# "Prolly": intentional clipping or illiteracy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948 "2005-09-29T01:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SomeGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SomeGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/1 "2005-09-29T01:08:20Z")
I see it everywhere on the internet: “prolly” where “probably” should presumably go. Are people intentionally abbreviating/contracting “probably”, perhaps because the mistakenly believe that this is cute, or do they actually believe that “prolly” is a word? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/2 "2005-09-29T01:17:38Z")
Every single one of them are prolly illiterate. You should make a crusade of pointing out this gross misuse of the English language at every opportunity. It’s a contraction, I’ve never used it in a proper setting. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/3 "2005-09-29T01:28:51Z")
Those peeps prolly don’t care about grammar as much as the average doper does. The few I have regular online contact with that use “prolly, peeps” and the like know better, but just don’t care. They’re just doing what’s easiest to type. Such things are still much better than some of the IM speak I’ve seen while looking over someone’s shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/4 "2005-09-29T01:30:36Z")
It’s an approximation of speech patterns, like “gotta.” I know when I say “probably” it usually sounds more like “prolly” than anytthing else. ---
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/5 "2005-09-29T03:57:11Z")
I hated “prolly” the first time I saw it. Eventually laziness won out. I usually use it only when IMing. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/6 "2005-09-29T04:33:44Z")
I balance out the mystical karma of the universe by using probabably all the time. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/7 "2005-09-29T04:40:39Z")
Who can tell. At work we talk about the “wrongosity” of a solution or the “approximatedness” of a figure but we call **Playboy** “Recreationlad” which is also the name we use for **Sportsman**. I’m pretty sure we all know it is a pisstake. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/8 "2005-09-29T05:02:33Z")
I’ve always read \*prolly \*as ironic. Everyone knows the word is _probly_. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/9 "2005-09-29T14:16:39Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > Every single one of them **are** prolly illiterate. Bolding mine. “Are” or “is”. IANASA (smart ass) I really would like to know which is correct grammar. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/10 "2005-09-29T14:19:26Z")
True story. My at-that-time girlfriend was a salesperson in a hi-fi shop (c. 1982). They were featuring a new speaker cabinet with speakers having cones made of plastic instead of the usual paper. She did a demo for a customer. “These cones are a new material, they’re better than paper.” “Really? What are they made of?” “They’re polypropylene.” “Well, could you let me know if you find out for sure?” ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/11 "2005-09-29T14:22:00Z")
[hijack] I may be wrong, but I thought “prolly” was a British internet-ism. Does anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/12 "2005-09-29T14:29:57Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > Bolding mine. > “Are” or “is”. IANASA (smart ass) I really would like to know which is correct grammar. Shoot, don’t get me to lying. I’m going with “they are” instead of “one is”. IANAEM (I am not an English major). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/13 "2005-09-29T15:27:33Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > Bolding mine. > “Are” or “is”. IANASA (smart ass) I really would like to know which is correct grammar. The subject of the sentence is “one.” The grammatically correct verb is “is.” One is. One of them is. Every one of them is. Every single one of them is. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolly-intentional-clipping-or-illiteracy/323948/14 "2005-09-29T15:47:04Z")
Gracias.