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A euphemism is the substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener;[1] or in the case of doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for the speaker. It also may be a substitution of a description of something or someone rather than the name, to avoid revealing secret, holy, or sacred names to the uninitiated, or to obscure the identity of the subject of a conversation from potential eavesdroppers. Some euphemisms are intended to be funny.

Contents

Usage

When a phrase is used as a euphemism, it often becomes a metaphor whose literal meaning is dropped. Euphemisms may be used to hide unpleasant or disturbing ideas, even when the literal term for them is not necessarily offensive. This type of euphemism is used in public relations and politics, where it is sometimes called doublespeak. Public relations (PR is the practice of managing the flow of Information between an Organization and its Publics Public relations - often referred Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Doublespeak (sometimes double talk) is language constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. Sometimes, using euphemisms is equated to politeness. Politeness is best expressed as the practical application of good Manners or Etiquette. There are also superstitious euphemisms, based (consciously or subconsciously) on the idea that words have the power to bring bad fortune (for example, not speaking the word "cancer"; see Etymology and Common examples below) and religious euphemisms, based on the idea that some words are sacred, or that some words are spiritually imperiling (taboo; see Etymology and Religious euphemisms below). A taboo is a strong Social prohibition (or ban) against words objects actions or discussions that are considered undesirable or offensive by a group culture

Etymology

The word euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemo, meaning "auspicious/good/fortunate speech/kind" which in turn is derived from the Greek root-words eu (ευ), "good/well" + pheme (φήμη) "speech/speaking". Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The eupheme was originally a word or phrase used in place of a religious word or phrase that should not be spoken aloud; etymologically, the eupheme is the opposite of the blaspheme (evil-speaking). Blasphemy is the disrespectful use of the name of one or more gods. The primary example of taboo words requiring the use of a euphemism are the unspeakable names for a deity, such as Persephone, Hecate, or Nemesis. In Greek mythology, Persephone ( Kore or Cora) was the embodiment of the Earth's fertility at the same time that she was the Queen of the Underworld Hecate ( Greek: Ἑκάτη, "far-shooting") Hekate ( Hekátê Nemesis (in Greek,) also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia ("the Goddess of Rhamnous " at her sanctuary at

Historical linguistics has revealed traces of taboo deformations in many languages. Historical linguistics (also called diachronic linguistics) is the study of language change Several are known to have occurred in Indo-European languages, including the original Proto-Indo-European words for bear (*rtkos), wolf (*wlkwos), and deer (originally, hart; the deformation likely occurred to avoid confusion with heart). The grey wolf or gray wolf ( Canis lupus) also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is a Mammal of the order Carnivora A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. In different Indo-European languages, each of these words has a difficult etymology because of taboo deformations—a euphemism was substituted for the original, which no longer occurs in the language. Etymology is the study of the History of Words &mdash when they entered a language from what source and how their form and meaning have changed over time An example is the Slavic root for bear—*medu-ed-, which means "honey eater". One example in English is "donkey" replacing the old Indo-European-derived word "ass". The donkey or ass, Equus asinus, is a member of the Equidae or horse family and an odd-toed ungulate. The word "dandelion" (lit. , tooth of lion, referring to the shape of the leaves) is another example, being a substitute for pissenlit, meaning "the color of urine".

In some languages of the Pacific, using the name of a deceased chief is taboo. Amongst indigenous Australians, it is forbidden to use the name, image, or audio-visual recording of the deceased, so that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation now publishes a warning to indigenous Australians when using names, images or audio-visual recordings of people who have died[2]. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly abbreviated to the 'ABC' is Australia's national public broadcaster.

Since people are often named after everyday things, this leads to the swift development of euphemisms. These languages have a very high rate of vocabulary change. (Dyen, Isidore, A. T. James & J. W. L. Cole. 1967. Language divergence and estimated word retention rate. Language 43/1: 150-171. )

In a similar manner, classical Chinese texts were expected to avoid using characters contained within the name of the currently ruling emperor as a sign of respect. In these instances, the relevant ideographs were replaced by homophones. While this practice creates an additional wrinkle for anyone attempting to read or translate texts from the classical period, it does provide a fairly accurate means of dating the documents under consideration.

