[Talk-us] Abbreviation Police

[Paul Johnson]

On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:37:33 -0600, Kevin Atkinson wrote:

> Or do people here really think everything should be expand to the
> fullest.

Abbreviations are bad because they can't be easily automatically 
expanded.  However, it's easy to abbreviate in a renderer when you know 
what the full word is.  Classic example: Abbreviate the word "Street."  
Ok, now expand the abbreviation "St."

> Really, would anyone say: "United States Highway 29".  Rather than "U S
> Highway 29" or more likely just "U S 29".

Everybody calls Martin Luther King, Junior Boulevard "MLK" or "Milk 
Junior", but that doesn't stop the name from being the long-form.

> At least "1st" hasn't been expand to "First", etc.  But just wait...

Ordinal numbers are not abbreviations.