Page 312 - Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

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starting with m, p, or b.) When people speak together they are engaging in conversation—

and their language is usually more informal and less rigidly grammatical than what you
might expect in writing or in public addresses. Colloquial patterns are perfectly correct—
they are simply informal, and suitable to everyday conversation.
A colloquialism (kƏ-LŌ′-kwee-Ə-liz-Əm), therefore, is a conversational-style expression, like
“He hasn’t got any” or “Who are you going with?” as contrasted to the formal or literary
“He has none” or “With whom are you going?” Colloquial English is the English you and I

talk on everyday occasions—it is not slangy, vulgar, or illiterate.

4. A circumlocution (sur-kƏm-lō-KY ′-shƏn) is, etymologically, a “talking around” (circum-
, around). Any way of expressing an idea that is roundabout or indirect is circumlocutory
(sur′-kƏm-LOK′-yƏ-tawr′-ee)—you are now familiar with the common adjective suffix -ory.

REVIEW OF ETYMOLOGY

PREFIX, ROOT, SUFFIX MEANING

1. taceo to be silent