While many legal authorities say that contractions don’t belong in legal writing, Bryan Garner, a leading authority on legal writing, advocates their use as a way to make legal writing, including opinions and rules, less stuffy and more natural. I searched COCA for 77 contractions and their spelt-out counterparts (there are others, but life is short). Probably the most memorable/unusual was a woman having her first baby and contractions were never more than 10-7 mins apart. Persistent contractions that have no rhythm but are five-to-seven minutes apart or less should be reported to your physician or midwife.
For a list of words relating to Contractions, see the English contractions category of words in Wiktionary , the free dictionary. Do not use contractions in documents that serve very formal purposes, such as legal contracts, submissions to professional publications.
My real contractions felt like I had pulled a groin muscle, in that frontal pubic region. My contractions had been coming and going most of the afternoon and were very strong. I could talk and walk through them when they were 7-8 minutes apart but I have a high tolerance for pain and didn’t know at the time that I was feeling contractions.
The more concerning scenario is extremely strong, close together contractions for many hours (like syntoncinon induced ones)… baby’s can become distressed if subjected to this. Over the years, contractions have become more acceptable higher up the formality spectrum.
Many writers, especially those who write in formal situations, feel uncomfortable with contractions. It’s common to think the first signs of contractions are your cue to come to the hospital, but that’s usually not the case. Stay up to date with our latest news and receive new words updates, blog posts, and more.