Fun with Apocopes

valse commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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?

March 3, 2007

valse commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

And rep

March 3, 2007

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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.

March 3, 2007

seanahan commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

March 4, 2007

valse commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

March 4, 2007

abraxaszugzwang commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

March 4, 2007

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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.

March 4, 2007

uselessness commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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. :-)

March 4, 2007

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

March 4, 2007

uselessness commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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?!?"

March 4, 2007

trivet commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

March 4, 2007

seanahan commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

Actually, newbie is short for newbitron.

March 5, 2007

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

March 5, 2007

sionnach commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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.

March 6, 2007

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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).

March 6, 2007

slumry commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

Ah, temp for both temporary and temperature.

July 11, 2007

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

How did I miss that one? Thanks, s.

July 11, 2007

slumry commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

July 13, 2007

slumry commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

July 17, 2007

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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). :-)

July 18, 2007

jennarenn commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

You don't immediately think of tater tots?

July 18, 2007

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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??

July 18, 2007

slumry commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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.

July 18, 2007

sarra commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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.)

May 8, 2008

bilby commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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.

May 8, 2008

sarra commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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?

May 8, 2008

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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*

May 8, 2008

sionnach commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

May 8, 2008

sionnach commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

This list is remarkably rhino-free.

May 8, 2008

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

May 8, 2008

mollusque commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

And dino-free.

May 9, 2008

chained_bear commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

May 9, 2008

rolig commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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.

May 9, 2008

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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. ;-)

May 9, 2008

rolig commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

May 9, 2008

rolig commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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

May 9, 2008

gangerh commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

Epocopa?

May 9, 2008

pterodactyl commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

How about dorm?

May 9, 2008

sionnach commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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.

May 9, 2008

sarra commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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.

May 9, 2008

rolig commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

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."

May 10, 2008

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

Thanks, all!

May 12, 2008

johnmperry commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

telly - UK vernacular for television

July 19, 2008

johnmperry commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

sod = sodomite

July 19, 2008

bilby commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

See comment by adoarns on sat.

October 20, 2008

marky commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

cool list!

January 30, 2013

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

Thanks! It was fun to create.

January 30, 2013

bilby commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

cinema

January 31, 2013

reesetee commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

Ooh, that's a great one. Thanks, bilby!

February 5, 2013

hernesheir commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

The maths term semicontinuum and its definition seems appropriate here, in a tangential way.

February 5, 2013

fbharjo commented on the list fun-with-apocopes

deter - a detoured eternity?

eter - a semiperpetual eternity?

February 5, 2013