Colloquialism Definition

A colloquialism is an informal term or expression; something not considered formal or standard

language. It is commonly used in casual conversation but usually not appropriate for more formal
writing or speech. It is often regional in nature – vary depending on location, country, etc.
Colloquial language tends to be more informal, familiar or relaxed terms compared to standard
language. It involves shortened forms, slang, idioms, phrases, etc. rather than words generally
found in a dictionary. It adds color, personality and local flavor to language but should be avoided
in serious/professional contexts that require standard terminology.

Colloquial communication is a casual, informal, and conversational style of speech that is used in
everyday interactions. It is also known as colloquial language, everyday language, or general
parlance.

Common Examples of Colloquialism in Everyday Speech

Here are some common examples of colloquialisms commonly used in informal, everyday speech:

 Gotta/Gonna – shortened forms of “got to” and “going to” (e.g. “I gotta get to work” or
“We gonna be late”)
 Wanna/Woulda/Coulda – shortened forms of “want to”, “would have”, “could have”
 Hey/Whaddya know – used as casual greetings
 Buddy/Pal/Friend – informal terms to refer to a person
 No prob/No sweat – meaning “no problem” or “don’t worry about it”
 Kinda/Sorta – indicating something is somewhat or partly true
 Y’all – a southern colloquialism meaning “you all”
 Take a rain check – to postpone or cancel existing plans
 Chill/Chill out – relax or calm down
 Dude/Bro – used to address a male friend informally
 Wicked/Cool – expressing enthusiasm or approval
 My bad – admitting fault or apologizing
 Peace out/Later – casual ways to say goodbye
 Cray/Crazy – very or extremely (e.g. “I’m so cray tired”)
 Lit/Fire – expressing excitement or enthusiasm

Types of Colloquialisms
Following are the types of colloquialisms:

 Regional colloquialisms – Regional colloquialism refers to informal words, phrases or

expressions. These are specific to a particular region or local area. Examples include “pop”
vs “soda”, “bubbler” vs “water fountain”, “y’all”, etc.
  Social colloquialisms – Social colloquialisms refer to informal words, phrases or
expressions. These words are used within a particular social group, subculture, profession
or activity. Examples are: gaming lingo, sports fandom lingo, military slang, etc.
 Generational colloquialisms – Informal terms that are more common to a certain age
group or generation. Slang tends to evolve with younger generations.
 Linguistic colloquialisms – Variations in pronunciation or grammar that are nonstandard
but common in everyday speech. Examples include “ain’t”, subject-verb disagreement,
dropped g’s, etc.
 Shortened forms – Contractions or abbreviations used for brevity. Examples include
“gonna”, “wanna”, “kinda”, “IDK”, etc.
 Idioms – Figurative phrases with meanings different than the literal words. Examples
include “kick the bucket”, “pulling your leg”, “raining cats and dogs”, etc.
 Slang – Very informal vocabulary from a particular domain or used by a certain
demographic. Can include newly invented words, given new meanings, or play on existing
words.

Colloquial communication is characterized by:

 Non-specialist terminology
Colloquial language uses words and expressions that are not typically used in formal or academic
settings.
 Expressive devices
Colloquial language often uses interjections and other expressive devices.
 Incomplete logical and syntactic ordering
Colloquial language may use formulations with incomplete logical and syntactic ordering.
 Regional differences
Colloquial language can vary widely across regions and communities. For example, people in
New York and Sydney speak the same language but use different colloquial expressions.
 Slang
Some colloquial languages contain slang, which is usually associated with particular social
groups.

Colloquial language can make communication more relatable and natural. Understanding
colloquial language can improve comprehension in informal interactions and help assess regional
dialects.
What Is Dialogue Writing?
The term ‘dialogue’ is something all of you would be familiar with. As social beings, people
(irrespective of being young or old, male or female) communicate with each other. Such a
communication where both parties involved in the conversation have something to say about the
topic being discussed can be said to be dialogue. A dialogue can be on any topic – a very simple
talk about a daily chore, a serious talk about a social or medical problem, a discussion about what
has to be done for an event and so on. The only point that you should remember is that a dialogue
isn’t just any conversation but a conversation between two people specifically.

The Collins Dictionary defines the term ‘dialogue’ as “a conversation between two people in a
book, film, or play”. Transcribing a dialogue in writing or presenting a conversation in text is
referred to as dialogue writing.

The Purposes of Writing a Dialogue

What do you think is the reason behind writing dialogues in a story, play or film? Is it mandatory
to include dialogues in a story? There are stories where you have a third person narrator or one of
the characters of the story presenting the story from their perspective. What difference does it make
when there are dialogues instead of just someone narrating each and everything that is happening
in the story?

