Roundabout vs Indirect - What's the difference?
roundabout | indirect |
Indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary.
* 1896 , , From Whose Bourne , ch. 9:
* 1921 , , Indiscretions of Archie , ch. 17:
* 2001 Dec. 3, , "
* 2011 , Golgotha Press (ed.), 50 Classic Philosophy Books , ISBN 9781610425957,
Encircling; enveloping; comprehensive.
* 1706 , , Of the Conduct of the Understanding , item 3.3:
(chiefly, UK, New Zealand, and, Australia) A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island
(chiefly, British) A children's play apparatus, often found in parks, which rotates around a central axis when pushed.
A fairground carousel.
A detour
A short, close-fitting coat or jacket worn by men or boys, especially in the 19th century.
Not direct; roundabout; deceiving; setting a trap; confusing.
* '>citation
As adjectives the difference between roundabout and indirect
is that roundabout is indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary while indirect is not direct; roundabout; deceiving; setting a trap; confusing.As a noun roundabout
is (chiefly|uk|new zealand|and|australia) a road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island.roundabout
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- [S]he fled, running like a deer, doubling and turning through alleys and back streets until by a very roundabout road she reached her own room.
- "Really, Bill, I think your best plan would be to go straight to father and tell him the whole thing.—You don't want him to hear about it in a roundabout way."
Rather Reports Another War," New York Times (retrieved 3 April 2014):
- Mr. Rather flew to the area in a roundabout fashion, first landing in Bahrain, from there flying to Islamabad and then heading to Kabul by land.
(Google preview):
- Descartes is compelled to fall back upon a curious roundabout argument to prove that there is a world. He must first prove that God exists, and then argue that God would not deceive us into thinking that it exists when it does not.
- The third sort is of those who readily and sincerely follow reason, but for want of having that which one may call a large, sound, roundabout sense, have not a full view of all that relates to the question.
Derived terms
* roundaboutlyNoun
(en noun)Derived terms
* mini-roundaboutSynonyms
* (road junction) traffic circle, rotarySee also
* swings and roundaboutsindirect
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- Indirect' messages permit communicative contacts when,
without them, the alternatives would be total inhibition, si-
lence, and solitude on the one hand, or, on the other, com-
municative behavior that is direct, offensive, and hence
forbidden. This is a painful choice. In actual practice, neither
alternative is likely to result in the gratification of personal or
sexual needs. In this dilemma, ' indirect communications pro-
vide a useful compromise. As an early move in the dating
game, the young man might invite the young woman to dinner
or to the movies. These communications are polyvalent: both
the invitation and the response to it have several "levels" of
meaning. One is the level of the overt message—that is,
whether they will have dinner together, go to a movie, and so
forth. Another, more covert, level pertains to the question of
sexual activity: acceptance of the dinner invitation implies
that sexual overtures might perhaps follow. Conversely, rejec-
tion of the invitation means not only refusal of companionship
for dinner but also of the possibility of further sexual explora-
tion. There may be still other levels of meaning. For example,
acceptance of the dinner invitation may be interpreted as a
sign of personal or sexual worth and hence grounds for
increased self-esteem, whereas its rejection may mean the
opposite and generate feelings of worthlessness.
