colloquial English

Question

What's the difference between colloquial English and slang? could you give some examples please? Are expressions like: I gonna... and I wanna...(instead of I am going to... and I want to...) considered as colloquial?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Nizar SouthWhat's the difference between colloquial English and slang?

Colloquial: characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation rather than written English.

...the new coworker's rudeness soon began—to use a colloquial expression—to rub me the wrong way...
....But I think part of this pickle that we're in—if I may be colloquial, even though I'm not running for office—is that we've lost their sense of responsibility.

Slang: language at its most informal, using expressions that many would consider to be grammatically imperfect and sometimes rude. Slang often used within small social groups where it can help draw and keep the group together. It changes very quickly in English.

...I think you should sack it off. It’s not going anywhere.
...That meeting was an absolute mare. Khalid just wouldn’t stop going on about his figures.
...So are you up for dinner tonight?
...I don’t have much time to prepare slides so I’m gonna cane’em during lunch time.

Nizar SouthAre expressions like: I gonna... and I wanna...(instead of I am going to... and I want to...) considered as colloquial?

Strictly, no. As in the last sentence above, gonna, wanna, cudda, wudda, shudda and 'em are simply pseudo-phonetic transcriptions of how people pronounce those words in informal speech; they are not words in themselves.

colloquial English

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