Periphrasis (noun)Pronounced:
puh-RIFF-ruh-sis
Definition:
The use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression
Example Sentence:
Fearing Susan would arrive to her surprise party before the guests, John tried to stall her with a periphrasis-filled description of his day.
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It’s happened to the best of us. We were asked to write 10-page paper, but could only come up with three pages worth of material. So after adjusting the margins and switching the font to Courier New, we tried another tactic: periphrasis.
If you choose to employ this form of writing, be forewarned: professors are on to your game.
And they really, really, really hate that. Yep they do. They hate that. They hate paragraphs that go on, and on, and on, and on, and on, saying a lot of words, but really saying absolutely, positively nothing. Zilch. Nada. Zero information. Yep, they hate that. They really, really, really do.
If you have nothing left to say, stop writing. Don’t write any more. Not one more word. Just stop.
It’s in really, really, really poor taste, and people will become bored and exhausted and tired and increasingly frustrated by your long, overdrawn, rambling that goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on …
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Definition and pronunciation taken from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
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