lingo
How specialists speak
Lingo is the specialized vocabulary or way of speaking associated with a particular group, profession, or activity: I don't understand all the medical lingo, tech lingo.
The word carries a slightly dismissive tone—suggesting jargon that's hard for outsiders to penetrate.
It can also refer informally to any foreign language: I picked up some of the local lingo.
Subject-specific vocabulary
- buzzwordsTrendy technical jargon
- acronymsWords made from initials
- shoptalkWork-related conversation
- nomenclatureSystem of specialized terms
technobabble · legalese · journalese · gobbledygook · officialese · medicalese · corporatespeak · bureaucratese
Regional language variety
- patoisRegional informal speech
- creoleNativized pidgin tongue
- regionalismLocal area favoritism
- mother-tongueLanguage acquired from birth
Group-specific coded speech
- cantSanctimonious insincerity
- colloquialismsInformal everyday expressions
- jiveSwing-era dance or bunk
- vulgarismsCrude or indecent expressions
terminology
Subject-specific vocabulary
nomenclature · technobabble · legalese · journalese · gobbledygook · officialese · medicalese · corporatespeak · bureaucratese · doublespeak
dialect
Regional language variety
- patoisRegional informal speech
- creoleNativized pidgin tongue
- regionalismLocal area favoritism
mother-tongue · localism · sociolect · pidgin · idiom
argot
Group-specific coded speech
- cantSanctimonious insincerity
- colloquialismsInformal everyday expressions
- jiveSwing-era dance or bunk
expression
Conveyed thought or feeling
lingoplain language
Easily understood communication
plain English · formal language · layman's terms · plain speech · plain talk
- lingua francaShared tongue between peoples
- texting lingoAbbreviated mobile communication style
- linguistic isolationSeparation through unshared speech
- linguistic atlasMaps showing speech patterns
- linguistic purismResistance to language change
- linguistic diffusionTransmission of speech features
linguist, bilingual, linguistic, multilingual, trilingual, lingua, monolingual, lingos, linguistically