Crossword clues for circumlocution
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Circumlocution \Cir`cum*lo*cu"tion\, n. [L. circumlocutio, fr. circumloqui, -locutus, to make use of circumlocution; circum + loqui to speak. See Loquacious.] The use of many words to express an idea that might be expressed by few; indirect or roundabout language; a periphrase.
the plain Billingsgate way of calling names . . . would
save abundance of time lost by circumlocution.
--Swift.
Circumlocution office, a term of ridicule for a governmental office where business is delayed by passing through the hands of different officials.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1400, from Latin circumlocutionem (nominative circumlocutio) "a speaking around" (the topic), from circum- "around" (see circum-) + locutionem (nominative locutio) "a speaking," noun of action from past participle stem of loqui "to speak" (see locution). A loan-translation of Greek periphrasis (see periphrasis).
Wiktionary
n. 1 A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea. 2 A roundabout expression. See also euphemism
WordNet
n. a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things [syn: periphrasis, ambage]
an indirect way of expressing something [syn: indirect expression]
Wikipedia
Circumlocution (also called circumduction, circumvolution, periphrasis, or ambage) is locution that circles around a specific idea with multiple words rather than directly evoking it with fewer and apter words. It is sometimes a necessary tool of communication (for example, in getting around lexical gaps to overcome untranslatability), but it is also often a flaw in communication (for example, when it is a figure of speech that is unnecessarily ambiguous and obscure). Ambiguity means that information can have multiple meanings. Roundabout speech refers to using many words (such as "a tool used for cutting things such as paper and hair") to describe something for which a concise (and commonly known) expression exists (" scissors"). The vast majority of definitions found in dictionaries are circumlocutory. Circumlocution is often used by aphasics and people learning a new language, where in the absence of a word (such as "abuelo" [grandfather] in Spanish) the subject can simply be described ("el padre de su padre" [the father of one's father]). Euphemism, innuendo, and equivocation are different types of ambiguous and roundabout language, also called circumlocution.
Usage examples of "circumlocution".
Let him explain now, quickly and without circumlocution, if he really wishes my pardon, why, after going to Nurnberg to marry a bag of gold, containing a few millions, he has now returned to Berlin.
At last, however, I summoned up courage to say, with a great deal of circumlocution, that I did not know whether Lord Pembroke had deceived me in informing me that I should find the prettiest girls in London at his house.
Tolkien himself provided, introducing unattested idioms or long circumlocutions where necessary to work around gaps in the Tolkien-made vocabulary?
Often and often she felt that she could have leaped out towards the person talking to her, that she could have cried to him to put away his circumlocutions, his forms and his trivialities, and to let her see and feel what he really was.
But you can see it in the circumlocutions which researchers use to talk about killing animals.
All that circumlocution, those hints at an enemy, at secrecy and discretion, that had been a pointer.
With mysterious gesticulations, he intimated hesitatingly and yet impatiently, with much bashful circumlocution, that he knew of a solace, of complete wisdom which was there for every earnest seeker.
Quenya, unlike English, does have a true perfect tense a unitary form of the verb that expresses this meaning, without circumlocutions and extra verbs.
In this as in other matters, people who want to write in Quenya face a difficult choice: Should we try to make the language work using solely the words Tolkien himself provided, introducing unattested idioms or long circumlocutions where necessary to work around gaps in the Tolkien-made vocabulary?
The trick of writing dialogue is to make it look natural, but without all the hesitations and circumlocutions and other wasted words that each of us uses in our everyday speech.
In general, she concluded, my mode of operation in this second enterprise must be contrary to my first's: on the one hand, direct instead of indirect -- no circuities, circumlocutions, reflections, or ruses -- on the other, rather passive than active: beyond a certain point I must permit things to come to me instead of adventuring to them.
Yet the more he studied it with its magistrates' court circumlocutions, the more interested he was by ITS it.
The marquis's mistress took hold of my arm, and told me, without any circumlocution, that I had the reputation of being inconstant, and by way of reply I observed politely that I was wrongfully accused, but that if there was any ground for the remark it was because I had never served so sweet a lady as herself.
I detest euphemisms and circumlocutions, and I am acquainted with all the verbs, including those of the argots, which mean to cause the death of.
Lieutenant Commander Dallish, when he appeared in her office shortly after debarking from the Security shuttle, apologized for his earlier circumlocutions.