The common names of illicit drugs, and the plants used to obtain them, often undergo a process similar to taboo deformation, because new terms are devised in order to discuss them secretly in the presence of others. This process often occurs in English (e. g. speed or crank for meth). It occurs even more in Spanish, e. g. the deformation of names for cannabis: mota (lit. , "something which moves" on the black market), replacing grifa (lit. , "something coarse to the touch"), replacing marihuana (a female personal name, María Juana), replacing cañamo (the original Spanish name for the plant, derived from the Latin genus name Cannabis). All four of these names are still used in various parts of the Hispanophone world, although cañamo ironically has the least underworld connotation, and is often used to describe industrial hemp, or legitimate medically-prescribed cannabis.

The "Euphemism Treadmill"

Euphemisms often evolve over time into taboo words themselves, through a process described by W.V.O. Quine, and more recently dubbed the "euphemism treadmill" by Steven Pinker. The original meaning of the adjective profane (from the Latin for "in front of or outside the Temple " was to refer to items not belonging to the church Willard Van Orman Quine (June 25 1908 Akron, Ohio &ndash December 25 2000 (known to intimates as "Van" Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18 1954 is a prominent Canadian - American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and author (cf. Gresham's Law in economics). Gresham's law is commonly stated "Bad money drives out good Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. This is the well-known linguistic process known as pejoration. In diachronic (or historical linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word.

Words originally intended as euphemisms may lose their euphemistic value, acquiring the negative connotations of their referents. In some cases, they may be used mockingly and become dysphemisms. In Language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation" and cacophemism

For example, the term "concentration camp," to describe camps used to house civilian prisoners in close (concentrated) quarters, was used by the British during the Second Boer War, primarily because it sounded bland and inoffensive. Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people commonly in large groups without trial See also First Boer War,, South African Wars (1879-1915 The Second Boer War ( Dutch: Tweede Boerenoorlog, Afrikaans: However, after the Third Reich used the expression to describe its death camps, the term gained enormous negative connotation. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Extermination camps were two types of facilities that Nazi Germany built during World War II for the systematic killing of millions of people in what has become

Also, in some versions of English, "toilet room," itself a euphemism, was replaced with "bathroom" and "water closet", which were replaced with "restroom" and "W. C. " These are also examples of euphemisms which are geographically concentrated: the term "restroom" is rarely used outside of the U.S.A. and "W. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the C. ", where before it was quite popular in Britain, is passing out of favour and becoming more popular in France. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

Connotations easily change over time. "Idiot," "imbecile," and "moron" were once neutral terms for an adult of toddler, preschool, and primary school mental ages. Idiot is a word derived from the Greek, idiōtēs ("person lacking professional skill" "a private citizen" "individual" from Mental retardation is a generalized triarchic disorder characterized by subaverage cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age Origin and uses Moron was originally an English scientific term coined in 1910 by Psychologist Henry H Toddler is a common term for a young Child who is learning to walk or "toddle", generally considered to be the second stage of development after infancy See also Primary education A primary school (from French école primaire) is an institution where children receive the first stage of Compulsory Mental age is a controversial concept in Psychometrics. It is an Intelligence test score expressed as the chronological age for which a given level of performance [3] As with Gresham's law, negative connotations tend to crowd out neutral ones, so the phrase mentally retarded was pressed into service to replace them. Gresham's law is commonly stated "Bad money drives out good Mental retardation is a generalized triarchic disorder characterized by subaverage cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age [4] Now that too is considered rude, used commonly as an insult of a person, thing, or idea. As a result, new terms like "developmentally disabled", "mentally challenged," "with an intellectual disability" and "special needs" have replaced "retarded. " A similar progression occurred with

lame → crippled → handicapped → disabled → physically challenged → differently abled

although in the case of "crippled" the meaning has also broadened (and hence has been narrowed with adjectives, which themselves have been euphemised); a dyslexic or colorblind person, for example, would not be termed "crippled". Even more recent is the use of person-centric phrases, such as "person(s) with disability, dyslexia, colorblindness, etc. ", which ascribe a particular condition to those previously qualified with the aforementioned adjectives.

Euphemisms can also serve to recirculate words that have passed out of use because of negative connotation. The word "lame" from above, having faded from the vernacular, was revitalized as a slang word generally meaning "not living up to expectations". Connotation of a euphemism can also be subject-specific. The term "handicap" was in common use to describe a physical disability; it gained common use in sports and games to describe a scoring advantage given to a player who has a disadvantageous standing in ability, and this definition has remained common, even though the term as describing physical disability has mostly faded from common use. One exception to this is in the United States when designating "handicapped" parking spaces for such individuals.

