Word of the day: Pressology

The Word of the Day is Pressology, and it means using too many words when simple words are enough. The pronunciation of Pressology is “pe-ri-sah-lê-ji”. It is a noun, meaning it names a thing or idea. The first meaning of Pressology is verbosity or long-winded speech, according to Alpha Dictionary. The second meaning is pleonasm, which means using extra words that are not needed. An example of pleonasm is saying “to see with your own eyes,” because “see” already means using your eyes.

The adjective form of Pressology is “perissological”. A person who talks too much in this way can be called a “perissologist,” though it is rarely used, as mentioned by Alpha Dictionary. One example given is: “The speaker favored perissology and the avoidance of familiar words”. Another example describes someone talking so much that it becomes unbelievable, as shown in the Myna Bird example.

Origin of Pressology

The word Pressology was borrowed from the French word “périssologie”. The French word came from Late Latin “perissologia,” which means using more words than necessary. Late Latin borrowed the word from Ancient Greek “perissologia”.

Greek root and word history

The Greek word came from “perissologos,” which means speaking too much. The Greek word is made from two parts: “perissos” meaning redundant, and “logos” meaning word or speech. The word “logos” is also found in many English words like biology and geology. “Logos” comes from an old Indo-European root meaning “to gather,” which later meant law or word.

Words like legislature and loquacious are also connected to this old root. The word was recommended by someone named Ben Travato, as noted by Alpha Dictionary. Overall, Pressology is a useful word to describe speech that uses more words than needed. In simple terms, Pressology means “talking too much when you can say it in fewer words”.

FAQs

Q1. What does Pressology mean?

Pressology means using too many words when simple and fewer words are enough to explain something clearly.

Q2. What is the difference between Pressology and battology?

Pressology is about using extra words, while battology means repeating the same words again and again.