Periphrasis

Periphrasis (Greek, 'a speaking around') is the figure by which a speaker substitutes a longer descriptive phrase for a single word. 'The finny tribe' for fish. 'The Bard of Avon' for Shakespeare. 'Our feathered friends' for birds. When done well, periphrasis heightens tone, avoids repetition, or introduces a fresh angle on the referent. When done badly, it produces the bloated diction that Orwell attacked in 'Politics and the English Language'.

The figure has several legitimate uses. In poetry, it supplies metrical flexibility and elevated tone. In diplomacy, it softens claims that a direct statement would make too blunt. In taboo domains — death, sex, bodily function — it provides the vast family of euphemisms by which the culture speaks about what it will not name.

The corresponding vice is verbosity — periphrasis without purpose. 'At this moment in time' for 'now'; 'in the vicinity of' for 'near'; 'for the reason that' for 'because'. The test: if the shorter word would carry the same meaning and register, the periphrasis is a fault.

For writers, the rule is to reserve periphrasis for moments in which the extra words earn their keep — because they raise the tone, avoid a repeated word, or introduce a fresh image — and to prosecute mercilessly the periphrases that are merely padding.