A colloquialism is an expression not used in formal speech, writing or paralinguistics. Speech refers to the processes associated with the production and perception of Sounds used in Spoken language. Paralanguage refers to the non-verbal elements of Communication used to modify meaning and convey emotion Colloquialisms denote a manner of speaking or writing that is characteristic of familiar "common" conversation; informal colloquialisms can include words (such as "y'all" or "gonna" or "wanna"), phrases (such as "ain't nothin'", "dressed for bear" and "dead as a doornail"), or sometimes even an entire aphorism ("There's more than one way to skin a cat"). Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. Colloquialisms are often used primarily within a limited geographical area. An example is for a soft drink. In the upper Midwest, it is commonly called "pop", while in other areas it's "soda. " In the southern United States, it is commonly called "Coke". The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Another example of this would be the difference between Armour and Armor in the USA. While in the North-East it is common to see Armour, in other areas of the USA it is just Armor.  ;)

Words that have a formal meaning may also have a colloquial meaning that, while technically incorrect, is recognizable due to common usage. For example, though biweekly is truly defined as "every other week", many dictionaries list both "twice a week" and "every other week".

Auxiliary languages are sometimes assumed to be lacking in colloquialisms, but this varies from one language to another. An international auxiliary language (sometimes abbreviated as IAL or auxlang) or interlanguage is a Language meant for communication between people from In Interlingua, the same standards of eligibility apply to colloquialisms as to other terms. Interlingua is an International auxiliary language (IAL developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA Words can be included in Interlingua in either of two ways through regular derivation using roots and affixes or by establishing their eligibility as international words Thus, any widely international colloquialism may be used in Interlingua. Expressions such as en las manos de. . . 'in the hands of. . . ', ¿Qué pasa? 'What's going on?', and ¿Qué diablo? 'What the devil?' 'What the hell?' are common.

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