Having dialogues along with stage directions instead of just narrations can be said to be a better
writing technique as it gives the readers a clear picture of the characteristics of the various
characters in the story, play or movie. It also gives your characters life, and above all, a voice of
their own. Dialogues portray the emotional state, mindset, background information and attitude of
the speakers. This will always be more effective as it would let the readers connect with the
characters on a more personal level.

Dialogue writing is also one area where the writers get to be creative even to the extent of breaking
some conventional grammatical rules. For instance, elongating a word or writing the whole word
in capital letters or using multiple question marks or exclamation marks to stress on whatever is
being said. For example: YESSSS!!

Another component of dialogue writing is adding stage directions. Stage directions are
short phrases written in brackets that give the reader an idea of what the character is doing as they
engage in the dialogue. For example: Dan (rubbing his eyes): I am still tired.

Types of Dialogues
Dialogues can be classified into two main types namely,
  Inner Dialogue
 Outer Dialogue

Inner Dialogue
The term ‘inner dialogue’ refers to the individual character’s thoughts which are not spoken aloud;
in other words, said to anyone else. They can be something a character is thinking as the other
character is speaking and their thoughts about what is going on or what the other character is doing.
These inner dialogues are not placed within quotation marks.

Outer Dialogue
As the name suggests, ‘outer dialogues’ are thoughts that are spoken aloud. They refer to
everything the two characters involved in the dialogue say to each other. Outer dialogues are
usually placed with quotation marks.

Fundamental Rules to Be Followed When Writing a Dialogue

Dialogue writing can look and sound simple; however, when actually putting dialogue in writing,
there are certain rules regarding the structure and format you need to follow. Go through each of
these in detail in the sections given below.

Basic Format and Structure of a Dialogue

Dialogues can be part of a story, a play or a movie. Each one has a different structure and format
in which the dialogues have to be presented; however, there is a basic structure that can be
followed. Go through the following points to learn the essential attributes a dialogue must have.

 The first thing you have to do before you write a dialogue is to decide who the characters
are.
 You should also have a clear idea of the plot of the story, or in general, the context of the
dialogue.
 Dialogues can be just a sentence, two or three lines or even a short paragraph. Whatever be
the case, always remember that each character’s dialogue, no matter how short or long, has
to be written on the next line. In other words, no two dialogues should appear on the same
line. Also see to it that you indent each dialogue.
 If the dialogues are one-liners, you can write them one after the other. On the contrary, if
each of your characters are speaking in chunks (short or long paragraphs), it is mandatory
that you show the difference by using an optimum line spacing.
 Be very careful with the tense used in the dialogue.
  It is better to skip the small talk (including greetings) and start off with the point of
discussion unless the small talk is crucial to setting the mood of the conversation.

Punctuation
In every form of writing, punctuation is an important factor that makes it sensible. In the same
manner, dialogue writing also would not make any sense without proper punctuation. Learn how
to punctuate dialogues by going through the following points.

 The first rule would be adding a colon after the name of the character to indicate that the
particular character is the one speaking at the moment. Sometimes, a hyphen is used
instead of a colon.
 The name of the character should always start with a capital letter as it is a proper noun.
Sometimes, you will have characters such as villagers, student 1, student 2, etc. In these
cases also, you will have to use a capital letter.
 Dialogues are to be placed within quotation marks.
 If you are including a character’s dialogue in another character’s dialogue, it has to be
placed within single quotation marks. For example: “Don’t you think Rakesh saying ‘I will
take the lead’ has some hidden agenda?”
 Also remember that any punctuation mark corresponding to the dialogue should always be
placed within double quotation marks. For instance, if the dialogue is an interrogative
sentence, the question mark has to come first marking the end of the sentence followed by
the double quotation marks marking the end of the dialogue.
 A dialogue can be separated using dialogue tags like ‘he said’ to attribute the dialogue to a
speaker.
 When you insert the tag in the middle of the dialogue, make sure you close the
quotation marks before the tag. The tag is preceded and followed by a comma.
When you open quotation marks to continue the dialogue, see to it that you use a
small letter to begin with if it is the continuation of the dialogue, and close the
quotation marks once the dialogue is complete. For example: “Do you know”, he
shouted to everyone, “who the new manager is?”
 If the dialogue tag is positioned in the beginning of the sentence, see to it that you
start it with a capital letter as you are starting a new sentence. Place a comma after
the dialogue tag followed by open quotation marks, the dialogue starting with a
capital letter followed by the punctuation mark of the quote and close quotation
marks. For example: Josh mumbled, “Nobody understands the main problem here.”
 A dialogue can also appear at the end of the sentence. In this case, the quotation
comes first. Once you punctuate the quote and close the quotation marks, place the
 dialogue tag. Note that the dialogue tag is not capitalized. For example: “Are you
coming with us?” Sarah asked.
 If a character’s dialogue is being interrupted by another character, use a dash to indicate
the interference. For example: “I was wondering –”
“Are you ready to go?”