In the early 1960s, Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter Bill Veeck, who was missing part of a leg, argued against the then-favored euphemism "handicapped," saying he preferred "crippled" because it was merely descriptive and did not carry connotations of limiting one's capability the way "handicapped" (and all of its subsequent euphemisms) seemed to do (Veeck as in Wreck, chapter "I'm Not Handicapped, I'm Crippled"). William Louis Veeck Jr (ˈvɛk rhymes with "wreck" February 9 1914 &ndash January 2 1986) also known as " Sport Shirt Later, comedian George Carlin gave a famous monologue of how he thought euphemisms can undermine appropriate attitudes towards serious issues such as the evolving terms describing the medical problem of the cumulative mental trauma of soldiers in high stress situations:[5]

Shell shock (World War I) → battle fatigue (World War II)→ Operational exhaustion (Korean War) → Post-traumatic stress disorder (Vietnam War)

He contended that, as the name of the condition became more complicated and seemingly arcane, sufferers of this condition have been taken less seriously as people with a serious illness, and were given poorer treatment as a result. George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12 1937 – June 22 2008 was an American stand-up comedian, often considered one of the best of all time World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the Post traumatic stress disorder It is a severe and ongoing emotional reaction to The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia He also contended that Vietnam veterans would have received the proper care and attention they needed were the condition still called "shell shock. " In the same routine, he echoed Bill Veeck's opinion that "crippled" was a perfectly valid term (and noted that early English translations of the Bible seemed to have no qualms about saying that Jesus "healed the cripples"). Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE)

A complementary "dysphemism treadmill" exists, but is more rarely observed. In Language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation" and cacophemism One modern example is the word "sucks". "That sucks" began as American shorthand for "that sucks cock," and quickly evolved into slang for "that is very unpleasant", and refers to fellatio; along with the exactly synonymous phrase "that blows", it developed over the late-20th century from being an extremely vulgar phrase to near-acceptability. Fellatio, also called fellation, is Oral sex performed upon the Penis. Likewise, scumbag, which was originally a reference to a used condom, now is a fairly mild epithet. A condom is a device most commonly used during Sexual intercourse. An epithet (from Greek ἐπίθετον - epitheton, neut of ἐπίθετος - epithetos, "attributed added" is a [6] This is in stark contrast to the related term douchebag, which is still semi-common but has a much more negative connotation.

In his remarks on the ever-changing London slang, made in Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell mentioned both the "euphemism treadmill" and the "dysphemism treadmill. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Slang is the use of highly informal Words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's Dialect or Language. Down and Out in Paris and London is George Orwell 's semi-autobiographical account of living in Poverty in both cities Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer " He did not use the now-established terms, but observed and commented on the respective processes as early as in 1933.

Classification of euphemisms

Many euphemisms fall into one or more of these categories:

There is some disagreement over whether certain terms are or are not euphemisms. A foreign language is a Language not spoken by the people of a certain place for example English is a foreign language in Japan. For Wikipedia jargon see WikipediaGlossary. For hacker slang see Jargon File. For the HTML tag see HTML element. An abbreviation (from Latin brevis "short" A spelling alphabet, radio alphabet, or telephone alphabet is a set of words which are used to stand for the letters of an Alphabet. Military slang, or informal military terms, is a set of colloquial terms used commonly by military personnel &mdash often as abbreviations or derivations of --> Abstraction is the process or result of generalization by reducing the information In Computer programming, indirection is the ability to reference something using a name reference or container instead of the value itself Mispronunciation is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "incorrect or inaccurate Pronunciation " A minced oath, also known as a pseudo-profanity, is an expression based on a Profanity that has been altered to reduce or remove the disagreeable or objectionable In Rhetoric, litotes is a Figure of speech in which rather than making a certain statement directly a speaker expresses it even more effectively or achieves emphasis For example, sometimes the phrase visually impaired is labeled as a politically correct euphemism for blind. Political correctness (adjectivally politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term applied to Language, ideas policies or behavior Blindness is the condition of lacking Visual perception due to Physiological or Neurological factors However, visual impairment can be a broader term, including, for example, people who have partial sight in one eye, or even those with uncorrected poor vision, a group that would be excluded by the word blind.

