Recently, I noticed that the GDS style guide advises using “eg” instead of “e.g.”. To me, this looks strange, but then again, I’m no copywriter.
eg looks weird, and I’m sure screen readers would have difficulty understanding it too. Nevertheless, it started me looking into different abbreviations that have lost their dots, of which there are a few that spring to mind:
- pm – as in 10pm
- US – the country
- ISA – Individual Savings Account
Some things make sense without their dots, but some are hard to comprehend, like, eg. I stumble on them when reading. It distracts me from the content, and for a second, or a fraction of a second wonder what it means. The closest I can come to explaining it is when you see a random word in another language. You may know the word, but it feels misplaced and interrupts the reading flow.
