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I see some people abbreviate "with" as "w/". Why? It bugs me to see a slash in an abbreviation when it does not mean "or". Any reason or rule? Are there other examples?

Laurel
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Real Dreams
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  • Never thought about this before. I think it's just random... if there's a historical reason for the slash developing into an abbreviator (instead of the usual period), I wouldn't mind hearing it. – cruthers Dec 08 '22 at 01:10
  • Interesting. You're likely to find more English language historians at EL&U who can answer this. If you like, I'll migrate this question over there. – gotube Dec 08 '22 at 02:37
  • @gotube you can migrate it – Real Dreams Dec 08 '22 at 22:09

1 Answers1

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Why not?

The slash has many uses as a punctuation mark. One of those uses is to stand in for the conjunction or. But it can also be used for:

(much of this is taken from the Wikipedia article Slash (punctuation)

  • and - Hemingway/Faulkner generation
  • punctuate the stages of a route - Shanghai/Nanjing/Wuhan/Chongqing as stops on a tour of the Yangtze
  • dates - 1/1/2023
  • line breaks - "To be, or not to be, that is the question: / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / ..."
  • romantic pairing - as in slash fiction, "Kirk/Spock stories"
  • ratios - miles/hour
  • phonemic transcriptions - /ˈsɒlɪdəs/

And, as you've noted, it's used for certain abbreviations. For example:

  • w/ - with
  • w/o - without
  • w/r/t - with regards to
  • c/o - care of
  • a/c - air conditioning
  • n/a - not applicable
  • FAA/AST - Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation

Is there a difference between abbreviations with periods and ones with slashes? Not an obvious one. All of the Latin abbreviations (e.g. i.e., a.m., p.m.) I could think of are abbreviated with periods, but that's a pretty weak rule.

Juhasz
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  • "Why not" is hardly an answer, even if you pad it with everything else you can do with a slash. – gotube Dec 08 '22 at 02:32
  • "Why not?" is often the only answer with partly random processes like language development. The OP asked for other examples. They were provided. I suggest the OP gets over their antipathy to what is common punctuation. – Stuart F Dec 08 '22 at 11:46
  • @gotube, you and I seem to be reading this question differently. It appears that you're reading the question as something like: "what's the history of abbreviation punctuation and can we find the origin of this practice?" I'm reading this question as more like: "isn't a slash supposed to stand for or? Why are people (incorrectly) using it to abbreviate with?" As such, I'm hoping to address the idea that a slash is only or mainly used to mean or and that abbreviations like w/ are unusual. – Juhasz Dec 08 '22 at 17:56
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    @Juhasz I understand the question as, "w/" is the only example in English where slash is used for abbreviation of a standalone word. Is there some rule or reason for this inconsistency? The answer, "Why not?" isn't an answer to the reason given in the question, which is that it's exceptional in English, and it's reasonable to ask about the reasons for exceptional things. Sometimes the answer is, "There's no rule here, it's just historical accident. Just the way it is." The answer "Why not?" rejects the question without answering it by saying it shouldn't be surprising at all. – gotube Dec 08 '22 at 19:19
  • Juhasz I upvoted your answer because of the provided information. However, I agree with @gotube that "why not" is not a good opener for an answer. – Real Dreams Dec 08 '22 at 22:13