Knowing what a word means is key to using it correctly. If you use the expression “work colleagues”, what you’re really saying is that that you don’t know what “colleagues” means.
Here’s the definition of “colleague”‘” from the Macquarie Dictionary:
an associate in office, professional work etc.
More simply, colleague means “someone you work with”. So you don’t need to add “work” to the front — there is no such thing as a non-work colleague.
Here’s a recent and far from atypical example from the Craven Herald & Pioneer:
WORK colleagues Andrew Leverton and Craig Pickles have set themselves an impressive ‘tower to tower’ challenge – to cycle 470 miles from Blackpool Tower to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
“WORK” is redundant here. They’re not family colleagues, after all.
You wouldn’t write “female woman” or “family relative” or “canine dog”, so don’t write “work colleague” either. Accuracy matters.
Mind Your Language is an occasional series where I provide nit-picking advice on writing. Language always changes and evolves, but that doesn’t mean anything goes.
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