# Abbreviations / diminutives that make you grind your teeth. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 21, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521 "2015-01-21T21:54:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/141 "2015-02-02T03:52:19Z")
ATX, or worse “_the_ ATX” for Austin, Texas. Not only could that be Amarillo, Abilene, Angleton, or a half-dozen other towns, it’s not even the airport code (AUS)! Three syllables vs two, morons. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/142 "2015-02-02T09:19:03Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I hate, hate hate it when people say “sammy”…makes it sound like they’re a two year old, or talking to a two year old. It’s not cute or funny, it’s just dumb. Same goes for saying that something is ‘nummy’ (or even yummy). The other thing I really hate is when people use DH/DD/DS on message boards. Just say husband/daughter/son. > [@Rick](#): > > One married lady I know used DH and explained it this way. > It can mean either Dear Husband or Dick Head depending on circumstances. > Seems to be a perfect cromulent usage to me. There’s a board on which I spend a fairish bit of time, which frequently – in fact routinely – uses the DH/DD/DS convention. Said board tends to be Victorian-ly prim and proper, in what I find a rather sweet way – it outlaws all truly bad language. Posters there thus express the potential alternative meanings of DH, as “Darned”, or “Dratted”, Husband. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/143 "2015-02-02T16:23:07Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Speaking of Yayas – an interesting household etymological journey: My wife has long known that my favorite live album by anyone is the Stones’ [Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Yer_Ya-Ya%27s_Out!_The_Rolling_Stones_in_Concert). We have a four-year-old-son, and **my wife recently used this phrase to refer to his needing to expend his energy by running around, before a long car trip, say. Get his excess energy out of his system**. > > So, now “ya-yas” has come to mean “excess energy” in our household. Perhaps a candidate for this thread, if anyone finds it objectionable. > > (Originally, it meant “derrière” – a plea from some delta blues singer that his lady shake her thing on the dance floor. Or something like that.) My wife used that exact same phrase when our teens were li’l kids (she most certainly is NOT a Stones fan). I’ve never heard anyone else use it the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/144 "2015-02-02T19:22:33Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’ve noticed something over the years- the one thing that for some reason irrationally irritates the piss out of me is pointless or flat-out stupid abbreviations and diminutives. > > To wit: Calling pizza “za”. For some reason, this just sets my teeth on edge and makes me want to hit people. Whats the prah brah? Y u gotta prah with za? > [@BigT](#): > > …elision… My pet peeve is what ever the hell this word is. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/145 "2015-02-02T19:51:28Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > “Zerts are what I call desserts. Tray-trays are entrees. I call sandwiches sammies, sandoozles, or Adam Sandlers. Air conditioners are cool-blasterz, with a z. I don’t know where that came from. I call cakes big ol’ cookies. I call noodles long-ass rice. Fried chicken is fri-fri chicky-chick. Chicken parm is chicky chicky parm parm. Chicken cacciatore? Chicky catch. I call eggs pre-birds, or future birds. Root beer is super water. Tortillas are bean blankies. And I call forks … Food rakes.” I totes heard that in his voice and “chicky-chicky parm-parm” cracks me up everytime. Also I now call root beer super water. > [@bump](#): > > Holy crap… I’d forgotten about the ire that hearing “dub dub dub” \ generates in me. > > How hard is it to say “double u” instead of just “dub”? What are your thoughts on dub dub deuce? > [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > One that really annoys me is referring to heating something in a microwave as ‘nuking’ it. I no a one who says “wave”. “Yo I’ma wave some mac and cheese. You want some?” You know damn well I want some. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/146 "2015-02-02T20:06:46Z")
Mumpers. Get a life. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/147 "2015-02-03T13:17:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s not actually an abbreviation, but it’s used like one: using apropos instead of appropriate. But that’s my pet peeve of using pseudo-intellectual verbiage. That’s not even what “apropos” means. It’s French (why do you think no one pronounces the S?) and it’s actually “a propos” (yes, there’s an accent mark my keyboard can’t reproduce). It means “to the purpose,” and it entered English back in the 1600s. If you want an abbreviation for “appropriate,” pick something that doesn’t already mean something else. > [@GreedySmurf](#): > > While I’m on board your general point, Noni I can understand, as it is presumably a variation on Nonna, which is Italian for Grandmother. I had a Bobbe and Zayde. I know lots of kids have bobbes and zaydes, which are Yiddish words, or sabas and saftas, which are the words used in Israel now, even though IIRC, they are Aramaic, not Hebrew. Just agreeing with GreedySmurf-- on board with the general point, but have to differentiate between genuine foreign or dialectic terms for grandmother and grandfather, and nicknames that are vanity terms for people who don’t want to admit they are old enough to be grandparents. Heard “glamma,” once, as some kind of portmanteau for “glamor” and “grandma.” Yecch. Because you won’t admit your age, people have to think your kid has a speech impairment. > [@Lightray](#): > > I was just reading some clickbait and realized that they couldn’t bring themselves to use the word “eat”. Everything was “nosh”. Noshing on this, noshing on that; just stop it, you twits. Unless you’re actually Yiddish, use your grown-up words. Gentiles use it wrong anyway. “Nosh” means nibble or “lightly snack,” not “devour.” I’m on board with everything here, with the exception that I tolerate things like “nite” and “UR” from people typing a text message where they have a character limit. I read the whole thread in one sitting. Did I miss someone mentioning couples terms, like “Brangelina”? I hate those, and they can’t go away fast enough for me (exception: “Shamy”; Shamy makes me laugh, but they are fictional, and it’s really a spoof of the kind of term I hate). