7 Advisories About Abbreviations

7 Advisories About Abbreviations 7 Advisories About Abbreviations 7 Advisories About Abbreviations By Mark Nichol Abbreviations are useful, but they can be wickedly tricky little widgets. Keep these points in mind when you truncate words and phrases: 1. a/an This entry refers not to a or an as abbreviations but to which of the two indefinite articles should precede a given abbreviation. The choice depends not on the first letter of the abbreviation itself but on the sound of the first letter. Therefore, for example, you’d write â€Å"an MD after her name,† rather than â€Å"a MD after her name,† because the first letter in that abbreviation is pronounced â€Å"em† and should therefore be preceded by an. 2. Initials as Adjectives â€Å"I went up to the ATM machine and put in my PIN number to check my IRA account.† And in relating this event, I made three errors. In each case, the last letter of the abbreviation stands for the noun following the abbreviation. This is a job for the Department of Redundancy Department! 3. Metric Abbreviations Abbreviations for metric measurements either immediately follow the associated numeral (100m for â€Å"100-meter dash†) or follow a letter space (â€Å"2.2 kg = 1 lb.†); the latter style prevails especially when, as in the example given here, references to both metric-system and English-system measurements occur. But note the absence of periods following the metric abbreviations. Metric abbreviations are always lowercase with one optional exception: Because of the resemblance of the letter l to the number 1, the abbreviation for liter is often uppercase or italicized, or, when handwritten, styled in cursive writing. 4. Periods In abbreviations, periods are passe. Period. (Except not: e.g., i.e., etc. But mostly, yes.) 5. Plurals Omit apostrophes with plural forms of abbreviations: â€Å"He has two PhDs,† â€Å"It lists various NGOs,† â€Å"They’re all NIMBYs.† Of course, if the style for the publication in question retains periods (but see the previous point), retain the apostrophe as well: â€Å"Several R.N.’s failed the test.† 6. Postal Symbols Postal symbols are a prescribed set of two-letter abbreviations for states that are sometimes used as shorthand in nonpostal applications. In 1963, to make room for an innovation known as the ZIP code (which phrase has its own entry below), the US Postal Service advocated a two-letter form (CA, for example), but many people persist in incorrectly styling such abbreviations uppercase/lowercase (e.g., Ca.) or appending an extraneous period (CA.). 7. ZIP Code Those clever folks at the USPS selected this name to imply that mail would arrive at its destination more speedily if the five-digit code was supplied, but ZIP actually stands for something Zone Improvement Plan so treat it with all caps. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with HeartSelect vs. Selected50 Tips on How to Write Good

Strategies for Acing a Multiple Choice Test

Strategies for Acing a Multiple Choice Test We all have to study and take a multiple choice test at some point in our lives. Since these tests are so prevalent, its important to have a few strategies under our belts when we sit for the exams. Read below, because these multiple choice test tips are sure to help you get the score you need on whatever exam youre taking next. Multiple Choice Strategies Read the question while covering up the answer choices. Come up with an answer in your head, and then check to see if it’s one of the choices listed. Use a process of elimination to get rid of as many wrong choices as you can before answering a question. Wrong answers are often easier to find. Look for extremes like never only or â€Å"always. Look for opposites like a substitution of –1 for 1. Look for similarities like conjunctive for subjunctive. Those could be distractors.Physically cross off wrong answer choices so you are not tempted to go back at the end of the test and change your answer. Why? You will read more about trusting your gut in a minute.Read ALL the choices. The right answer may be the one you keep skipping. Many students, in an attempt to move quickly through the test, tend to skim answer choices instead of reading them thoroughly. Do not make that mistake!Cross off any answer that does not fit grammatically with the question on your multiple choice test. If the test blank is looking for a singular noun, for instance, then any question choice displaying a plural noun will be incorrect. If you struggle t o figure it out, then plug the answer choices into the problem to see if it works.   Take an educated guess if there is no guessing penalty like there used to be on the SAT. You will always get the answer wrong by skipping it. You at least have a shot if you answer the question.Look for wordy answers. Unless you’re taking a standardized test, the correct answer is often the choice with the most information. Teachers often have to put as much info down as possible to make sure the answer choice can’t be disputed.Remember that you’re looking for the best answer. Often, more than one answer choice will be technically correct on a  multiple choice test. So, you have to choose which one fits best  with the stem and in the context of the reading passage or test.Use your test booklet or scratch paper. It often helps to write as your work, so write down formulas and equations, solve math problems, outline, paraphrase and underline to help you read. Use the scratch paper to help you work things out logically.Pace yourself. If you get stuck on a questi on, circle it and move on. Come back at the end of the test so you don’t waste precious time on something you may not get right anyway. Trust your gut. Definitely go back through your test to make sure you’ve answered everything, but keep your answers the same unless you’ve discovered new information in a later part of the test to disprove your answer. Click the link for more details about this strategy!