There are three antonyms of euphemism: dysphemism, cacophemism, and power word. In Lexical semantics, opposites are words that lie in an inherently incompatible binary relationship as in the opposite pairs male: female, long: short In Language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation" and cacophemism In Language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation" and cacophemism Loaded The first can be either offensive or merely humorously deprecating with the second one generally used more often in the sense of something deliberately offensive. The last is used mainly in arguments to make a point seem more correct.

The evolution of euphemisms

Euphemisms may be formed in a number of ways. Periphrasis or circumlocution is one of the most common—to "speak around" a given word, implying it without saying it. In Linguistics, periphrasis is a device by which a grammatical category or relationship is expressed by a Free morpheme (typically one or more Function Circumlocution (also called periphrasis, circumduction, circumvolution, periphrase, or ambage) is an ambiguous or roundabout Over time, circumlocutions become recognized as established euphemisms for particular words or ideas.

To alter the pronunciation or spelling of a taboo word (such as a swear word) to form a euphemism is known as taboo deformation. A taboo is a strong Social prohibition (or ban) against words objects actions or discussions that are considered undesirable or offensive by a group culture The original meaning of the adjective profane (from the Latin for "in front of or outside the Temple " was to refer to items not belonging to the church There is an astonishing number of taboo deformations in English, of which many refer to the infamous four-letter words. The phrase four-letter word refers to a set of English words written with four letters which are considered profane, including common popular or Slang In American English, words which are unacceptable on television, such as fuck, may be represented by deformations such as freak—even in children's cartoons. Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. Fuck is an English Word that as a Verb, means "to have Sexual intercourse " Some examples of Cockney rhyming slang may serve the same purpose—to call a person a berk sounds less offensive than to call him a cunt, though berk is short for Berkeley Hunt which rhymes with cunt. Rhyming slang is a form of Slang in which a word is replaced either by another word or phrase that rhymes with it or by the first word of such a phrase in which Cunt ( IPA:/kʌnt/ is an English language Vulgarism referring generally to the Female genitalia. The Berkeley Hunt is a hunt in England. Its country lies in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, between Gloucester and

Bureaucracies such as the military and large corporations frequently spawn euphemisms of a more deliberate (and to some, more sinister) nature. Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business Organizations coin doublespeak expressions to describe objectionable actions in terms that seem neutral or inoffensive. Doublespeak (sometimes double talk) is language constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. For example, a term used in the past for contamination by radioactive isotopes is Sunshine units. The strontium unit is a unit used to measure the amount of Radioactivity from Strontium -90 a Chemical found in Nuclear fallout, in [8]

Military organizations kill people, sometimes deliberately and sometimes by mistake; in doublespeak, the first may be called neutralizing the target and the second collateral damage. Collateral damage is damage that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome Violent destruction of non-state enemies may be referred to as pacification. Peace, in the modern usage is a concept defined by the ideal state of relationship as absence of hostility at the international level that of a War. Two common terms when a soldier is accidentally killed (buys the farm) by their own side are friendly fire or blue on blue (BOBbing)—"buy the farm" has its own interesting history. A soldier is a general English term that refers to a member of a land component of National Armed forces. Friendly fire or non-hostile fire, a term originally adopted by the United States military, refers to fire from one's own side or allied forces as [9]

Execution is an established euphemism referring to the act of putting a person to death, with or without judicial process. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. It originally referred to the execution, i. e. , the carrying out, of a death warrant, which is an authorization to a sheriff, prison warden, or other official to put a named person to death. An execution warrant or death warrant is a warrant which authorizes the execution of a judgment of death ( Capital punishment) on an individual Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. In legal usage, execution can still refer to the carrying out of other types of orders; for example, in U. S. legal usage, a writ of execution is a direction to enforce a civil money judgment by seizing property. A writ of execution is a common Court order granted by a Court in an attempt to satisfy a Judgment obtained by a Plaintiff. Civil law, as opposed to Criminal law, refers to that branch of Law dealing with disputes between Individuals and/or Organizations, in which In non-legal contexts a judgment is a balanced weighing up of evidence preparatory to making a decision Likewise, lethal injection itself may be considered a euphemism for putting the convict to death by poisoning. In the context of Biology, poisons are substances that can cause damage, Illness, or Death to Organisms usually by

Abortion originally meant premature birth, and came to mean birth before viability. An The term "abort" was extended to mean any kind of premature ending, such as aborting the launch of a rocket. Euphemisms have developed around the original meaning. Abortion, by itself, came to mean induced abortion or elective abortion exclusively. Hence the parallel term spontaneous abortion, an "act of nature", was dropped in favor of the more neutral-sound miscarriage. The politically-charged subject of elective abortion also led to parallel euphemisms: "pro-life" being characterized as another way of saying "anti-abortion" or "anti-choice"; and "pro-choice" being characterized as another way of saying "pro-abortion" or "anti-life".

