BASIC ABBREVIATIONS

 

CURIOUS ABBREVIATIONS

VOCABULARY: WHAT'S A PORTMANTEAU?

 

SHORTENED WORDS

Some common abbreviations used to make words shorter

THE REAL ORIGIN OF 'OK'

Posting today a video that explains, among many different possibilities, the real origin of the abbreviation O.K. and why it's still useful and so widely used nowadays. Take a look:

Video "THE REAL ORIGIN OF O.K.":

THE AMPERSAND '&'

The ampersand is the logogram "&", representing the conjunction word "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters et, Latin for "and".

USAGE: Ampersands are commonly seen in business names formed from partnership of two or more people, such as Johnson & Johnson, Dolce & Gabbana, Marks & Spencer, and Tiffany & Co., as well as some abbreviations containing the word and, such as AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph), R&B (rhythm and blues), B&B (bed and breakfast).

The ampersand can be used to indicate that the "and" in a listed item is a part of the item's name and not a separator (e.g. "Rock, pop, rhythm & blues, and hip hop").

The ampersand may still be used as an abbreviation for "and" in informal writing regardless of how "and" is used.

+ info @ Wikipedia.

LATIN ABBREVIATIONS USED IN ENGLISH

Here's a list of Latin abbreviations used in English with their meanings.

TRENDY INTERNET ABBREVIATIONS

Writing on the internet has to be quick and short, so it's usual to use abbreviations to make it shorter. Here are some of the trendy abbreviations used when communiucating via writing on the web.

ABBREVIATIONS, ACRONYMS & INITIALISMS

As you can see above, it's not the same an abbreviation (Dr. = doctor or Ave. = avenue)

than an initialism:

or an acronym:

Watch the video a similar explanation:

Links:

- 50 of the most useful English abbreviations and acronyms

- English abbreviations, initialisms & acronyms.

SYMBOLS: # AND @

 

Two very common symbols of the technological age. Here's a video that explains the origin of the hashtag (#) and the at (@) symbols.

Video:

CLINES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

What is a cline?
The British Council Teaching English website defines a cline as ‘a scale of language items that goes from one extreme to another, for example, from positive to negative, or from weak to strong’.Clines can be very effective in clarifying language, giving a very visual representation of meaning. They are very versatile and can be used for vocabulary or grammar.

The examples of clines you can see here were taken from the blog Recipes for the EFL classroom. Above this text: temperature vocabulary. Below: adverbs of frequency:

- Expressing likes and dislikes:

- Feelings: degrees of hunger.

TEMPLATES FOR YOUR TEXT-MESSAGES, WHATSAPPS & TWEETS

 (6th Cultural Week-11: Writing in the 21st century)

If you're taking part in the activities writing mobile phone text-messages, whatsapps or tweets in English, here are some templates you can download and print to use them or ask your teacher. Remember to use the usual English textmessage acronyms-abbreviations.

Mr., Mrs., Miss OR Ms.

What must you say/write before a person's surname when addressing a person in a formal way? Here's the explanation and meaning behind.

WORD CLIPPING & PORTMANTEAU WORDS

Shortened forms of words like automobile (auto), examination (exam), mathematics (math),common in conversation and informal writing, are usually used in their entirety in formal contexts. These shortened words are called clippings.

Sometimes a clipping drives out its longer original and becomes a standard word in its own right.

Back-Clipping - When back-clipping occurs, the beginning of the word is retained. 

Fore-clipping - When fore-clipping occurs, the end of the word is retained. 

Back-and-Fore-Clipping - When back-and-fore-clipping occurs, the middle of the word is retained. 

Here are some examples:

To end this post, here's a joke, which could be actually right, don't you think?