Despite my impression that the Americans are quite laid-back and taking their time, they are quick indeed when it comes to dealing with long words. Any word can be chopped to the most significant syllable(s). It doesn't matter that, what with all the Latin in English, many of these words share the same initial syllable (because it's the same Latin prefix), they often end up being shortened to it.Do not be dismayed with their habit to pronounce four or more words of product name and model when talking about their cars, sports or electronic gear - different rules apply in that case.
Doesn't matter that 1 Kcal equals 1000 cal, the difference is neglected. Sometimes they are called big and little calory, if there's a possibility of confusion.
milligram
mil
vibration
vibe
calory
cal
though it actually means a kilocalory
merchandise
merch
tuxedo
tux
corduroy
cord
modus operandi
MO
pronounced em-owe
pissed off
PO'd
more of an euphemism than an abbr.; pronounced pee-owed