Improving Your Style Through Diction, Part 18: Periphrasis

I am a big fan of using one word to replace two or more. I would rather write, "Call me to get a parking permit" (7 words) than "Call me in order to get a parking permit" (9 words), or "You have passed the manager's test" (6 words) than "We are informing you that you have passed the manager's test" (11 words), or "I request your help" (4 words) than "I am writing to request your help" (7 words).

At times, however, an extra word can add emphasis to writing. Take the case of periphrasis, the use of multiple words to convey the meaning of a single word, usually in place of a prefix (a meeting before the conference instead of a pre-conference meeting) or a suffix (he is more wise than I thought instead of he is wiser than I thought). 

Here are some examples of when periphrasis might have greater impact than its more concise version:

• Ana did attend all workshop sessions, so she should get a completion certificate. (The words did attend give more emphasis than attended.)
• Beatriz won't admit it, but she did go to Mardi Gras during the pandemic. (In using did go rather than went, the writer applies greater contrast between the claim and the denial.)
• Corazón is the most kind person I met during that difficult time. (Most kind seems even more superlative than kindest because of the otherwise difficult time the writer was having.) 

Needless to say, avoid periphrasis when the extra words are meaningless: Let's meet is better than Let's have a meeting; We need to agree is better than We need to arrive at an agreement; and You must decide is better than You must make a decision.