Casual Language

Overview

We use casual language all the time on social media and in conversations with friends. However, you wouldn't talk to your professor like you do to your best friend. English has casual and academic tones, which is true for writing as well. If you are texting a friend, you may use slang or the second person perspective. However, if you are writing a personal statement for a scholarship, then you want to sound more formal or academic. While writing, you should pay attention to the social context and your audience when you use casual language.

Casual language should be avoided in certain contexts, such as when writing class assignments, job applications, or professional communication. Because casual language does not always follow "proper grammar rules" and uses slang and idioms, casual language can cause miscommunication if applied in academic or professional contexts. The following tools can help you better understand casual language.

Vocabulary

Casual and Academic Language

Perspective

Grammar

Vocabulary

When you talk to different groups of people, you might notice special words or phrases that each group uses. Specific words related to a field of study are called jargon. In a casual setting, groups of people who know one another well might use slang. The meaning of these words may not always be straightforward, especially to those who aren't members of the group. Being aware of slang, jargon, and curse words will help you navigate using casual language effectively.

Slang & Idioms

Different groups will sometimes use slang words to communicate informally. Idioms are also used--groups of words that have a meaning you can't easily understand from the words themselves (e.g., "It's raining cats and dogs!", which means it's raining very hard, or "hitting it out of the park," which means you are doing a great job). Here are some resources to help you recognize idioms and slang in casual writing.

External Resources

Jargon

Jargon is used in specialized groups and communities. Jargon can be used to share technical ideas between members of a group like engineers talking about a video game or fashion students discussing style. As you participate in different groups, you will start to encounter jargon. These resources can help you identify and use jargon appropriately.

External Resources

Curse Words

You might hear a gasp from innocent listeners of English when a curse word, cuss word, or profanity is used. These words can have a variety of meanings, but how they are used is just as important. You can use them as an insult or for emphasis. Where you use them is important too. If writing to a friend who curses a lot, then using profanity can match their tone. The resources here provide some help with identifying how to use curse words in your casual writing. (Note that curse words are generally considered as inappropriate in academic/formal writing--this information is specifically for casual usage.)

External Resources

Urban Dictionary is another external resource to help you learn slang and idioms.

Casual and Academic Language

This page is about casual language, but you can't define casual language without talking about its opposite: academic language. The resources below compare both types. For more details about academic and professional language, check out our Academic Language Page.

Tone in Writing

Tone is your voice that can express your emotion, attitude, opinion, or personality. Your casual writing can be expressed through vocabulary, emojis, grammar, and gifs. The resources here will provide you some ways you can use tone to your advantage in casual writing.

External Resources

Formal vs. Informal

People also identify casual vs. academic language as formal vs. informal. When deciding what type of writing you want to use, you have to think about what the purpose is and who is reading it. The differences are discussed in these resources.

External Resources

Language in Use

You can use English in many places. To better understand casual language, try to pay attention to how and when people use it. Listen to friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers. Casual language is everywhere. Here are some resources about casual language in use.

External Resources

Youglish: Look up how to pronounce any word and hear it through YouTube examples.
Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)

Perspective

Are you trying to tell your friend about a fun experience you had or giving them advice about how to be healthier? When you tell your friend about your fun trip, you tell your experiences using "I." When you want to give them advice, you use "you." Here is some information on different writing points of view that can help you connect with people and feel more confident in casual writing.

Passive Voice in Writing

Though active voice is usually preferred in writing, we sometimes use the passive voice to be polite or to change the focus of the sentence; we also use the passive voice if we do not know who performed an action. For example, "Bigfoot was seen in Northern California in the 1960s!" is in the passive voice because the person who saw Bigfoot isn't as important as an actual sighting of the mysterious creature.

Writing Center Resource

Passive Voice

External Resource

Passive Voice (UNC Chapel Hill)

First-Person Perspective

First-person writing--using the "I" voice--helps you share your experiences and thoughts. Both of the following sentences are written in the first-person voice, and they're sentences you might use when socializing with your friends: "I think this movie is great." or "I went to the beach yesterday." The resources here can help you use the first-person perspective effectively in your writing. Note that a common misconception is that the first-person voice ("I") should never be used in formal/academic writing, which is untrue (as the first resource below explains).

External Resources

Second-Person Perspective

Second-person writing--using "you" to address the reader--in casual contexts can help you give directions, offer advice, or provide an explanation. For example, you might tell your friend, "You should go to La Victoria for lunch." The resources here can help you use the second-person perspective effectively.

External Resources

Grammar

You might meet some people who want a perfectly grammatical text message from you, but people usually care instead about what you're saying. This is where casual grammar may be used. A friend might use casual grammar to share a story or emphasize something that happened. If you respond in a similar way, it can help you connect with them.

Double Negatives

Double negatives are usually used when you want to emphasize or de-emphasize something. For example, you might tell your roommate, "I didn’t not tell you that I broke the washing machine." In that sentence, two "nots" are used to express the de-emphasis on "tell." Two negative words used in one sentence can help you sound more casual and change the amount of emphasis. Here are some resources to help you understand how double negatives might be used in casual speech and writing.

External Resources

Hedging

Hedging is a great tool to use when you want to be mindful of what you say. Casual hedging focuses on being polite and considerate. For example, instead of telling someone that he is a terrible singer, you might say, "You could work on controlling your pitch a bit more." The resources here can help you be more gentle when you speak or write.

If you want to look at hedging in academic language, check out our page here.

External Resources

Contractions

A contraction is putting two words together and adding an apostrophe. Examples include "can't" ("can" + "not"), "won't," "would've," and "I'm," among many others. People tend to use them all the time while texting because we write how we speak. When we use contractions, we sound more friendly, casual, and approachable. You won't regret reading the resources here.

Writing Center Resource

Contractions

External Resources