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/148 "2015-02-03T13:25:05Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I had a Bobbe and Zayde. Heh. Me too. They were my great grandparents and they died (within a month of each other) when I was about five. They were Jews originally from Poland. I thought the terms were just nonsense terms until recently. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/149 "2015-02-03T14:08:40Z")
EVOO Especially since when Rachel Ray uses it, she immediately says extra virgin olive oil to explain herself. Drives me batty. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/150 "2015-02-03T15:45:02Z")
> [@CGav8r](#): > > My wife used that exact same phrase when our teens were li’l kids (she most certainly is NOT a Stones fan). I’ve never heard anyone else use it the same way. Weird! ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/151 "2015-02-03T22:03:14Z")
> [@Dustin\_the\_Wind](#): > > This isn’t an abbreviation or diminutive, but “baby bump.” HATE that expression! YES! ABSOLUTELY! And it lends itself to the cutesification of pregnancy, and obsession over celebrity pregnancy. We wouldn’t see anywhere near as many stories about so-and-so’s suddenly protruding belly if they couldn’t use the b.b. term. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/152 "2015-02-03T22:27:34Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > San Fran. Or Frisco. And I’m not even _from_ there. My mom lived in San Francisco before she got married, so I was schooled in avoiding the word “Frisco” since birth. I hate Cali for California. In the beginning I only heard non-Californians using it. And usually in a vaguely derogatory way. so that might affect how I feel about it. But the first few times I heard it used it made me think of Cali, Colombia. And I was really confused. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/153 "2015-02-03T23:11:24Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > I grew up in a conservative, pro-life, religious family. I call eggs _chicken abortions_ any time I’m looking to annoy my relatives. That’s ignorant, unless the eggs are fertilized. What you’re looking at are chicken periods. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/154 "2015-02-04T02:44:02Z")
At one job the Operations section of IT was always referred to as OPS in emails, and it its own DL. Every time I saw it I wanted to shout, it _isn’t_ “Oh-Pee-Ess”, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/155 "2015-02-04T10:55:54Z")
Dunno if this one has been mentioned yet but I just was reading a Lenny Bruce transcript wherein he says “in the backs of those ‘fun shops’ you’ll see guys looking through racks and racks of pictures of ladies’ nay-nays wrapped in cellophane.” Of course, maybe he figured no one ever got arrested for baby talk. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/156 "2015-02-04T11:43:54Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Similarly, “the 'Nati” for Cincinnati. Barf! At first they called it Cincy, but since Cinci is so natty, (will anyone else know what I’m quoting?) ---
**Author:** ![Zorkmid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e68b1a/32.png) [@Zorkmid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorkmid)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/157 "2015-02-04T15:40:43Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > Dunno if this one has been mentioned yet but I just was reading a Lenny Bruce transcript wherein he says “in the backs of those ‘fun shops’ you’ll see guys looking through racks and racks of pictures of ladies’ nay-nays wrapped in cellophane.” > > Of course, maybe he figured no one ever got arrested for baby talk. I just feel bad for the ladies who had their nether regions wrapped in cellophane :eek: that’s just asking for a yeast infection! And for everyone who hates “baby bump” as much as I do, I say we start using my brother in law’s term instead, “pregbelly.” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/158 "2015-02-04T18:45:28Z")
Vay-Kay? You mean ‘vacation’? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/159 "2015-02-04T19:07:10Z")
> [@Zorkmid](#): > > I just feel bad for the ladies who had their nether regions wrapped in cellophane :eek: that’s just asking for a yeast infection! > > And for everyone who hates “baby bump” as much as I do, I say we start using my brother in law’s term instead, “pregbelly.” I’d have to hear how he said it, but I think he might have meant the magazines, not the nether regions, were wrapped in cellophane. I remember venturing into a store that sold such things when I was about 18 or so. The magazines were not only wrapped in cellophane, but had craft paper masking almost everything save the title on the front cover. ---
**Author:** ![Zorkmid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e68b1a/32.png) [@Zorkmid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorkmid)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/160 "2015-02-05T14:27:57Z")
I’m sure he meant the magazines were wrapped in cellophane, not the ladies. I just have a really lame sense of humor :o [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521.md?page=9)