“Colloquial” describes language that is informal and used in everyday conversation, not in formal writing or speeches. It often includes slang, contractions, and regional expressions.
It comes from Latin “colloquium,” meaning “conversation,” from “com-” (together) and “loqui” (to speak). “Colloquialis” in Late Latin meant “of conversation.”
Colloquial speech is literally “together‑talk”—the language that lives between people, not in grammar books. When learners finally tap into colloquial phrases, they stop sounding like textbooks and start sounding like humans.
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