Industrial unpleasantness such as pollution may be toned down to outgassing or runoff—descriptions of physical processes rather than their damaging consequences. Industrial engineering is also not good and shit Operations management, Systems engineering, production engineering manufacturing engineering or manufacturing systems Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability disorder harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in Outgassing (sometimes called offgassing, particularly when in reference to indoor Air quality is the slow release of a Gas that was trapped Surface runoff is a term used to describe when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess Water, from Rain, Snowmelt, or other sources flows Some of this may simply be the application of precise technical terminology in the place of popular usage, but beyond precision, the advantage of technical terminology may be its lack of emotional undertones and the likelihood the general public (at least initially) will not recognize it for what it really is; the disadvantage being the lack of real-life context. Terms like "waste" and "wastewater" are also avoided in favor of terms such as byproduct, recycling, reclaimed water and effluent. In the oil industry, oil-based drilling muds were simply renamed organic phase drilling muds, where organic phase is a euphemism for "oil".

Euphemisms for the profane

Profane words and expressions in the English language are often taken from three areas: religion, excretion, and sex. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Excretion is the process of eliminating waste products of Metabolism and other non-useful materials An organism's sex is defined by the gametes it produces males produce male gametes (spermatozoa or Sperm) while females produce female gametes (ova or Egg cells; individual While profanities themselves have been around for centuries, their limited use in public and by the media has only slowly become socially acceptable, and there are still many expressions which cannot be used in polite conversation. The original meaning of the adjective profane (from the Latin for "in front of or outside the Temple " was to refer to items not belonging to the church "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" One vantage point into the current societal tolerance of profane language is found in the frequency of such language on prime-time television. Prime Time is the major News analysis current affairs and Politics programme broadcast on Radio Telefís Éireann in Ireland Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic The word damn (and most other religious profanity in the English language) has lost its shock value, and as a consequence, euphemisms for it (e. g. , dang, darn-it) have taken on a very stodgy feeling. Excretory profanity such as piss and shit in some cases may be acceptable among informal (and usually younger) friends (while they almost are never acceptable in formal relationships or public use); euphemisms such as Number One and Number Two may be preferred for use with children. Shit is one of the most functionally diverse words in the English language, and is also one of the most frequently used nouns Most sexual terms and expressions, even technical ones, either remain unacceptable for general use or have undergone radical rehabilitation.

Religious euphemisms

Main article: Minced oaths

Euphemisms for deities as well as for religious practices and artifacts date to the earliest of written records. A minced oath, also known as a pseudo-profanity, is an expression based on a Profanity that has been altered to reduce or remove the disagreeable or objectionable Protection of sacred names, rituals, and concepts from the uninitiated has always given rise to euphemisms, whether it be for exclusion of outsiders or the retention of power among select practitioners. Examples from the Egyptians and every other western religion abound.

Euphemisms for God and Jesus, such as gosh and gee, are used by Christians to avoid taking the name of God in a vain oath, which would violate one of the Ten Commandments. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives that according to Judeo-Christian tradition were authored by God and given (Exodus 20)

When praying, Jews will typically use the word "Adonai" ('the Lord'). Exodus ( Greek: έξοδος eksodos = "departure" is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. However, when in a colloquial setting, this is deemed inappropriate, and so typically one replaces the word "Adonai" with the word "HaShem", which literally means, "The Name". It is notable that "Adonai" is itself a word that refers to the Jewish God's name, the pronunciation of which is unknown and often mistakenly thought to be Jehovah, but is not the name itself. Yahweh|God in Abrahamic religions Jehovah is an English reading of, the most frequent form of the Tetragrammaton, the name of God in the Hebrew Bible, in Traditionally, Jews have seen the name of God as ineffable and thus one that must not be spoken. To say that something is " ineffable " means that it cannot or should not be expressed in spoken words (as with the concept of true love or some Taboo) According to the Torah, when Moses saw the burning bush, he asked God, "who are you?" The answer he heard was, "I am that I am". term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to Moses ( Latin: Moyses,; Greek: grc Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: ar موسىٰ The burning bush is an object described by the Book of Exodus as being located on Mount Horeb; according to the narrative the bush was on fire but was not consumed Thus, the Jews have for centuries recognized the name of the Almighty as ineffable, because pronouncing it is equivalent to calling oneself God.

Euphemisms for hell, damnation, and the devil, on the other hand, are often used to avoid invoking the power of the adversary. Hell, according to many Religious beliefs, is a location in the Afterlife, which may be described as a place of suffering Dammit redirects here to see the Opeth album see Damnation (album. The Devil is the The most famous in the latter category is the expression what the dickens and its variants, which does not refer to the famed British writer but instead was a popular euphemism for Satan in its time. Satan, ( Standard Hebrew Satan'el, English accuser) is a term that originates from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally In the Harry Potter books, the evil wizard Lord Voldemort is usually referred to as "He Who Must Not Be Named" or "You-Know-Who". Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J Lord Voldemort (ˈvoʊldəmɔrt or ˈvoʊldəmɔr is a Fictional character and the main antagonist in the Harry Potter novel series written However, the character Professor Dumbledore is quoted as saying in the first book of the series that "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself". Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Excretory euphemisms

While urinate and defecate are not euphemisms, they are used almost exclusively in a clinical sense. Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, and more rarely emiction, is the process of disposing Urine from the Urinary bladder Defecation is the final act of Digestion by which organisms eliminate solid semisolid or liquid Waste material ( Faeces) from the Digestive tract The basic Anglo-Saxon words for these functions, piss and shit, are considered vulgarities and unacceptable in general use, despite the use of piss in the King James Bible (in Isaiah 36:12 and elsewhere). The Book of Isaiah ( Hebrew: Sefer Y'sha'yah ספר ישעיה is a book of the Bible traditionally attributed to the Prophet Isaiah, who lived

"Brown Material" Road.
"Brown Material" Road.

The word manure, referring to animal feces used as fertilizer for plants, literally means "worked with the hands" (manu meaning hand), alluding to the mixing of manure with earth. Manure is Organic matter used as Organic fertilizer in Agriculture. Fertilizers ( also spelt fertiliser are chemical compounds given to Plants to promote growth they are usually applied either through the soil for uptake by plant Several zoos market the byproduct of elephants and other large herbivores as Zoo Doo or Zoopoop, and there is a brand of chicken manure available in garden stores under the name Cock-a-Doodle Doo. A zoological garden, shortened to zoo, is an institution in which living animals are exhibited in captivity Elephants ( family: Elephantidae) are large land Mammals of the order Proboscidea. Herbivory is a form of Predation in which an Organism, known as a herbivore, consumes principally Autotrophs ref name=Campbell>Campbell The chicken ( Gallus gallus, sometimes G gallus domesticus) is a domesticated Fowl which is traditionally believed to have descended from Also, a brand of sheep manure is called "Baa Baa Doo. " Similarly, the abbreviation BS, or the word bull, often replaces the word bullshit in polite society. Bullshit (also bullcrap, bullplop, or horseshit) is a common English Expletive. (The term bullshit itself generally means lies or nonsense, and not the literal "shit of a bull", making it a dysphemism. Bullshit (also bullcrap, bullplop, or horseshit) is a common English Expletive. In Language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation" and cacophemism )

There are any number of lengthier periphrases for excretion used to excuse oneself from company, such as to powder one’s nose, to see a man about a horse (or dog) or to drop the kids off at the pool (this latter expression could actually be regarded as a dysphemism). In Linguistics, periphrasis is a device by which a grammatical category or relationship is expressed by a Free morpheme (typically one or more Function To see a man, to see a man about a dog, or to see a man about a horse is an English language colloquialism usually used as a smiling apology for one's departure or Slang expressions which are neither particularly euphemistic nor dysphemistic, such as take a leak, form a separate category. In Language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation" and cacophemism

In some languages, various other sensitive subjects give rise to euphemisms and dysphemisms. In Spanish, one such subject is class and status. The word señorito is an example, although the euphemism treadmill has turned it to a disparagement, at least in Mexico.

