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A schoolmaster I had in the 1950s, who taught Latin together with Religious Instruction and was himself an ordained priest of Anglo-Catholic persuasion, would always insist on writing the abbreviation for saint as S.

Moreover he demanded it from his pupils so that St Paul had to be S.Paul etc. His argument was that he did not want them to be confused with streets. However street is most often abbreviated Str.

This was not his only eccentricity. He had many oddnesses, not least when supervising rugby, when he would often robustly join in the action.

Since I never met anyone, before or since, who abbreviated saint in that way, I am wondering if anyone else ever encountered it?

WS2
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    Paul St. versus St. Paul ... is there much possibility of confusion? – Peter Shor Feb 03 '15 at 19:39
  • @PeterShor I never thought so! – WS2 Feb 03 '15 at 19:44
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    I've certainly seen "S." used in Christian writings (but, never, to my recollection, in a "pistle"). But in the US "Street" is almost always abbreviated as "St" (with or without a trailing period). – Hot Licks Feb 03 '15 at 19:53
  • I suppose that the Good St. Church might be interpreted two ways, but things like that are pretty uncommon. – Peter Shor Feb 03 '15 at 19:53
  • @PeterShor - Suppose you're in New Orleans where they do everything backwards? – Hot Licks Feb 03 '15 at 19:53
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    Acronym Finder has street as the word most commonly abbreviated as ST, with saint in only 11th place. Neither is mentioned among the many words S is used to represent.

    Although Str also has street as the word most commonly thus represented, in my experience, St is far more common.

     – Edwin Ashworth Feb 03 '15 at 19:57
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    Perhaps the plain S. is the way it is done in Latin. – GEdgar Feb 03 '15 at 19:59
  • @EdwinAshworth Yes. On reflection I am sure you are right, that St. is the more common abbreviation for street. The thing is, I was so indoctrinated, between the impressionable ages of 11 and 13, by dear od Billy (his nickname), into the notion of there being confusion between saint and street that for years I always abbreviated saint as S. and street as Str. In the latter case I still do! – WS2 Feb 03 '15 at 21:28
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    He'd have fainted if he'd gone to Bath. There's a St James's St S there. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 03 '15 at 21:37
  • @EdwinAshworth I suppose he would have written it S.James's Str (Sth) or something like that! – WS2 Feb 03 '15 at 23:12
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    Revenge of the Sth! – Hot Licks Feb 04 '15 at 02:10
  • My college in Liverpool was always called 'S. Katharine's', but in the UK we mostly use 'St.' And to me, 'Str.' for 'Street' looks like German. – David Garner Feb 04 '15 at 12:54
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    @DavidGarner Ah!. I am getting the idea that S. may have Roman Catholic links. The teacher I described in the OP was an Anglo-Catholic (who are people within the Anglican church who emphasise the church's Catholic heritage and identity). GEdgar did suggest that the S. may be the way it is done in Latin. And now you have mentioned a college in Liverpool (a city with an overwhelming Catholic population) which was called S.Katharine's. I sense that S. may be more recognisable to Catholics. – WS2 Feb 04 '15 at 17:16
  • @WS2, as it happens, S.Katharine's was a Church of England college [before it merged into Hope Uni] but I think you may be right all the same: there's a lot of Catholic influence in Liverpool. – David Garner Feb 04 '15 at 17:19
  • @DavidGarner Steve Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Wayne Rooney are all Catholics! – WS2 Feb 04 '15 at 17:37
  • @DavidGarner Confirmation that there is a lot of Catholic influence in Liverpool. Just watched them beat Bolton. Well done if you are a supporter. – WS2 Feb 04 '15 at 22:02
  • @WS2, thanks, but no. I'm a Yorkshireman with no more than a passing interest in football. – David Garner Feb 05 '15 at 00:09
  • @EdwinAshworth Acronym Finder has street as the word most commonly abbreviated as ST, with saint in only 11th place. Presumably because there are a lot more streets than there are saints! – WS2 Sep 16 '15 at 08:36
  • https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjequ-G1srKAhWGOj4KHeTpDDAQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fanglicanhistory.org%2Fsspp%2F&psig=AFQjCNHvVQ_veboOa53yP-nmaMvr1oslNw&ust=1454007464439807 – TimR Jan 27 '16 at 18:57
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    S., SS. – Sanctus, Sancti ("Saint", "Saints") https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ecclesiastical_abbreviations – TimR Jan 27 '16 at 19:05

1 Answers1

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To answer the question(s) asked by the title:

When you want to abbreviate Saint, write "St." ("S." is uncommon.)
When you want to abbreviate Street, also write "St." ("Str." is uncommon.)

When you see "St.", read it in context.

To answer the question asked at the end:

Yes, I have (probably in Catholic writings).

Mathieu K.
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