lingo

¹

[ling-goh]

noun

plural

lingoes 

1. the language and speech, especially the jargon, slang, or argot, of a particular field, group, or individual.

   gamblers' lingo.

2. language or speech, especially if strange or foreign.

lingo

²

[ling-goh]

noun

plural

lingoes 

1. lingoe.

lingo

/ ˈlɪŋɡəʊ /

noun

1. informal,  any foreign or unfamiliar language, jargon, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of lingo¹

1650–60; apparently alteration of lingua (franca); compare Polari lingo “language”

Word History and Origins

Origin of lingo¹

C17: perhaps from _{lingua franca} ; compare Portuguese lingoa tongue

Example Sentences

He's poured a metaphorical can of Australian beer over the novel by converting Tolstoy's prose into a lingo that wouldn't sound out of place in the popular Aussie sitcom Kath & Kim.

Read more on BBC

When you started at Google in 2015, having just left Morgan Stanley, how confusing was the lingo, given your background in finance?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

If someone is using surfer lingo after the game — stoked! — you’ll know it was a good night for the Breakers.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A few of these reports have included amusing “to be sure” paragraphs, to use trade lingo: brief acknowledgments of some contrary argument or analogous trend.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In the healthcare and insurance lingo we’ve all been forced to learn and use in recent years, this was a “well visit.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• argot 
• jargon 
• patois 
• slang 
• vernacular 
• vocabulary