The word “colloquialism” stems from the Latin colloquium, which means a “conference”

or “conversation.” As a literary device, colloquialism refers to the usage of informal or everyday

language in literature. Colloquialisms are generally geographic in nature, in that a colloquial
expression often belongs to a regional or local dialect. They can be words, phrases, or aphorisms.
Native speakers of a language understand and use colloquialisms without realizing it, while non-
native speakers may find colloquial expressions hard to translate. This is because many
colloquialisms are not literal usages of words, but instead idiomatic or metaphorical sayings.
Leech and Svartvik regard the colloquial language as the equivalent of the umbrella term
of informal language calling it the first form of language that a native speaking child becomes
familiar with. As they argue, since the comprehension of the informal or colloquial language is
easier compared to formal language, it is now used for some certain public communications such
as newspapers and advertisements. In general, a colloquialism is any informal word or expression
used aptly in conversation among ordinary or educated people (Nofalli, 2012).
In the same vein, Trask (1999 in colloquialism, n.d.) argues that: “colloquial language,
colloquial dialect, or informal language is a variety of language commonly employed in
conversation or other communication in informal situations. The word colloquial by its etymology
originally referred to speech as distinguished from writing, but colloquial register is fundamentally
about the degree of informality or casualness rather than the medium, and some usage
commentators thus prefer the term casualism”.
According to McCrimmon (1963, p.169), the word “colloquial” has been defined by the
American College Dictionary as “characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar
conversation rather than formal speech or writing.” In his opinion, this definition does not mean
that a colloquial word is improper or inappropriate or careless. McCrimmon (1963) himself calls
colloquialism any word or expression that may accurately be used in conversation among educated
persons. He maintains that such definition of colloquial word transforms it to a wider term than
popular words or idioms covering the popular words and idiomatic constructions as well. They
also include constructions that are not strictly idioms, particularly abbreviated or clipped versions
of more formal words, such as 'ad' for 'advertisement (in Barzegar, 2008).
 The colloquial style is a peculiar subsystem of the English language. On the one hand, its
major field of application is found in the spoken variety of language; on the other hand, elements
of this style penetrate the written varieties.
When written, the colloquial style's function is to render the specificity of everyday
conversation. Underlying many of its specific features are the following factors: 1) the spontaneous
character of communication; 2) the private character of communication; 3) face-to-faceness.
Four tendencies may explain the peculiarities of the colloquial style:
1) prefabrication and 2) creativity, 3) compression and 4) redundancy.
1) The colloquial style has a great amount of ready-made formulae, cliches, all kinds
of prefabricated patterns. Spontaneous conversation is facilitated by using stereotyped units –
social phrases such as greetings (hello), thanks and responses (not at all...).
2) Creativity is also a result of spontaneous speech production. We make our conversation
as we go along. We have no time to polish it deliberately, but one can do corrections, thus there
are many hesitations, false starts, loose ends in grammar and syntax.
3) Compression tends to make speech more economical and laconic. It is reflected in the
use of the following language phenomena: a) Shortened forms and clipped words (nouns: fridge,
lab, math; verbs: am -'m, is-'s, are-'re, have-'ve, etc.). b) Words of broad semantics (thing, one). c)
Ellipsis is usual in face-to-face communication as the situation (context) easily supplies the
missing part (Same time, same place?). d) Simplicity of syntax. Long sentences are seldom used
in colloquial informal communication, for a simple reason that the speaker doesn't want: lose the
thread of his own thought 4) Redundancy reflects another aspect of unprepared speech production.
Among the elements reflecting this tendency are: a) time-fillers (you know, I say, let me tee, sort
of). b) the pleonastic use of pronouns (John, he is late). c) senseless repetition of words and phrases.
(Liza: I'm a good girl, I am).
Modern colloquial language is a sociolinguistic phenomenon, widely used in everyday
speech in informal speech, in the mass media and in fiction. The study and description of this
phenomenon is complicated by the problem of determining its lexical structure, which is associated
primarily with different approaches to the concept of colloquial language.
Colloquial language sometimes is considered only in narrow sense as the speech of
uneducated or poorly educated people, i.e. as erroneous words or forms of words (Khimik, 2000).
In the broadest sense the colloquial language is not only non-literary words or forms of words, but
also expressive, stylistically substandard words, means of creating "poetics of low" (Filin, 1979).
Colloquial language penetrating in the spoken language should be considered in the broadest sense,
separating it from conversational speech with the help of concepts of language and communicative
standard.
The relevance of the study of non-standard language, namely expressive colloquial
language, was due to the fact that the development of the English lexical system is distinguished
by special complexity, it is connected not only with quantitative changes, reflecting the nominative
and communicative needs of society, but also with qualitative transformations that makes stylistic
differentiation of language, interinfluence of various layers of vocabulary and semantic
development of vocabulary.
In Western linguistics, term "colloquial language" refers to a conglomeration of deviations
from the "standard" language: slangisms, trendy phrases, nicknames, etc. Stylistic colouring of
colloquial language makes it a mean of expression in works of fiction and in common literary
language (Belyaeva, Khomyakov, 2010).
By the English lexical colloquial language is meant a complex lexical-semantic category -
a specific fragment of the national structure of the language, i.e., an organized in a certain manner
and having the general structure, a hierarchical entity representing the totality of socially
determined lexical systems (jargon, argot) and stylistically substandard vocabulary layers ("low"
colloquialisms, slangisms, vulgarisms), which are characterized by significant differences and
divergences in the basic functions and sociolexicological, pragmatic, functional-semantic and
stylistic aspects.
Colloquial language includes four subnotions: (1) extraliterary, (2) locally-territorial, (3)
