Do you often happen to shorten words in everyday life?

Try to include at least one aussie (Australian) in your blurb (piece of writing). They clip loads of words.

Are you including substitute words? If so, you'll have a field day with us Brits.

Everyday substitutes.

Ruby(curry), bumff (junk mail, or useless paperwork), porkies (lies, fibs), Cream Crackered (tired out, knackered), wally (idiot), and loads more.....

Yes, a whole lot

That's me, Nat


Longer ones or those used frequently. Usernames

Yes. Expediency

Too old for the last, but just about anywhere else except in a Letter to the Editor of our local Fourth Estate

Nat I'd be most happy to oblige if you could pose a more specific sort of q

Thank you for your response but I'm afraid you didn't understand me well. I only meant those words whose one part is shortened, not compeletely different words which have the same meaning.

That's why I asked.

OK.

Telly -television.
Budgie - Budgerigar.
Wellie - wellington boot.
Mack - Mackintosh (raincoat)

Some Australian ones for starters.....
Barbie - barbecue
Rellies - relatives

Thanks a o lot By the way, where are you from?

I live in Canada. We tend to clip our g's. eg. How's it goin? I'm doin' fine.
Exam and phone are real words, in the dictionary and everything.... Hardly laziness.
It also helps to know that we tend to use the long form of a word for one thing and the short for another. A test in school would be an exam, a doctor's trip might include an examination. Now that cell or mobile phones are so common, home phones are now called land lines. Telephone is used, just not as commonly. A TV is short for television, but people are just as likely to say they've got a plasma, a description of the screen type.

Here are a few that pop to mind:

info (information)
el (elevated train)
bud (buddy)
remote (remote control)

Car names:

Chevy (Chevrolet)
Caddy (Cadillac)
Jag (Jaguar)

England, although I have rellies all over the place, as most Brits do.

......."Jag (Jaguar)"

I forgot the car ones.....

Bee Emm - BMW (sometimes called a beamer)
Merk - Mercedes
Aston - Aston Martin

Back to everyday words....

Brekky - Breakfast (usually a kid's expression)
Bikky - Biscuit ( ditto)
Cauli (pronounced colly) - Cauliflower
Mash - Mashed potato.
Staffy - Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Lab, or Labby - Labrador
Chocky (sp?) - Chocolate
G&T - Gin and Tonic
Ciggie - Cigarette
Sammy, or Sarny - Sandwich

People from Liverpool do it a lot. It's not cute, it's a pain in the arse. It's childish, basically, and sometimes exclusive.
Also in the patois of black teenagers, for the same reason.

Come to think of it, so do the Scots. I suppose every section of society and every nationality does it. Rugger, bacca, dunny....etc ad nauseam.

Food:

BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich)
mayo (mayonnaise)
malted (malted milk)

Animals:

rhino (rhinoceros)
hippo (hippopotamus)
gator (alligator)
croc (crocodile)

Appliances:

AC (air-conditioner)
fridge (refrigerator)

Clothes:

PJs (pajamas)

This is just ordinary development in language--all languages do this, and in some cases, a word has been "shortened," as you call it, for so long that almost no one recalls the origin.

When we use motorized public transport, we "take the bus." Bus is short for omnibus, which means, in this context, for everyone (this is a typical medieval corruption of Latin).

What Americans call gasoline is called petrol in most other parts of the English-speaking world. Petrol is a shortening of petroleum, which is a quasi-Latin term cobbled together to mean oil from rocks.

Nautical terminology was long notorious for verbal shortening--the words were shortened when they were pronounced. So, for example, on a square rigged ship, the third sail on a mast was called the top gallant sail--sailors said "t-garn-s'l." But that has also resulted in the creation of new words, too. A ship powerful enough to hand out heavy punishment, and to endure heavy punishment was said to be able to "lie in the line of battle." This gave us two words. In the 18th and 19th centuries, sailors called such a ship a "liner." Because they were comparatively luxurious, we now use the word liner to mean a luxurious ship, such as a cruise ship--RMS Titanic was intended to be a liner. Line of battle ship was also shortened into battleship. The petty officer responsible for the rigging of a ship, the ordinary equipment for running the ship, and the supervision of the crew at work is called a bosun. This is another verbal shortening which has become a word--it was originally boatswain, meaning a "boat's boy," a servant. A small boat carried on a ship was called a cox in the middle ages, from which the word coxswain (boat servant, or boat boy) derived. Coxswain was verbally shortened to coxon, but in this rare case, Coxon has become a family name, but is still spelled coxswain in ordinary use. It means someone who commands and steers a small boat propelled by oars. The term is still in use in the Royal Navy for a particular petty officer, and in competetive rowing, small boat racing.

Telegraphy--the use of the telegraph (which means writing over distances)--was originally, and well into the 20th century, transcribed into ordinary handwriting. However, in the mid-20th century, printers were invented for the purpose, and were quickly adapted for sending text message by telephone as well. The printer was called a teletypwriter, and was verbally shortened to telex. We now use telex to describe the message, and it is most often used to describe financial transactions sent over a telegraph or telephone line.

I suppose if i spent more time, i could think of more ot them--but i go along with those here who don't actually see this as "shortening" words. This is neologism, the creation of new words.

Speaking of rugger, which is a contraction of the term Rugby Football, were you aware that soccer is a contraction of Association Football?

I believe I've mentioned this before; Mr Setanta may remember it.

That's a goody, innit?

New Zilund owns international rugby.

I went back to look at the original question. All the examples I gave are used in all situations, except perhaps the most formal.

Okay, I understand, thank you. To make it clear - I only provided these examples in case somebody does not know what this process is. The other term for clipping is elision.
Obviously, I would be grateful if you could share words that do not appear in the dictionary with me, and which you use in every day situations e.g. in conversaion with close friends.
The reason of using shortened words are also only my suggestion (however, laziness is given as a possibly reason in K. Blatt's book).
Remember that I am not English and I might not know certain things. That is why I added this post - to learn something interesting from you

One more thing - please include information about your nationality as it will be very useful in this case.


Thank you all for the responses!

And thank you for your replies.

It makes such a difference when someone comes back and responds positively. I hope your project is a great success.

I am from Scotland, where the purest English is spoken.

It is the northern part of the UK.

I'm a native New Yorker.

Thought of more shortened expressions.

gonna (going to. I'm not gonna do that.)
gotta (have got to. I gotta go to the dentist)
wanna (want to. I don't wanna go to the dentist.)
shoulda, coulda, woulda (should have, could have, would have)

I use these expressions when I'm writing in this forum and in message to friends. I also speak like this all the time, unless I'm making a formal presentation, and even then they might slip in.