msg wrote:

Greetings:

Just wondering when the confusing usages of diminutive names
crept into English (by the English), such as 'tranny' for
I presume transistor or perhaps transformer?,

Transformer IME. It's also slang for a transvestite.


'addy' for I presume address,

Not of UK origin AFAIK


'proggy' for I presume program ,

Never ever heard anyone ever use that.


etc.
In the U.S., the only usage of 'tranny' that I've ever heard
referred to the gearbox between the clutch and the driveshaft or
in more recent times it is a reference to transgendered people
Sometimes these terms make for genuine confusion as do
the multitude of country specific acronyms often seen in
postings. The shorthand for transistor in circles hereabouts
is simply 'Q' as in "we need to order that list of Q's, R's,
C's and D's."

Why Q ? I've never understood that or indeed U for an IC.

I use 'TR' and 'IC' and that's popular UK practice.


I wonder how far aflung in the British Empire those usages
have spread?

What Empire ? You're about 50 years out of date ! FYI though, there are many
different linguistic peculiarities across the Commonwealth.


As to other usages, it is quite disconcerting to see posts from
India which substitute the word 'doubt' for 'question',

Do they ?

which is so common now that one wonders if there isn't some etymological
issue at play there, as in "I have a doubt about these MOSFETS: what
is their rated Vgs?"

I think the poster does indeed mean doubt in such a case.

Graham