古语是一个词或短语（或一个词或短语的特定含义），不再常用，被认为是非常过时的。

词源：来自希腊语，“古代，开始”

发音：ARE-kay-i-zem

也称为：词汇僵尸

语法古语是在大多数方言中不再常用的句子结构或语序。

语言学家汤姆·麦克阿瑟（Tom McArthur）指出，文学古语是“当一种风格模仿旧作品，以恢复早期实践或达到预期效果时”出现的

例子

• “老人举起斧头，把约翰·乔尔·格兰顿的头劈成两半。”（来源：科马克·麦卡锡，《血子午线》，1985年）
• “[Nick Faldo]用一种活泼、简洁、睿智的方言说话，将街头的俏皮话与扎实的分析结合在一起。他的词汇中充满了好奇的古语——“吉普赛人”、“面包屑”、“天哪”和古怪的旁白。”（来源：Jason Cowley，“Nick的第二次来临”。《卫报》，2006年10月1日）

19世纪的古语

"We do not have to go back as far as Elizabethan English or the Middle Ages to encounter archaisms. Here are some from the Victorian and Edwardian eras: beastly (as in 'so beastly critical') blest, deuced (if I know) capital! (as an exclamation of delight) very civil (of you) confound you! damnable cheek guv'nor luncheon pray (come in) (you) rotter spiffing And might we not say that daddy-o is an archaism, even though it was alive and well in the 1960s?" (Source: David Crystal, Words, Words, Words. Oxford University Press, 2006)

20世纪古语

“在这些技术古语中，我不得不向收听的孩子们解释什么是‘唱片’，为什么他们称之为‘拨号’电话，事实是，很久以前，音乐家们用他们的歌曲制作小电影，人们会在电视上观看。”，“醒来，闻闻你银行账户里的猫粮。”时代杂志，2007年5月2日）

东西

"It is rather odd to see that the OED [Oxford English Dictionary] defines the word care as 'some kind of stuff.' "This seems at first glance to be a rather nonspecific definition to find in what is arguably the greatest dictionary ever created. But it is actually very specific—just a bit archaic. The word stuff has had a variety of meanings through the ages, and at the time that this definition was written, in 1888, it referred to (among other things) 'a woollen fabric' or 'material for the gown worn by a junior counsel.'" (Source: Ammon Shea, "Dated Definitions." The New York Times, Aug. 12, 2009)

古语与语域

"It should be added . . . that there is a problem with the identification of archaism, since 'archaisms' are sometimes not archaic in the register in which they are used. For example, 'thee' and 'thou' are not archaic forms in a certain type of poetic register; they are archaic only in relation to our contemporary day-to-day speech. Thus the use of an archaism can be interpreted as either conforming to a register or looking back to the past (or both). . . . Only by using a dictionary such as the OED, which is a historical dictionary, giving the meanings of words over time, will you be able to find out whether certain words were current or archaic at the time of writing."​ ​ (Source: Martin Montgomery et al., Ways of Reading: Advanced Reading Skills for Students of English Literature, 3rd ed. Routledge, 2007)

古语较轻的一面

弗兰克·罗西塔诺：哟，托盘，我们有个问题。

特蕾西·乔丹担任托马斯·杰斐逊总统：请问，你说的这个特蕾西·乔丹是谁？

弗兰克：呃，杰斐逊总统，我们有个问题。

特蕾西：说吧。

弗兰克·罗西塔诺：那匹马吃掉了你的假发。

特蕾西：好吧，站在他的屁股旁边，在他的粪便中等待它。（来源：犹大·弗里德兰德和特蕾西·摩根在《企业粉碎》中，2007年《摇滚乐》第30期）