Why “grandiloquy” is a great word
GRANDILOQUY — [Noun] A style or manner of speaking that is lofty, pompous, or bombastic. Probably from post-classical Latin grandiloquium, from Latin grandiloquus ("grandiloquent"), from grandis ("grand, great") + loqui ("to speak"). Unlike eloquence, which persuades with a river's grace, or terseness, which cuts with a blade's economy, grandiloquy is speech swollen with self-regard, mistaking magnitude for meaning. It is the politician's oration unfurling like a vast, empty flag, the gilded frame grown so heavy it obliterates the modest picture within, and the thunderous crescendo reaching for an unearned apotheosis—the ornate, echoing armor we don when we fear the substance underneath is small.