Chopping Off Syllables

Chopping Off Syllables Chopping Off Syllables Chopping Off Syllables By Maeve Maddox Heres a fab app for keeping track of your lab info docs, vocab lists, and rehab meds. English speakers have been lopping syllables off words for centuries. And thank goodness for that when it comes to such mouthfuls as taximeter-cabriolet and streptococcus. Id much rather call a cab or a taxi and talk about avoiding strep-throat. I cant help wondering, though, if the English spoken a generation or two in the future will consist of staccato sentences in which words of one and two syllables predominate. Here are some shortenings already in common use: doc document. exam examination fab fabulous graph paragraph info information lab laboratory meds medications op opinion/operative/opportunity promo promotion (with meaning of advertising) prep preparation rehab rehabilitation sax saxophone vac vacuum (Ive also seen it used as a shortened form of vacation, but I dont know how that vac is supposed to be pronounced.) vet veterinarian or veteran vocab vocabulary Some of these shortenings, even the ones I use in my own speech, bother me when I see them in formal writing. Others dont faze me because Ive grown used to them. Thats the way of change in language. What infuriates one generation of speakers is mothers milk to the next. I recall reading a novel written in the early 20th centuryby Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) I thinkin which a young man is chided by one of his parents for using the slangy word lunch instead of luncheon. Nowadays lunch is the common word for a meal between breakfast and supper. The word luncheon has not fallen completely out of use, but has acquired an altered meaning. My associations with luncheon include fussy repasts provided by and for ladies in flowered hats, and SPAM luncheon meat. Is the shortening of words a bad thing? Not necessarily, butdepending upon the intended audiencewriters should probably give some thought to which shortened forms they promote by committing them to print. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Avoid Beginning a Sentence with â€Å"With†Select vs. SelectedHow often is "bimonthly"?