Clipping – What is clipping and examples

What is clipping?

Clipping/clipped words (or morphology if you prefer the linguistic term) is a way of creating new words in English by shortening the original word. It’s very trendy to clip words these days, with our fast-paced lives, we need to be able to speak faster, right? I’ll tell you how clipping works if you don’t already know…​

A long word is reduced by removing some of the word. This creates a new word (usually one syllable long). This word is then used instead of the original word as an informal/slang term.

I’m pretty certain you’ve come across clipped words before, but maybe you just don’t know it! Look at the slide for some examples of clipped words and their meaning.

clipped words with examples and pictures

Let’s take a look at some common clipped words in action.

List of clipped words

Here is a list of some of the most common clipped words we use in English with examples. A nice little practice exercise for you is to make up some sentences of your own.

• abdominal
  abbreviation – abs
  example – My abs look huge in this vest.
• administrator/administration
  abbreviation – admin
  example – I need an admin day; my finances are in a mess.
• advertisement
  abbreviation – ad(s)
  example – Shall we record Breaking Bad? Then we can skip the ads later?
• aeroplane
  abbreviation – plane
  example – My plane is due to land around 6.
• aggressive (behaviour)
  abbreviation – aggro
  example – Don’t give your granddad any aggro today, he isn’t feeling very well.
• ammunition
  abbreviation – ammo
  example – The new comedian ran out of ammo after 15 minutes.
• application
  abbreviation – app(s)
  example – I downloaded this great new brain training app.
• Australian
  abbreviation – Aussie(s)
  example – The Aussies will win the cricket for sure.
• bicycle
  abbreviation – bike
  example – My bike tyre has a puncture again!
• brasserie
  abbreviation – bra
  example – I`ve just bought matching bra and knickers.
• British
  abbreviation – Brit(s)
  example – The Brits are happy, it’s 28º degrees all over the country today.
• celebrity
  abbreviation – celeb
  example – There were lads of celebs in the bar last night.
• champion
  abbreviation – champ
  example – The new champ is (…drum roll….) Ricky the rhino!
• Christmas
  abbreviation – Xmas
  example – Merry Xmas everyone.
• Coca-Cola/cocaine
  abbreviation – coke
  example – Boy 1: Let’s get some coke for the party.
  Boy 2: No, I prefer Sprite.
• comfortable
  abbreviation – comfy
  example – Don’t get too comfy, we’re leaving soon,
• congratulations
  abbreviation – congrats
  example – Congrats in the new job

• delicatessen
  abbreviation – deli
  example – I’ll get some meat and cheese from the deli.
• demonstration
  abbreviation – demo
  example – I`ll watch the demo before I install the programme.
• doctor/document
  abbreviation – doc
  example – I’ve left the docs on your desk.
• dormitory
  abbreviation – dorm
  example – I’ve booked an 8-bed dorm at the hostel.
• examination
  abbreviation – exam
  example – I`m not looking forward to the exam tomorrow.
• fabulous
  abbreviation – fab
  example – The show was fab, well done boys.
• fanatic
  abbreviation – fan
  example – The football fans caused a lot of trouble last night.
• gasoline
  abbreviation – gas
  example – Let’s fill up the car with gas.
• gentlemen
  abbreviation – gents
  example – I’ll just pop to the gents, then we can order.
• graduate
  abbreviation – grad
  example – I’m a uni grad.
• gymnasium
  abbreviation – gym
  example – I need to get fit, so I’ve joined a gym.
• hamburger
  abbreviation – burger
  example – I`d love a burger right now.
• holiday
  abbreviation – hol(s)
  example – I wish I could afford to go on hols this year.
• identification
  abbreviation – ID
  example – Don’t forget to bring your ID, the bouncers are really strict.
• independent (music)
  abbreviation – indie
  example – I love indie music, it’s really up my street.
• influenza
  abbreviation – flu
  example – I gave the flu to my nephew.
• information
  abbreviation – info
  example – I’ll write all the info down on paper for you.
• introduction
  abbreviation – intro
  example – I’ll write the intro and you start researching advantages and disadvantages.
• Jaguar
  abbreviation – Jag
  example – I’ll park the Jag; you go and find a table.
• kilogram
  abbreviation – kilo
  example – The baby weighs three kilos now.
• knockout
  abbreviation – KO
  example – It’s a KO in under 25 seconds. Wow!
• laboratory
  abbreviation – lab
  example – 4,000 lab rats have escaped from a facility near the town.
• lavatory
  abbreviation – lav
  example – Where is the lav? I’m busting for a pee.
• legitimate
  abbreviation – legit
  example – Are you sure these trainers are legit? They look like the ones that were stolen in the robbery?
• limousine
  abbreviation – limo
  example – I’ve changed my mind; I don’t want a limo for the prom.