 Actions and body language of characters can be described in sentences and they can appear
in between dialogues. For example: “I am not interested.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“But, I will do it just for you.”

What Not to Do when Writing a Dialogue? – Points to Remember

Now that you know how to write a dialogue, let us also look at what all you are not supposed to
do when writing a dialogue.

 Using dialogue tags does give some clarity about the action and body language of the
characters, but see to it that you do not use dialogue tags with every single dialogue. Also,
make sure you don’t use too little.
 Using colloquial language is allowed in dialogue writing, but use them only if it matches
the context.
 Dialogues need not be grammatically correct all the time. That does not mean you can write
structureless sentences. You can have individual words or phrases as a dialogue. For
example: “What?”, “Of course!”, “She started the fight?”

Examples of Dialogue Writing

To help you understand and learn the art of dialogue writing, here are a few examples from some
famous stories, plays, movies and TV shows.

Dialogues from Stories and Plays

Example 1:

A few examples from ‘The Crocodile and the Monkey’ are given below. Go through them and try
to analyse how the description and dialogues are written.

 The crocodile’s wife thought to herself, “If the monkey eats only these sweet rose-apples,
his flesh must be sweet too. He would be a delicious dinner.”
 When they reached, the monkey climbed up the tree to safety. He looked at the crocodile
and said, “Now you can go back to your wicked wife and tell her that her husband is the
biggest fool in this world. Your foolishness has no parallel. You were ready to take my life
 because of an unjust demand from your wife. Then you were stupid enough to believe me
and brought me back to the tree.”
Example 2:

Here are a few examples from the short story, ‘The Gift of the Magi’ by O. Henry. Check them
out.

 “Twenty dollars,” said Mrs. Sofronie, lifting the hair to feel its weight.
“Give it to me quick,” said Della.

 “Jim, dear,” she cried, “don’t look at me like that. I had my hair cut off and sold it. I couldn’t
live through Christmas without giving you a gift. My hair will grow again. You won’t care,
will you? My hair grows very fast. It’s Christmas, Jim. Let’s be happy. You don’t know
what a nice—what a beautiful, nice gift I got for you.”
Role play
Role play is an initiative undertaken for oral communication in classrooms or public speaking
improvement oriented groups in order to improve the oral and the (English Speaking) the
communication skills of a learner. It provides the learner to

 Communicate freely
 Spontaneously
 Confidently in different situations.
Most interactions in our day to day lives are not engaging. As a result the audience i.e., the
speaker and the listener tend to loose interest in the conversation. Thus to make a conversation
interesting, a role play conversation methodology is adopted in order to make the
communication more informative, and amusing.
Dialogue follows a flow of prompt responses, reactions as well as the audience seems to get
surprised resulting in a memorable conversational experience.
There are various kinds of role plays for children that a teacher needs to engage for a better
communication E.g., pushing a doll in a pram, becoming a super hero, having an adult
conversation on a toy phone.Acting out these role plays may enhance the capability and
intellect of a child.
There are four types of role plays:
1. Literate
2. Semi literate
3. Literate
4. Advanced literate.
 Role play is like creating a story with two or more people. The only difference is that one
character explains all the characters. It also helps in writing skills as well as creativity.

Uses of Role Play

Following are the uses of role play:
It helps in emotional feed back Role play is the act of imitating the character and behavior of some
one who is different from yourself. E.g., a group of members have to communicate with the heads
of their concerned organization, in order to be perfect during their presentation or performance
they need to rehearse or present a dress rehearsal for the same. Such kind of activity engaged by
the group in order to perform better becomes an act of role play were one of the leaders enacts.
The role of someone else by reproducing the exact scene to be witnessed later. It helps in better
physical performance.

 It helps in confidence building.

 It generates camaraderie between colleagues.
 It generates an environment of social responsibility and equity among the group.
 It enhances speaking skills.
 It also rebuilds an atmosphere of faith and calmness in a particular situation.
 For children role play is as essential as learning language.
 It encourages children towards emotional development.
 It enhances their language development.
 It also enhances their physical development.
 Children learn to empathize with others.
 It creates environment fun and pleasure.
 It also encourages children to look at other perspectives of life

Another word for role play is acting