# Shortest slang word or phrase for the longest series of words **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2026, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311 "2026-11-01T03:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/1 "2026-11-01T03:33:19Z")
Off the top of my head, I think it may be “Imma,” as in “Imma let you finish,” as Kanye West said to Taylor Swift after barging on stage and interrupting her at the 2009 VMAs. “Imma” is obviously short for “I am going to.” Any other nominees? ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/2 "2026-11-01T04:54:00Z")
TANSTAFL. (There’s No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.) If acronyms count. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/3 "2026-11-01T04:55:14Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > TANSTAFL. > > (There’s No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.) I’ve usually seen it spelled out as “There Ain’t No Such Thing As a Free Lunch.” ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/4 "2026-11-01T04:55:42Z")
Yes, that works even better. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/5 "2026-11-01T05:11:33Z")
Commonly heard in the Upper Midwest: “Djeet?” Short for, “did you eat?” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/6 "2026-11-01T05:43:53Z")
CAPTCHA ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/7 "2026-11-01T05:50:10Z")
Australian - ‘onya’, short for ‘good on you’ - an affirmation of praise, well done, bravo, eg onya Narelle. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/8 "2026-11-01T05:52:56Z")
“I’d’ve” for “I would have.” (Letter for letter, it exactly matches the OP’s example.) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/9 "2026-11-01T06:37:19Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Commonly heard in the Upper Midwest: “Djeet?” Short for, “did you eat?” Also in New Jersey, and Philly, and Rhode Island, and the Deep South 🙂 ---
**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:** [November 1, 2026, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/10 "2026-11-01T10:29:51Z")
Do we count former slang that went mainstream? If so, hard to beat “bye.” It’s from “God be with you.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/11 "2026-11-01T16:58:37Z")
FUBAR -F\*d up beyond all repair/recognition/recovery. Courtesy of the U.S. military. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/12 "2026-11-01T17:22:22Z")
IMO, slang words and acronyms are two different things, but one I remember hearing in college from a guy ‘not from around here’ (we were in California, he might have been from New England, maybe?) was “squeet” (or maybe it was “skweet”). He was saying, “Let’s go eat.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/13 "2026-11-01T17:45:32Z")
“Wanna” (Want to X…) and “Gonna” (Going to X…), in both questions and declarative sentences. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/14 "2026-11-01T17:51:00Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > but one I remember hearing in college from a guy ‘not from around here’ (we were in California, he might have been from New England, maybe?) was “squeet” (or maybe it was “skweet”). He was saying, “Let’s go eat.” One of my college friends and I (both of us from northern Wisconsin) used this all the time, too. I wasn’t sure if it was a regionalism or not. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/15 "2026-11-01T17:52:01Z")
POTUS - President of the United States, which was used by telegraph operators. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/16 "2026-11-01T17:55:05Z")
“Wanna score some 'za?” = “Do you want to go and get some pizza?” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/17 "2026-11-01T18:09:52Z")
It’s not exactly slang, but “LA” is universally recognized as standing for “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula”. Far more recognized than the original. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/18 "2026-11-01T18:22:12Z")
Not the OP, but I’d opine that anything properly rendered in all caps is too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/19 "2026-11-01T19:43:48Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > from New England, maybe?) was “squeet” Djeet? =Did you eat yet? Narp = No. 'squeet = Let’s go eat Thinkin? =Where are you planning on going? Pat’s fer za =Pat’s Pizza for a pie. 'sgo = Let’s go. Was a common conversation when I was in college in Maine. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311/20 "2026-11-01T20:50:33Z")
You left out: “Mungry.” According to my acquaintance (and I don’t think I can say he was a friend since I don’t recall his name!), that preceeded “Squeet” in the conversation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-slang-word-or-phrase-for-the-longest-series-of-words/1034311.md?page=2)