The article describes issues on the communicative and pragmatic features of colloquial words in newspaper style. At present, the main source of updating the literary norm is the mass media, including periodicals. It actively responds to the events of each day and thereby reflects changes in the vocabulary of the language. As we know, the newspaper style is currently characterized by a irony, emotional intensity and expressiveness, which makes the language of journalism mobile, subtly responsive to situations in society. At the same time, the opposite phenomena are also observed - the loss of literary purity and a general decline in the style of the mass press. Consequently, while selecting lexical means, a journalist must remember that he/she is responsible for the future of the language, for developing the language taste of readers.