Shorthand Meaning

"There is a Notion prevails among many People, to yͤ prejudice of all kinds of Short-hand; which is this. That when a Person sets down a Memorandum in his pocket Book in Short-hand, it is lost, in caſe of Death or any other accident, to yͤ rest of yͤ World, though it may contain things of great Consequence to other People. [...] I affirm, [...] that if any Person makes use of my long Short hand, which he will certainly do, in caſe he deſigns that what he writes should be read by another Person, it will be as legible to any one acquainted with this Art, as if it was writ in Round Hand." — 1747 November 30, Aulay Macaulay, “Advertisement”, in Polygraphy or Short-hand Made Easy to the Meanest Capacity: Being an Universal Character Fitted to All Languages: […], London: Printed for the author, […] also sold by T[homas] Osborne, […], →OCLC, page IV:

"All ſhort Hands are ſubject to Ambiguity; for there being but 8 Marks to repreſent 24 Letters, and thoſe 8 being uſed for 8 of them in the Short Hand Alphabets, the other Letters muſt be deſcribed by Characters compounded of theſe 8." — 1748 May 26, Samuel Jeake, “XIV. The Elements of a Short Hand.”, in Philosophical Transactions. Giving Some Account of the Present Undertakings, Studies, and Labours, of the Ingenious, in Many Considerable Parts of the World, volume XLV, number 487, London: Printed for C. Davis, […], printer to the Royal Society, →OCLC, page 348:

"A is denoted by a dot at the top of the Short-hand line; [...] The vowel a, in Short-hand, is used for the article a, or ah; [...]" — 1796, T[homas] M[olineux], “On the Vowels”, in An Abridgement of Mr. Byrom’s Universal English Short-hand; […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for the editor; and sold by H. Lowndes, […], →OCLC, 1st part:

"[...] I was soon convinced, that our articles a an the should also be omitted: especially as the two former are comparatively infrequent, and the latter a perpetual incumbrance in other Short-hands." — 1818, Edward Lawson, “General Plan”, in Chancery and Court-hand Explained, with an Easy, Rapid, and Distinct Short Hand, London: Printed by I. Colles, […]; for J[oseph] Butterworth, […], →OCLC, page 1:

"In writing shorthand words are always to be spelled as they are sounded, and without any regard to orthography." — 1821, P[eregrine] Bingham [the Younger], “On Shorthand Spelling and Punctuation, and on the Effect of the Position of Characters According to this System”, in A System of Shorthand on the Principle of the Association of Ideas, London: Printed by J[oseph] Butterworth and Son, […], →OCLC, section I, page 7: