abbr.tex is a file containing some simple macros to support abbreviations in plain or latex. Usage example: ===================================================================== \input abbr \abbr{TEX}{\TeX}{TeX} \abbr{LATEX}{\LaTeX}{LaTeX} \abbr{TEX4HT}{\TeX4HT}{TeX4ht} % more user-defined abbreviations here if needed I love \ and \, espciallly when I don't have to pay attention whether to espace or not to espace a space after a \ control sequence. I also love \, and when using it I prefer to have `TeX' and `LaTeX' in the html output intead of `TEX' and 'LATEX'. Using abbr.tex also frees me from having to remember whether I defined a \ControlSequence or \controlsequence or \Controlsequence, and where. Anytime when I need to use some abbreviation, I just write \ and if it's not defined, I add a new definition to abbr.tex. It also saves a lot of typing, because in fact what I type is not '\' but 'foo' and some shortcut to turn it to \. =====================================================================