| 词组 | colloquial |
| 释义 | colloquial Colloquial is an adjective evidently introduced into English by Samuel Johnson, even though he did not enter the word in his 1755 dictionary. Its first meaning is "conversational": • ... I found him highly satisfied with his colloquial prowess the preceding evening. "Well," said he, "we had a good talk." BOSWELL. "Yes, sir; you tossed and gored several persons." —James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, 1791 According to OED evidence, Johnson introduced this sense in a paper in The Rambler in 1751; in 1752 he used the now more familiar sense "characteristic of familiar conversation" in another number of The Rambler. Boswell again echoes Johnson's use: • But Johnson was at all times jealous of infractions upon the genuine English language, and prompt to repress colloquial barbarisms —Life of Samuel Johnson, 1791 It is this sense that has come to be used as a label by writers on language and by dictionaries. One early combination involving colloquial that is found in the writings of grammarians is the phrase colloquial speech. The phrase designated ordinary conversational speech—the sort of talk you would engage in as part of any gathering—at a party, on the street corner, at the country store, or at the dinner table. It was contrasted with what was sometimes called platform speech. Platform speech was an artificially articulated version of English intended to make a speaker understood at a distance; it was the customary form of English for politicians and preachers addressing large audiences. The development of electronic public-address systems and radio and television has essentially eliminated the need for platform speech. We hear our preachers and politicians today speaking in a more ordinary—colloquial— way. Colloquial, however, was probably a poor choice of term for describing ordinary everyday speech. It is a learned term and, especially in its abbreviated form col-loq., removed from everyday connotations. It is not surprising, really, that it was misunderstood as a pejorative label, in spite of the fact that dictionaries using the label were at pains to explain that it was not pejorative. The misunderstanding became so widespread that many dictionaries and handbooks abandoned the label altogether. The editors of Webster's Third decided not to try to distinguish the standard written from the standard spoken language. Other dictionaries and handbooks replaced colloquial with other labels, of which informal is the most common. That colloquial is widely assumed to be pejorative is amply attested: • In particular teachers have treated spoken English as simply an inferior form of written English, instead of a properly different form, and assumed that "colloquial" means corrupt —Herbert J. Muller, The Uses of English, 1967 • ... the use of like as a conjunction. It was colloquial; it is now correct —Clifton Fadiman, Holiday, March 1957 • The tone is informal but not colloquial or condescending —Delores McColm, Library Jour., 15 May 1966 • Its writing is often wordy and sometimes rather jarringly colloquial —Colin Thubron, Times Literary Supp., 3 Nov. 1978 • I'm glad we took into full membership all sorts of robust words that previous dictionaries had derided as "colloquial" —Zinsser 1976 It would have been bad enough that the general public and schoolteachers misinterpreted colloquial, but there is abundant evidence that it was likewise misinterpreted by writers on usage—sometimes in spite of their explanations to the contrary. Here is one example: • COLLOQUIAL Commonly used in speech but inappropriate in all but the most informal writing —Prentice Hall 1978 • anyplace Colloquial for any place —Prentice Hall 1978 Since the blank space between any and place has no sound, it cannot be detected in speech, and therefore it is meaningless to say that anyplace is "commonly used in speech"; anyplace and any place simply sound the same in the same environment. As applied to anyplace, therefore, colloquial is being used as some sort of stigmatizing label, and the intention is that the reader of the book avoid anyplace and use any place. The use of colloquial with pejorative overtones is fairly common with usage writers: • ... but it is easy to avoid it, and with it the faultfinding of the censorious, who condemn it as colloquial —Utter 1916 • ... derived from a colloquial and childish synonym —Howard 1980 • ... must be considered at best colloquial —Bryson 1984 • as. (1) Highly colloquial when used in place of that or whether—Macmillan 1982 • Whether "plenty" is being used here as an adjective or an adverb, it is colloquial —Bernstein 1958 • Out loud is thought to be both unidiomatic and colloquial —Shaw 1970 • Another word often used carelessly is alibi. In colloquial speech it frequently replaces the noun "excuse"—Freeman 1983 • At its mildest, hypallage contributes a colloquial taint to technical writing —John Dirckx, The Language of Medicine, 2d ed., 1983 prepositions often criticized Back of for behind • ... , inside of for within ... , and over with for over ... are colloquial —Guth 1985 • Aggravate should not be used in its colloquial meaning of "irritate" or "exasperate" —Little, Brown 1986 • So for True.... "Is that so?" Colloquial and worse —Bierce 1909 • All colloquial expressions are little foxes that spoil the grapes of perfect diction —Emily Post, Etiquette, 1927 Perhaps some of the taint of Dr. Johnson's "colloquial barbarisms" has rubbed off on colloquial. If you see the term used regularly in a handbook or other book on usage, you can be reasonably sure it is thought of as disparaging by the author, no matter what explanation is attached to it when (and if) the term is explained. |
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