• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

Want a Brat, Guac or Parm? The enduring appeal of brevity in the US

Towleroad February 14, 2022 Leave a Comment

Published by
DPA
495936 origin 1
Why say the whole word? The German Bratwurst is simply called “brat” in US restaurants. Daniel Karmann/dpa

A man in a Brooklyn restaurant orders a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, perhaps the pinnacle of European winemaking, a full-bodied and complex wine.

“Cab Sav, you got it,” says the waitress.

These days in the US, the first syllable of the word is enough to convey your meaning, as a glance at a menu will show.

There’s Guac for Mexican guacamole. There’s Parm for Italian parmesan. And there’s Brat for Germany’s bratwurst.

The desire for brevity can be found beyond the world of food too, with plenty of talk of the “vax,” referring to “vaccines” or “vaccination.”

US talkshow host Stephen Colbert used the word in his recasting of Salt n Pepa’s famous hit, with the refrain, “Let’s talk about vax, baby.”

That instinct to shorten words is not new, according to Lisa Heldke, a philosopher at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, whose focuse is on the American pragmatist tradition – and food.

People use monosyllables in many settings and they are not only reducing foreign words to their first syllable, she says. “Students here call the cafeteria “the caf,” which drives our dining service director crazy.”

Linguists have yet to study whether people in the US are more likely to use just the first syllable compared to other nations. But American English is known for its abbreviations – just think of “OK.”

Hedke says Americans tend to abbreviate everything, or give it a nickname.

Considering why people may tend to just use the first syllable of words, she suggests maybe speakers are trying to be concise.

Also, there are social factors, she suggests.

“I think it’s about approachability. We think of short words as ‘friendly,’ as approachable, as ‘fun,’ as ‘not snobby.’ I actually attribute it a lot to (some) Americans’ deep desire to resist anything that smacks of intellectualism,” she says.

“I think it’s also about familiarity, intimacy. If I have a short nickname, it means I am close enough to that person or thing that I GET to be informal with it,” she adds.

After all, people give nicknames to the things that they like.

Many factors are at play, Heldke says. “I think we do tend to make the shortened forms to pronounce them in a ‘middle class white American way’.”

When it comes to foreign foods such as parmesan or guacamole, maybe speakers want to suggest a relaxed attitude to what they are describing, she says.

“Guac maybe isn’t exactly American, but the sounds are more ‘indigenous’ to American English than the sounds in the full word guacamole (which we also tend to pronounce in an American way, of course),” she notes.

The urge towards simplicity may go back even further. People in the US were calling each other “bro” more than a century ago.

But the trend may go as far back as the first lexicographer of the US.

Noah Webster was the author of the 1828 dictionary popularly known as “Webster’s,” an abbreviation of the title “An American Dictionary of the English Language,” coming after his first dictionary in 1806.

He sought a simpler spelling than British English and dispensed with superfluous letters, which is why in the US, people write “color” instead of “colour,” for example. He embraced non-literary terms and colloquial expressions.

He sought a spirit of linguistic unity and clarity and wanted to distinguish the language so the US could assert its independence from colonializing Britain.

His drive for simplicity made sense at a time when people were migrating to the US from all over the world, speaking countless languages and dialects.

Historians have also argued that unlike more codified British English, in the US, people were willing to improvise.

Americans were using language flexibly, speaking pidgin, borrowing from Dutch, German and other languages and creating neologisms.

In 1919, HL Mencken published the first edition of “The American Language.” He sought to sum up the attitude to language, identifying a “large capacity for taking in new words and phrases” as a tendency.

He also noted “its impatient disregard for grammatical, syntactical and phonological rule and precedent.”

That spirit lives on. Brat, anyone?

495936 495936 origin 1 1
It might have a complex and beautiful sounding name in Italy, but in America, a bowl of pasta with Parmesan cheese is simply called “Parm.” Oliver Berg/dpa

Topics: Aaon

  • Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black almost missed son’s birth

    Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black almost missed son’s birth

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black almost missed the birth of their son as they got stuck in traffic on their way to the hospital. The couple – who have been …Read More »
  • Ousted Rep. Madison Cawthorn Calls For ‘Dark MAGA’ To Rise Up, Take Over Political Right

    Ousted Rep. Madison Cawthorn Calls For ‘Dark MAGA’ To Rise Up, Take Over Political Right

      Published by Radar Online   MEGA Fresh off his loss in a primary election in North Carolina, soon-to-be outgoing Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn is now calling for a new party to form on the right. …Read More »
  • U.S. Justice Department releases $5 million for hotlines to report hate crimes

