circumlocution

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 15, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>circumlocution</strong> &#149; \ser-kum-loh-KYOO-shun\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> evasion in speech</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Yorgos Lanthimos' <em>The Favourite</em> is set in the early 18th century at the court of England's Queen Anne but don't expect any elaborate euphemisms and elegant <em>circumlocutions</em>.… [The] dialogue … cuts straight to the heart of things while frequently cutting to the quick, as well." — <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-favourite-review-a-new-kind-of-british-costume-drama-20181217-h197rg.html">Sandra Hall, <em>The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald</em>, 21 Dec. 2018</a></p> <p>"Every journalist has it drummed into them at an early age that you cannot end an article with the phrase 'time will tell,' which is why you often see <em>circumlocutions</em> in the concluding paragraph of features or opinion columns such as 'it remains to be seen' or 'the real test is yet to come.'" — John Rentoul, <em>The Independent</em> (London), 1 Aug. 2020</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>In <em>The King's English</em>, grammarian H. W. Fowler advised, "Prefer the single word to the circumlocution." Alas, that good advice was not followed by the framers of <em>circumlocution</em>. They actually used two terms in forming that word for unnecessarily verbose prose or speech. But their choices were apt; <em>circumlocution</em> derives from the Latin <em>circum-</em>, meaning "around," and <em>locutio</em>, meaning "speech"—so it literally means "roundabout speech." Since at least the early 16th century, English writers have used <em>circumlocution</em> with disdain, naming a thing to stop,