Re: Free books

Le 03/08/2025 à 07:42, Richard Heathfield a écrit :
> On 03/08/2025 07:01, Hibou wrote:
>>
>> The Americans also use a full stop after abbreviations such as Dr. and 
>> Mr.. (That double full stop is a Hibouisme - la logique avant tout !) 
>> In BrE, a full stop is used if the last letter of the abbreviation is 
>> not the last letter of the word - etc., Feb., Rev., but Mr not Mr. - 
>> and to avoid ambiguity - to the relief of the infamous coy. commander.
> 
> I was taught 40 years ago not to punctuate abbreviations, at least not 
> in business correspondence. It seemed like weird advice at the time, but 
> it has stood up to 40 years' hard use and has worn well.
> 
> Maybe what is usual in BrE isn't quite as usual as you thought.

That's possible, and certainly full stops can seem fussy (and I would 
not use them) in such abbreviations as GEC (the company, not Conan 
Doyle's hero), BMW, IBM, and AT&T - or indeed, AI (aircraft 
interception), RF, QED, AC, ADSL, AM, EPROM, etc..

The advice I quoted comes from Carey's 'Mind the Stop' (Penguin, 1971). 
The main concern is to remove ambiguity, and after that to be consistent.

>> That's all that comes to mind for the moment. 


After writing that, I went through to breakfast, to be faced by an 
American-style time display on the DAB radio: "07:05". "07.05" in BrE, 
though so pervasive is American influence that many Britons know it not.