Definition:
The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language to avoid getting to the point. Also known as periphrasis.
Etymology:
From the Latin, "talk around"Examples and Observations:
- "My compulsion to overwrite, for circumlocution, I can probably attribute to the ponies I read in the early grades, the lead-heavy prose I turned into even more tortured English in my Latin and Greek classes."
(Alexander Theroux, in "An Interview with Alexander Theroux," by Steven Moore, Review of Contemporary Fiction, Spring 1991) - "Federal Reserve Chairman] Greenspan went on to suggest raising the retirement age, though he slipped it in using his customary circumlocution: 'Another possible adjustment relates to the age at which Social Security and Medicare benefits will be provided. Under current law, and even with the so-called normal retirement age for Social Security slated to move up to 67 over the next two decades, the ratio of the number of years that the typical worker will spend in retirement to the number of years he or she works will rise in the long term.'
"In other words people are just living too long."
(Dan Ackman, "The Passion Of The Fed Chairman," Forbes, February 26, 2004) - "Mr. Ahmadinejad's habit of answering every question about Iranian policy with a question about American policy was clearly wearing on some of the members, but at the end they acknowledged that he was about as skillful an interlocutor as they had ever encountered. 'He is a master of counterpunch, deception, circumlocution,' Mr. Scowcroft said, shaking his head. Mr. Blackwill emerged from the conversation wondering how the United States would ever be able to negotiate with this Iranian government."
(David Sanger, "Iran's Leader Relishes 2nd Chance to Make Waves," The New York Times, September 21, 2006)
Pronunciation: sir-kum-low-KYU-shun
Also Known As: periphrasis
