Writing, in Short

Maybe it’s my own, personal quirk, but I am not a big fan of abbreviations.

I can’t really say why. Perhaps there is an affection for formality somewhere in my bone marrow, along with the parts of me that appreciate decent manners and a respect for punctuation.

Mind you, I’m not talking about written abbreviations like “Mr.” or “St.” I don’t feel the need to spell out “Avenue” every time I address an envelope, nor do I particularly want to write out “Oklahoma” or “Wisconsin” instead of “OK” or “WI” on that envelope. No, no, those kinds of abbreviations are useful. Practical.

The abbreviations that get under my skin are the casual usages like “LOL,” or “OMG.”

Or when people can’t be bothered to spell out a word that doesn’t have an officially-sanctioned abbreviation, like “wld” for “would”

Or, even worse (shudder), using the number 4 for “for” or the letter R for “are.”

Am I being too picky, too persnickety, too overly sensitive? I don’t think I’m unreasonable. For example, I do not expect people to spell out “laughing out loud” every time they crack a joke in an e-mail, and I’m not talking about cryptic money-saving usages a la the old Western Union telegram messages. I’m even willing to admit that the time- (and thumb-) saving short-cuts in text messages have their place in the world. After all, we have abbreviations in the first place for a reason.

The part that irks me is the lack of awareness that, just because an abbreviation can and should be used in specific instances, that doesn’t mean that it should be used every time you spell out that word, forever and ever. Yet, it’s encroaching, like blue jeans. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Proper usage is like standing up straight–it makes you look good and shows you’ve got some pride in yourself. Casual, unnecessary abbreviations show that you’re lazy. So, um, don’t slouch.

Oh, but one abbreviation that I heartily endorse? People in distress should absolutely feel free to use S.O.S. as much as they like.

(Although, while some say these letters stand for “Save Our Souls” or “Save Our Ship” or other acronym-launching phrases, it’s really not an abbreviation of anything at all. S.O.S. is just the simplest Morse Code message to tap out. Dot Dot Dot Dash Dash Dash Dot Dot Dot. Easy and rhythmic for remembering, sending, and recognizing . . . which, really, explains why these are the only Morse Code letters I remember.)