Shortened Words

While the list above is in alphabetical order, there are a few groupings that stand out. Several of the shortened words, including dad, fam, ma, mom, pa, sis, bro, cuz, and gran denote a family relationship. Others, including chimp, coon, croc, gator, hippo, orang, possum, rhino, and roo are shortened animal names. And another group, including abs, delts, glutes, lats, pecs and quads are muscles familiar to bodybuilders. While bodybuilders sometimes use bi's for biceps and tri's for triceps, since most dictionaries do not include these shortened word forms, they were not listed.

Some of the shortened words listed are more likely to be used in some contexts, but not in others. For instance, "rest and rec" is not a common replacement for "rest and recreation" but "rec center" in place of "recreation center" is not. Other shortened words that are often used in particular contexts are:

• comm link in place of communications link
• driver's ed in place of driver's education
• English Comp in place of English Composition
• low cal in place of low calorie
• mac and cheese in place of macaroni and cheese
• market cap in place of market capitalization
• med school in place of medical school
• prep school in place of preparatory school
• women's lib in place of women's liberation
• workers' comp in place of workers' compensation

In general, shortened words are unacceptable in formal writing. For instance, a legal document is very unlikely to use sis in place of sister, nor would consult be used in place of consultation, as the former word is generally considered a verb and not a noun. To avoid errors in interpretation, such as comp, which could refer to complimentary, compensation, or composition, it is recommended that the long-form word be used in formal writing.

Shortened Words That Were Omitted

A few words that are often used by college students including: calc for calculus, chem for chemistry, econ for economics, and vocab for vocabulary, failed to make the above list because most dictionaries either did not list the word or listed it as an abbreviation with a trailing period or as a word prefix with a trailing dash. Another notable word that is sometimes heard but wasn't listed by most dictionaries is cap for captain, the official abbreviation for which is Capt.

Shortened words that have a slightly different meaning than their long form counterpart were not included. For instance, while fan is short for fanatic, the degree of their enthusiasm is not the same. While a baseball fan would likely watch their home team play, a baseball fanatic might spend their entire weekend binge watching baseball games. Other shortened words that are close in meaning, but are not the same include café for cafeteria, cave for cavern, hype for hyperbole, juvie for juvenile, lunch for luncheon, sib for sibling, softie for softhearted, and zine for magazine.

Short words that share a similar meaning to a longer word, but whose derivation is different were also not included. Examples include: lit for illuminated, luxe for luxurious, sweat for perspire, nana for grandmother, chew for masticate, and jaw for mandible.

Abbreviated words and phrases that are typically denoted with an ending period were also omitted. Examples include, vs. for versus and dept. for department. Unlike when a shortened or clipped word is pronounced, when an abbreviation is pronounced, the entire word is normally spoken. For instance, in a phrase such as man vs. machine, the vs. abbreviation is pronounced as versus, not as vs or as 'v' 's'. However, due to their widespread use in spoken language, an exception was made for the following two letter abbreviations: ID for identification, KO for knockout, OD for overdose, OJ for orange juice, OK for okay, and TV for television. These abbreviations do not require a trailing period and are spoken by saying their individual letters, such as 'T' 'V' for television.

The many non-standard abbreviations that often appear in text messages or tweets without a period were also excluded. Examples include pls for please and IC for I see.

Acronyms, which are formed by combining the first letter of each word, were omitted. Examples include scuba for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, NASA for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and NATO for North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

English contractions that combine two words into one were also omitted. Examples include wouldn't for would not and they're for "they are".

Lastly, to allow this website to be used as a school reference, a few shortened words that were either slang for a sexual body part or primarily an ethnic slur were left off.

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