Shorten words in the Argentinian style

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  • Reading time:4 mins read

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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