Colloquialism

Colloquialism is distinct from formal speech or formal writing.colloquial. (n.d.) Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved September 10, 2008, from [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/colloquial Dictionary.com] It is the form of language that speakers typically use when they are relaxed and disregarding diction.{{cite book|last=Trask|first=Robert|title=Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics|year=1999|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-15742-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/keyconceptsinlan0000tras/page/27 27–28]|url=https://archive.org/details/keyconceptsinlan0000tras/page/27}} An expression is labeled colloq. for "colloquial" in dictionaries when a different expression is preferred in formal usage, but this does not mean that the colloquial expression is necessarily slang or non-standard.

Some colloquial language contains a great deal of slang, but some contains no slang at all. Slang is often used in colloquial speech, but this particular register is restricted to particular in-groups, and it is not a necessary element of colloquialism. Other examples of colloquial usage in English include contractions or profanity.

"Colloquial" should also be distinguished from "non-standard".{{Cite book | last=Trudgill |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Trudgill |title = Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society |date = 2000 |isbn = 9780141926308 |publisher = Penguin UK |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Y7DYlQu8QC | pages=17 }} The difference between standard and non-standard is not necessarily connected to the difference between formal and colloquial.{{cite web|title=NGS|volume=17|pages=208–233|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vYsAQAAIAAJ|year=1992|publisher=German Department, Hull University}} Formal, colloquial, and vulgar language are more a matter of stylistic variation and diction, rather than of the standard and non-standard dichotomy.{{cite book |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Trudgill |year=1999 |chapter-url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/SEtrudgill.htm |chapter=Standard English: what it isn't |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321091659/http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/SEtrudgill.htm |archive-date=21 March 2009 |editor-first=T. |editor-last=Bex |editor2-first=R.J. |editor2-last=Watts |title=Standard English: The Widening Debate |pages=117–128 |location=London |publisher=Routledge}} The term "colloquial" is also equated with "non-standard" at times, in certain contexts and terminological conventions.{{cite book |author=Roger D. Hawkins |author2=Richard Towell|title=French Grammar and Usage|year =2010|isbn=9780340991244|publisher =Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZoDld8EIwUC|page=x}}{{cite journal |journal = Colloquium: New Philologies |date = December 2016 |pages=4 | issn = 2520-3355 |volume = 1 |issue = 1 |doi = 10.23963/cnp.2016.1.1 | title= Exclusion Labels in Slavic Monolingual Dictionaries: Lexicographic Construal of Non-Standardness | first=Danko |last=Šipka |doi-access = free }}

In the philosophy of language, "colloquial language" is ordinary natural language, as distinct from specialized forms used in logic or other areas of philosophy.{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=Donald |editor=Peter Ludlow |title=Readings in the Philosophy of Language |year=1997 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-62114-4 |pages=89–107 |chapter=Truth and meaning}} In the field of logical atomism, meaning is evaluated in a different way than with more formal propositions.

A colloquial name or familiar name is a name or term commonly used to identify a person or thing in non-specialist language, in place of another usually more formal or technical name.{{cite encyclopedia |year=2014 |title =familiar, n., adj., and adv. |encyclopedia=OED Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/67957?rskey=s5GGov&result=10&isAdvanced=true |access-date=2014-04-01 |url-access=subscription }} They are not slang nor vulgar, but are informal. This type is speech is used broadly for a variety of topics.

In biology, colloquial names are called "common names." Common pests often have common names. For example, armadillidiidae are often called "rollie pollies," while fly larvae are frequently called "maggots."{{cite web | last=Sofranec | first=Diane | title=Pest Colloquial Names and Mistaken Identities | website=Pest Management Professional | date=2012-04-12 | url=https://www.mypmp.net/pest-colloquial-names-and-mistaken-identities/ | access-date=2025-05-07}}