• magazine
  abbreviation – mag
  example – If you pass a shop, can you pick up my mag for me?
• mathematics
  abbreviation – maths
  example – I have a maths test tomorrow
• mayonnaise
  abbreviation – mayo
  example – Mum made me egg-mayo sarnies for lunch.
• maximum
  abbreviation – max
  example – The max speed on my new Toyota in 165mph, it flies!
• Mediterranean
  abbreviation – med
  example – Yes! I’ve just booked a three-week cruise around the med.
• memorandum
  abbreviation – memo
  example – Did you not read the memo? It said not to arrive in uniform.
• microphone
  abbreviation – mic
  example – Who`s next to take the mic? Come on, don’t be shy.
• moment
  abbreviation – mo.
  example – Give me a mo. I need to change my coat.
• neighbourhood
  abbreviation – hood
  example – The hood is pretty quiet tonight.
• overdose
  abbreviation – OD
  example – Some kid OD’d at the rave last night.
• petroleum
  abbreviation – petrol
  example – I’m almost out of petrol.
• photograph
  abbreviation – photo
  example – We keep this love in a photograph, we made these memories for ourselves.
• physiotherapist
  abbreviation – physio
  example – I’ve got an appointment with the physio at 10.
• popular
  abbreviation – pop
  example – We love listening to pop music,
• professional
  abbreviation – pro
  example – Leave it to me, I’m a pro.
• public house
  abbreviation – pub
  example – Shall we go down the pub after work?

• recreation park
  abbreviation – rec
  example – I think I’ll take the kids to the rec.
• reference
  abbreviation – ref
  example – Your booking ref is 46GS98
• referee
  abbreviation – ref
  example – The ref made some bad decisions during the game.
• refrigerator
  abbreviation – fridge
  example – There are some nice cold beers in the fridge.
• rehabilitation
  abbreviation – rehab
  example – They tried to make me go to rehab but I said no no no.
• rhinoceros rhino
  abbreviation – Rhinos
  example – will become extinct soon if they don’t stop being poached.
• situational comedy
  abbreviation – sitcom
  example – Sitcoms are a great way to learn English.
• spectacles/specifications
  abbreviation – specs
  example – I can’t seem to find my specs anywhere.
• statistics
  abbreviation – stats
  example – Look at the stats, they don’t lie.
• teenager
  abbreviation – teen
  example – All the young teens love this type of music.
• telephone
  abbreviation – phone
  example – Can someone answer the phone?
• television
  abbreviation – telly
  example – Switch off the telly if you’re not watching it.
• typographical error
  abbreviation – typo
  example – There are lots of typos in your work, you should run a spell check before submitting it.
• university
  abbreviation – uni
  example – The uni break is just around the corner.
• vegetable/vegetarian
  abbreviation – veg/veggie
  example – veggie* We’ve been veggies for a decade now.
  * The ‘gg’ is pronounced like the ‘j’ in ‘jump’.
• veterinarian/veteran
  abbreviation – vet
  example – The vet is closed, we`ll have to wait until tomorrow.
  example – My grandad is a WWII vet.
• vibration(s)
  abbreviation – vibe(s)
  example – That place has good vibes; I’ll go back again soon.
• violoncello
  abbreviation – cello
  example – Cello practice has been put off until the teacher is better.
• vocabulary
  abbreviation – vocab
  example – I know lots of vocab; I just can’t grasp the grammar.
• weblog
  abbreviation – blog
  example – I must remember to catch up on my blog. Pronto!

Here’s the table for you to download and study at your leisure.

Can you think of any other clipped words? If you have, let me know in the comments below.

clipping exercises

Test yourself and see what you’ve learnt with these clipped word exercises.

Did you enjoy learning some clipped words? I guess you like learning ‘modern’ English and want to be able speak like a native and blend in. If so, I’ve got some more pages you’ll probably like too.

• Blend words
• Cockney rhyming slang
• slang and text speak
• Swear words
• British English pronunciation