Clear Legal Writing

One of the best sites for legal writing is Bryan Garner’s blog at www.lawprose.org.  Since joining his email list, I’ve learned much interesting language information.  For example, Garner’s LawProse Lesson #123 addresses forego vs. forgo (the former means “to go before; to precede in time or place” while the latter means “to do without; to pass up voluntarily; waive; renounce.”)  I’ve also learned that “[t]here are two types of abbreviations: acronyms and initialisms. An acronym is made from the first letters or parts of a compound term. It’s read or spoken as a single word (e.g., awol, radar, NASA). An initialism is also made from the first letters or parts of a compound term, but it’s sounded letter by letter (e.g., ATM, SUV, NBA).”  (Lesson #132 – in which Garner explains the right way to use articles before abbreviations).