Definition:
In rhetoric, a roundabout description of something; wordiness. A form of circumlocution, generally considered a stylistic vice. Adjective: periphrastic. See also the grammatical term periphrastic.
Etymology:
From the Greek, "talking around"Examples and Observations:
- "On the late Boston Transcript, a feature writer, with a fondness for using three words where one would do, once referred to bananas as 'elongated yellow fruit.' This periphrasis so fascinated Charles W. Morton . . . that he began collecting examples of 'Elongated Yellow Fruit' writing. Samples:
"In the New York Herald Tribune a beaver was almost incognito as 'the furry, paddle-tailed mammal.'
"To the Associated Press, Florida tangerines were 'that zipper-skinned fruit.'"
("Elongated Fruit," Time, Aug. 10, 1953) - "The periphrastic style is hardly possible on any considerable scale without much use of abstract nouns such as basis, case, character, connexion, dearth, description, duration, framework, lack, nature, reference, regard, respect. The existence of abstract nouns is a proof that abstract thought has occurred; abstract thought is a mark of civilized man; and so it has come about that periphrasis and civilization are by many held to be inseparable. These good people feel that there is an almost indecent nakedness, a reversion to barbarism, in saying No news is good news instead of The absence of intelligence is an indication of satisfactory developments. Nevertheless, The year's penultimate month is not in truth a good way of saying November.
"Strings of nouns depending on one another and the use of compound prepositions are the most conspicuous symptoms of the periphrastic malady, and writers should be on the watch for these in their own composition."
(H.W. Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, rev. by Ernest Gowers. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1965)
Pronunciation: per-IF-fra-sis
Also Known As: circumlocution
