Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What are some example of shortened spoken words in your country/language? Here in the USA, one that I find hilarious and it is used mainly by African-Americans is the word "biniz"- short for business.
Ex: Gotta take care of some biniz
It sounds even funnier when they say "Nun yo biniz" - None of your business
Interestingly enough, I see the same exact pattern in Brazilian Portuguese and similarly, these contractions seem to be used more often by people who are less educated and poorer
Ne' is a contraction for "Nao e'?" which means "Isnt it?"
Similarly, In England, some people use the word "innit" to mean "Isn't it?"
The Bavarian dialect is full of those shortened words.
An example:
bav.: Nochdem i einkaft hob, hot mi'd Kassiererin g'frogt: "Woin'S a Sackl dazua?"
ger.: Nachdem ich meine Einkäufe erledigt hatte, fragte mich die Kassiererin: "Wollen Sie eine Einkauftüte dazu?".
Certain words get shortened (some get a bit longer "dazu" > "dazua"), some words get replaced all together and the grammatical structure is a bit twisted. First version is only used in conversations.
Canadian (Quebec) French is full of these types of shortcuts, which are often the source of comments about European francophones sometimes having difficulty understanding us.
On the US west coast, business is frequently shortened just to "biz" and is used by most young people, not just blacks but it tends to be a young person thing.
Among blacks though, there are a lot of southern phrases still in use. One that is shortened and used by most blacks who speak African-American Vernacular English is "Fidna" which is a shortened version of the phrase "Fixing to". Example; "I'm fidna go home"
In English, is "legit" and "swag" more common than "legitimate" and "swagger"?
And in many pop and rap songs: "I'mma" instead of "I'm gonna" which itself is a shortened version of "I'm going to"
In English, is "legit" and "swag" more common than "legitimate" and "swagger"?
And in many pop and rap songs: "I'mma" instead of "I'm gonna" which itself is a shortened version of "I'm going to"
LOL.
Most people don't use the word "swagger" in daily conversation. Perhaps frat bros.
It would take a week if I would write down the words which are shortened in spoken Finnish. Some dialects are very heavy in this, but even standard spoken Finnish probably shortens 30-40% of all words existing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.