What do you think of this sentence?

Expelling a veritable fireworks of sparks from its soot-encrusted smokestack, in a thunderous cacophony of metallic expostulations as the rusting and decrepit wheels ceased their turning, the wheels which had carried the ancient carriages through so many laborious uphill climbs and carefree downhill runs across the crenellated crest of the Continental Divide, the aged but valiant engine shuddered slowly to a halt along the deserted platform at the midpoint of its ultimate voyage.

If you think that it’s a rather extravagantly wordy way to say “The old train stopped at an abandoned station halfway through its last trip,” then you’d be correct – it is a rather grandiloquent passage. Grandiloquent means “elaborate, overly wordy.” The word comes from two Latin roots, grandis (“big”) and loquus (“speech”). Some synonyms for grandiloquent are bombastic and sesquipedalian, though these two terms are more often applied to the person using such language than to the speech itself.

While grandiloquent is a somewhat pejorative (meaning “derogatory, disparaging”) adjective, the word eloquent, which is very similar, is not. This word shares the same root loquus, along with the participle e- or ex- (“out”), with the underlying sense of “speaking out.” However, to be eloquent is not merely to be outspoken, but rather to be persuasive, well-spoken, and articulate, with the implication that the listeners will be affected by the speech, perhaps changing their minds about a previously-held position or decision.

Other words from the Latin root loquus include soliloquy (adding the root solus, “alone”), which is a speech in which an actor says out loud what they’re thinking, so that the audience can follow along; and loquacious, which means “talkative.”

What would you like us to talk about – briefly or at length – in future posts? Leave your suggestions in the comments.