Index: src/playlist/playlist.h
===================================================================
--- src/playlist/playlist.h (revision 3450)
+++ src/playlist/playlist.h (working copy)
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@
                            PlaylistItemPtr a, PlaylistItemPtr b);

   static QString column_name(Column column);
+  static QString abbreviated_column_name(Column column);
   static bool column_is_editable(Playlist::Column column);
   static bool set_column_value(Song& song, Column column, const QVariant& value);

@@ -247,6 +248,7 @@
   QVariant data(const QModelIndex& index, int role = Qt::DisplayRole) const;
   bool setData(const QModelIndex &index, const QVariant &value, int role);
   QVariant headerData(int section, Qt::Orientation orientation, int role = Qt::DisplayRole) const;
+  bool setHeaderData(int section, Qt::Orientation orientation, const QVariant& value, int role = Qt::DisplayRole);
   Qt::ItemFlags flags(const QModelIndex &index) const;
   QStringList mimeTypes() const;
   Qt::DropActions supportedDropActions() const;
@@ -334,6 +336,8 @@
   PlaylistFilter* proxy_;
   Queue* queue_;

+  QMap<Column, QString> header_data_;
+
   QList<QModelIndex> temp_dequeue_change_indexes_;

   PlaylistBackend* backend_;
Index: src/playlist/playlistheader.cpp
===================================================================
--- src/playlist/playlistheader.cpp (revision 3450)
+++ src/playlist/playlistheader.cpp (working copy)
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@

 void PlaylistHeader::contextMenuEvent(QContextMenuEvent* e) {
   menu_section_ = logicalIndexAt(e->pos());
+  const Playlist::Column column = static_cast<Playlist::Column>(menu_section_);

   if (menu_section_ == -1 || (
         menu_section_ == logicalIndex(0) && logicalIndex(1) == -1))
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@
   else {
     hide_action_->setVisible(true);

-    QString title(model()->headerData(menu_section_, Qt::Horizontal).toString());
+    QString title(Playlist::column_name(column));
     hide_action_->setText(tr("&Hide %1").arg(title));
   }

@@ -70,7 +71,8 @@
 }

 void PlaylistHeader::AddColumnAction(int index) {
-  QString title(model()->headerData(index, Qt::Horizontal).toString());
+  const Playlist::Column column = static_cast<Playlist::Column>(index);
+  QString title(Playlist::column_name(column));

   QAction* action = menu_->addAction(title, show_mapper_, SLOT(map()));
   action->setCheckable(true);
Index: src/playlist/playlist.cpp
===================================================================
--- src/playlist/playlist.cpp   (revision 3450)
+++ src/playlist/playlist.cpp   (working copy)
@@ -134,6 +134,14 @@
       = (Qt::AlignRight | Qt::AlignVCenter);

   column_alignments_[Column_Score] = (Qt::AlignCenter);
+
+  // initialize header data
+  // note: requires column values to be sequential
+  for (int i = Column_Title; i < ColumnCount; i++) {
+    Column column = static_cast<Column>(i);
+    header_data_[column] = Playlist::column_name(column);
+  }
+
 }

 Playlist::~Playlist() {
@@ -156,13 +164,23 @@
   if (role != Qt::DisplayRole && role != Qt::ToolTipRole)
     return QVariant();

-  QString name = column_name((Playlist::Column)section);
+  const Column column = static_cast<Column>(section);
+  const QString& name = header_data_[column];
   if(name.size())
     return name;

   return QVariant();
 }
+bool Playlist::setHeaderData (int section, Qt::Orientation orientation, const QVariant & value, int role) {
+  const Column column = static_cast<Column>(section);
+
+  if (value.type() != QVariant::String) {
+    return false;
+  }

+  header_data_[column] = value.toString();
+  return true;
+}
 bool Playlist::column_is_editable(Playlist::Column column) {
   switch(column) {
     case Column_Title:
@@ -1108,6 +1126,21 @@
   return "";
 }

+
+QString Playlist::abbreviated_column_name(Column column) {
+  const QString& column_name = Playlist::column_name(column);
+  switch (column) {
+    case Column_Disc:
+    case Column_PlayCount:
+    case Column_SkipCount:
+    case Column_Track:
+      return QString("%1#").arg(column_name[0]);
+    default:
+      return column_name;
+  }
+  return "";
+}
+
 void Playlist::sort(int column, Qt::SortOrder order) {
   if (ignore_sorting_)
     return;
Index: src/playlist/playlistview.h
===================================================================
--- src/playlist/playlistview.h (revision 3450)
+++ src/playlist/playlistview.h (working copy)
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@
   void MaybeAutoscroll();
   void InvalidateCachedCurrentPixmap();
   void PlaylistDestroyed();
+  void UpdateHeaderText(int logical_index, int old_size, int new_size);

   void SaveSettings();
   void StretchChanged(bool stretch);
Index: src/playlist/playlistview.cpp
===================================================================
--- src/playlist/playlistview.cpp   (revision 3453)
+++ src/playlist/playlistview.cpp   (working copy)
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@
   connect(header_, SIGNAL(ColumnAlignmentChanged()), SLOT(SaveSettings()));
   connect(header_, SIGNAL(StretchEnabledChanged(bool)), SLOT(StretchChanged(bool)));
   connect(header_, SIGNAL(MouseEntered()), SLOT(RatingHoverOut()));
+  connect(header_, SIGNAL(sectionResized(int,int,int)), SLOT(UpdateHeaderText(int,int,int)));

   inhibit_autoscroll_timer_->setInterval(kAutoscrollGraceTimeout * 1000);
   inhibit_autoscroll_timer_->setSingleShot(true);
@@ -840,6 +841,23 @@
   // We'll get a SetPlaylist() soon
 }

+void PlaylistView::UpdateHeaderText(int logical_index, int old_size, int new_size) {
+  Q_UNUSED(old_size);
+
+  const Playlist::Column column = static_cast<Playlist::Column>(logical_index);
+  const QString& column_name = Playlist::column_name(column);
+
+  if (model()) {
+    // spaces added to make transition less abrupt
+    if (header_->sectionSize(logical_index) < header_->fontMetrics().width(column_name + "  ")) {
+      const QString& abbreviated_column_name = Playlist::abbreviated_column_name(column);
+      model()->setHeaderData(logical_index, Qt::Horizontal, abbreviated_column_name);
+    } else {
+      model()->setHeaderData(logical_index, Qt::Horizontal, column_name);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 void PlaylistView::ReloadSettings() {
   QSettings s;
   s.beginGroup(Playlist::kSettingsGroup);