Vernacular Vernacular A vernacular, or vernacular language, is the language or variety of a language used in everyday life by the common people of a specific population. It is distinguished from a standard, national or literary language or a "lingua franca", used to facilitate communication across a large area. It is usually native, mostly spoken rather than written and usually seen as of lower status than more standardized forms. It can be a language, dialect or sociolect. Some linguists use "vernacular" and "nonstandard dialect" as synonyms. Usage of the word "vernacular" is not recent. In 1688, James Howell wrote: Concerning Italy,
The Evil of the Day The Evil of the Day The Evil of the Day is a novel by Thomas Sterling, published in 1955. The book is patterned after Ben Jonson's Elizabethan comedy "Volpone", and was later adapted for the stage by playwright Frederick Knott under the title of "Mr. Fox of Venice". Together, these three works formed the basis of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1967 film "The Honey Pot". As in "Volpone" a wealthy old man summons three old faces from his past to his villa in Venice promising to name one his heir. It departs from Johnson's work when one of his guests is