COLLOQUIAL STYLE

-they are “idioms, conversational phrases, and informal

speech patterns often common to a particular region or
nationality. Not found everywhere, colloquialisms are words
and phrases that we learn at home rather than at school"
(Writing Whizardry, 2010).
 In literature, colloquialism is the use of informal words,
phrases, or even slang in a piece of writing. Colloquial
expressions tend to sneak in as writers, being part of a society,
are influenced by the way people speak in that society.
 However, writers use such expressions intentionally too, as
it gives their works a sense of realism. For instance, in a fiction
story depicting American society, a greeting “what’s up?”
between friends will seem more real and appropriate than the
formal “How are you?” or “How do you do?”
COLLOQUIALISM EXAMPLES IN
EVERYDAY LIFE
• Colloquial expressions vary from region to region. Below is a list of some
colloquialism examples of American origin:

• Bamboozle – to deceive
• Wanna – want to
• Gonna – going to
• Y’all – you all
• Be blue – to be sad
• Buzz off – go away
 EXAMPLES OF COLLOQUIALISM IN LITERATURE

Example #1: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (By Mark Twain)

Mark Twain, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, used black-American
vernacular to realistically show how the “negroes” [Black Americans] talked:

“I didn’t want to go back no more. I had stopped cussing, because the widow
didn’t like it; but now I took to it again because pap hadn’t no objections…
But by-and-by pap got too handy with his hick’ry, and I couldn’t stand it. I was
all over with welts. He got to going away so much, too, and locking me in.
Once he locked me in and was gone three days. It was dreadful lonesome.”
The use of double negatives is evident in the above passage, and was
used as a typical characteristic of black-American vernacular.
• Example #2: The Sun Rising (By John Donne)
• John Donne uses colloquialisms in his poem The Sun Rising:

• “ Busy old fool, unruly Sun,

Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch…”
 The poet addresses the sun in an informal and colloquial way, as if it
were a real human being. He asks the sun in a rude manner why he had
appeared and spoiled the good time he was having with his beloved.
Not finishing there, he commands the “saucy pedantic sun” to go away.
 In this passage, Salvador’s father uses colloquial words like “hell”
and “damn,” which gives insight into his aggressive and harsh nature.
The idea of using colloquialisms is to put diversity into the characters.
 When you’re dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do
die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or
something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People
coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and
all that crap. Who wants flowers when you’re dead? Nobody.
-(The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger)
 J. D. Salinger’s most famous book is noted for the very informal way
in which the narrator, Holden Caulfield, addresses the audience. The
book has been banned in numerous places over the years for its use of
profanity, which is a chief example of colloquialism. There are also
colloquial phrases in this excerpt such as “fix you up” and “hope to
hell.”
BARDOLPH. Well met, Corporal Nym.
NYM. Good morrow, Lieutenant Bardolph.
-(Henry V by Shakespeare)
 This is a simple example of colloquialism as used by Shakespeare.
Although modern readers might think that Shakespeare’s works sound
extremely outdated, he was famed at the time for having a remarkable
ear for the way people really talked. This example from the beginning
of Act II in Shakespeare’s play Henry V shows the way in which people
greeted each other in ordinary language.
 What’s the use you learning to do right, when it’s troublesome to do
right and it ain’t no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the
same?
-(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)
 Mark Twain’s book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is renowned
for its use of colloquialisms. Twain used plenty of accents, slang, and
vernacular to make his characters sound like real Americans of the
time. This excerpt contains the double-negative “ain’t no trouble” and
the colloquial usage of “just the same.”
 FUNCTION OF COLLOQUIALISM

• Colloquial expressions in a piece of literature may give us deep

insights into the writer’s society. They tell us about how people really
talk in their real lives. Therefore, they help a writer to form strong
connections with readers. Colloquial expressions impart a sense of
realism to a piece of literature, which again attracts readers as they
identify it with their real life. Moreover, they add variety to the
characters which makes them more interesting and memorable.
 FUNCTION OF COLLOQUIALISM

• Colloquial expressions in a piece of literature may give us deep

insights into the writer’s society. They tell us about how people really
talk in their real lives. Therefore, they help a writer to form strong
connections with readers. Colloquial expressions impart a sense of
realism to a piece of literature, which again attracts readers as they
identify it with their real life. Moreover, they add variety to the
characters which makes them more interesting and memorable.
 EXAMPLES OF COLLOQUIALISM FROM COMMON SPEECH

• Colloquial expressions in a piece of literature may give us deep

insights into the writer’s society. They tell us about how people really
talk in their real lives. Therefore, they help a writer to form strong
connections with readers. Colloquial expressions impart a sense of
realism to a piece of literature, which again attracts readers as they
identify it with their real life. Moreover, they add variety to the
characters which makes them more interesting and memorable.
 EXAMPLES OF COLLOQUIALISM FROM COMMON SPEECH

• 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.
 Significance of Colloquialism in Literature

• 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.
Authors will frequently use colloquialisms to make dialogue sound more
authentic. For example, a writer of a contemporary American novel would
probably choose the greeting “Hey, how’s it going” rather than “How now.” They
may also employ this device to situate the writing more decisively in a specific
time period and/or place. When used inappropriately, colloquialisms will often
stand out as jarring to the reader. Indeed, writers are cautioned away from over-
using dialect, such as dropping the “g” at the end of a continuous verb to create
a Southern twang, such as goin’, doin’, bein’, etc. However, when used well
readers may feel the writing is very genuine. Authors may also use
colloquialisms unconsciously if they are writing in a time and place they know
from their own experience.
 OTHER COLLOQUIAL TERMS

1. Ain’t: Once a fully legitimate contraction of “am not” employed at

least in familiar conversation by speakers of all social classes, ain’t
came to be identified with less well-educated people, and in the
United States specifically with poor rural dwellers.
2. Ornery: This contraction of ordinary, influenced by the latter word’s
less common senses of “coarse” and “ugly,” developed a
connotation of cantankerous or mean behavior. Today, it’s used only
in a humorous or scornful sense.
 OTHER COLLOQUIAL TERMS

3. Reckon: The sense of reckon that means “suppose” (“I reckon I ought
to get home”) is one of the most high-profile examples of stereotypical
rural dialect, but it’s absent from formal usage.
4. Rile: This dialectal variant of roil, in the sense of “stir up,” is used
informally to describe irritation or anger.
5. Yonder: This formerly standard term meaning “over there” is now
known only in rural dialect (or spoofing of it) or in a poetic sense