Blends, Clippings, and Acronyms

Recognize three ways English builds new words by combining or shortening existing ones.

Not every new word comes from Latin or Greek. English also invents words by squeezing and trimming. A blend fuses parts of two words: smog (smoke plus fog), brunch (breakfast plus lunch), motel (motor plus hotel). A clipping shortens a longer word: lab (laboratory), gym (gymnasium), flu (influenza), exam (examination). An acronym is formed from initial letters and pronounced as a word: radar (radio detection and ranging), laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).

Worked example: a reader who knows that 'laser' is an acronym understands that the word itself is a compressed description of how the device works: light is amplified by stimulated emission. Clippings often lower the register, so 'exam' sounds more casual than 'examination. ' Many acronyms become so common that people forget they were ever abbreviations.

• 1Blends fuse parts of two words (smog, brunch).
• 2Clippings shorten a word (lab, flu).
• 3Acronyms from initials are pronounced as words (radar, laser).