periphrasis • \puh-RIFF-ruh-sis\ • noun
1 : use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression2 : an instance of periphrasis
Examples:
"There are countless passages of asinine periphrasis: 'The accelerant enzymes her image infuses in Bob create a chemical cocktail he can only counter with self-preservational condescension.' As these examples suggest, the book is only intermittently comprehensible." - James Marriott, The Times (London), 7 Apr. 2018"Literary translation is challenging, and tends to work best when the translator has recourse to the amplifying and telescoping powers of periphrasis, poetic license, and, if it comes to it, a discreet footnote here or there. Few of these tools are at the disposal of the cinematic translator." - Elias Muhanna, The New Yorker, 30 May 2014
I need this on a T-shirt and visible at all times.
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