Spelling and plural of abbreviation "hi vis"

We regularly use these "hi visibility jackets/vests":

We use them often enough to informally abbreviate it to simply "hi vis".

I am struggling as to how to pluralise such a term. In speech it sounds moderately okay to say "hi vises" but as you can see it looks terrible in writing. Any better suggestions?

Also would such a term be hyphenated?

Solution 1:

A few suggestions:

1. "Hi-vis jackets" / "Hi-vis vests". These have the most naturalness, at the cost of an extra word.

2. "Hi-vis". In a sentence you'd write, for instance, "we got a new batch of a dozen hi-vis today". Could be somewhat awkward.

3. Define a new abbreviation in whatever you're writing, like "HVJ" or "HVV", and write "HVJs" or "HVVs". Or even "HVs". All it takes is putting a "(HV)" after the first mention: "A hi-vis (HV) is indispensable. How many HVs does it take…" etc.

My own preference is for 1 over 3 over 2. In any case, whatever you choose, do include a hyphen: it comes from "high-visibility jacket" where "high-visibility" is a multiple-word adjective that needs a hyphen.

Solution 2:

It's extremely uncommon for new singular words ending in "s" to be pronounced with a "z" sound; a "proper" spelling (even though one can never say that the spelling of a new word that isn't a brand name or technical coinage is proper until it has achieved a certain critical mass of usage) would probably be the hyphenated hi-viz.

I would have pronounced "hi vis" as if it were the plural of "hi vi" if the term hadn't been explained, and I think that would be the first inclination of most readers.

The plural, if there is one, would probably be best spelled as hi-vizzes, but there's probably a better way around it -- like instructing people to wear their hi-viz gear rather than their hi-vizzes.