Save time, space and money: how abbreviations make life easier in the USA

With the acceleration of life, writing accelerates. How in the United States use abbreviations to save time, space and money, says the author of the channel Galochka on Yandex.Zen.

Photo: Shutterstock

We must immediately make a reservation that when many people say “America,” they mean its northern continent. In the Americas, countries are called as they should be called. And what we usually mean when we say “America” is called US or USA, which is an abbreviation, by the way. When they say America here, they mean the entire continent, for example, all the countries of South and North America. I hope this small amendment of mine at the beginning of the article will help some decide on the correct designation of the countries of the American continent.

So here. In the United States, various abbreviations and abbreviations are used everywhere: on road signs, bus routes, in questionnaires, and in the cookbook, finally. Abbreviation as a special way to reduce word formation has become widespread in the twentieth century.

There are several types of abbreviations. I’ll tell you about those that delight me in the USA every day.

For digestible reading of signs on street signs, writing in documents, filling in questionnaires, etc. very simple and viable reductions were adopted. For instance:

• BLVD from boulevard - boulevard; you will agree that the spelling is quite difficult for English (my favorite abbreviation);
• CSW - causeway, which means highway, pavement;
• PKW - parkway - alley. Agree, it is much more convenient to write an address with this word in abbreviation;
• HGW - highway - autobahn, expressway;
• TBLSP (TBSP) - table spoon - a tablespoon, finally!

We all also know or have heard the following abbreviations:

• CEO - Chief Executive Officer - general director;
• EVP - Executive Vice President - everything is clear here;
• M.PHIL or MPHIL - Master of Philosophy;
• SVP - Senior Vice President - senior vice president.

And here are very convenient abbreviations that are lacking in the Russian language:

• AFAIK - as far as I know. Let's put this into practice, this abbreviation has the right to assimilate into the Russian language! NYZ - as far as I know. Or so - NMI - as far as I know. So why not?
• Or DIY - do it yourself. DIY - SS! Briefly and clearly.

And what is missing specifically for me: in the lines of the questionnaires there are only a couple of millimeters in height and a length of 3 centimeters, and for me only the name of the authority that issued the document should occupy at least 5 such lines! How about writing TP No. 5 MZHRNG OUFMS of Russia according to MSK OBL in Chkalov State Regional Office? Someone advance this idea!

On the subject: 13 pairs of common English words that confuse even native speakers

The well-known abbreviation is PS. This abbreviation can often be found at the end of a letter or address. Everything is simple here - PS, which in Latin is post script, even in Russian it sounds almost the same - postscript.

But other abbreviations often found in the letter, formed in the Latin language. Please note that they are written in small, capital letters, unlike PS:

• eg - this abbreviation can be seen before listing examples. In Latin exampli gratia, which means “example given” (an example is given);
• etc - comes from the Latin etetera, which means “and others”;
• ie is a very popular abbreviation used everywhere. Taken from the Latin id est, meaning “that is” - “what is...” or “what is...”;
• nb - sometimes used at the end of correspondence and comes from the Latin nota bene, which means “take notice”, “note well”. In Russian - put a note, remember, pay attention.

The most interesting thing when you write an article is that in search of arguments and facts we continue to develop. For example, for the first time I saw several abbreviations that I did not know before. I hope you like this one -

• BYOB - bring your own bottle, bring your own drinks. This can be found in the description of parties or on the website of a restaurant, if it does not sell alcohol, but allows parties to be held with brought drinks. Let's take it into service.

On the subject: 20 free sites for learning English

So, we come to the most important part - saving. Imagine: the size of the signs on the roads in the USA is as huge as the portions in restaurants (in proportion), and indeed everything here. Now let’s take into account the cost of creating one road sign (development, application of special reflective materials, etc.) and multiply it by the scale of the entire country... Next we do it ourselves.

This is a summary of the US abbreviations used by neighboring countries. There are also acronyms: abbreviations for the first letters of a sentence of several words. For example, the well-known FAQ. But this is the next time.

Original column published on the blog. Galochka on Yandex.Zen

ForumDaily is not responsible for the content of blogs and may not share the views of the author. If you want to become the author of the column, send your materials to [email protected]

Read also on ForumDaily:

3 things that are considered a sign of wealth in post-Soviet countries, but not in the USA

13 restaurants where you can eat for free during a pandemic

What you can buy in America for $ 1: the experience of a Russian-speaking immigrant

Worse than Russian counterparts: 3 products that US immigrants do not like

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.