Page 174 - (DK) Help Your Kids with Language Arts

172 SPELLING

Abbreviations SEE ALSO

94–95 Periods and ellipses
A WORD OR PHRASE THAT IS WRITTEN IN A   158–159 Capital letters
164–165 Irregular word spellings
SHORTENED FORM IS CALLED AN ABBREVIATION. Picking the right words 182–183 
The English language contains many abbreviations,
The symbol @ is an abbreviation for
which are used to represent longer words or phrases
“at” and is used in e-mail addresses
in speech, or where space is limited. In some cases,
and text messsages.
the abbreviation is better known than the full name.

Common abbreviations REAL W OR L D
The way an abbreviation is written NASA
usually depends on the category
to which it belongs. Often, a period One of the world’s most recognized abbreviations is
is used to represent missing text. the name of the American government agency NASA,
For abbreviated Latin phrases, which stands for the National Aeronautics and Space
periods are used after each letter. Administration. The first letter from each word forms
Abbreviations that are formed from this acronym—an abbreviation that is pronounced as
the initial letters of a group of words a word, not as separate letters. The NASA logo shown
usually don’t use periods. here is on the side of a space shuttle.

Abbreviation Words in full Abbreviation Words in full
3-D three-dimensional i.e. id est (Latin); that is (English)
a.m. ante meridiem (Latin); before noon (English) IOU I owe you
b. born (indicating birth date) LED light-emitting diode
BCE before the Common Era long. longitude
Brit. British MD medical doctor
C Centigrade or Celsius Mr. Mister
CE Common Era Mrs. Mistress (referring to wife)
dept. department PDF Portable Document Format
DIY do-it-yourself percent per centum (Latin); in each hundred (English)
ed. edition or editor p.m. post meridiem (Latin); after noon (English)
e.g. exempli gratia (Latin); for example (English) PM Prime Minister
est. established or estimated Pres. President
EST Eastern Standard Time P.S. post scriptum (Latin); written after (English)
etc. et cetera (Latin); and the rest (English) PTO please turn over
EU European Union SMS Short Message Service
F Fahrenheit UK United Kingdom
FAQ frequently asked questions US United States
GMT Greenwich Mean Time USB Universal Serial Bus
HTML HyperText Markup Language www World Wide Web