Essays and formal situations often require us to be “prim and proper,” so to speak, but we all know chatting with our friends is different. That’s what colloquial meaning is. It’s an adjective that describes how we talk in those relaxed, friendly moments in which we speak outside of strict grammar rules and formal speech. Confused? In this article, you’ll learn more about colloquial (everyday language), its difference from jargon and slang, and its correct usage.
Related:
- Kudos Meaning: What Does It Mean?
- Albeit Meaning: What Is It and How to Use?
- Demeanor Meaning: What Does It Mean?
What Does Colloquial Mean?
Let’s start with the basics. The word colloquial is an adjective, and you use colloquial language every day without even knowing it! This is how we talk to our friends and family; even strangers on the street get the colloquial treatment. So, colloquial is not on a formal level but in an informal conversation or informal manner.
You can trace this back to the Latin verb colloqui, which means “to converse.” From there, it turned into colloquy and became a noun meaning “conversation.”
The colloquial language we use is often determined by where we live. Think about pop vs. soda vs coke; they practically mean the same thing. But before we get into that, we need to talk about slang and jargon.
Again, colloquialisms can change depending on the region. But slang changes based on the person’s race or age. Slang is also more fluid than colloquialisms. You can think of slang as a fashion fad, whereas colloquialism is the “little black dress” of fashion. On the other hand, jargon is specific to a job. In short, both slang and jargon are more niche than colloquialisms.
Examples of colloquial:
- Hey, wanna grab some grub?
- I gotta bounce, catch you later!
- She’s feeling under the weather today.
- I’m feeling blue today.
- Let’s hang out at my crib later.
- She’s the bee’s knees!
What Is the Same Word as Colloquial?
It should come as no surprise that we have plenty of related words that are similar to the colloquial meaning. Here are some words people may say that let you know they are referring to colloquialism:
- Conversational
- Nonliterary
- Vernacular
- Informal
- Vulgar
- Nonformal
- Dialectal
- Regional
- Ungrammatical
- Slangy
- Nongrammatical
How to Use Colloquial in a Sentence?
Now that you understand the colloquial meaning, you might want to start using the term more.
Since colloquial is an adjective, you should use it to describe a noun (like a word or phrase). For example, colloquial expression, colloquial term, colloquial essay, and colloquial style.
You might have caught us using the noun counterpart in this article, colloquialism. If you want to describe a person’s specific word choice or idiom, they used, you will use colloquially.
For example, “her use of the colloquial word ‘pop’ instead of ‘soda’ let me know she wasn’t a native Californian.”
Final Thoughts
The meaning of slang and jargon might sound very close to the colloquial meaning, but hopefully, after reading, you are aware of the minute differences.
Colloquial words, phrases, and expressions make up our everyday speech or familiar conversation. They are informal by definition or lack formality, but they are probably the most common speech you use—you don’t have to pay strict attention to grammar rules! Colloquialisms change based on the country and region within that country; even the internet has its own.
