ABBREVIATIONS

To abbreviate is to make a word or phrase shorter by leaving out or substituting letters. Some military and civilian terms are so long that abbreviation is almost a must. However, always spell out the name of organizations or groups on its first use. If a name does not have a commonly known abbreviation, the abbreviation should be parenthesized after the first spelling. Thereafter, you may use just the abbreviation as in this example: The guidelines of the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) have changed. ...

The abbreviations that follow and those used throughout this TRAMAN are basically those standardized for civilian and military newswriting by The Associated Press and United Press International.

In newswriting, abbreviate the following and note the examples of each:

Time zones, aircraft and ship designations, distress calls, military terms, and so forth

Examples: EDT, MiG-17, SOS (but May Day), USS John F. Kennedy, SS Virginia.

Business firms

Examples: Warner Bros., Brown Implement Co., Amalgamated Leather, Ltd. If "and" is in the firm name, use the ampersand (&). Examples: Sims & Sons, AT&T.

Street, avenue, boulevard and terrace in addresses when using a numerical prefix, but not point, port, circle, plaza, place, drive, oval, road or lane

Examples: 30 E. 28th St. (single "E" with period), 16 Quentin Ave. NW (no periods in "NW"), 27 Sunset Blvd., but Main Street, Fifth Avenue, and so forth

Versus to read vs. (with period) Example: The case of Johns vs. New York.

Most states when used with cities, towns, bases, Indian agencies and national parks

Examples:

Do not abbreviate Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas or Utah. Never abbreviate the name of states when they are used alone.

Names of provinces and territories are set off from community names by commas, just as the names of U.S. states are set off from city names

Example: They went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on their vacation.

United Nations and United States when used as adjectives, but spell them out when used as nouns. In texts or direct quotations, U.S.A., U.S. and U.N. maybe used as nouns

Examples: He is a former U.S. Olympic champion. She is a member of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). While visiting the United States, she toured the United Nations Building in New York. "When last I was in the U.S.A., the U.N. was in its infancy."

All religious, fraternal, scholastic or honorary degrees, and so forth, but lowercase when spelled out

Examples: J. J. Jones earned his bachelor of science degree at Princeton. J. J. Jones, Ph.D., will be guest speaker at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

Titles (and capitalize) Mr., Mrs., Mile., Dr., Prof., Sen., Rep., Dist. Atty., Gov., Lt. Gov., Gen., Supt., and so forth, when they appear before names but not after

Examples: He introduced Lt. Gov. J. F. Petty. J. F. Petty, the lieutenant governor, will arrive at 10:15 a.m. In first and subsequent References and in group names, use "Miss" before the name of an unmarried woman and "Mrs." before the name of a married woman, or "Ms." if preferred by the individual. Example: Those attending were, Miss Alice Jones, Mrs. Helen Jones and Ms. Gladys Jones.

Months when used with dates, but spell out otherwise

Example: The battle started Oct. 10, 1967, and ended in January 1968. Abbreviations for months are Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. Do not abbreviate March, April, May, June or July except when used in tabular or financial routine; then use Mar., Apr., Jun. and Jul. and spell out May

Mount when referring to a mountain but spell out when referring to a city

Examples: Mt. Everest, Mount Vernon, N.Y.

Fort when it is an Army post, but spell out when it is a city

Examples: Ft. Sill, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

In the following cases, do not abbreviate and note the accompanying examples and exception:

Measurements - The one exception to this rule

Days of the week except in tabular or financial matters. In these cases use Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun.

First names unless the person does

Examples: William, not Wm.; Frederick, not Fred; Benjamin, not Benj. is the word millimeter, which maybe abbreviated as mm (no space) when used with a numeral in first or subsequent References to film or weapons.

Miles an hour and miles per hour are abbreviated in subsequent reference only and must have a numerical prefix

Examples: He used a 35mm camera. She was driving 60 miles an (per) hour but slowed down to 30 mph in the housing area.

Port, association, point, detective, department, deputy, commandant, commodore, field marshal, secretary-general, secretary or treasurer

Christmas or use Xmas

Cities

Exception: Saint is abbreviated to St., when it is part of a city name. Example: St. Augustine, Fla.

These well-known cities are used without a state suffix: