Circumlocution

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines “circumlocution” as, “the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea.  An evasion of speech.”  A third definition could be, “how guys in prison talk”.  Never in my life have I seen so many guys sitting around saying so much that amounts to so little (unless, of course, you include Congress!).

“It is what it is.”  Almost from the moment you set foot behind bars some pod Aristotle will utter those five simple words.  They are usually spoken after some dispute, some slight – real or imagined.  One party will call out the other, demand atonement, or an apology.  The second party will look, sneer, and then say, “It is what it is.”  In other words, it means absolutely nothing.

In my job as college tutor I spend a great deal of time cajoling guys into doing the right thing.  I play the role of in loco parentis (Latin pays off again!  I’m not a “loco” parent; I play the role of parent).  “You need to go to school.  This education will keep you from coming back.”  Over and over I’ve been met with, “Larry, it is what it is.”  They might as well say “F--- you.”

Guys talk like that because it’s easier saying that than admitting they’re too irresponsible or too scared, or lack too little self respect to try.  “It is what it is”, is just tired, empty, mindless chatter.

Not to be outdone, guys will also say, “You do you, and I’ll do me.”  That greasy little expression is used when someone does something incredibly stupid, like risking his college education to run a parlay sheet and make five dollars in stamps.

It means, in prison-speak, to live and let live.  “I’ll do me.”  So what if that leads to the building being shook down because some genius wants to smoke weed in the bathroom.  It’s the individual over the group no matter how stupid, harmful, or reckless the individual is.

Years ago, comedian Dennis Miller did a rift on wildebeests pushing the crazy loner out of the herd to be eaten by the lions.  Funny, but prison is made up of a lot of those crazy wildebeests.  Yet, in here all you have to say is “let me do me” and everything’s cool.  You don’t need to be responsible, just be you.

There’s a reason the English writer and poet John Dunne’s immortal words “no man is an island totally unto himself” resonate with the collective conscience.  We are our brother’s keeper.  We are collectively responsible.  We cannot “just do” our own thing.

It’s odd really.  We are a nation of individual rights and liberty yet none of that matters if we don’t collectively love our “neighbors as ourselves”.  It’s a lesson that prison-speak tries to ignore but it matters more to an individual’s – and society’s – ultimate success.

Inmates spend hours pontificating about “ultimate truth” (instead of working, getting an education, and atoning for their wrongs).  The ultimate truth, however, is right before their eyes:  we are in this together, not alone.