    U.S. Justice Department releases $5 million for hotlines to report hate crimes

    Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department will release $5 million for states to establish hotlines to report hate crime, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Friday, as a mass shooting in …Read More »
  • Monkeypox Gay Cases Rise; Europe Hits 100 Total; Triggers Emergency WHO  Monkeypox Meeting; Symptoms Mild; Spain Connects Monkeypox virus, Sauna

    Monkeypox Gay Cases Rise; Europe Hits 100 Total; Triggers Emergency WHO Monkeypox Meeting; Symptoms Mild; Spain Connects Monkeypox virus, Sauna

    Published by Reuters By Jennifer Rigby and Natalie Grover LONDON (Reuters) -The World Health Organization was due to hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the recent outbreak of monkeypox, a viral infection more common …Read More »
Previous Post: « Lizzo wants to pose for Playboy
Next Post: Prince Harry’s memoir is set to rock the monarchy »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • New York Attorney General Announces Investigations Into Social Media Companies For Role In Buffalo Attack That Left 10 Dead

    New York Attorney General Announces Investigations Into Social Media Companies For Role In Buffalo Attack That Left 10 Dead

  • Former Presidential Advisor Reveals Vladimir Putin Was Constantly ‘Frustrated’ With Donald Trump & ‘Had To Keep Explaining Things’

    Former Presidential Advisor Reveals Vladimir Putin Was Constantly ‘Frustrated’ With Donald Trump & ‘Had To Keep Explaining Things’

  • NYC Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Confirms Engagement To Longtime Love Riley Roberts

    NYC Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Confirms Engagement To Longtime Love Riley Roberts

  • Princess Diana’s tiara to headline exhibition at Sotheby’s

    Princess Diana’s tiara to headline exhibition at Sotheby’s

Break

  • Viola Davis was called by director’s maid’s name

    Viola Davis was called by director’s maid’s name

  • Kerry Washington infuriated Scandal co-stars with kiss confession

    Kerry Washington infuriated Scandal co-stars with kiss confession

  • Ryan Reynolds recalls brothers ‘saving’ him from dad’s anger with earrings

    Ryan Reynolds recalls brothers ‘saving’ him from dad’s anger with earrings

  • Upfronts 2022: Every new scripted series picked up by a broadcast network

    Upfronts 2022: Every new scripted series picked up by a broadcast network

RSS Partner Links

  • OMG, BROOOO! Billy Eichner will lead first gay rom-com by a major studio
  • Birthday Tribute: Scenes from Cher’s movies!
  • Celebrating Cher’s 76th birthday with some of her biggest hits from six different decades
  • OMG, he’s naked: Jonathan Bailey
  • OMG, WATCH: RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7 gives us a sneak peek ahead of premiere
  • Birthday Sluts
  • Roger Federer trains for a comeback!
  • On the Rag, Vol. 709
  • Morning Wood

Most Recent

  • Dave Chappelle’s alleged attacker charged with attempted murder

    Dave Chappelle’s alleged attacker charged with attempted murder

  • Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black almost missed son’s birth

    Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black almost missed son’s birth

  • Ousted Rep. Madison Cawthorn Calls For ‘Dark MAGA’ To Rise Up, Take Over Political Right

    Ousted Rep. Madison Cawthorn Calls For ‘Dark MAGA’ To Rise Up, Take Over Political Right

  • U.S. Justice Department releases $5 million for hotlines to report hate crimes

    U.S. Justice Department releases $5 million for hotlines to report hate crimes

  • Monkeypox Gay Cases Rise; Europe Hits 100 Total; Triggers Emergency WHO  Monkeypox Meeting; Symptoms Mild; Spain Connects Monkeypox virus, Sauna

    Monkeypox Gay Cases Rise; Europe Hits 100 Total; Triggers Emergency WHO Monkeypox Meeting; Symptoms Mild; Spain Connects Monkeypox virus, Sauna

  • Massachusetts identifies first 2022 U.S. case of monkeypox infection

    Massachusetts identifies first 2022 U.S. case of monkeypox infection

  • 25-30 Cases Of Rare Monkeypox Reported in UK, Portugal; Reported Predominantly Among Gay, MSM; Somewhat Treatable with Smallpox Vaccine;

    25-30 Cases Of Rare Monkeypox Reported in UK, Portugal; Reported Predominantly Among Gay, MSM; Somewhat Treatable with Smallpox Vaccine;

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Log in