I don’t know if it’s some type of national rejection to longer words, but Argentinians seem to do anything in order to avoid pronouncing them.
It goes like this: when a word has three or more syllables (as long as it is a well known, frequently used word), it’s very probable that we’ll shorten them.
- Vacas (vacaciones)
- Finde (fin de semana)
- Porfa (por favor)
- Celu (celular)
- Tele (televisión, televisor)
- Súper (supermercado)
- Cole (colegio)
- Ofi (oficina)
- Cumple (cumpleaños)
- Zapas (zapatillas)
- Colect (colectivo)
- Subte (subterráneo)
- Compu (computadora)
- Cerve (cerveza)
- Mochi (mochila)
- Parri (parrilla)
- Pelu (peluquería)
- Tranqui (tranquilo)
- Galles (galletitas)
- Mic (micrófono)
- Compli (complicado)
- Depto (this is an insteresting case, as it’s an abbreviated form of departamento)
- Bici (bicicleta)
- Peli (película)

The same is true for names. In informal contexts we’ll shorten them almost immediately. Of course, there is a personal element to this. Some people prefer to ‘keep the distance’ and not be too friendly too soon. But shortening the name of the person is a sign of closeness.
- Nicolás – Nico
- Francisco – Fran
- Federico – Fede
- Rodrigo – Rodri
- Agustín – Agus
- Catalina – Cata
- Romina – Romi
- Valentina – Valen
- Florencia – Flor
- Lucía – Lu
I could go on forever with many more names, but go out there and see if what I’m saying is true.
Thanks for reading, and until next time!
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