Clipping

What is Clipping?

Clipping is a process of shortening a word by omitting one or two of its parts (i.e. beginning, middle, or ending letters/syllables) while retaining its original meaning. This word-formation process does not create new meanings rather it provides stylistic value. Each type is discussed below, from the most common to the least. 

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’.

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. 

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.

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.

1. Back clipping: In back clipping, the first part of the word is kept. 

Blackclipping (Apocopation) is the loss of one or more syllables at the end of a word. 

Examples of back clipping include:

   pop (popular music)

   fax  (facsimile)

   gym  (gymnasium)

   memo (memorandum)

   ad (advertisement)

   demo (demonstration)

2.  Fore-clipping: In fore-clipping, the last part of the word is kept.

Foreclipping (Aphaeresis) refers to the omission of one or more syllables at the beginning of a word. 

Examples of fore-clipping include:

  chute (parachute)

  phone (telephone)

  site (website)

  plane (airplane)

  copter (helicopter)

  burger (hamburger)

  bulb (light bulb)

      3. Middle clipping:  In middle clipping, the middle of the word is kept.

Middle Clipping (Syncope) retains the middle part of a word, getting rid of the beginning and ending parts.

Examples of middle clipping include:

fridge (refrigerator)

flu (influenza)

tec (detective)

jams (pajamas)

fridge (refrigerator)

     4.   Complex clipping: In complex clipping, part of the original compound is kept.

Complex Clipping is the shortening of a compound word by preserving and combining its initial parts (or first syllables).

Examples of complex clipping include

 photo-op (photo opportunity)
 rom com (romantic comedy)

sci-fi (science fiction)

midcult (middlebrow culture)

sitcom (situation comedy)

forex (foreign exchange)

frag (fragmentation grenade)

garbo (garbage man)

govvy (government-run or sponsored)

grandma (grandmother)

grandpa (grandfather)

chum (chamber fellow)

antilog (antilogarithm)

perm (permanent wave)

shrink (head shrinker) 

See if you can recognise some of these words when you practise conversational English.  The next time you hear one, you may recall the word or words from which it was derived.   

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