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Subject:the 'thru' versus 'through' debate From:Anne Halseytechwriter <ach -at- TOMICHI -dot- STORTEK -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 17 Aug 1994 16:42:30 MDT
A recent poster (sorry, deleted the original) asked:
>Am I the only Technical Writer who uses "thru" when referring to a
>series of items?
I agree with the naysayers. According to my trusty Little, Brown
Handbook "thru" is:
A colloquial spelling of "through" that should be
avoided in all academic and business writing."
According to my trusty Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
(Tenth Edition), "thru" is a variant of "through".
Neither Chicago nor the AP Stylebook address its use.
And Sister Regina Marie (my second grade teacher, a Dominican nun
with a mission to instill the rudiments of language in her less-
than-willing students) considered the use of "thru" a crime
serious enough to require the resubmission of the offending
assignment PLUS submitting "Thru is not a word. Through is a
word." penned neatly 100 times.
I must side with Little, Brown and Sister Regina Marie. Use
"through" and save yourself the torment! ;-)
