Nicknames and pet names, like Bob, Dick, Jim, Tom, and Joe, do not belong to the class of abbreviations, for they do not require a full point after the last letter; but Wm., Jas., Chas., and Geo. are rated as abbreviations requiring a full point. The pet names may appear in the text of a book as here printed, but clipped names like Wm. and Geo. should there appear in full as William and George. In all foot- and side-notes the initial or initials only of the baptismal name or names of the author of a cited book may be inserted, but this name should be printed in full in the list of authorities or in the index. Formal abbreviations of anno Domini, anno mundi, anno hejirae, anno urbis conditae, and before Christ are made with A.D., a.m., a.h., a.u.c., and B.C. For this purpose small capitals closely set are preferred.
Other abbreviations, like e.g. for exempli gratia, i.e. for id est, q.v. for quod vide, viz. for videlicet or to wit, etc. for et cetera, are frequently put in lower-case, and, when composed of two or more abbreviated words, without any separating space. They have a grudged tolerance in ordinary books, but careful writers avoid them in their texts, even when they make use of them in tables and footnotes: six o'clock in the morning and for example will be so written for the text, while 6 a.m. and e.g. will be substituted for the foot- or side-note.
Italic is frequently but not always wisely used for the common abbreviations q.v., viz., e.g.
