Colloquial vs Generic - What's the difference?
colloquial | generic |
(linguistics) Denoting a manner of speaking or writing that is characteristic of familiar conversation; informal.
Of or pertaining to a conversation; conversational or chatty.
Very comprehensive; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific.
:* "...the essence is that such self-describing poets describe what is in them, but not peculiar to them, – what is generic , not what is special and individual." — Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
Lacking in precision, often in an evasive fashion; vague; imprecise.
(of a product or drug) Not having a brand name.
(biology, not comparable) Of or relating to a taxonomic genus.
(grammar) Specifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene.
(computing) (Of program code) Written so as to operate on any data type, the type required being passed as a parameter.
(geometry, of a point) Having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.
A product sold under a generic name
A wine that is a blend of several wines, or made from a blend of several grape varieties
(grammar) A term that specifies neither male nor female.
* 1998 , Jacqueline A. Dienemann, Nursing administration: managing patient care
As adjectives the difference between colloquial and generic
is that colloquial is denoting a manner of speaking or writing that is characteristic of familiar conversation; informal while generic is very comprehensive; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific.As a noun generic is
a product sold under a generic name.colloquial
English
Adjective
(en adjective)Usage notes
Note that while colloquy and colloquium refer to formal'' conversation, colloquial refers instead specifically to ''informal conversation.Synonyms
*Derived terms
* colloquialism * colloquially * colloquialness * colloquialitygeneric
English
(wikipedia generic)Alternative forms
* generickAdjective
(en adjective)- Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic .
