35 English words that are shortened in conversation (video included)

Many English words are shortened in conversation, especially in casual settings. This list is intended to help you understand and use these words in conversational situations, or in informal texts, emails, etc. Do you want to increase your English vocab? Keep reading.

Bonus resource! If you want to practice this vocabulary or just spend more time learning about it, watch my video on the same topic, and do the quiz at the bottom.

Let's get started.

a second - a sec

"Give me a sec."

"Wait a sec." / "Hold on a sec."

abdominal muscles - abs (or "ab muscles/exercises/etc.")

"I've been working on my abs a lot lately."

"Do you do ab exercises?"

administration - admin

"That sounds serious. You should file a report with admin."

"He works in admin."

advertisement - ad

"I hate pop-up ads."

"That was an effective ad."

application - app (software on your phone/tablet/etc.)

"I downloaded a new app yesterday."

"It's a useful app."

comfortable - comfy

"This couch is really comfy."

"You should get a comfy chair."

conversation - convo

"Do you remember what we talked about in our last convo?"

"That's going to be an interesting convo."

delicious - delish

"Lunch was delish."

"Trust me. You'll like it. It's absolutely delish."

fabulous - fab

"You look totally fab!"

"That's fab."

favourite - fave

"Vanilla ice cream is my fave."

"Who's your fave?"

identification - ID

"Do you have your ID?"

"You need to show them two pieces of ID."

information - info

"Where did you get that info?"

"Thanks for the info."

laboratory - lab

"Jack works in admin. Jill works in the lab."

"Do you remember the Stranger Things episode where the mutant dogs infiltrated the science lab?"

limousine - limo

"I've never been in a limo."

"Limos are really expensive."

maximum - max

"Come on. It will cost you 10 dollars max."

"The meeting will be 30 minutes max."

medications - meds

"Did you take your meds today?"

"I forgot to bring my meds on vacation."

overdose - OD

"He OD'd on cocaine."

"Careful. You don't want to OD on orange juice."

picture - pic

"That's a nice pic."

"Here's a pic from our weekend."

prepare - prep (verb)

"I need more time to prep."

"How well did you prep for your exam?"

preparation - prep (noun)

"This is doing to take a lot of prep."

"I need more prep time."

radical - rad (slang: cool)

"That movie is so rad."

"That's rad."

referee - ref (noun and verb)

"Who reffed the game?"

"He's a good ref. He always calls things fairly."

rehabilitate - rehab (verb)

"I've been rehabbing my knee for over 3 months now."

"My physiotherapist said it would take several months to rehab my shoulder."

rehabilitation - rehab (noun)

"She chose to go to rehab."

"I need to go to rehab."

representative - rep (noun)

"She's a sales rep at Zara."

"Can I speak to a marketing rep, please?"

represent - rep (verb)

"He repped his country at the Olympics."

"Who's repping our company at the conference?"

saxophone - sax

"Does he play any instruments?" "I think he plays the sax."

"I love a good sax solo."

submarine - sub

"Have you ever seen a sub in person?"

"That's an American sub."

substitute - sub (noun and verb)

"Could you sub for me?"

"Who's going to be her sub?"

underwear - undies

"I need a new pair of undies."

"Why did you leave your undies on the floor?"

university - uni

"Marta's starting uni in the fall."

"I'm going to uni in January."

veteran - vet

"My uncle's an army vet."

"She's been working here for years. She's a vet."

veterinarian - vet

"We need to take our dog to the vet."

"The vet said the surgery would cost over $1500."

vocabulary - vocab

"I need to improve my vocab."

"You need to know a lot of technical vocab to do that job."

website - site

"You should check out their site."

"They've updated their site."

wizard - wiz

"Derek's a math wiz."

"Ask Dana to help you. She's a wiz at this stuff."

Want to test your understanding of these words or hear their pronunciation? Check out the video and quiz to supplement this article.

Can you use these words in original sentences? Do you know any other shortened words that could be added to this list? Tell me in the comments. I hope this info was useful for you!