Hi, English isn’t my mother tongue so I was asking myself that question since I first encounted a w/… Back then I was like: “What tf does ‘w slash’ stand for?” And when I found out I was like “How, why, and is it any intuitive?” But I never dared to ask that until now
As others said, with as w/ was around as part of secretarial shorthand, which got taught to most people keeping corporate documentation and it stuck.
There are a lot of abbreviations like that in the English language that came from abbreviations in written form due to the media in was written in, whether it was newspapers, telegraph, handwritten shorthand, or computer based. It may not make sense because English isn’t a language designed to make sense; it isn’t even designed.
squaresinger@feddit.de 11 months ago
All in all, the / is just one style of abbreviation used in English. It’s not only used for “with”, but also a few other words (w/o = without, N/A = not applicable).
In German we abbreviate using a dot (e.g. “m.” = “mit” = "with). That’s not more or less intuitive, it’s just what you are used to.
What’s kinda special with English is that there are multiple abbreviation styles. Off the top of my head I can think of six styles:
candybrie@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I’m used to Dr., Mr., Mrs. all needing the dot.
I’d also add the medical ones which all use x, and most use the first letter of the word, but not all:
Izzgo@kbin.social 11 months ago
I learned similar shorthand from an accountant, who wrote transfer (money transfer between accounts) as tx.
squaresinger@feddit.de 11 months ago
Both are possible: Dr and Dr.
Never heard of the x version. Very interresting.
GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 11 months ago
I work in radio electronics and RX is receive. TX is transmit.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Dr., Mrs., Ms. etc. are traditionally abbreviated with periods/dots but it does raise issues typing on one’s phone because autocorrect thinks it’s the end of a sentence, so sans dots is becoming more common. And there’s other examples which have never had dots, like nvm and af
CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Using the period with titles is standard in the US and leaving out the period is standard in the UK.
GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Yes, that’s how I pronounce it.
Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg 11 months ago
As a non-Christian, I never made that Xmas connection. It sounds cool, but I was never sure why anyone started calling that (and evidently never curious enough to go looking for an answer or even really ask, I just kinda took it as one of those things that is how it is because people are going to people).
squaresinger@feddit.de 11 months ago
Both Dr and Dr. are possible.
Rouxibeau@lemmy.world 11 months ago
When you type Dr., et al., you normally follow it with a proper noun. Why is the auto caps an issue?
deranger@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Don’t forget re: which means regarding or in reference to, not reply.
Taniwha420@lemmy.world 11 months ago
… I think it’s actually a Latin word, “re,”, meaning, “the matter (subject)” not an abbreviation at all.
Rentlar@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
don’t forget using contractions on single words, like cont’d, pop’n (sometimes written pop^n^)
TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 11 months ago
don’t forget x in medical settings. eg, dx is diagnose, tx is treatment, etc
seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org 11 months ago
Those are initialisms, not acronyms.
Klear@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Wikipedia at least sees initialisms as a type of acronyms. But even if it didn’t, your comment would still be unhelpful pedantry.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Abbreviate using the first and then any choice of following letter that differentiates it from the other possibilities in a specific group: AL, AR, AK, AZ… MA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT… WA, WI, WV, WY!
Wifimuffins@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Well tbf those are post codes designed by the postal service to represent states. I wouldn’t really count it as a naturally developed abbreviation like the ones above, it’s no different from .fr, .es, .co.uk, etc.
The abbreviations for states used before the two-letter ones, however, are much weirder! E.g. Penna. for Pennsylvania
ValiantDust@feddit.de 11 months ago
I think it’s usually the first letter(s) and the last letter(s). In older English handwritings I’ve come across M.ʳ etc. So I think that’s were those came from.
uniqueid198x@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 months ago
In the Speedwriting shorthand system, developed in 1924 for use with typewriter, / Is used to denote omitted sylables, so ‘with’ becomes w/ and ‘without’ becomes w/o. Here is a pretty deep guide on the precepts of Speedwriting:
www.reddit.com/r/Classic_Speedwriting/…/list108/
Etterra@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Except Dr., Mr., ie., etc. use a period.
squaresinger@feddit.de 11 months ago
Both versions exist: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_(title)#Abbreviati…
Trex202@lemmy.one 11 months ago
What about acronyms and initialization?