Both chopper and copter have been widely used as abbreviations of helicopter since that craft became a military staple in the 1940s and '50s. Copter was more common than chopper until the 1990s. Chopper is now more common, but copter may be making a comeback. This would be a useful development, as ... Read more
E.g. vs. i.e.
The abbreviation e.g.---short for the Latin phrase exempli gratia---means for example. It is different from i.e.---short for the Latin id est---which means that is, namely, or in other words. The two are sometimes mixed up, but other than being abbreviations of Latin phrases, they share no common ... Read more
Tho, altho
Tho and altho, shortened forms of the conjunctions though and although, have each had a few brief heydays scattered through the history of modern English, but neither has permanently caught on. This could change in the coming years as Textish makes such shortened words more common. For now, though, ... Read more
Et al.
Et al.is an abbreviation of the Latin loanphrase et alii, meaning and others. It is similar to etc. (short for et cetera, meaning and the rest), but whereas etc. applies to things, et al. applies to people. Et al. does not need to be italicized in normal use. It does take a period after the ... Read more
OK vs. okay
Okay, OK, and O.K. are all acceptable spellings of the word. OK is more common in edited writing, but okay appears about a third of the time. O.K. is preferred by a few publications, including the New York Times, even though it is not an abbreviation of anything in modern use. The word has ... Read more
Through vs. thru
Through and thru are different spellings of the same word. Thru is the less preferred form, however, and it might be considered out of place outside the most informal contexts. If you're writing for school or for a job application, for instance, through is definitely the safer choice. One ... Read more
