Plain English

10. col. the abbreviation for colorado, is easily confused with cal. the abbreviation for california.

11. the people's college is a college maintained by the working class.

12. william jennings bryan won his first nomination for president of the united states by a very dramatic speech delivered in the national democratic convention.

13. marion craig wentworth, a socialist playwright, has written a play called "war brides."

14. the play closes with these words; a message to the emperor: i refuse to bear my child until you promise there shall be no more war.

15. olive schreiner's "woman and labor" is full of fascinating thought.

Exercise 3

Notice carefully the use of capitals in the following quotations, and determine the reason for the use of every capital:

As the nobles of England wrung their independence from King John, and as the tradesmen of France broke through the ring of privilege enclosing the Three Estates; so today the millions who serve society in arduous labor on the highways, and aloft on the scaffoldings, and by the sides of the whirring machines, are demanding that they, too, and their children, shall enjoy all of the blessings that justify and make beautiful this life.—Frank Walsh.

"The toad beneath the harrow knows
Exactly where the tooth-point goes.
The butterfly beside the road
Doth preach contentment to that toad."

"When I came here, it was said that the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company voted every man and woman in their employ without any regard to their being naturalized or not; and even their mules, it used to be remarked, were registered if they were fortunate enough to possess names." From a letter written by Mr. L. M. Bowers, Chairman of The Board of Directors of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, to the Secretary of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., under date of May 13, 1913.

Master, I've done Thy bidding, wrought in Thy many lands.
Not by my sins wilt Thou judge me, but by the work of my hands.
Master, I've done Thy bidding, and the light is low in the west,
And the long, long shift is over … Master, I've earned it—Rest.

    —Robert Service.

It's O! to be a slave
Along with the barbarous Turk,
Where woman has never a soul to save,
If this is Christian work!—Thos. Hood.
While there is a lower class, I am in it.
While there is a criminal element, I am of it.
While there is a soul in jail, I am not free.

    —Eugene V. Debs.

When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?

The vilest deeds, like poison weeds,
Bloom well in prison-air;
It is only what is good in man
That wastes and withers there:
Pale Anguish keeps the heavy gate,
And the Warder is Despair.

    —Oscar Wilde.

ABBREVIATIONS AND CONTRACTIONS

485. There are a number of words which we abbreviate or contract, in our every-day use. A contraction is a shortened form of the word used to save time or space and is made by omitting a letter or letters. The apostrophe is used to indicate the omission in a contracted word. As, for example:

B'ld'g, B'l'v'd, M'f'g.

When the word is contracted in this way and the apostrophe is used, these contractions are not followed by the period but are used just as the completely written word would be used. There is no accepted list of these contractions. We devise them according to our need at the moment.

An abbreviation, however, is an authorized contraction of the word. It is the shortening of a term which is habitually used to save time and space. The apostrophe is not used and the abbreviation should be followed by a period. As for example:

Bldg. Blvd. Mfg.

These abbreviations and contractions are very helpful to us in saving time and space but should not be used too frequently. Too many contractions or abbreviations make writing ridiculous. Take time to write out the majority of words. Only use abbreviations or contractions for certain accepted words. Avoid an excessive use of abbreviations.

COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS

486. We quite often abbreviate the names of the months, especially those which have long names. Short names like March, April, May, June and July, should never be abbreviated. For the other months we use in correspondence the abbreviations, Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. Days of the week are also sometimes abbreviated as follows: Sun., Mon., Tues., Wed., Thur., Fri., Sat. Do not use these abbreviations too often. Spell out the names of the months and of the days of the week except in lists of dates or something that calls for abbreviations to save time or space.

Mr., Mrs., Messrs., Jr., Sr., are never spelled out, but are always written in the abbreviated form. You will often find Doctor and Professor abbreviated to Dr., Prof. This is permissible but it is always good form to write them out in full.

487. We have abbreviated forms for a number of names; as for example: Geo., Chas., Thos., Wm., etc. But it is always much better to write these names out in full: George, Charles, Thomas, William, etc.

Remember that nicknames are not abbreviations and do not require a period after them. Jim, Charley, Tom, and Bill are not abbreviations but nicknames.

In correspondence or in any circumstance that demands the saving of time or space, we abbreviate the names of states and territories, as follows:

Alabama, Ala.

Arizona, Ariz.

Arkansas, Ark.

California, Cal.

Colorado, Colo.

Connecticut, Conn.

Delaware, Del.

District of Columbia, D. C.

Florida, Fla.

Georgia, Ga.