Circumlocution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Circumlocution, like its Greek counterpart periphrasis, is a figure of speech where the meaning of a word or phrase is indirectly expressed through several or many words. (Periphrasis is of Greek origin [περίφρασις < peri (περί) "about, around" + phrasis (φράσις) "speech, expression"], while circumlocution is Latin—both meaning "a roundabout manner of speaking".)
In linguistics, circumlocution is a device by which a grammatical concept is expressed by a phrase or standard idiom, instead of being shown by inflection, derivation or the use of non-content words. The pattern of the phrase is called a circumlocution, or alternatively a periphrastic construction. For example, the English future tense is periphrastic: it is formed with an auxiliary verb (will) followed by the base form of the main verb. The so-called compound tenses and all the modal expressions in English, as well as the passive voice, are also periphrastic.
In a more general sense, circumlocution and periphrasis mean describing a word with other words, for example: "scissors" = "a thing you use to cut other things". Circumlocution is often helpful while learning a new language, when one does not know the word for a particular thing. In the constructed language Basic English this is used to decrease the size of the necessary vocabulary.
Circumlocution also means replacing a word with another (or others), often in order to sound more polite, to avoid a controversial or trademarked term or to be ironic. In this context, see also euphemism.
The great writer Charles Dickens dedicated chapter 10 of Little Dorrit to writing about “The Circumlocution Office”. This is a reference to the inefficiencies within the British Government in the early 1800's.
