Clippings: Definitions and Examples
New words are formed within a culture when
phrases and words are shortened, or ‘clipped,’ and used commonly over
time. Read on to find out more about this grammatical term called
‘clipping’.
Definition of Clipping
Clipping occurs when the original word is reduced
to one of its parts, resulting in the formation of a new word. This
process is also referred to as ‘truncation’ and ‘shortening.’ In
clipping, the word is shortened but the meaning remains the same.
History of Clipping
Clipping historically originated among
professional groups such as the police, medical profession, schools and army.
Clipping that becomes Standard English tends to originate from affluent
social classes. Clippings used by less wealthy and/or educated social
classes tend to remain as slang.
Types of Clipping
There are four main types of clipping.
These include back clipping, fore-clipping, middle clipping and complex
clipping. Below, please find definitions and examples of each.
- Back clipping: In back clipping, the first part of the word is kept.
Examples of back clipping include:
- pop (popular music)
- fax (facsimile)
- gym (gymnasium)
- memo (memorandum)
- ad (advertisement)
- demo (demonstration)
- Fore-clipping: In fore-clipping, the last part of the word is kept.
Examples of fore-clipping include:
- chute (parachute)
- phone (telephone)
- site (website)
- plane (airplane)
- copter (helicopter)
- burger (hamburger)
- bulb (light bulb)
- Middle clipping: In middle clipping, the middle of the word is kept.
Examples of middle clipping include:
- flu (influenza)
- fridge (refrigerator)
- Complex clipping: In complex clipping, part of the original compound is kept.
Examples of complex clipping include:
- photo-op (photo opportunity)
- sci-fi (science fiction)
- rom com (romantic comedy)
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