Synonyms: Wordy

Blather is Middle English, from the Old Norse blaðra, meaning "to talk stupidly." It still means that, with the added sense that the stupidity is not limited to a few words, but goes on and on.

Discursive has two significantly different meanings. On the one hand, discursivus is Latin for "derived from reason or logic," and discursive can mean that. On the other hand, its root discurrere is a verb meaning "to run around" or "to wander," and that's the sense we use more often today: a statement or piece of writing that jumps around from subject to subject.

Probably from the Scandinavian gabba, meaning "to mock," gab appears to have entered English via France, where gaber had the same meaning but also extended to "jest" and "boast." From there, it entered Scottish dialect largely with the "brag" or "boast" sense, and quickly became a word for lots of talk — with the implication being that there was no action behind all those words. "The gift of gab" describes the ability to speak eloquently, and at great length.

Garrulus is a Latin adjective meaning "talkative." Its root verb Garrire means "to chatter." So a garrulous person might also be known as a "motor mouth" or a "chatty Cathy."

A speech or piece of writing that uses a lot of fancy words and a pompous tone can be described as grandiloquent. Bombastic has a similar meaning, but implies more volume and bluster. Rappers can be grandiloquent, and so can politicians, and anyone else who tries too hard to sound important.

Loqui is the Latin verb "to speak," seen in grandiloquent, above. Loquacious means "talkative," and is close in meaning to garrulous: a person who uses a whole lot of words to communicate very little.

Palaver is another term for lots of words in service of very little meaning. It likely originated in the Latin parabola, "parable," a short moral tale. The Portuguese descendant is palavra, meaning "word," or "speech," and from there it entered West African pidgin — combinations of native tongues and colonial languages that arose as a result of the slave trade — as palaver. Its original sense of relating to negotiations has faded somewhat.

If you've ever said something like "I myself personally feel, at this particular point in time right now..." then you've been guilty of pleonasm: using more words than you need to communicate an idea. The best part of pleonasm is that it's just one word filling in for "more words than needed."

Prolixus means "long" or "copious" in Latin, which became prolixe in Middle French and then made its way into English. Any speech or piece of writing that goes on for way too long can be called prolix, but it does not merely refer to the length; to qualify it must be painfully boring as well.

Rambling is very close in meaning to discursive. Imagine an animal wandering free, or better yet listen to Led Zeppelin's Ramble On or Bob Seger's Ramblin' Gamblin' Man. Neither song actually rambles — they're both pretty concise — but they both use the word to good effect, describing someone who can't stay in one spot. A rambling speech is all over the place, never sticking to one subject.

Redundant is the perfect word to describe anything that's excessive, unnecessary, or duplicate. In the U.K. redundant is used as a euphemism in the corporate world: instead of someone being laid off, the expression "was made redundant" is used. The spirit of the word is best summed up in the Firesign Theater's immortal "Department of Redundancy Department."

Anything that's tiresome, boring, or repetitive can be described as tedious, from the Latin taedium, which also gives us tedium, the noun for a state of bored drudgery. Tedious speech or writing, like prolix above, goes on for way too long.

Turgidus means "swollen" or "inflated" in Latin, and that should give you a good idea what turgid means when it comes to writing. Like grandiloquent, the word is excellent shorthand for language that's laughably overblown.

See the word verb there in verbose? Verbus means "word" in Latin, so verbose literally means "wordy." In writing, it describes something that's too long, sorely in need of editing, and in speech it means "long-winded" or "talkative."

Voluble comes from the Latin verb volvere, meaning, "to turn" or "to roll." So if someone starts talking and can't stop — going on and on, really getting on a roll — that person is voluble. It's worth noting that there's an association with fluency and proficiency here; while some of the words above describe clumsy, boring, or empty language, voluble describes someone who can really talk fluently at great length.