diff --git a/common/content/editor.js b/common/content/editor.js
index a8f4c481..f4338c47 100644
--- a/common/content/editor.js
+++ b/common/content/editor.js
@@ -46,6 +46,45 @@ function Editor() //{{{
     // XXX: this strikes me as a rather odd ds; everyone's a critic --djk
     var abbreviations = {}; // abbreviations["lhr"][0]["{i,c,!}","rhs"]
 
+    // (summarized from Vim's ":help abbreviations")
+    //
+    // There are three types of abbreviations:
+    //
+    // full-id: Consists entirely of keyword characters.
+    //          ("foo", "g3", "-1")
+    //
+    // end-id: Ends in a keyword character, but all other
+    //         are not keyword characters.
+    //         ("#i", "..f", "$/7")
+    //
+    // non-id: Ends in a non-keyword character, but the
+    //         others can be of any type other than space
+    //         and tab.
+    //         ("def#", "4/7$")
+    //
+    // Example strings that cannot be abbreviations:
+    //         "a.b", "#def", "a b", "_$r"
+    //
+    // For now, a keyword character is anything except for \s, ", or '
+    // (i.e., whitespace and quotes). In Vim, a keyword character is
+    // specified by the 'iskeyword' setting and is a much less inclusive
+    // list.
+    //
+    // TODO: Make keyword definition closer to Vim's default keyword
+    //       definition (which differs across platforms).
+    //
+
+    let nonkw = "\\s\"'";
+    let keyword = "[^" + nonkw + "]";
+    let nonkeyword = "[" + nonkw + "]";
+
+    let full_id = keyword + "+";
+    let end_id = nonkeyword + "+" + keyword;
+    let non_id = "\\S*" + nonkeyword;
+
+    // Used in addAbbrevation and expandAbbreviation
+    var abbrevmatch = full_id + "|" + end_id + "|" + non_id;
+
     function getEditor()
     {
         return window.document.commandDispatcher.focusedElement;
@@ -164,7 +203,7 @@ function Editor() //{{{
             "Abbreviate a key sequence" + modeDescription,
             function (args)
             {
-                let matches = args.string.match(/^\s*([^\s"']*)(?:\s*$|\s+(.*))/);
+                let matches = args.string.match(RegExp("^\\s*($|" + abbrevmatch + ")(?:\\s*$|\\s+(.*))"));
                 if (! matches)
                 {
                     liberator.echoerr("E474: Invalid argument");
@@ -1016,7 +1055,7 @@ function Editor() //{{{
             let text      = textbox.value;
             let currStart = textbox.selectionStart;
             let currEnd   = textbox.selectionEnd;
-            let foundWord = text.substring(0, currStart).replace(/^(.|\n)*?([^\s"']+)$/m, "$2"); // get last word \b word boundary
+            let foundWord = text.substring(0, currStart).replace(RegExp("^(.|\\n)*?\\s*(" + abbrevmatch + ")$", "m"), "$2"); // get last word \b word boundary
             if (!foundWord)
                 return true;
 
diff --git a/vimperator/locale/en-US/map.txt b/vimperator/locale/en-US/map.txt
index 53fa2920..63eeb989 100644
--- a/vimperator/locale/en-US/map.txt
+++ b/vimperator/locale/en-US/map.txt
@@ -172,6 +172,27 @@ ________________________________________________________________________________
 
 section:Abbreviations[abbreviations]
 
+Vimperator can automatically replace words identified as abbreviations,
+which may be used to save typing or to correct commonly misspelled
+words. An abbreviation can be one of three types that are defined by the
+types of constituent characters. Whitespace and quotes are non-keyword
+types, and all other characters are keyword types.
+
+. A "full-id" abbreviation consists entirely of characters that are not
+keyword characters (e.g., "teh", "msoft").
+
+. An "end-id" abbreviation ends in keyword character but otherwise
+contains all non-keyword characters (e.g., "'i").
+
+. A "non-id" abbreviation ends in a non-keyword character but otherwise
+contains any non-whitespace character (e.g., "def'").
+
+Strings that cannot be abbreviations include "a'b" and "a b".
+
+An abbreviation is recognized when a space is typed after the
+abbreviation. There are no default abbreviations, and abbreviations are
+never recursive.
+
 |:ab| |:abbreviate|
 ||:ab[breviate] {lhs} {rhs}|| +
 ||:ab[breviate] {lhs}|| +
@@ -179,8 +200,7 @@ section:Abbreviations[abbreviations]
 ________________________________________________________________________________
 Abbreviate a key sequence. Abbreviate {lhs} to {rhs}. If only {lhs} is given,
 list all abbreviations that start with {lhs}. List all abbreviations, if no
-arguments are given. To prevent ambiguity, the {lhs} cannot contain
-quotes (' or ") or spaces.
+arguments are given.
 ________________________________________________________________________________