Q. A colleague frequently uses the abbreviation Sr. in reports and other communications, even when not abbreviating other words. For example, “the Sr. Leadership Team agreed to meet on Thursday” or “the Sr. Researcher is attending the meeting this week.” Am I just being picky?
A. If these are in-house memos and the culture of your office is such that people use abbreviations or initialisms as time-savers (mtg., appt., ASAP, FYI), then you are being picky. If the reports are formal documents that go out to news media or shareholders, then an editor should spell out such abbreviations.