Crosswordese - Frequently Used Crosswordese - U.S. States and Canadian Provinces

U.S. States and Canadian Provinces

• Postal abbreviations: Since the late 1970s, the post offices in the United States and Canada have used computerized letter sorting. This prompted the creation of the two-capital-letter abbreviations used today for all states and most provinces (i.e., "MN" for Minnesota and "PQ" for Quebec). Previously, when mail was sorted by hand, many states and provinces had abbreviations of three to five letters. Many of these longer abbreviations are now part of crosswordese. (NOTES: (1)Except for Texas, states with four- or five-letter names were generally spelled out. (2)Other states and provinces not shown below had the same two-letter abbreviations that are still used today.)
  • Ala. - Alabama
  • Alb. - Alberta
  • Alas. - Alaska (unofficial)
  • Ariz. - Arizona
  • Ark. - Arkansas
  • Calif. - California (also, unofficially, "Cal.")
  • Colo. - Colorado
  • Conn. - Connecticut
  • Del. - Delaware
  • Fla. - Florida
  • Haw. - Hawaii (unofficial)
  • Ida. - Idaho (unofficial)
  • Ill. - Illinois
  • Ind. - Indiana
  • Kans. - Kansas (also, unofficially, "Kan." and "Kas.")
  • Man. - Manitoba
  • Mich. - Michigan
  • Minn. - Minnesota
  • Miss. - Mississippi
  • Mont. - Montana
  • Neb. - Nebraska
  • Nev. - Nevada
  • N. Mex. - New Mexico
  • N. Car. - North Carolina (unofficial)
  • N. Dak. - North Dakota
  • N.W.T. - Northwest Territories
  • Okla. - Oklahoma
  • Oreg. - Oregon (also, unofficially, "Ore.")
  • Ont. - Ontario
  • P.E.I. - Prince Edward Island
  • Penn. - Pennsylvania (unofficial)
  • Que. - Quebec
  • Sask. - Saskatchewan
  • S.Car. - South Carolina (unofficial)
  • S. Dak. - South Dakota
  • Tenn. - Tennessee
  • Tex. - Texas
  • Wash. - Washington
  • W. Va. - West Virginia
  • Wis. - Wisconsin (also, unofficially, "Wisc.")
  • Wyo. - Wyoming