一、縮寫?Abbreviations

規則1、

在正式寫作中，應當避免使用縮寫，除非有下述規則2、規則3和規則4的情形。

In?formal?writing,?one?should?not?use?abbreviations,?except?as?indicated?in?rules?2,?3,?and?4?below.

例如：

Incorrect:?The?U.S.?Supreme?Court?held?that?the?defendant’s?rights?had?been?violated.

Correct:?The?United?States?Supreme?Court?held?that?the?defendant’s?rights?had?been?violated.

Incorrect:?Professor?Jonas?mentioned?several?cities?that?have?domestic-partnership?ordinances,?e.g.,?New?York?and?San?Francisco.

Correct:?Professor?Jonas?mentioned?several?cities?that?have?domestic-partnership?ordinances,?including?New?York?and?San?Francisco.

Incorrect:?The?Court?announced?its?decision?in?the?case?on?Oct.?12,?1994.

Correct:?The?Court?announced?its?decision?in?the?case?on?October?12,?1994.

規則2、

如果一個縮寫的應用已經非常普遍，在一般用法中已經取代了全稱，則可以使用縮寫；但使用此縮寫時不應該使用表示縮寫的英文句號（.）。

When?an?abbreviation?has?become?so?common?that?it?has?supplanted?the?full?name?in?common?usage,?one?may?use?the?abbreviation;?however,?one?should?do?so?without?the?use?of?periods.

例如：

Incorrect:?The?N.A.A.C.P.?was?the?subject?of?a?profile?on?C.B.S.?last?week.

Correct:?The?NAACP?was?the?subject?of?a?profile?on?CBS?last?week.

（注：?NAACP?abbr.National?Association?for?the?Advancement?of?Colored?People?(美國)全國有色人種協進會，CBS?abbr.?（美國）哥倫比亞廣播公司(Columbia?Broadcasting?System)）

However:?The?defendant?in?the?case?is?R.J.?Reynolds?Industries,?Inc.

請注意，在上面的例子中，字母R和J后面的句號（.）應當保留，因為這個縮寫所代表的含義并非廣為人知。一般來說，這樣的縮寫應當使用全稱；但是在上面的例子中不能用全稱，因為縮寫R.J.是公司注冊名稱中使用的。

Notice?that?in?the?preceding?example,?the?points?after?"R"?and?"J"?should?be?left?in,?because?the?meaning?of?the?abbreviation?is?not?sufficiently?well?known?to?most?readers.?Ordinarily,?one?would?replace?such?an?abbreviation?with?the?full?terms;?however,?one?can?not?do?so?in?this?case?because?the?legal?corporate?name?involved?includes?the?abbreviation.

規則3、

當使用legal?citation時，一定要按照Bluebook（見譯注）的要求來縮寫。但在行文中提及法院時，不應用縮寫。

When?writing?legal?citations,?always?use?the?abbreviations?required?by?the?Bluebook.?However,?when?referring?to?a?court?in?text,?do?not?abbreviate.?For?example:

例如：

Incorrect:?The?Ill.?Supreme?Court?required?the?return?of?the?child?to?his?birth?mother.?Smithson?v.?Bettaglia,?59?Illinois?2d?73,?180?Northeast?Reporter?2d?754?(1994).

Correct:?The?Illinois?Supreme?Court?required?the?return?of?the?child?to?his?birth?mother.?Smithson?v.?Bettaglia,?59?Ill.?2d?73,?180?N.E.2d?754?(1994).

規則4、

當行文中涉及的公司在其注冊名稱中含有一個或多個縮寫時，如?R.J.?Reynolds?Industries,?Inc.，應當保留縮寫；不要把縮寫所代表的全稱全部拼出，除非公司的注冊名稱中已經全部拼出，如Exxon?Shipping?Company。這條規則適用于所有的公司名稱中，包括Co.，?Corp.，?Inc.和?Ltd.。

When?referring?to?a?corporate?entity?that?has?one?or?more?abbreviations?as?part?of?its?legal?name,?such?as?R.J.?Reynolds?Industries,?Inc.,?leave?the?abbreviations?in?the?name.?Do?not?spell?out?the?abbreviation?unless?the?corporation?itself?spells?it?out,?which?some?do?(for?example,?Exxon?Shipping?Company).?This?rule?applies?to?all?of?the?various?forms?of?corporate?designations,?including?Co.,?Corp.,?Inc.,?and?Ltd.

例如：

Incorrect:?McDermott?International,?Incorporated

Correct:?McDermott?International,?Inc.

二、縮略符

當一個學生向教授提交書面作業或向律師事務所提交書面資料時，?沒有什么比錯誤的使用或不使用縮略符造成的負面印象更嚴重了。因此，掌握這些簡單，卻常常容易混淆的規則非常重要。

在四種情形下使用或不使用縮略符容易引起混淆，分別是（1）復數詞（2）單數所有格（3）復數所有格和（4）it’s和its的縮寫形式（Contractions，see?cross?reference?hereunder）與所有格。是否使用所有格，要先問問自己是否涉及領有關系。如果是領有關系，名詞或帶詞就要采取所有格。

規則1、Plain?plural?words?do?not?require?the?use?of?an?apostrophe.?For?example:

Incorrect:?The?lawyer’s?could?generally?be?found?after?hours?at?the?Hanover?Street?Bar?and?Grill.?(The?apostrophe?here?incorrectly?indicates?a?singular?possessive.)

Incorrect:?The?lawyers’?could?generally?be?found?after?hours?at?the?Hanover?Street?Bar?and?Grill.?(The?apostrophe?here?incorrectly?indicates?a?plural?possessive.)

Correct:?The?lawyers?could?generally?be?found?after?hours?at?the?Hanover?Street?Bar?and?Grill.?(The?lack?of?an?apostrophe?here?correctly?indicates?a?plural,?nonpossessive?term.)

規則2、In?singular?possessive?terms,?place?the?apostrophe?before?the?"s."?This?will?indicate?ownership?by?one?person?or?thing.?For?example:

Incorrect:?Our?schools?collection?included?an?original?set?of?Blackstone’s?Commentaries.

Incorrect:?Our?schools’?collection?included?an?original?set?of?Blackstone’s?Commentaries.