Language/English/Grammar/Verbosity-or-Circumlocution

Verbosity or Circumlocution

Verbosity (also called circumlocution) is often described as ‘beating about the bush’. It is a mistake (or even deliberately done!) and is caused by adding to the main point meaningless phrases or irrelevant words and details. Verbosity might seem similar to redundancy. However, there are significant differences and these will be analysed in a subsequent lesson.

The Causes of Circumlocution

In an attempt to expatiate on a statement, people might be tempted to begin a winded almost meaningless monologue. In circumlocution, concise words or groups of words are replaced with irrelevant phrases and sometimes clauses. It is important for a language learner intent on good fluent communication to desist from such errors. In order to achieve this, remember the saying ‘less is more’. It is therefore advisable to speak and write succinctly when possible.

Occasionally, complete succinctness without detracting from your intended meaning is not achievable. Factors in writing and speaking such as repetition, sentence length balance and the relative distribution of word types and grammar including nouns, gerunds, articles, verb tenses and prepositions also come into play. By not taking all these elements into account, your message can be qualitatively affected. Expressed statements could even be perceived as being rude.

When speaking, long-winded meaningless expressions are often used as "filler" - words to give the speak time to gather his/her thoughts. However, this type of language use is often abused by those trying to say as little in as many words as possible. Politicians immediately come to mind!

Examples of Sentences with Circumlocution

1. She said that the piece was not so interesting as far as the singing was concerned. (Verbose)
2. She said that the piece was sung quite boringly. (Concise)

1. A person who gardens frequently has adequate experience. (Verbose)
2. A practised gardener has adequate experience. (Concise)

1. In view of the recent development, the book needs to be revised. (Verbose)
2. Due to the recent development, the book needs to be revised. (Concise)

1. In accordance with his claim, the suspect maintained his plea. (Verbose)
2. The suspect maintained his previous claim and plea. (Concise)

1. In spite of the fact that I invited him, he didn’t show up. (Verbose)
2. Although I invited him, he didn’t show up. (Concise)

1. She was released on the grounds that her alibi was fool proof. (Verbose)
2. She was released because her alibi was fool proof. (Concise)

1. Due to the fact that the trends have changed, I refused to buy the bag. (Verbose)
2. Because of changing trends, I refused to buy the bag. (Concise)

In the above examples, irrelevant explanations have been added to the verbose sentences. As shown, these sentences can still be constructed to pass the message across without these unnecessary additions while maintaining the intended meaning without too much loss of information.

Note that verbosity can depend on communicative context. When rephrasing, you should be careful not to drop or change relevant information. Paraphrasing with synonyms or tweaking word forms or grammar might be required during this process.

Alternatives Table

Other verbose phrases include:

Verbose Phrase	Better Alternative
In respect of	As to
With the result that	So that / Therefore
To my knowledge and understanding	I know (that) / I understand (that) / I believe (that)
In view of	As regards / Regarding
In spite of the fact that	Although
Owing to the fact that	Because / Due to
On the grounds that	Because / Since

Summary

Circumlocution like its close relative tautology should be avoided at all cost.