| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| INFORMAL WRITTEN ENGLISH, INFORMAL USAGE, INFORMAL |
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| In this book these terms apply to written usage at the lowest level on the scale of formality. It is the most relaxed and the least constrained written language, the language in which we write to close friends and relatives, to colleagues and others whom we know well. It uses abbreviations, contractions, and other syntactic shortcuts. It avails itself of slang and other kinds of special diction and in all respects seeks to imitate as closely as is reasonable the cadences and usages of the lower levels of speech—that is, of Intimate, Casual, and much Impromptu conversation. In this guide, locutions labeled Informal are perfectly acceptable Standard English so long as their use is limited to the constituencies and contexts appropriate for informality. (In some general dictionaries, Informal has been introduced as a usage label to replace Colloquial.) See LEVELS OF USAGE. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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