The paper draws attention to the discrepancy between norms described in linguistic books (grammar books, dictionaries and language consulting books) and usage.Part of the reason for this discrepancy is the increasingly stronger influence of media on the speech of young people (and other speakers of the Croatian language), but other influences are discussed too.Among them, the problem of the non-distinction of functional styles in the concrete speech situation is isolated.The analysis is based on the materials gathered in the last ten years, and examples are presented at all levels of language.Key words: the Croatian language, standard Croatian language, usage, functional styles, aberrations from the linguistic norm Govorimo hrvatski (We Speak Croatian), a daily radio show which has been broadcasted for several years now, often features a number of queries related to differences in language realizations in different social situations.It is not necessary to be a linguist to observe that discrepancy.In fact, it is not even necessary to be a native speaker of the Croatian language, because even a non-native speaker proficient in the Croatian language can see that in everyday speech, native speakers do not necessary follow linguistic rules.There are differences in pronunciation, linguistic constructions, lexicon, etc.Even the first generations of Croatian immigrants, who use Croatian when talking to each other, see the influence of their new language, for example English, which they use in everyday situations.There are many reasons for these linguistic differences.To explain them, one should understand the meaning of terms such as language, standard language, usage, dialect and functional style.