10 Everyday Words The Midwest Has Been Shortening for Years

English has a funny habit of taking perfectly good words and deciding they're just too long. Why say "delicatessen" when you can say "deli"? Why say "telephone" when "phone" gets the job done? We shorten words so often that we sometimes forget what the original version even was.

Here are some everyday examples you probably use without thinking twice.

1. Delicatessen is now Deli

You probably haven't walked into a store and said, "I'm going to the delicatessen."

You said, "I'm going to the deli."

"Delicatessen" comes from German and refers to specialty or prepared foods. Somewhere along the way, Americans decided that was a lot of syllables for a sandwich.

Deli won.

2. Telephone is now Phone

Technically, your phone is a telephone.

But nobody says, "I need to grab my telephone."

We shortened it because apparently even saying "tele-" was too much work.

3. Refrigerator is now Fridge

"Refrigerator" is a perfectly normal word.

It's also nine letters long and takes a noticeable amount of effort to say.

"Fridge" gets the same job done in one syllable.

Nobody has ever yelled, "Who left the door open on the refrigerator?" with the same speed as, "Who left the fridge open?"

4. Gymnasium is now Gym

You probably go to the gym.

You probably don't tell people you're heading to the gymnasium unless you're trying to sound like a Victorian schoolteacher.

"Gym" comes from the Greek word "gymnasion," which was a place for exercise and training.

We've been trimming it down for a very long time.

5. Mathematics is now Math

This one is especially impressive because we shortened a word that most people were already trying to avoid.

"Mathematics" became "math" in American English.

In Britain, you'll often hear "maths."

Either way, nobody wants to do either one.

6. Influenza is now Flu

Influenza sounds serious.

The flu sounds like something you complain about while lying on the couch watching television.

The shorter version became so common that many people probably don't even think of "influenza" as the original word anymore.

7. Photograph is now Photo

Nobody says, "Let me take a photograph of that."

They say, "Take a photo."

And the younger you are there is a decent chance you just say, "Send me a pic."

At this rate, we're going to reduce the entire English language to three letters at a time.

8. Laboratory is now Lab

Scientists work in laboratories.

Everyone else works in labs.

It's another case where we took a longer word, chopped off most of it and decided that was good enough.

9. Examination is now Exam

"Examination" sounds official.

"Exam" sounds like something you desperately hope was canceled.

We shortened the word, but unfortunately we didn't shorten the test.

10. Condominium is now Condo

You might live in a condo.

Very few people casually say, "I bought a condominium."

It sounds like you're announcing a real estate purchase on the evening news.

The funny thing is that we don't even notice how often we shorten words.

We've been doing it for generations, and most of the shortened versions sound so natural that the original words can feel strangely formal.

English is constantly changing. And apparently, one of the language's favorite hobbies is saying, "That's too many syllables. Cut it down."