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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

abbreviations gone wild

   You may be using too many abbreviations in your everyday vernacular if you find yourself on the phone with your husband, having a conversation like this:


Drew: Tally* is already curled up on my chest, purring...

*Tally is our cat--but you already figured that out, considering he purrs, right?

Me: (having literally just run into the wall)...ouch...
Drew: Babe, you can't say that.
Me: Say what?
Drew: Say, "gotch,"
Me: Um...gotch?
Drew: Yeah, when I told you about Tally, you said "gotch," you know, you abbreviated "gotcha" to just "gotch" and well, you just can't shorten everything!
Me: (starting to laugh now...but instead of saying watch me! I decide to explain...) I know that sounds like something I might do, but I really didn't; I ran into a wall and said "ouch" under my breath...
Drew: (recognizing that sadly, running into a wall is something I do fairly often) Oh. Good. I thought for a second your abbreviations had gotten out of control...

     So that conversation taught me two things:
                            1). I do abbreviate words a lot; but mostly with my sister Jenna cause we both think it's so funny, but I guess I do it with Drew, too.
                            2). I do really run into things much more often than is normal. People are under the impression that because I am a dancer I do not run into things like walls and tables and sometimes even trees; this is just not true. 
and ok, so there's 3). I actually think it is really funny to annoy Drew with my abbreviations and so try to talk to him about wearing flips, getting comf, if he needs to wash any unds (okay, so I got that one from Darby's mom, I admit), or if something is my B (this particular gem annoys my brother Jason to no end; he says that to shorten a one-syllable word like bad really makes no sense at all. Fuel to the fire, Jase!) or not as much as possible...

     But here's the thing: I have noticed that Drew has adopted the word comf as his own, and uses it like it's in the dictionary with all the others.  Just tonight he told me that he had gotten back from work and was about to get comf (comfortable, in case you didn't realize); it just rolled off his tongue nice and easy.  

     So I guess not all abbreviations are annoying after all. But I do have some standards, at least; I do not (as of yet) say gotch.

    But maybe I will...[cue menacing and evil laughter] Maybe. I. Will. 

14 comments:

Peaj said...

Gotta watch out for those trees. They stand there, looking all rooted and all, and then, when you think you are safely past them, they jump out at you.

Actually, I think that it is pretty hilarious that Miss Graceful Dancer runs into things a lot. Hee. Especially, for some reason, a wall during a phone conversation. What, you're like racing around your room while talking to Drew? Hee hee.

I like shortening people's names. If it's more than one syllable, it's too long. This annoys the missus a bit. She usually just rolls her eyes, but she strenuously objected when I started calling our baby daughter Towel (which only looks like it is two syllables). I like to call Pop "Buce" cause, you know, that extra letter is a pain to pronounce.

Hee hee.

Peaj said...

After I commented, I was concerned that my glee over the combination of Miss Graceful Dancer and stationary objects would be hurtful. Sorry if that is the case.

Anonymous said...

IDK, bet. abbrev., slang, & text-spk, how will peeps kno whatcha talkin' 'bout? b4 u kno it, we'll need to carry a dictionary & a magic decoder ring w/ us everywhere!!

luv all y'all,

k8

Peaj said...

it's called a 'dicsh'. Dicsh n maj decode ring.

Anonymous said...

OK, u gotta c that my prev. post is IMHO, & just a j/k. Ain't no way it reflects my total commitment 2, & luv of, the Eng. lang.! As an educ8r, I'm deeply committed 2 settin' a good ex. "Nuff said.

L8r, y'all,
k8

Anonymous said...

Oops, my B!

Thanx, peaj, 4 settin' me str8!

Peaj said...

What I love about the Eng lang is how malleable it is. Though, my feeling towards this malleability is somewhat love/hate; I smile and shake my head every time Pop makes up a new word during a teaching, and cringe every time someone says "impact" when they mean "effect."

Anonymous said...

peaj, that is so impactful! ;-P

Anonymous said...

I can't believe that a comment on someone's blog sent me running for the dicsh.

This is from freedictionary.com:

im·pact n.

1. The striking of one body against another; collision. See Synonyms at collision.
2. The force or impetus transmitted by a collision.
3. The effect or impression of one thing on another: still gauging the impact of automation on the lives of factory workers.

Peaj, please make note of number three.

Jess, go ahead and abbreviate. Apparently it keeps us young. Or at least immature. Either works for me. And as a mom of two autistic boys, I watch members of my household walk into things all day long. Imagine the boost to their self esteem when I tell them that they have possible futures as broadway dancers.

Jessica said...

hahaha-semi-A, I love it!!! Please tell your boys that cause I do run into things all the time!!! And I loved "dicsh!"

Peaj--you didn't hurt my feelings at all! promise;-)

Kathie--you are too cool for school with all your abrv's!!!!

Jessica said...

oops just realized that Peaj was the first to bring up "dicsh" so the credit goes to him!!!

Peaj said...

Yay! I get credit!

semi-a, it don't make no neverhow that it shows up in a dicsh. A dicsh is just a consensus of usage over time. So if most people use it wrong, it will be in the dicsh.

;-)

merry said...

Um, yeah, my mom was seriously the first person I ever heard shorten anything and everything and she has been doing it her whole 60 some years and we started doing it cause it's funny. I think it is funny that everyone shortens stuff now.I always knew my mom was a trend setter.

Jessica said...

Oh Merry, your mom is DEFINITELY a trend-setter!!!