Colloquii

M

montyracing2

At the Start
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I was listening to the radio at the weekend and picked up a charming phrase 'a cricketing hour' probably meaning a lingering period of time.

I was trying to think of a few more colloquii but could only come up with one - 'a country mile'.

Are there any more out there worthy of note and does such a phrase have a grammatical descriptor e.g. adnoun?

MR2
 
I don't dare mention Latin or I'm sure one of the TH academics will pick me up but:

colloquium (singular), colloquii (plural).

Shame it wasn't a verb or I could have run off:

colloquio, colloquiare, colloquiavi, colloquiatum.

Still live in hope that my classics will come in useful sometime - MR2!
 
"... one of the TH academics... "? Really, do tell! I like to see Latin used, since it's so often much neater in the plural - imagine bus terminuses, mediums instead of media (it'll surprise a few people to realise that it's media are, not media is, let alone in media res... ). Regrettably, when I had to switch schools, I left Latin behind as the other one concentrated on French only. Once you have a fair grounding in Latin, all the Romance languages become so much easier to learn, since you recognise their roots and see the join-up between them all much more quickly.
 
According to one dictionary, 'colloquium' is "a conference at which scholars or other experts present papers on, analyse, and discuss a specific topic". It gives the plural as 'colloquiums' but surely 'colloquii' is more correct.

I think the word you had in mind was colloquialism? But I don't think that would be entirely right either, because colloquial speech is simply the everyday language as spoken by ordinary local people. I don't know what the correct term would be, 'figure of speech' seems too broad.
 
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I'd have thought the word you were looking for was 'clichés'.


My Latin is a dim and distant memory but I'd also have thought the plural of coloquium would be coloquia (in the same way that the plural of medium is media, as K pointed out). I might try fishing around online a wee bit just for the halibut.
 
Desert Orchid said:
I'd have thought the word you were looking for was 'clichés'.


My Latin is a dim and distant memory but I'd also have thought the plural of coloquium would be coloquia (in the same way that the plural of medium is media, as K pointed out). I might try fishing around online a wee bit just for the halibut.
Click to expand...

nice to see a post with your name on it :cool:
 
Yes, it is! I did a double-take, and was delighted to see you on here, Desmondo. Pleeeease stay with us this time! We have fresh new trolls and plenty of the usual mud-wrestling over ratings, if that isn't too old hat (Kliche Korner) for you.
 
Desert Orchid said:
I'd have thought the word you were looking for was 'clichés'.


My Latin is a dim and distant memory but I'd also have thought the plural of coloquium would be coloquia (in the same way that the plural of medium is media, as K pointed out). I might try fishing around online a wee bit just for the halibut.
Click to expand...

We have all got this one wrong, even you! The word has a double l. Nice to see you back, though. :)
 
I think I need to see a doctor.

For the second time in recent months I've posted on here thinking I was on another forum.

And to top it off I make an 'l' of a spelling mistake. (I'd be pretty sure the reason stems from a discussion I had in class yesterday with my fourth-year Spanish group, in which I was advising them on how to work out the meaning a form of the verb colocar, which has only one 'l'.

Can't see me getting involved in any racing discussions, though. Not worth the hassle.
 
My aged Chambers shows:

Colloquy (kol-e-kwi): a speaking together; mutual discourse; conversation. Those engaged in a colloquy are colloctors, the adjective is collocutory; the verb intransitive is colloque - to hold colloquy.

Colloquial: pertaining to or used in common conversation, using a colloquialism or colloquialisms - forms of expression used in familiar talk. Those using them would be colloquialists (yes, that's us!), the adverb is colloquially. A speaker in a colloquy is a colloquist.

So now we all know! Anyone disagreeing with this may find themselves involved in colluctation (strife, opposition), particularly those conspiring in a collusive collogue...
 
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