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periphrasis
Feb. 16th, 2015 07:55 amperiphrasis (puh-RIF-ruh-sis) - n., the use of an unnecessarily long or roundabout form of expression, circumlocution; an expression so phrased.
Such as "I am going to" instead of "I will," or "my father's father" instead of "grandfather." Which is not to say this isn't functional -- sometimes, the longer form is being used to reduce ambiguity, and many definitions in the dictionary are essentially periphrases (note plural form). And sometimes it's being done with euphemisms or to create innuendo. But often, it's someone just being wordy and walking around the statement, to unpack the original Greek meaning: peri, around + phrasein, to express/declare.
---L.
Such as "I am going to" instead of "I will," or "my father's father" instead of "grandfather." Which is not to say this isn't functional -- sometimes, the longer form is being used to reduce ambiguity, and many definitions in the dictionary are essentially periphrases (note plural form). And sometimes it's being done with euphemisms or to create innuendo. But often, it's someone just being wordy and walking around the statement, to unpack the original Greek meaning: peri, around + phrasein, to express/declare.
---L.
