Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Colloquial style or quality.
- n. A colloquial expression.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A word or phrase peculiar to the language of common or familiar conversation. Synonyms Slang, etc. See
cant . - n. Colloquial style, quality, or usage: as, “a transcript of the colloquialism of the day,”
Wiktionary
- n. A colloquial word or phrase; a common spoken expression, often regional.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A colloquial expression, not employed in formal discourse or writing.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
Examples
“Jake's obsessing about his "colloquialism" - meanwhile Obama props his question up to deliver some "on message" remarks regarding energy and healthcare ...”
“She seemed to delight in the word, and every time she pronounced it a light came into her old face, and I began to understand her and to feel that I could place her, to use a colloquialism which is so expressive that perhaps its use may be forgiven.”
“A definition of the terms: "colloquialism" and "idiom" Instances of their use in the Speech on Conciliation.”
“African-American vernacular" is simply a colloquialism, meaning it is unacceptable in any formal situation.”
“Something of the same brassy colloquialism has evidently now burrowed its way onto our wall labels and into our catalogue entries, and would have refused to budge if a few of us had not learned to love our inner stickler, and accepted that there are certain limits to what one can definitely say about the original state of very old things.”
“It's eating our seed corn," said Sen. Bill Nelson D-Fla., referencing the colloquialism that when times are tough, and one is hungry, you're supposed to plant seeds for crop, not eat them.”
“It was no coincidence that willy is the standard British colloquialism for the male sex organ.”
“A: “Who all,” like “you all,” is a common redundant suffixal colloquialism and may be used without disadvantage in all but the most snobbish circles, even though it is not standard English.”
“The trend has become so prevalent that the term "cougar" is now a commonly used colloquialism.”
“The Obama administration has been trying to bridge that gap with noble efforts like its recruitment website teach.gov and, most recently, with the president's reference to that South Korean colloquialism in his State of the Union.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘colloquialism’.
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probablyankita's list
Words are all I have to take your heart away
apartheid, techno-klutz, logorrheic, gordian knot, anodyne, odor of sanctity, finders keepers, foot-in-mouth dis..., dutch uncle, masquerade, smoke signals, furtive glance and 320 more...
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Linguistic Terms
Words that (mostly) only linguists know.
arpabet, protologism, diacritic, macron, macaronic, capitonym, grapheme, boustrophedon, allograph, analphabetic, idiomatic, portmanteau and 39 more...
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Fun to say
words that look funny, sound funny, and make you laugh
uselessness Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. Jan 25, 2007