P.S. or PS?

     Recently, I was reading a popular how-to blog and noticed that the author punctuated the word “postscript” differently in successive sentences. In the first sentence, he placed full stops (periods) after each letter and wrote, P.S. In the following sentence, he omitted the periods and wrote, PS. To some, this may seem too small to even notice; however, add enough pennies together, and you’ll wind up with a dollar eventually.
     Writers should avoid inconsistent writing as much as they avoid poor spelling. Articles filled with irregularities, poor grammar, and awkward sentences, wave red flags that highlight weaknesses. Without consistency, the writing texture starts to runs thin.
     When I noticed the P.S.—PS mutation, I wondered if the author realized his mistake. Maybe he didn’t know whether or not include periods or omit them, so he straddled the fence, and did both. Or, maybe his snafu was simply an oversight. It happens. Whatever the reason, new blog ideas began forming in my head.
     I considered three choices: inconsistent writing, punctuating abbreviations, or powerful proofreading. I choose punctuating abbreviations, so let’s get it on…

• abbreviation: a shortened form of a word or phrase, e.g., doc for doctor; or Vet. Sci., for Veterinary Science.
• acronym: a word that's formed from the initial letters of other words and sounds like an actual word. Acronyms are mainly used to shorten long phrases, technical terms, titles, and organizations. Here are a few examples;
• scuba—Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
• WAGE—Wide Area GPS Enhancement
• SAT—Scholastic Assessment Test
• MADD—Mothers Against Drunk Driving
• initialisms: an abbreviation consisting of the first letter of words in a phrase such as lol (laugh out loud), or bff (best friends forever). 
• aposiopesis: signifies a break in a sentence or thought with either an em dash (—) or an ellipses (…). This blog is about abbreviating words and phrases, not sentences. So go ahead and consider the aposiopesis your freebie of the day. Because, as Forrest Gump might say, “That’s all I have to say about that.”

     Many people often confuse abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms. Learning how to punctuate them correctly helps ease the confusion. However, even the experts don't always agree, and the rules often change.
     A friendly word of advice: If you are a student, or you write for a magazine, government agency, or media group, know your teacher, publisher, or organization’s preference before you begin writing.
     Meanwhile, here are a few helpful rules to get you going;

1. Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms are all abbreviations. 
2. Single-word abbreviations require a period (or full stop) between each letter or at the end of each word. The correct way to abbreviate the word "postscript" is P.S.
3. Most acronyms and initialisms require ALL CAPS.
4. Initialisms do not require a full stop between each letter. For example, CNN is correct. C.N.N. is wrong.
5. When abbreviating the United States of America, it is acceptable to write either U.S.A. or USA. However, a period should be used in U.S.; otherwise, it looks more like the word "US".
6. Familiar objects, e.g., TV, VCR, or CD-ROM, do not require a full stop between each letter.
7. Famous people, e.g., MLK, FDR, and JFK, do not require a full stop between each letter.
8. Famous institutions, e.g., BYU, NFL, MIT, FBI and UCLA, do not require a full stop between each letter.
9. A.M. and p.m. are acceptable in both upper case and lower case letters—even in formal writing. They do require a full stop between each letter. 
10.  Long, common phrases such as mph (miles per hour), and IQ (Intelligence Quotient) do not require a full stop between each letter.
11. Measurements do not require a period at the end of the abbreviations ft, kg, and lb. However, the abbreviation for the word "inches" (in.) does require a period at the end to avoid confusion with the word “in”.
12. Common Latin terms, etc. (et cetera—"and so forth"), i.e. (id est.—"that is"), and et al. (et alii—"and others") require full stops. NOTE: When the English abbreviation for Latin words consists of two words, for example, pro tem., which means pro tempore or “for the time being”,  place a period at the end of the second word only.
13. Punctuate the abbreviations e.g., and i.e., the same as if you wrote the words that they abbreviate. For example, if you use the abbreviation i.e., which stand for in other words, you insert a period and a comma after the letter “e” (i.e., she didn’t like the sauce). Should you use e.g. instead of for example, you insert a period and a comma after the letter “g” (e.g., people, places, and things).
14. Words forming part of a legal name such as, Co., Inc., and Corp., require full stops. Should you decide to omit them altogether, you may. 
15. When referring to a government corporation or agency, never abbreviate; and do not omit any part of the legal name.

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