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I am reading Post Office by Charles Bukowski. The writing style of the book is quite conversational and colloquial. This sentence came up in the book.

I think he wanted to use the word “hygienics” somewhere but it simply wasn’t in him.

It sounds a little off to me. I think a "there" is omitted.

I think he wanted to use the word “hygienics” somewhere but it simply wasn’t there in him.

This sounds a lot better to me.

Is it often omitted in coloquial speech?

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    There is no reason for the word there to be in that sentence. Consider "The cat is in the box." That's the more natural way to say it. You could say "The cat is there in the box" but there isn't any particular reason to add it.
    – stangdon
    Jun 25, 2021 at 11:19

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No, it isn't particularly colloquial. Not to have it in one to do something is an established idiom - see this

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