Abbreviations

Lesshand provides abbreviations for common words.

Common words

Lesshand abbreviates the following exceptionally common words:

about --> abt
actually --> acty
after --> af
also --> al
and --> d
aren't --> r'
are --> r
around --> ard
be --> b
because --> bc
been --> bn
before --> bf
between --> bw
but --> bt
can --> c
can't --> c'
could --> cd
couldn't --> cd'
down --> dn
especially --> esp
every --> evy
for --> f
forward --> fwd
from --> m
further --> furth
her --> hr
his --> hs
how --> hw
however --> hwv
I'd --> id
I --> i
I'll --> il
I'm --> im
into --> io
isn't --> s'
is --> s
I've --> iv
just --> j
much --> mh
need --> nd
needn't --> nd'
never --> nv
no --> n
not --> x
of --> o
okay --> k
only --> oy
otherwise --> othw
over --> ov
please --> pls
really --> rly
several --> sev
shouldn't --> sd'
should --> sd
thanks --> tks
that --> tt
the --> l
they --> e
this --> h
though --> tho
through --> thro
together --> tog
tomorrow --> tmrw
to --> t
very --> v
wasn't --> w'
was --> w
were --> ee
weren't --> ee'
will --> ll
willn't --> ll'
without --> wo
won't --> wo'
wouldn't --> wd'
would --> wd
yeah --> yh
yes --> y
you're --> u'
your --> ur
you --> u

Nouns

In English, nouns may be inflected for number (adding "s" or "es" to mark plurality) or the genitive case (adding "'s" or "s'" to show possession). In Lesshand, these inflections are are marked by adding "s", "'" (apostrophe), or "s'" ("s" then apostrophe) to the end of a noun abbreviation respectively. Not all nouns have each form: we don't say "everythings".

Lesshand abbreviates the following common nouns and their inflections:

address --> addr
apartment --> aptm
apartment's --> aptm'
apartments --> aptms
apartments' --> aptms'
appointment --> appt
appointment's --> appt'
appointments --> appts
appointments' --> appts'
babies --> bbs
babies' --> bbs'
baby --> bb
baby's --> bb'
billion --> bil
billion's --> bil'
billions --> bils
billions' --> bils'
complex --> cx
context --> ctx
context's --> ctx'
contexts' --> ctxs'
department --> dept
department's --> dept'
departments --> depts
departments' --> depts'
dozen --> doz
dozen's --> doz'
dozens --> dozs
dozens' --> dozs'
email --> eml
email's --> eml'
emails --> emls
emails' --> emls'
everything --> evthg
everything's --> evthg'
government --> govt
government's --> govt'
governments --> govts
governments' --> govts'
hundred --> hun
hundred's --> hun'
hundreds --> huns
hundreds' --> huns'
information --> info
interest --> ist
interest's --> ist'
interesting --> istq
interests --> ists
interests' --> ists'
management --> mgmt
management's --> mgmt'
market --> mkt
marketing --> mktq
market's --> mkt'
markets --> mkts
markets' --> mkts'
maximum --> maxm
maximum's --> maxm'
meeting --> mtg
meeting's --> mtg'
meetings --> mtgs
meetings' --> mtgs'
million --> mil
million's --> mil'
millions --> mils
millions' --> mils'
minimum --> minm
minimum's --> minm'
move --> mv
moving --> mvq
move's --> mv'
moves --> mvs
moves' --> mvs'
organization --> org
organization's --> org'
organizations --> orgs
organizations' --> orgs'
other --> oth
othering --> othq
other's --> oth'
others --> oths
others' --> oths'
people --> ppl
people's --> ppl'
president --> pres
president's --> pres'
presidents' --> press'
question --> q
questioning --> qq
question's --> q'
questions --> qs
questions' --> qs'
request --> rqst
request's --> rqst'
requests --> rqsts
requests' --> rqsts'
requirement --> reqm
requirement's --> reqm'
requirements --> reqms
requirements' --> reqms'
right --> rt
righting --> rtq
right's --> rt'
rights --> rts
rights' --> rts'
service's --> svc'
services --> svcs
services' --> svcs'
service --> svc
something --> smth
something's --> smth'
somethings --> smths
somethings' --> smths'
thing's --> tg'
things --> tgs
things' --> tgs'
thing --> tg
thousands's --> thous'
thousandss' --> thouss'
thousands --> thous
thousand --> thou
tonight's --> tn'
tonight --> tn
trillion's --> tril'
trillions --> trils
trillions' --> trils'
trillion --> tril

