irectories, and the
like make extensive use of abbreviations and signs. These abbreviations are
of very limited use and often of only temporary life. They are not
intelligible to general readers and should never be used outside the
particular form of composition to which they pertain. De Vinne suggests
that in the absence of printed authority (many of these abbreviations not
appearing in the dictionary lists) every proofreader would do well to keep
a manuscript book of unlisted abbreviations which he has to use repeatedly
as a means of securing uniformity of form.

II. DATES.

Dates are not generally abbreviated in regular text matter; _The
Declaration of Independence was signed on July the fourth, 1776._ The word
_the_ is sometimes omitted. The date might be written _July fourth_ but
never _July four_.

The abbreviations _ult._ _inst._ and _prox._ with a numeral (meaning _the
25th of last month_, _the 25th of this month_, _the 25th of next month_)
are often used in letters, but should not be used in print unless the
literal reproduction of a letter is intended. {4}

Do not use _st_, _d_, _rd_, or _th_ after a date given in figures; _August
the sixth_, not _August 6th_.

The accepted abbreviations for the months are:

_Jan._ _Apr._ _July_ _Oct._
_Feb._ _May_ _Aug._ _Nov._
_Mar._ _June_ _Sept._ _Dec._

The accepted abbreviations for the days of the week are:

_Sun._ _Tues._ _Thurs._ _Sat._
_Mon._ _Wed._ _Fri._

The accepted abbreviations may be used for the months when the day is
given, but not when the month and year alone are given;

_Jan. 15, 1916_, but _January 1916_.

Some good authorities prefer the order day, month, year; _15 Jan., 1916_,
but this is a matter of office style. Generally speaking the more common
order is the better quite regardless of the logical character because it
requires less mental effort on the part of the reader. For example in
writing addresses English speaking people put the number before the street,
_59 Wall St._, while others put the number after the street, _Wall St.,
59_. This is the logical order, because one goes to the street and then
finds the number, but it gives to the American reader a curious sensation
of mentally standing on one's head.

There is another set of abbreviations, known as the Dewey dates, as
follows:

Months Days of Week
_Ja._ _Apr._ _Ju._ _O._ _Su._ _W._ _S._
_F._