# Spelling: Why does the New York Times put dots in I.B.M and U.S.B.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-why-does-the-new-york-times-put-dots-in-i-b-m-and-u-s-b/613948 "2012-02-25T12:47:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-why-does-the-new-york-times-put-dots-in-i-b-m-and-u-s-b/613948/21 "2012-02-29T18:21:02Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The most idiosyncratic house style I can think of is The New Yorker’s use of diaeresis. That seem wilfully perverse. I kind of like it, actually. The diaeresis does serve a useful orthographical purpose, after all. Consider the words “coop” (for chickens) and “coöp” (cooperative). Without consistent use of the diaeresis, a sentence like “The farmer went down to the coop,” would be ambiguous. Of course, most house styles get around this by spelling “coöp” as “co-op,” but that seems more objectionable to me, since the long form of the abbreviation doesn’t use a hyphen. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-why-does-the-new-york-times-put-dots-in-i-b-m-and-u-s-b/613948/22 "2012-02-29T18:28:55Z")
And, to note, _The New Yorker_ also uses diaereses in _coöperative_, and, if I recall correctly, _reëxamination_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-why-does-the-new-york-times-put-dots-in-i-b-m-and-u-s-b/613948/23 "2012-02-29T20:12:33Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > When letters within a single word are extracted for use as an abbreviation, they are capitalized without periods: DDT; TV; TB. (By contrast, V.D. requires the periods because it stands for two words.) > > And that explains U.S.B. No, not really. USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface. There’s no apparent reason why you would use periods in one and not the other. But the _Times_ does. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-why-does-the-new-york-times-put-dots-in-i-b-m-and-u-s-b/613948/24 "2012-02-29T20:20:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > No, not really. USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface. There’s no apparent reason why you would use periods in one and not the other. But the _Times_ does. Actually, it does completely explain U.S.B. It doesn’t \*seem \*to completely explain HDMI, but that’s a different issue. I haven’t noticed this particular occurrence myself. I might guess that they consider a hyphenated phrase like “high-definition” to be a single word. There doesn’t seem to be a separate entry for “HDMI,” but perhaps there’s a rule that I haven’t found yet that applies. Or perhaps it’s an exception of some kind. Unless we get confirmation from a Times editor that “HDMI” is indeed their style and why, I refrain from judging it as illogical, inconsistent, or otherwise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-why-does-the-new-york-times-put-dots-in-i-b-m-and-u-s-b/613948.md?page=1)