Как убрать предпоследнюю букву?

arr=[]
a=raw_input(u'Input a russian word:').decode('cp1251')
while a!='':
    arr.append(a)
    a=raw_input(u'Input a russian word:').decode('cp1251')

>>> word = 'abc'
>>> word = word[:-2] + word[-1]
>>> word
'ac'
>>>

>>> def result():
...   arrayword={}
...   while True:
...     getword = raw_input("your word:")
...     if not getword.strip():
...       print 'empty word. exit programm'
...       for number, word in enumerate(arrayword):
...         print number, arrayword[word]
...       break
...     else:
...       print getword, len(getword.strip())
...       if not arrayword.has_key(getword):
...         arrayword[getword] = getword[:-2]+getword[-1:]
... 
>>> result()
your word:hello
hello 5
your word:guys
guys 4
your word:this
this 4
your word:tester
tester 6
your word:
empty word. exit programm
0 ths
1 gus
2 helo
3 testr
>>>