7 ms·

Can someone explain why Times uses wording "E.U.", I haven't seen European Union shortened like that. It's usually just "EU". Is this some curiosity in this sp

• rainsford 11y ago
  I believe the Times does that for most acronyms as part of their style guide. For example, they also write FBI as F.B.I. The exception is acronyms that are pronounced as words instead of initials (like NASA or NATO).
  • skywhopper 11y ago
    The Times uses periods for initialisms (where you say each letter individually) but not for acronyms (where you say the word the initials spell). That said, I think the Times style looks terrible in most typefaces, and that such extraneous punctuation should just be eliminated. Ms Jones, a CPA who worked at the FBI in the 90s, agrees with me.
    • gsnedders 11y ago
      It's primarily American English, as far as I know, hence it may be a bit more foreign and unusual to those of us in the EU.