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The long, long trail a-winding: Circumlocution

Bournemouth was on Monday night thrown into a state of most unusual gloom and sorrow by the sad news that the Rev A M Bennett – who for the last 34 years has had charge of St Peter’s Church and parish, and who has exercised so wonderful an influence in the district – had breathed his last, and that the voice which only about a week previously had been listened to by a huge congregation at St Peter’s was now hushed in the stillness of death . . .

Lymington Chronicle, January 22, 1880

When a writer or speaker fills you with the urge to shout ‘Get on with it!’, he or she is probably committing the sin of circumlocution – roundabout speech or writing, or using a lot of words when a few will do. In most of today’s newspapers the prose above would be a collector’s item.

Politicians, of course, are notable circumlocutionists; perhaps it’s an instinct to confuse, to prevent them from being pinned down. A few years ago a British political leader went on television to explain his attitude to the introduction of a single currency for all countries in the European Community.

Before you continue reading, you should probably find a comfortable seat . . .

No, I would not be signing up: I would have been making, and would be making now, a very strong case for real economic convergence, not the very limited version which the Conservatives are offering, so we understand, of convergence mainly of inflation rates, important though that is, but of convergence across a range of indicators – base rates, deficits and, of course, unemployemt – together with a number of indexes of what the real performance of economics are . . .

(Perhaps a brief tea-break would be in order here.)

. . . the reason I do that and the reason why that is an argument that must be won before there is any significant achievement of union is not only a British reason, although it is very important to us, it is a European Community reason: if we were to move towards an accomplished form of union over a very rapid timetable without this convergence taking place it would result in a two-speed Europe, even to a greater extent than now – fast and slow, rich and poor – and the fragmentation of the Community, which is the very opposite of what those people who most articulate the view in favour of integration and union really want; when I put that argument to my colleagues in, for instance, the Federation of Socialist Parties, many of whom form the governments in the EC, there is a real understanding and agreement with that point of view . . .

So what, precisely, might the gentleman have been hoping to convey? Probably this:

I do not want a single European currency until various other factors affecting the question have been dealt with. The factors are these . . .

A former US President, George Bush, was famous for his bemusing circumlocution, as in this speech defending his accomplishments:

I see no media mention of it, but we entered in – you asked what time it is and I’m telling you how to build a watch here – but we had Boris Yeltsin in here the other day, and I think of my times campaigning in Iowa, years ago, and how there was a – I single out Iowa, it’s kind of an international state in a sense and has a great interest in all these things – and we had Yeltsin standing here in the Rose Garden, and we entered into a deal to eliminate the biggest and most threatening ballistic missiles . . . and it was almost, ‘Ho-hum, what have you done for me recently?’

Circumlocution (also called periphrasis) typically employs long words, often incorrectly or inappropriately, and probably derives from a need to sound learned (a policeman referring to a bomb as an explosive device) or a desire not to offend (asking, for example, ‘I wonder if you would mind awfully moving to one side’ instead of the more direct ‘Get out of my way!’. Some forms of circumlocution may be excusable, but most are due to unthinking use of jargon and clichés in place of more precise (and usually briefer) expressions. Typical is the use of with the exception of for except; with reference to/regard to/respect to for about; for the very good reason that for because, and so on.

To avoid being accused of circumlocution, stick to the point! If you intend to drive from London to Manchester in the most direct way possible you’d hardly wander off every motoway exit and then dither about along country lanes. The same principle applies to effective communication.

It also pays to be aware of persistent offenders – circumlocutory phrases many of us are inclined to utter when the exact, simple word we want fails to turn up. Here’s a short list.

The Circumlocutionist’s Lexicon

apart from the fact that – but, except

as a consequence of – because of

as yet – yet

at the time of writing – now/at present

at this moment/point in time – now/at present

avail ourselves of the privilege – accept

be of the opinion that – think, believe

because of the fact that – because

beg to differ – disagree

by means of – by

by virtue of the fact that – because

consequent upon – because of

consonant with – agreeing/matching

could hardly be less propitious – is bad/unfortunate/unpromising

due to the fact that – because

during such time as – while

during the course of – during

except for the fact that – except/but

few in number – few

for the reason that/for the very good reason that – because

give up on (it) – give up

go in to bat for – defend/help/represent

in accordance with – under

in addition to which – besides

in a majority of cases – usually

in all probability – probably

in anticipation of – expecting

inasmuch as – since

in association with – with

in close proximity to – near

in connection with – about

in consequence of – because of

in contradistinction to – compared to/compared with

in excess of – over/more than

in isolation – alone

in less than no time – soon/quickly

in many cases/instances – often

in more than one instance – more than once

in order to – to

in respect of – about/concerning

in spite of the fact that – although/even though

in the absence of – without

in the amount of – for

in the event that – if

in the light of the fact that – because

in the near future – soon

in the neighbourhood of/in the vicinity of – near/about

in the recent past – recently

in view of/in view of the fact that – because

irrespective of the fact that – although

large in size/stature – large/big

make a recommendation that – recommend that

nothing if not – very

notwithstanding the fact that – even if

of a delicate nature/character – delicate

of a high order – high/great/considerable

of the opinion that – think/believe

on account of the fact that – because

on a temporary basis – temporary/temporarily

on the grounds that – because

on the part of – by

owing to the fact that – because

pink/purple/puce, etc in colour – pink/purple/puce, etc

prior to – before

provide a contribution to – contribute to/help

regardless of the fact that – although

subsequent to – after

there can be little doubt that – no doubt, clearly

there is a possibility that – possibly/perhaps

to the best of my knowledge and belief – as far as I know/I believe

until such time as – until

with a view to – to

with reference to – about

with regard to – about

with respect to – about/concerning

with the exception of – except

People prone to pompous long-windedness can be gently reminded of their sins by quoting to them a well-known nursery rhyme rewritten in circumlocutory style:

Observe repeatedly the precipitate progress of a trio of sightless rodents: together they coursed apace on the heels of the agriculturalist’s consort, who summarily disjoined their caudal appendages with a cutler’s handiwork. One had never witnessed such mirth in one’s existence as the incident involving those hemeralopic and nyctalopic mammals.

The rhyme is, of course, Three Blind Mice.