lingua franca 

1) A language used as vernacular for communication amongst many speakers of different languages, i.e. a creole.
2) An early version of this, a mix of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and other languages with Italian.
3) (British) The English variant used by many Asian immigrants, mixing English with Indian tongues like Gujarati, Urdu/Hindi, Sinhalese, etc.

1) Swahili is the lingua franca in East Africa. Millions of people who speak indigenous languages also speak it for communication.

lingua franca by derangedpoet October 9, 2003

lingua franca 

A commonly used language in a particular region.

English could be considered the lingua franca of the Internet, because it is on the majority of websites.

1337 5p34k has become the lingua franca of sorts of IRC and chat rooms.

lingua franca by junkyard prince October 10, 2003

lingua franca 

language of the masses

lingua franca by Anonymous October 8, 2003

lingua franca 

A language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.

Person 1: Bangering needs to become part of the Lingua Franca

Person 2: Wow, I completely agree that it should be more integrated into our daily word choice

lingua franca by BigPotOfHummus981 May 5, 2024

lingua franca 

A language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.

Person 1: Bangering needs to become part of the Lingua Franca

Person 2: Wow, I completely agree that it should be more integrated into our daily word choice

lingua franca by BigPotOfHummus981 May 5, 2024

lingua fracas 

1. The few words one knows in another language sufficient to start a fight.

2. A fight over the proper use of a word.

1. Bottom doesn’t speak Spanish; he only knows enough of the lingua fracas to get into trouble.

2. “ ‘Impact’ is a verb only in the lingua fracas.”
“You mean, like, when my fist impacts your face?”

lingua fracas by Bottom Ford May 1, 2010