A colloquialism is a word or expression characteristic of informal, everyday speech rather than formal or technical language. It persists through repeated use in casual conversation within a speech community, gaining acceptance as the colloquial register. Its boundary with standard language shifts over generations as colloquialisms are absorbed into general use or fall out of favor. [formal: colloquialismus | substrate: behavior | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.02]
Accepted ontology entry
colloquialism
A colloquialism is a word or expression characteristic of informal, everyday speech rather than formal or technical language. It persists through repeated use in casual conversation within a speech community, gaining acceptance as the coll…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A colloquialism is a human-made linguistic construct — an informal word or expression characteristic of everyday spoken language rather than formal or technical speech. It exists as a convention of register, persisting through teaching and social practice within speech communities.
Names and aliases
- colloquialismen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmr784qq1000ks126wltnuaxhDEPENDS_ON →
A colloquialism is an informal expression that exists ONLY within a language system. Remove language and the colloquialism ceases to exist — this is constitutive, not merely facilitative dependency.
- cmro3q7lr03tld1nlyw4ysg4lINSTANCE_OF →
Direction tested: INSTANCE_OF (specific→general). Colloquialism IS a specific kind of register — specifically, an informal register characterized by casual, conversational language. A competent speaker would call colloquialism 'a type of register' or say it 'is informal register.' It files against register (the established kind), not language (which would be meta-level).
- cmr784qq1000ks126wltnuaxhDERIVED_FROM →
Pinned sense: colloquialism as the informal register of speech/writing within a language community. Language as the symbolic system precedes the register; colloquial usage emerges within an existing linguistic system, not before it. Law 7 which-came-first test satisfied: language is the historical antecedent that feeds into the development of colloquial forms.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 17, 2026, 8:33 PM UTC
- Content hash
- a85991afb3212fb75d991dbcf557f6a67e23784e686c7fc2228dda908bdfd021