Jump to content
 Share

8 Comments

Recommended Comments

  • Popular Comment
Bill W

Bill W 46,123

Posted (edited)

  • Popular Comment

Circumlocution comes from two Latin root words: circum (around) and locution (to speak or speech).  It literally means: speaking in circles, going round and round in a wordy way without ever getting to the heart of the matter. 

Edited by Bill W
  • Like 6
  • Love 1
Bill W

Bill W 46,123

Posted

Synonyms for circumlocution are: diffuseness · euphemism · indirectness · periphrasis · roundabout · tautology · verbiage · wordiness · indirectness · repetitiveness · long-windedness. 

  • Like 4
  • Site Moderator
drpaladin

drpaladin 81,651

Posted

  • Site Moderator

I have to admit to enjoying leading folks on who employ circumlocution and excess verbage with simple and short responses. It's sort of like getting someone to swap $3.25 for a nickel.

  • Like 5
  • Site Moderator
drpaladin

drpaladin 81,651

Posted

  • Site Moderator
2 minutes ago, sandrewn said:

Just the facts

Should we dub you Sir Joe Friday, sandrewn?

  • Haha 5
  • Site Moderator
drpaladin

drpaladin 81,651

Posted (edited)

  • Site Moderator

Surprisingly, no one has yet coined circumlocation. And yet sometimes I've felt I've been circumlocating for a very long time.

Edited by drpaladin
  • Like 4
JamesSavik

JamesSavik 24,795

Posted

Most people are baffled by lawyers' circumlocution. Why use a few well-chosen words when a verbose word salad can confuse, intimidate or cover your ass? Sometimes it seems if they are paid by the word.

  • Like 3
CarlHoliday

CarlHoliday 3,299

Posted

The best synonym for circumlocution I could find is sesquipedalians or, for the more adventurous, sesquipedalianism. 

  • Like 4

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...