Adjectives

Adjectives may be inflected to indicate a degree of comparison (by adding "er", or "est" to the end), or to use them as adverbs ("ly"). In Lesshand, these inflections are marked by adding the same suffix to the abbreviation of the root word (e.g., "intl" becomes "intlly").

Lesshand abbreviates the following common adjectives:

good --> gd
international --> intl
internationally --> intlly
little --> lil
littlest --> lilst
major --> mjr
minor --> mnr

Verbs

There are generally five forms of verbs in English:

1. The infinitive/dictionary/lemma/"to" form, e.g. "run"
2. "-ing" form, i.e., present participle or gerund, e.g., "they were running"
3. "-ed" form, i.e., simple past or preterite, e.g., "they ran" or "we watched"
4. A different "-ed" form called the participle, only different from preterite for irregular verbs, i.e., following "was" or "were", e.g., "chosen"
5. An "-s" form, i.e., third person singular present, e.g., "he runs"

For verbs that have an abbreviation of their infinitive, the abbreviation of the present participle can be formed by adding "q" to the end. Lesshand does not currently provide abbreviations for the other conjugations.

Lesshand abbreviates the following common verbs:

have --> hv
having --> hvq
keeping --> kpq
keep --> kp
knowing --> kwq
knowingly --> kwqly
know --> kw
minimize --> minz
minimizing --> minzq
maximize --> maxz
maximizing --> maxzq

Phrases

Lesshand reuses the following abbreviations for phrases that are already common in English. They are prefixed by "," to disambiguate them with actual uses of that abbreviation.

as far as I know --> ,afaik
be right back --> ,brb
for real --> ,fr
for your information --> ,fyi
I don't care --> ,idc
I don't know --> ,idk
if I remember correctly --> ,iirc
if I understand correctly --> ,iiuc
I love you --> ,ily
I love you so much --> ,ilysm
in case you missed it --> ,icymi
in my honest opinion --> ,imho
in my opinion --> ,imo
just kidding --> ,jk
looks good to me --> ,lgtm
no problem --> ,np
of course --> ,ofc
on my way --> ,omw
right now --> ,rn
talk to you later --> ,ttyl
talk to you soon --> ,ttys
thank you so much --> ,tysm
thank you --> ,ty
to be honest --> ,tbh
with respect to --> ,wrt
you're welcome --> ,yw

Contractions

In addition to the contractions listed above, the following are also abbreviated (even though their lemma is not):

ain't --> ai'
didn't --> di'
don't --> do'
hadn't --> had'
hasn't --> has'
mustn't --> must'
needn't --> need'
oughtn't --> ought'

Days

The days of the week each have a four-letter abbreviation:

Sunday --> sund
Sundays --> sunds
Sunday's --> sund'
Sundays' --> sunds'
Monday --> mond
Mondays --> monds
Monday's --> mond'
Mondays' --> monds'
Tuesday --> tues
Tuesdays --> tuess
Tuesday's --> tues'
Tuesdays' --> tuess'
Wednesday --> weds
Wednesdays --> wedss
Wednesday's --> weds'
Wednesdays' --> wedss'
Thursday --> thur
Thursdays --> thurs
Thursday's --> thur'
Thursdays' --> thurs'
Friday --> frid
Fridays --> frids
Friday's --> frid'
Fridays' --> frids'
Saturday --> satd
Saturdays --> satds
Saturday's --> satd'
Saturdays' --> satds'

Unfortunately, the standard three-letter abbreviations collide with actual words ("sun", "wed", "sat").

