When breakfast sounds too informal, we’re happy to shorten it to brekkie. But what’s the correct way to spell that?
The Macquarie Dictionary lists brekkie as the accepted spelling, but if you wander around any cafe district, you’ll soon see signs proclaiming brekky and even breaky. Despite my authoritarian tendencies, I can live with brekky; no-one is going to mistake it for any other word, and there are plenty of other English nouns ending with a Y.
Breaky is more problematic. There’s a chance people will mispronounce it, since breakfast itself is the only English word which makes the sequence break rhyme with trek. And there’s the inescapable reminder of this infamous country hit:
Myself already knows I’m not OK with that. Accuracy matters.
Lifehacker’s Mind Your Language column offers bossy advice on improving your writing.
Comments
7 responses to “Shorten Breakfast To Brekkie For Maximum Accuracy”
Do you mean too formal?
If breakfast is too informal, then brekkie is even more so.
Apparently accuracy matters, right?
I feel like Angus should be used to the fact that his “Accuracy Matters” posts are some of the most scrutinised on the internet.
Instead of accepting that Angus made a mistake, I will instead work on the assumption that it was intentional.
Yes, Angus, I do find the word “Breakfast” to be too informal. I prefer instead the term “morning-meal-with-which-I-will-break-my-fast”; or, occasionally, “Brinner”, as it is a meal that occurs in time somewhere between brunch and dinner (though, unusually, before the meal that is used as the beginning of the portmanteau).
What’s the most accurate way to shorten “biscuits”?
I keep seeing it written as “biccies”, but that’s awful – it looks like it should be pronounced “bissies” (or Italian-style, as “beetchees”).
Other options would be “bicies” (but that looks like it would rhyme with “ricies”); or bikies (but that’s already used to describe motorcycle gang members).
I’m thinking “bickies” is the best compromise.
Definitely ‘bikkies’.
You seem to be using more and more obscure and unimportant grammatical corrections lately!
Alternatively – just don’t!
I know Australians love to shorten words, but for some reason this one is bloody irritating. Perhaps it’s because it’s used so much in McDonalds/Hungry Jacks adverts and they have a very high irritation factor.
Even better, if you really want to abbreviate it, do what many of us do at that time in the morning – just use a semi-coherent grunt as you grab/point to it.
You do know that language isn’t set in stone. It does evolve and is constantly changing?