titles in a direct quote
21
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.
22
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
 Don’t abbreviate:
Superintendent Albert Williams
Commonwealth’s 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 Baskerville.
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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
27
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)
28
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 Massachusetts ...
29
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 Bush’s running mate.
 Former U.S. Rep. Richard Cheney, R-Wyo., is
Bush’s running mate.
30
Military titles
 See AP Stylebook
 Many titles are abbreviated
 Use titles only with full name
31
Military titles
 Abbreviate
Gen.
Col.
Maj.
Lt.
Sgt.
Adm.
Cmdr.
Pvt.
Pfc.
 Spell out
Warrant Officer
Petty Officer
Seaman
Ensign
Airman
 Partly spell out
Staff Sgt.
Lance Cpl.
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., ...
33
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)
34
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 ...
35
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.
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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.
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Academic degrees
 Lowercase when written out
 Uppercase and use periods
when abbreviated
master’s degree or M.A.
medical degree or M.D.
bachelor of arts or B.A.
doctor of philosophy, doctoral degree,
doctorate or Ph.D.
40
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.
41
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
45
 the school
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.
47
Now you try!
 The Washington Post costs $0.50.
 The Washington Post costs 50 cents.
 We paid several dollars for the book.
 Correct.
 That doesn’t make cents.
 That doesn’t make sense.
 The plane cost 1 million dollars.
 The plane cost $1 million.
48
Symbols
 Use “&” only when it’s part of a group’s
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
50
Miscellaneous
 Abbreviate “Saint” when it is part of a
proper noun (river, city, school, a holy
person’s name)
St. Paul, Va.; St. Lawrence River;
St. Catherine’s 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 company’s name:
Reynolds Inc.
Philip Morris Co.
Circuit City Corp.
52
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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