ethnical and (4) lexical colloquial language.
Extraliterary colloquial language is non-existential language form, presented by phonetic
and grammatical deviations from the literary norm of the first level, typical for interdialect of
illiterate or semi-literate people.
Local-territorial colloquial language includes autonomous existential forms of the national
language version presented by regional and geographical dialects, and the semi-autonomous
existential forms - local semi-dialects and urban parlances.
By ethnic colloquial language is meant autonomous socialized ethnic dialects and semi-
autonomous unsocialized semi-dialects and parlances. Lexical colloquial language as a set of non-
autonomous existential linguistic forms is a historically constituted hierarchically structured
lexical subsystem of the national language, including stylistically substandard and socially marked
lexical elements.
Lexical colloquial language is subdivided into expressive and socio-professional colloquial
language. Expressive colloquial language is a component of a functional system of literary
language with the norm of the second level, which includes supradialectal stylistically substandard
vocabulary with the expression of ease or derogation, the well-known and commonly used in the
fields of everyday speech communication and indicating everyday occurrences, features and
processes.
Expressive colloquial language is a mean of conventional spoken varieties of speech with
emotional and evaluative meaning. Expressive colloquial language combines low colloquialisms,
common slangisms and vulgarisms.
As is well known, colloquial language is widely used in the literary language in expressive
or playfully coloured contexts, when live performance of different life events and situations.
Colloquial language freely and consciously is introduced by writers in fiction and thus acquires
the properties of the aesthetic category, which is typical for writers.
Our observations on the use of non-standard vocabulary as aesthetically important category
in the literature give reason to speak, at least, of three main methods of creating the comic with the
help of elements of lexical expressive colloquial language. At the first method, the author
deliberately includes in speech characteristics of the character (characters) expressive element
forming a "stylistic crash" (Lotman, 1992), thereby, creating a sudden comic effect (satirical,
ironic, humorous). Thus, stylistic crash in its classical concentration can be found in O. Henry's
story "Babes in the Jungle:"
"Hello, Billy," – says Silver; "I¢m glad to see you. Yes, it seemed to me that the West was
accumulating a little too much wiseness. I¢ve been saving New York for dessert. I know it¢s a
low-down trick to take things from these people. They only know this and that and pass to and fro
and think ever and anon. I¢d hate for my mother to know I was skinning these weak-minded ones.
She raised me better."
Here at rapid change of backgrounds - when the literary standard, performing the function
of the general background in a literary text is suddenly changed in the colloquial language with its
stylistically marked background - there is a stylistic crash.
 The second method of creation of the comic is author's commenting of stylistically
substandard words; no stylistic crashes, the comic effect entirely dependents on what the reader
finds out of the speech characteristics of the characters in the author's story, or in the following
remarks of the characters, commenting on some early statement with non-standard vocabulary:
comic effect here as it is delayed on purpose. For example,
But I like to find myself among people that can talk, not among a pack of numbskulls.
What I like is good general conversation, about things worth talking about. But among a crowd of
idiots like that what can you expect? You'd think that even society people would be interested, or
pretend to be, in real things ("Every Man and his Friends. Mr. Crunch's Portrait Gallery",
S.Leacock)
Here the reader's attention as it is paid on an especially substandard stylistic element.
Commenting varies depending on the purpose and the author's style.
Finally, the third method of creating the comic is "subjective-comic." Subjective-comic is
the most evident in verbal duels of characters. "While such duel lasts, there is a comic tension
different from the comic effect by the length in time" (Belyaeva, Khomyakov, 2010). Particularly
in M.Twain's story "The Capitoline Venus:"
"Oh, John, friend of my boyhood, I am the unhappiest of men "
"You're a simpleton "!
"I have nothing left to love but my poor statue of America – and see, even she has no
sympathy for me in her cold marble countenance – so beautiful and so heartless "!
"You're a dummy "!
"Oh, John "!
"Oh, fudge! Didn't you say you had six months to raise the money in "?
"Don't deride my agony, John. If I had six centuries what good would it do? How could it
help a poor wretch without name, capital, or friends "?
"Idiot! Coward! Baby! Six months to raise the money in – and five will do "!
"Are you insane?" ("The Capitoline Venus", М.Twain)
Elements of expressive colloquial language are commonly used in characters' dialogues
when informal, easy and generally familiar communicating. Emotionally expressive non-standard
vocabulary, the role of which involves ethical and stylistic substandard, adds typical features of a
live conversation to dialogues.
As stated above, there are three different types of colloquialisms that we can distinguish: words,
phrases, and aphorisms. Words can be colloquialism examples if they demonstrate the regional
dialect of the speaker, or it they are contractions or examples of profanity. Phrases and aphorisms
are colloquialisms if they aren’t literal usages, yet are widely understand within a geographical
boundary.
1. Words:

 Regional differences: One famous colloquial difference in the United States is the way
a person refers to a carbonated beverage. There are regional borders that separate the
usage of the words “soda”, “pop”, “soft drink”, and “Coke” (used as a generic term and
not just to refer to the brand). There are numerous differences between American English
and British English, such as “truck”/“lorry”, “soccer”/“football”, and
“parakeet”/“budgie”.
 Contractions: Words such as “ain’t” and “gonna” are examples of colloquialism, as they
are not used widely throughout English-speaking populations.
 Profanity: Some words are considered profane in some dialects of English where they
are not at all bad in other dialects. A good example is the word “bloody” which is a
simple adjective in American English, but is a curse word in British English.
2. Phrases:
 Old as the hills
 Penny-pincher
 She’ll be right (Australian English, meaning everything will be all right)
 Pass the buck
 Eat my dust
3. Aphorisms:
 I wasn’t born yesterday.
 There’s more than one way to skin a cat.
 Put your money where your mouth is.
 You’re driving me up the wall.