The other day I was watching some television in English and noticed that full words are not always used. Occasionally, they are shortened. For the record, this post is referring to shortenings, a type of abbreviation, and not the other three types I am aware of (visit the link to view). I'm also not referring to the ultra new/short/hip shortenings such as "bestie" for "best friend." Examples of what I am talking about follow:
carb for carbohydrate
decaf for decaffeinated
limo for limousine
prep for preparation
promo code for promotion code
I was able to look up all of those in Word Reference, which was a pleasant surprise, but then there are some that are not found altogether such as "abs" for "abdominals." (Word Reference provides Anti-lock Braking System ... not exactly the same thing, but it does list "quadriceps" for "quads.") If I don't find something in Word Reference, I usually then turn to Tureng and it often has a word or phrase Word Reference does not, but not always.
Prior to deciding to post this, I didn't know Word Reference would return so many shortenings of words for me and lead me to the Spanish equivalent, but after looking up a few of these, I began to wonder how equivalent they really were. For every shortened English word I looked up, a full Spanish word was returned, but I suspect this tendency to shorten certain words is not exclusive to English. For my level of Spanish right now, what Word Reference, Tureng, and other online resources provide is sufficient.
There will come a day, however, when I will want to take my listening skills to another level and I have discovered that if I am not familiar with a word, I tend not to hear it when it is used in spoken language (especially when listening to fast-talkers). What would help me at that point is a collection of some of the most common shortenings of words in Spanish.
So, what I would like from native or near fluent speakers of Spanish is one shortened word that you think would be good for someone learning Spanish to know. If you can come up with five, even better. To give you a clearer idea of what it is I am talking about, here's a link to an article from someone who put together a list of helpful shortenings in English:
"33 Word Shortenings Any Foreign English Speaker Should Know!"
Also, in addition to any you can share in this thread, if you happen to know of a resource, free or for purchase, online or otherwise, that contains shortenings and/or other helpful abbreviations, please mention them, too.