I don't mean to sell "Halloween" short, but this word provides a good example of a linguistic process called "clipping." The word "Halloween" is short for "All Hallow Even," which, in turn, is short for "All Hallowmass Evening."

Language, unlike football, imposes no penalty for clipping, though the trampling of lawns on Halloween (often condensed to "trampoleen") can sometimes cost a neighborhood 15 yards.

The technical term for clipping the beginnings of words is "apharesis." Apharesis unleashes headless horsemen such as (tele)phone, (earth)quake, (alli)gator, (with)drawing room, (kanga)roo and (o)possum, as well as more recent terms such as za (pizza), rents (parents), jects (housing projects), and the nicknames Topher (Christopher) and Liam (William).

The term for clipping the ENDS of words is "apocope." It's apocope that chops the tail from chimp(anzee), hippo(potamus) and rhino(cerus) and produces photo(graph), obit(uary), limo(usine), fan(atic) and zoo(logical garden).

More recent examples of apocope include cred (credibility), bro (brother), guac (guacamole), app (application), dis (disrespect), totes (totally), fam (family) and cray (crazy).

Some words burn their candles at both ends, as in flu (influenza), fridge (refrigerator) and Liz (Elizabeth). And sometimes one word can be either beheaded OR de-tailed, as when people call a magazine a "mag" or a "zine."

Throughout history, the British have kept an especially stiff upper clip, boldly chopping "St. Audrey's" into "tawdry," "Magdalene" into "maudlin," "halfpennyworth" into "haypth" and King Charles I's head into a bucket, but not before gamely dubbing him "Chas."

Speaking of head games, it's time for trick or treat. See whether you know the longer version of each clipping:

No. 1: cello; No. 2: mob; No. 3: fray; No. 4: fend; No. 5: goodbye; No. 6: fortnight; No. 7: squire; No. 8: bus; No. 9: piano; No. 10: spats

No. 11: bunk; No. 12; pram; No. 13: burbs; No. 14: abs; No. 15: spy; No. 16: cab; No. 17: pants; No. 18: prom; No. 19: cinema; No. 20: rep (four possible meanings!)

Answers:

No. 1: violoncello; No. 2: mobile vulgus; No. 3: affray; No. 4: defend; No. 5: God-be-with-you; No. 6: fourteen nights; No. 7: esquire; No. 8: omnibus; No. 9: pianoforte; No. 10: spatterdashes

No. 11: buncombe; No. 12: perambulator; No. 13: suburbs; No. 14: abdominals; No. 15: espy; No. 16: cabriolet (or cabernet); No. 17: pantaloons; No. 18: promenade; No. 19: cinematograph; No. 20: reputation, repetition, representative, repertory

And may you all enjoy a happy All Hallowmass Evening!

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254.

Photo credit: webandi at Pixabay