A fat reference for an age too busy to write out whole words, founded by Ralph De Sola in the 1950s and edited by him through the 1995 ninth edition. In addition to abbreviations and acronyms, are such forms as contractions, nicknames such as Ike, place name pseudonyms such as Cannery Row, slang shortcuts such as C-note, and place names convicts use for where they were imprisoned. The first listing is alphabetical, the rest are topical, for example, astronomical constellations and stars, civil and military time systems, musical nicknames, and signs and symbols. Earlier editions were cited in Books for College Libraries, 3d ed. . Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)