In medicine, types of musculoskeletal injuries and fractures have colloquial names.{{cite journal | last=Lee | first=Patrick | last2=Hunter | first2=Tim B. | last3=Taljanovic | first3=Mihra | title=Musculoskeletal Colloquialisms: How Did We Come Up with These Names? | journal=RadioGraphics | volume=24 | issue=4 | date=2004 | issn=0271-5333 | doi=10.1148/rg.244045015 | pages=1009–1027 | url=http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/rg.244045015 | access-date=2025-05-07| url-access=subscription }} For example, the lateral epicondylitis injury is colloquially referred to as "tennis elbow."{{cite web | last=Buchanan | first=Benjamin K. | last2=Varacallo | first2=Matthew A. | title=Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow) | publisher=StatPearls Publishing | date=2023-08-04 | pmid=28613744 | url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK431092/#:~:text=Lateral%20epicondylitis%2C%20also%20commonly%20referred,radialis%20brevis%20(ECRB)%20tendon. | access-date=2025-05-07}} In addition, De Quervain's tenosynovitis is known colloquially as "gamer's thumb."{{cite web | last=Corey | first=Dr. | title=Gamer's Thumb: Prevention and Relief for Console Gamers | website=Esports Healthcare | date=2019-11-10 | url=https://esportshealthcare.com/gamers-thumb-de-quervain/ | access-date=2025-05-07}}

In professional environments, colloquialisms often incorporate figures of speech. For example, when counter-arguing why an action ought not be performed, one may colloquially ask “why in God’s name not?"{{cite web | last=Athu | first=C. | last2=Mihaila | first2=R. | last3=Botezat | first3=O. | title=Colloquial words and expressions in professional environment | publisher=Українська медична стоматологічна академія | date=2021 | url=https://repository.pdmu.edu.ua/items/c37b423d-b176-415c-adfe-582d68566168 | language=uk | access-date=2025-05-07}}

Articles of clothing, especially accessories often have colloquial names.{{cite journal | last=Hryhoshkina | first=I. V. | title=Colloquial Names of Accessories in English. | journal=Збірники наукових праць професорсько-викладацького складу ДонНУ імені Василя Стуса. | date=2019 | pages=9–11 | url=https://jpvs.donnu.edu.ua/article/view/7183 | language=uk | access-date=2025-05-07}}

Locations also often have colloquial names. For example, the bathroom has a variety of its own colloquial names, such as "the loo."

Colloquialisms are distinct from slang or jargon. Slang refers to words used only by specific social groups, such as demographics based on region, age, or socio-economic identity.{{cite book |last=Zuckermann |author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann |first=Ghil'ad |year=2003 |url=http://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9781403917232 |title=Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1403917232}} In contrast, jargon is most commonly used within specific occupations, industries, activities, or areas of interest. Colloquial language includes slang, along with abbreviations, contractions, idioms, turns-of-phrase, and other informal words and phrases known to most native speakers of a language or dialect.

Jargon is terminology that is explicitly defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, or group. The term refers to the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest. Similar to slang, it is shorthand used to express ideas, people, and things that are frequently discussed between members of a group. Unlike slang, it is often developed deliberately.{{cite web|url=http://www.criminalbrief.com/?p=10866| title=Buzzwords– bang * splat !| last=Lundin|first=Leigh| date=2009-12-31| publisher=Criminal Brief|work=Don Martin School of Software}} While a standard term may be given a more precise or unique usage amongst practitioners of relevant disciplines, it is often reported that jargon is a barrier to communication for those people unfamiliar with the respective field. Fiset, J., Bhave, D. P., & Jha, N. (2024). The Effects of Language-Related Misunderstanding at Work. Journal of Management, 50(1), 347-379. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063231181651

• Eye dialect
• Oral history
• Vernacular

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{{Wiktionary|colloquialism|colloquial}}

• [http://coloquial.es/es/diccionario-del-espanol-coloquial/ Colloquial Spanish] – Dictionary of Colloquial Spanish.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/19970517074453/http://www.kfs.org/~jonathan/witt/t4002en.html Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Ludwig Wittgenstein] (archived 17 May 1997)

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Category:Language varieties and styles