Speak Easy

Last night, my parents and I had a long discussion about regional phrases and words. It all started by talking about the chiffarobes in To Kill A Mockingbird. Of course, this led to a little teasing about our family's use of 'chester drawers' which we've discussed before here on the blog. I know there's an overwhelming amount of vocabularly here on the blog in the past two days. But, maybe, just maybe, you can sort these out if you're not quite clear on all of them. I know I wasn't last night.

colloquial - pertaining to words or expressions more suitable for speech than writing; in informal, conversational style.

euphemism - the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt (as passing away for dying.)

vernacular - using plain, everyday, ordinary language; the native speech or language of a place; the language or vocabulary peculiar to a class or profession.

cliche - a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse.

proverbial - of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a proverb; having become an object of common mention or reference.

idiom - an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements (as kick the bucket or hang one's head) or from the general grammatical rules of a language (as the table round for the round table) and that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics; a language, dialect, or style of speaking peculiar to a people.

platitude - a flat, dull, or trite remark, especially one uttered as if it were fresh or profound.