diff --git a/.hgignore b/.hgignore
index cef8f3e..ffd82f1 100644
--- a/.hgignore
+++ b/.hgignore
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ syntax: glob
 *.egg*
 *.gz
 build/*
+.cache/*
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index f116ee4..d3466c0 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ You really only need to worry about *human*.
 
 Here are all the available arguments and defaults::
 
- human(dt, precision=2, past_tense='{} ago', future_tense='in {}'):
+ human(dt, precision=2, past_tense='{} ago', future_tense='in {}', abbreviate=False):
 
 dt
  either a datetime or timedelta object to become human readable, required
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ past_tense
 future_tense
  format string used when dt is a future datetime, optional
 
+abbreviate
+ boolean to abbreviate the units, defaults to False
+
 
 Here is an example on how to use *human*::
 
diff --git a/ago.py b/ago.py
index d85caff..694bfaf 100644
--- a/ago.py
+++ b/ago.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ def delta2dict( delta ):
         'microsecond' : delta.microseconds
     }
 
-def human(dt, precision=2, past_tense='{} ago', future_tense='in {}'):
+def human(dt, precision=2, past_tense='{} ago', future_tense='in {}', abbreviate=False):
     """Accept a datetime or timedelta, return a human readable delta string"""
     delta = dt
     if type(dt) is not type(timedelta()):
@@ -24,15 +24,19 @@ def human(dt, precision=2, past_tense='{} ago', future_tense='in {}'):
         the_tense = future_tense
 
     d = delta2dict( delta )
+
     hlist = [] 
     count = 0
     units = ( 'year', 'day', 'hour', 'minute', 'second', 'microsecond' )
     for unit in units:
         if count >= precision: break # met precision
         if d[ unit ] == 0: continue # skip 0's
-        s = '' if d[ unit ] == 1 else 's' # handle plurals
-        hlist.append( '%s %s%s' % ( d[unit], unit, s ) )
+        if abbreviate:
+            abr = 'ms' if unit == 'microsecond' else unit[0]
+            hlist.append('{}{}'.format(d[unit], abr))
+        else:
+            s = '' if d[ unit ] == 1 else 's' # handle plurals
+            hlist.append('{} {}{}'.format(d[unit], unit, s))
         count += 1
-    human_delta = ', '.join( hlist )
-    return the_tense.format(human_delta) 
 
+    return the_tense.format(', '.join(hlist)) 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index afce8d7..4d621ea 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from setuptools import setup
 
 setup( 
     name = 'ago',
-    version = '0.0.6',
+    version = '0.0.7',
     description = 'ago: Human readable timedeltas',
     keywords = 'ago human readable time deltas timedelta datetime',
     long_description = open('README.rst').read(),
diff --git a/test_ago.py b/test_ago.py
index 6db679e..bc37e48 100644
--- a/test_ago.py
+++ b/test_ago.py
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ def test_one_day_singular():
 def test_two_day_plural():
     assert 's' in human( timedelta(2) )
 
+def test_abbreviation():
+    assert '2d ago' in human( timedelta(2), abbreviate=True )
+    assert '3d, 12h ago' in human( timedelta(3.5), abbreviate=True )
+    assert '2h, 24m ago' in human( timedelta(.1), abbreviate=True )
+    assert '1y, 35d ago' in human( timedelta(400), abbreviate=True )
+
 def test_past_tense():
     output = human( PAST,
       past_tense = 'titanic sunk {} ago',
@@ -85,7 +91,6 @@ def test_valid_future_dict():
     assert past_dict['minute'] == 27
     assert past_dict['microsecond'] == 963
 
-
 def example_usage():
     """Test and example usage"""