Wordie: Fun with Apocopes: Comments

Comment by johnmperry, about 1 month ago

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:06:49 +0000

sod = sodomite

Comment by johnmperry, about 1 month ago

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:15:07 +0000

telly - UK vernacular for television

Comment by reesetee, 3 months ago

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:11:01 +0000

Thanks, all!

Comment by rolig, 4 months ago

Fri, 09 May 2008 17:47:06 +0000

Yet another common apocope, one that does double duty: rev, as in "Nice sermon, Rev! And now I'm all revved up to do some good deeds."

Comment by sarra, 4 months ago

Fri, 09 May 2008 16:09:36 +0000

you've got sci fi; how about sat nav? (Weirdly its Google status is still as two words. I thought it'd've been condensed by now.) I woke up with this one.

Comment by sionnach, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 23:04:37 +0000

I realise that these may not be politically correct, but bi, homo, fag, and tranny would fit the criterion.

Less potentially offensive: lino, butt, blankie, bacchus and his pards.

Comment by pterodactyl, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:36:03 +0000

How about dorm?

Comment by gangerh, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:56:14 +0000

Epocopa?

Comment by rolig, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:38:19 +0000

Here's another common one: grid, though my dictionary lists it as a back-formation (from gridiron).

Comment by rolig, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:26:55 +0000

Of course you're right about "edit" being a back-formation, though I suppose back-formations are a particular kind of apocope.

Comment by reesetee, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:16:50 +0000

Thanks, all. Geez, don't know how I missed obit, especially. Rolig, I think "edit" is more a back-formation than an apocope. But don't worry--I have a list for back-formations too. ;-)

Comment by rolig, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:01:08 +0000

Two common examples: exam and obit.

Edit: I see you have exam on page 2. But come to think of it, what about edit (n.), as short for "editing"? Tricky, I guess.

Do you have hack yet (orig. from hackney)? A case of an apocopic toponym.

Comment by chained_bear, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 17:52:33 +0000

I love sionnach's comment. I'm going to go around posting it on other lists. "This list is remarkably rhino-free."

Comment by mollusque, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 17:42:53 +0000

And dino-free.

Comment by reesetee, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:32:03 +0000

Irish English? And all this time I thought it was Brooklynese.

Comment by sionnach, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 14:16:46 +0000

This list is remarkably rhino-free.

Comment by sionnach, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 14:02:55 +0000

'dis' is, of course, a time-honored demonstrative adjective in Irish English. Together with its brother, 'dat' and its cousins, 'dese' and 'dose'.

Comment by reesetee, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 13:17:00 +0000

I've always assumed it's short for "disrespect," although I do agree with bilby--it always sounds vague to me and I've never much cared for it.

Still, in the interest of thoroughness--and because it's also a city in The Divine Comedy, not to mention the NYSE symbol for the Disney Company--I'll add it. ;-)

*also hoping not to be dissed by sarra*

Comment by sarra, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:13:23 +0000

disrespect, there's no doubt. Though it is of course rich with other possibilities (making it one of the kings of apocopes, rather, I'd've thought.) Pick a preferred source and see what it has to say?

Comment by bilby, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:43:15 +0000

I'm put off by the muddiness of dis. It's apocope of what? Disparage, dismiss, disabuse, discredit, dismiss, dis...? I won't have it on my own apocope list until I can pin it down a bit. Call me back in 2030.

Comment by sarra, 4 months ago

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:16:51 +0000

no dis?!

I'm off to dis you in front of my friends! (It is a strain for me not to spell it diss, mind.)

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:49:23 +0000

Funny, I was thinking Christmas thoughts this morning, too. I think it was the misled/mizzled thread. I thought there should be a joke about someone being misled by mistletoe, but I could not quite get there. . .something about work getting in the way!

I have never liked "tot" for "total" either, although I suspect that if I were from a linguistic environment where that was standard I would have a different opinion. Come to think of it, I have never liked the verb tote much either. Again, it is probably a regional preference.

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:49:30 +0000

I suppose as a good junk food eater I should. ;-) But no, I think of young'uns. Must be that Christmas song that includes "tiny tots with their eyes all aglow." Or...boy, where'd that come from??

Comment by jennarenn, about 1 year ago

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:05:06 +0000

You don't immediately think of tater tots?

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:01:06 +0000

Thanks, s! For some reason "tot" as short for "total" grates on my nerves, so I'm adding it instead as short for "totterer" (small child). :-)

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:49:13 +0000

tot (total); tad (probably tadpole); merc (mercantile); sib

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:45:35 +0000

I wondered about where suss came from. It seems that it is short for suspect. (Then why not sus?)

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:21:54 +0000

How did I miss that one? Thanks, s.

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:18:47 +0000

Ah, temp for both temporary and temperature.

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 07:02:04 +0000

Thanks, S! I agree--I don't think "chick" is a shortened version of a word in this use; more like a nickname. And since I already have lit listed, I'll just add crit. You also reminded me of audio and stereo (along the lines of video).

Comment by sionnach, about 1 year ago

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:57:34 +0000

lit crit, promo, pomo (for post-modern). I'd suggest chick flick and chick lit, but I'm not sure what exactly is abbreviated by those terms. video might be another possibility.

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 07:28:13 +0000

Well, thank heavens for seanahan, or I wouldn't know a damn thing about this list! ;-)

Comment by seanahan, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 22:48:37 +0000

Actually, newbie is short for newbitron.

Comment by trivet, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 13:14:21 +0000

I thought newbie came from British boarding schools - shortened from new boy.

Comment by uselessness, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 11:27:30 +0000

Hmm. I could see that, in the late '80s, when people actually talked that way. Back when "Welcome to our humble BBS, newcomer" was more common than "omgz u hvae a mspace lolollol?!?"

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 10:59:00 +0000

I remember "newbie" being coined as a name for newcomers to the 'net.

Comment by uselessness, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 10:00:53 +0000

What is newbie short for? I think noob is a shorter form of it, but I'm pretty sure "newbie" is the long version, itself a made-up word. I'd love to be proven wrong, though. :-)

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 09:24:45 +0000

Thanks, AZ. Wow, I'd forgotten all about term. Sometimes these words become so common that most people forget that they were ever part of a longer word. Amazing how many of them are in use, too.

Comment by AbraxasZugzwang, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 07:24:24 +0000

how's about porn, term, specs (for spectacles), rad, non trad, bull, sim

Comment by Valse, about 1 year ago

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 17:18:23 +0000

Ah, I see. Thank you for the clarification =]

Comment by seanahan, about 1 year ago

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 16:41:33 +0000

Zipf's law describes the frequency of many things, including words.

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 14:29:22 +0000

Thanks, Valse! All good ideas. Prep was shortened from preparatory, I believe.

I've only heard Zipf's law used to describe the frequency of word occurrences, not for shortening words--although I believe apocope can also refer to cases where, for example, you drop the "g" on an "-ing" word.

Comment by Valse, about 1 year ago

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 23:06:53 +0000

And rep

Comment by Valse, about 1 year ago

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:35:46 +0000

prep as in prep course? dem for democrat, chem, phenom (which sounds very odd to me). noob or newb?

Isn't this what they call Zipf's law?