Making languages lazier

[Good Ol' Batmanuel!]

Last night, I was thinking about how a lot of terms get shortened over the years. I watch old movies and often notice how we use the shortened form of certain words/terms they said x amount of years ago. I know there are various reasons for this, but nevertheless, less syllables is the norm.

Here are a few I've thought of:

- hamburger sandwich --> burger
- submarine sandwich --> sub
- television set --> TV
- pizza pie --> pizza
- refrigerator --> fridge
- automobile --> car :p

Can you think of more? It doesn't just have to be English terms, either. Languages all over the world have had their vocabularies abbreviated.

[Delthayre]

This is part of a general trend toward simplification in languages. It's related to the process that elminated most case distinctions, adjectival agreement, and verbal inflection in English and other languages.

Here's a somewhat idiosyncratic one used rather commonly in the areas north of where I live: hanna 'do you want to' (do you is understood, want to --> wanna then for whatever reason w --> h).

[Mr. Pedro]

Newspaper--> Paper
Football, Baseball, Basketball games-->Ball games (The sport is rarely mentioned)
Telephone-->Phone
Computer--PC
Gasoline-->Gas (even though gas is supposed to be a vapor, not a liquid)
Air Conditioner-->A/C
Rock and Roll-->Rock
Masquerading or Costume play-->COSPLAY ^_^
Money--> Cash, Dough, Clams, Green and many other monosyllabic words.
Magazine-->Mag
Photograph-->Photo or picture

[Kury Wagner]

Photograph-->Photo or pictureAlso known as "pic".

Let's see, what can I think of? :

Limosine--> Limo
Moving picture--> Movie
Remote control--> Remote or 'mote
Cellular phone--> Cell phone or cell
Facsimile--> Fax
Mother--> Mom
Father--> Dad
Telephone book--> Yellow pages or white pages
Compact disc--> CD
Video cassette recorder--> VCR
Digital video disc--> DVD
Country Western music--> Country
Popular Music--> Pop
----------------

That's all for now. . . :D

[FredNash]

- pizza pie --> pizza

Pizza pie? What, are you Mario all of a sudden?

The reason people abbreviate things is to expedite communication. If a shorter word or phrase conveys the same thought or meaning, it's simply more efficient to use it. Even in situations where exact communication is required they still use abbreviations, like in hospitals. As long as it means the same thing, why use the longer version? The only reason I can think of is to explain the full phrase or meaning to someone who doesn't know yet...

[Good Ol' Batmanuel!]

I think maybe I should have re-phrased the thread title or something, because I don't just mean making words shorter, I mean how words and terms get lazier over the years, such as hamburger sandwich or television set, which might have been heard regularly 40-60 years ago or so, would very rarely be heard now (except by weirdos like me who bring it up). For some people, if they don't watch old movies or TV shows, or if their relatives and friends don't use the terms, there's a good chance they haven't heard the "old school" way of saying certain things.

I've seen a lot of good examples here, but I've also seen a lot that don't exactly fit what I meant, which is fine. At any rate, the responses have all been interesting!