Shortform
“today” in braille
Written t-d — 5 letters cut to 2 letters of abbreviation, then written in 2 cells. That is 3 cells saved every time the word appears.
dots 2-3-4-5, then dots 1-4-5
Unicode ⠞⠙ — 5 letters in 2 cells
How to recognise it
t-d in two cells, one of four to- words that all start with a t. The second cell is the whole distinction: d for today, m for tomorrow, n for tonight.
Two steps, not one
Abbreviated in letters first, then written in cells. “today” loses 3 letters — o, a, y — to become td. Every letter of the abbreviation is then written as itself, one cell each.
| Stage | What it is | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Spelled out | today | 5 cells |
| Abbreviated | td | 2 letters |
| Written | 2 cells |
Endings it keeps
Of the 3 English words that begin with these letters, the reference keeps the shortform in 1 of them. The one ending that survives is -s. Everything else is spelled out.
| Word | In braille | Ending | Cells |
|---|---|---|---|
| todays | -s | 3 cells |
Words that only look like it
Two dictionary words extend it and neither keeps the shortform. It begins with the same letters and is written out in full.
| Word | In braille | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| todayish | 6 cells |
Learn it with the to- words
This is one of 4 shortforms built to the same shape — a t, then one letter — and the set is far quicker learned together than one word at a time: together (tgr), tomorrow (tm), tonight (tn).
What these 2 cells mean elsewhere
Every cell here has other jobs, which is where misreadings come from:
| Cell | Dots | What it is elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3-4-5 | the letter t; the word “that” standing alone | |
| 1-4-5 | the letter d; the word “do” standing alone |
Check your own text
The translator writes “today” with Grade 2 selected, and the contractions page has all seventy-three.
“today” in braille as an image
The word as it is actually written: td in 2 cells, not 5 letters.
