We love to cut words down to size. When the term "mobile vulgus" became unruly, we chopped it to "mob." When "pantaloons" seemed a few sizes too big, we tucked it to "pants." When "abdominals" bulged, we buffed it to "abs."

Speaking of abs, here's a trim six pack: cab (cabriolet), gab (gabble), bra (brassi?re), deb (debutante), dis (disrespect) and fan (fanatic).

Sometimes we ask the barkeep to pour a short one instead ...

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