Months

Months are abbreviated as follows:

January --> jan
Januarys --> jans
January's --> jan'
Januarys' --> jans'
February --> feb
Februarys --> febs
February's --> feb'
Februarys' --> febs'
March --> mar
Marchs --> mars
March's --> mar'
Marchs' --> mars'
April --> apr
Aprils --> aprs
April's --> apr'
Aprils' --> aprs'
June --> jun
Junes --> juns
June's --> jun'
Junes' --> juns'
July --> jul
Julys --> juls
July's --> jul'
Julys' --> juls'
August --> aug
Augusts --> augs
August's --> aug'
Augusts' --> augs'
September --> sep
Septembers --> seps
September's --> sep'
Septembers' --> seps'
October --> oct
Octobers --> octs
October's --> oct'
Octobers' --> octs'
November --> nov
Novembers --> novs
November's --> nov'
Novembers' --> novs'
December --> dec
Decembers --> decs
December's --> dec'
Decembers' --> decs'

Numbers

The numbers zero through twenty may be abbreviated like so:

zero --> n0
one --> n1
two --> n2
three --> n3
four --> n4
five --> n5
six --> n6
seven --> n7
eight --> n8
nine --> n9
ten --> n10
eleven --> n11
twelve --> n12
thirteen --> n13
fourteen --> n14
fifteen --> n15
sixteen --> n16
seventeen --> n17
eighteen --> n18
nineteen --> n19
twenty --> n20

And similarly for the first many ordinals:

zeroth --> o0
first --> o1
second --> o2
third --> o3
fourth --> o4
fifth --> o5
sixth --> o6
seventh --> o7
eighth --> o8
ninth --> o9
tenth --> o10
eleventh --> o11
twelfth --> o12
thirteenth --> o13
fourteenth --> o14
fifteenth --> o15
sixteenth --> o16
seventeenth --> o17
eighteenth --> o18
nineteenth --> o19
twentieth --> o20

Cities

The following city names are abbreviated. They are prefixed by "," to disambiguate them from other words ("sea" is both a synonym of "ocean" and an abbreviation for "Seattle"). We'd like to expand this list with time!

Brooklyn --> ,bk
Chicago --> ,chi
London --> ,lon
Los Angeles --> ,lax
Mexico City --> ,cdmx
New York City --> ,nyc
Portland --> ,pdx
Seattle --> ,sea
St Louis --> ,stl

U.S. States

Alabama --> ,al
Alaska --> ,ak
Arizona --> ,az
Arkansas --> ,ar
California --> ,ca
Colorado --> ,co
Connecticut --> ,ct
Delaware --> ,de
Florida --> ,fl
Georgia --> ,ga
Hawaii --> ,hi
Idaho --> ,id
Illinois --> ,il
Indiana --> ,in
Iowa --> ,ia
Kansas --> ,ks
Kentucky --> ,ky
Louisiana --> ,la
Maine --> ,me
Maryland --> ,md
Massachusetts --> ,ma
Michigan --> ,mi
Minnesota --> ,mn
Mississippi --> ,ms
Missouri --> ,mo
Montana --> ,mt
Nebraska --> ,ne
Nevada --> ,nv
New Hampshire --> ,nh
New Jersey --> ,nj
New Mexico --> ,nm
New York --> ,ny
North Carolina --> ,nc
North Dakota --> ,nd
Ohio --> ,oh
Oklahoma --> ,ok
Oregon --> ,or
Pennsylvania --> ,pa
Rhode Island --> ,ri
South Carolina --> ,sc
South Dakota --> ,sd
Tennessee --> ,tn
Texas --> ,tx
Utah --> ,ut
Vermont --> ,vt
Virginia --> ,va
Washington --> ,wa
West Virginia --> ,wv
Wisconsin --> ,wi
Wyoming --> ,wy