Use of "." following the abbreviation Mr

[Greg]

Not really a Word question I admit, but lots of people here make their
living putting words together so I thought I would get a hit.

Yesterday I was informed by a person, who I consider to be very bright,
that the use of a period "." following the abbreviation "Mr" was
superfluous. I use American English, not very well I freely admit, and
from earliest memory Mister has been abbreviated as Mr. with a period.
There is Mr. McGoo, Mr. Rogers, and of course the horse Mr. Ed. Could
all of this been a conspiracy to lead Amercia's youth down a lifelong
path of superfluous period useage? Please advise.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Not really a Word question I admit, but lots of people here make their
living putting words together so I thought I would get a hit.

Yesterday I was informed by a person, who I consider to be very bright,
that the use of a period "." following the abbreviation "Mr" was
superfluous. I use American English, not very well I freely admit, and
from earliest memory Mister has been abbreviated as Mr. with a period.
There is Mr. McGoo, Mr. Rogers, and of course the horse Mr. Ed. Could
all of this been a conspiracy to lead Amercia's youth down a lifelong
path of superfluous period useage? Please advise.

Hi Greg,

As in many other specifics, US English usage of periods in
abbreviations differs from that in almost all other parts of the
English-speaking world.

This is one of the things that drives the 'Softies nuts -- how do you
design a program that works equally well for the US market and for
Canada, Britain, Australia, and all the folks in other parts of the
world who use English as the common language of commerce? It ain't
easy, Magoo.

 

[JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP]]

It depends on your background. I'm accustomed to using military/industry
standards. Periods are only used with an abbreviation when that abbreviation
could be misread as a word.

(If you visit the US Post Office website and pop in an address, it will give
you the preferred format - no punctuation.)