Shortening as Disrespect

 American Society is still a go-go culture – – even more so than in the past. Along with this comes abbreviated clothing, giving short shrift to etiquette and politeness, and rushing everywhere, including in parking lots and driveways.

Less frequently considered are words. I have spoken about this before, but consider the following conundrum. First, I list the shortened version of the word.  Underneath, I list all the words that the shortened word might mean. Here is the list:

vet

     veterinarian

     veteran

     —to investigate and clear a person, place, or thing

rep —

     representative

     reputation

     repertory

rec 

     — A type of room dedicated to athletics/exercise. As in, “He does his morning push-ups in the rec room.”

      (A new one I just saw on an advice website:) recommendation

I’m sure there must be others, but you get the point. Not only do these made up abbreviations hide the history (etymology) of the words, but when read without sufficient context, it can be difficult to know what they mean.  Don’t we have enough confusion in the world already?  For that matter, don’t we have enough disrespect in the world already?