[OSM-talk] shortened names

[David Earl]

On 27/07/2011 10:23, Thomas Davie wrote:
> I don't think how they're sorted has anything to do with it, if every
> time the place name is written, it's written "St Albans", even in
> official documentation of what the town is called, it's name is "St
> Albans", simple as that.

+1.

And the same applies to street names with S(ain)t too. For example St 
Albans Road, Cambridge. Interestingly, nominatim comes up with two such 
roads, one in Cambridge, UK and one in Boston, MA (well done Nominatim 
for getting St vs Saint right btw), and the one in Boston is spelled out 
in full on OSM. However, if you look at Streetview, you can see the 
street sign is "St Albans Rd" and Google maps has it as St Albans Rd 
(but then they shorten everything on the maps), but their Gazetteer - 
what you see when you are located in Streetview as the location you're 
viewing has "Saint" in full.

I think there is a subtle difference between abbreviations (like Rd and 
St - for Street that is) and contractions, like St for Saint and Dr for 
Doctor (not Drive). Generally abbreviations are just saving space, while 
contractions have become like words in their own right.

David