From コンビニ (konbini, convenience stores) to スマホ (sumaho, smartphones) to エアコン (eakon, air conditioners), abbreviated words are hard to avoid in Japan. After all, who has the time to write out コンビニエンスストア (konbiniensu sutoa), スマートフォン (sumāto fon) or エアーコンディショナー (eā kondishonā)?
I’ve found that English-speakers tend to use acronyms when they’re pressed for time, particularly when writing text messages. Japanese has a few acronyms, too — though it’s used less often these days, “KY” used to be used to mean 空気が読めない (kūki ga yomenai), a person who can’t read the room; and TKG is used for 卵かけご飯 (tamago kake gohan), raw egg that’s beaten and poured over a bowl of rice. When it comes down to it, though, you’re going to need to know a slew of abbreviated words if you want to take part in daily conversation.
There are many explanations as to where the Japanese fondness for abbreviations comes from. One such theory posits that various layers of social interactions result in the use of coded language, while messaging apps have accelerated the trend. Gen-Z tends to use extreme abbreviations — such as opting for り (ri) or りょ (ryo) instead of typing the word 了解 (ryōkai, gotcha) — when communicating via the tiny keyboards of their smartphones. Er, sorry, スマホ!