Oklahoma City Builders Are Confused over `Smart Growth'.

Byline: Richard Mize

Dec. 30--Periphrasis, like halitosis, is a common affliction of the mouth.

Everyone's breath is bad occasionally. That's halitosis.

And we all stumble over our tongue sometimes while trying to get a point across. That's periphrasis: using many words where a few would do.

Halitosis is treated with mouthwash. There is no known remedy for periphrasis, which can easily metastasize into foot-in-mouth disease.

Home builders are in a periphrastic contest, what T.S. Eliot called the "intolerable wrestle with words and meanings."

The words are "smart growth." The meaning, as defined by the National Association …