Pics

The word pics has become a well-known abbreviation of the word pictures. You’ll find it peppered all over the Internet. The Americans in particular have become masters at speeding up what they want to say by using abbreviations and acronyms. An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word as opposed to an acronym, which is a word formed from the initial letters of the words used, e.g. GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) and TIFF (Tagged Image File Format). The words image and imaging are often used in the art world, especially in photography. Perhaps the word ‘image’ has a more highbrow ring to it. But let’s not be fooled here, whether image, photograph, photo, painting, etc. they are all simply pictures and found under the heading of pics. The tendency to shorten everything is also reflected in slang. Words such as ‘ace’, meaning excellent, ‘barbie’ for barbecue, or ‘daps’ – a word used mainly by the Welsh for plimsolls. Unfortunately a lot of slang tends to be vulgar and offensive. There is of course the other extreme – Cockney rhyming slang in which everything is lengthened rather than shortened. For example ‘apples and pears’ for stairs, ‘boat race’ for face or ‘mince pies’ for eyes. Language is constantly changing and evolving. Many terms disappear over time but with the number of pictures that surround us every day and are found on the Internet, it seems fair to say that pics will be around for a long time yet.