diff --git a/common/static/coffee/spec/discussion/view/discussion_topic_menu_view_spec.js b/common/static/coffee/spec/discussion/view/discussion_topic_menu_view_spec.js
index 2092a52854..752a4e3603 100644
--- a/common/static/coffee/spec/discussion/view/discussion_topic_menu_view_spec.js
+++ b/common/static/coffee/spec/discussion/view/discussion_topic_menu_view_spec.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
                 }, options);
                 this.view = new DiscussionTopicMenuView(options);
                 this.view.render().appendTo('#fixture-element');
-                this.defaultTextWidth = this.view.getNameWidth(this.completeText);
+                this.defaultTextWidth = this.completeText.length;
             };
 
             this.openMenu = function () {
@@ -67,31 +67,10 @@
           expect(this.completeText).toEqual(dropdownText);
         });
 
-        it('completely show just sub-category', function() {
-            var dropdownText;
-            this.createTopicView();
-            this.view.maxNameWidth = this.defaultTextWidth - 10;
-            this.view.$el.find('a.topic-title').first().click();
-            dropdownText = this.view.$el.find('.js-selected-topic').text();
-            expect(dropdownText.indexOf('…')).toEqual(0);
-            expect(dropdownText).toContain(this.selectedOptionText);
-        });
-
-        it('partially show sub-category', function() {
-            this.createTopicView();
-            var parentWidth = this.view.getNameWidth(this.parentCategoryText),
-                dropdownText;
-            this.view.maxNameWidth = this.defaultTextWidth - parentWidth;
-            this.view.$el.find('a.topic-title').first().click();
-            dropdownText = this.view.$el.find('.js-selected-topic').text();
-            expect(dropdownText.indexOf('…')).toEqual(0);
-            expect(dropdownText.lastIndexOf('…')).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-        });
-
         it('broken span doesn\'t occur', function() {
             var dropdownText;
             this.createTopicView();
-            this.view.maxNameWidth = this.view.getNameWidth(this.selectedOptionText) + 100;
+            this.view.maxNameWidth = this.selectedOptionText.length + 100;
             this.view.$el.find('a.topic-title').first().click();
             dropdownText = this.view.$el.find('.js-selected-topic').text();
             expect(dropdownText.indexOf('/ span>')).toEqual(-1);
diff --git a/common/static/coffee/src/discussion/views/discussion_topic_menu_view.js b/common/static/coffee/src/discussion/views/discussion_topic_menu_view.js
index b7350fb0f7..d08ff0a92e 100644
--- a/common/static/coffee/src/discussion/views/discussion_topic_menu_view.js
+++ b/common/static/coffee/src/discussion/views/discussion_topic_menu_view.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
             initialize: function(options) {
                 this.course_settings = options.course_settings;
                 this.currentTopicId = options.topicId;
-                this.maxNameWidth = 100;
+                this.maxNameWidth = 26;
                 _.bindAll(this,
                     'toggleTopicDropdown', 'handleTopicEvent', 'hideTopicDropdown', 'ignoreClick'
                 );
@@ -88,9 +88,6 @@
                 this.dropdownButton.addClass('dropped');
                 this.topicMenu.show();
                 $(document.body).on('click.topicMenu', this.hideTopicDropdown);
-                // Set here because 1) the window might get resized and things could
-                // change and 2) can't set in initialize because the button is hidden
-                this.maxNameWidth = this.dropdownButton.width() - 40;
                 return this;
             },
 
@@ -146,29 +143,12 @@
                 }
             },
 
-            // @TODO move into utils.coffee
-            getNameWidth: function(name) {
-                var test = $('<div>'),
-                    width;
-
-                test.css({
-                    'font-size': this.dropdownButton.css('font-size'),
-                    'opacity': 0,
-                    'position': 'absolute',
-                    'left': -1000,
-                    'top': -1000
-                }).html(name).appendTo(document.body);
-                width = test.width();
-                test.remove();
-                return width;
-            },
-
             // @TODO move into utils.coffee
             fitName: function(name) {
                 var ellipsisText = gettext('…'),
                     partialName, path, rawName;
 
-                if (this.getNameWidth(name) < this.maxNameWidth) {
+                if (name.length < this.maxNameWidth) {
                     return name;
                 } else {
                     path = _.map(name.split('/'), function(item){
@@ -176,15 +156,15 @@
                     });
                     while (path.length > 1) {
                         path.shift();
-                        partialName = ellipsisText + ' / ' + path.join(' / ');
-                        if (this.getNameWidth(partialName) < this.maxNameWidth) {
-                          return partialName;
+                        partialName = ellipsisText + '/' + path.join('/');
+                        if (partialName.length > this.maxNameWidth) {
+                            return partialName;
                         }
                     }
                     rawName = path[0];
                     name = ellipsisText + ' / ' + rawName;
-                    while (this.getNameWidth(name) > this.maxNameWidth) {
-                      rawName = rawName.slice(0, -1);
+                    while (name.length > this.maxNameWidth) {
+                      rawName = rawName.slice(0, this.maxNameWidth);
                       name = ellipsisText + ' / ' + rawName + ' ' + ellipsisText;
                     }
                 }