| 单词 | periphrastic |
| 例句 | periphrastic adjective •the periphrastic nature of legal syntax:circumlocutory, circuitous, roundabout, indirect, tautological, pleonastic, prolix, verbose, wordy, long-winded, rambling, wandering, tortuous, diffuse.WORD NOTE periphrastic A friend used to collect what he called middle-class circumlocutions—unnecessarily elongated phrases that English suburban bores once liked to employ to give them a friendlier, breezier tone than that for which they were normally known. So instead of asking for beer in the pub— A pint of the amber fluid, my man! Instead of calling for the bill—•What's the damage, old boy? . Rather than referring to my wife —please meet the little woman, or my better half. May I smoke in your house? Of course, dear fellow— it's Liberty Hall here. And this being Britain there were many self-deprecating versions of the form: of a brand-new car parked proudly on the gravel at the golf club— Oh yes, not a bad little bus, gets you from A to B. The term circumlocution for such a roundabout construction is a fair choice, of course; but technically the term in grammar is periphrasis (which merely derives from the Greek, while circumlocution is from the Latin), and periphrastic, so pleasantly complicated-sounding a word, is the adjective. It is vaguely similar in its sound, of course, to paraphrase —and since that word means "to expand in order to make clear," while periphrase in essence means "to expand in order to make slightly ridiculous," the close similarity in both sound and sense will serve to ensure that both uses are carefully chosen. Or so one hopes. — SWConversational, opinionated, and idiomatic, these Word Notes are an opportunity to see a working writer's perspective on a particular word or usage. |
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