Sexual euphemisms

The Latin term pudendum and the Greek term αιδοίον (aidoion) for the genitals literally mean "shameful thing". Groin, crotch, and loins refer to a larger region of the body, but are euphemistic when used to refer to the genitals. In pornographic stories, the words rosebud and starfish are often used as euphemisms for anus, generally in the context of anal sex. Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer Anal sex most often refers to the sex act involving insertion of the Penis into the Rectum. The shock jocks Opie and Anthony once promoted the euphemism "balloon knot" for the anus, referring to the external appearance of the skin surrounding the sphincter muscle. Shock Jock was an Australian television comedy series broadcast on TV1. Opie ( Gregg Hughes, born May 23, 1963) Anthony ( Anthony Cumia, born April 26, 1961) and Jim A sphincter is a structure usually a circular Muscle, that normally maintains constriction of a natural body passage or orifice and which relaxes as required by normal physiological The term was later picked up and used on The Howard Stern Show. The Howard Stern Show is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern on Howard 100, one of two channels on the subscription-based

Sexual intercourse was once a euphemism derived from the more general term intercourse by itself, which simply meant "meeting" but now is normally used as a synonym for the longer phrase, thus making the town of Intercourse, Pennsylvania a subject of jokes in modern usage. Intercourse Pennsylvania (pop roughly 1000 is an unincorporated village in Leacock Township, Lancaster County in the U

The "baseball metaphors for sex" are perhaps the most famous and widely-used set of polite euphemisms for sex and relationship behavior in the U. The game of Baseball is often used as a euphemistic Metaphor for Physical intimacy in the United States and other places the game is played S. The metaphors encompass terms like "hitting it off" for a good start to relationship, "Striking out" for being unlucky with a love interest, and "running the bases" for progressing sexually in a relationship. The "bases" themselves, from first to third, stand for various levels of sexual activity from French kissing to "petting", itself a euphemism for manual genital stimulation, all of which is short of "scoring" or "coming home", sexual intercourse. "Hitting a home run" describes sex during the first date, "batting both ways" or "batting for the other team" describes bisexuality or homosexuality respectively, and "stealing bases" refers to initiating new levels of sexual contact without invitation. Bisexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of both sexes or to a bisexual orientation Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. Baseball-related euphemisms also abound for the "equipment"; "Bat and balls" are a common reference to the male genitalia, while "glove" or "mitt" can refer to the female anatomy.

There are many euphemisms for birth control devices, sometimes even propagated by the manufacturers: Condoms are known as "rubbers", "sheaths", "love gloves", "diving suits", "raincoats" etc. The birth control pill is known simply as "The Pill", and other methods of birth control are also given generalized euphemisms like "The Patch", "The Sponge", "Shots", etc. There are also many euphemisms for menstruation, such as "having the painters in", being "on the rag", "flying the flag" (originally a euphemism for hanging out the bedsheet after a wedding night as a testament to the woman's virginity), or it simply being "that time of the month".

Euphemisms are also common in reference to sexual orientations and lifestyles. For example in the movie "Closer" the character played by Jude Law uses the euphemism "He valued his privacy" for homosexual and "He enjoyed his privacy" for a flamboyant homosexual. Closer is a 2004 film written by Patrick Marber, based on his award-winning play of the same name. Among common euphemisms for homosexuals, "gay" (in reference to the stereotypical flamboyant personality of homosexual men) and "lesbian" (in reference to the poet Sappho of Lesbos) are the only two that are generally acceptable in society. Sappho (ˈsæfoʊ in English Attic Greek el Σαπφώ sapːʰɔː Aeolic Greek el Ψάπφω) was an Ancient Greek lyric Other euphemisms for a homosexual, such as homo, queer, fag (originally simply U. Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. S. slang for "wimp", and in the U. K. "fag" is slang for a cigarette), bulldyke or simply dyke, butch (referring to a lesbian assuming the "male" role of a relationship) etc. Dyke is a Slang term for a Lesbian with certain qualities Originally it was a Derogatory label for a masculine or butch woman and this have relatively quickly acquired a vulgar connotation, and even "gay" and "lesbian" have negative connotations in mainstream society depending on the tone of the conversation. The expression "that's so gay" has come into frequent pejorative usage in the U. S.

As an aside, the use of euphemisms for sexual activity has grown under the pressure of recent rulings by the Federal Communications Commission regarding what constitutes "decent" on-air broadcast speech. For the band see Broadcast (band Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or Video signals which transmit The FCC included many well known euphemisms in its lists of banned terms but indicated that even new and unknown coinages might be considered indecent once it became clear what they referenced. George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can't Say On TV" evolved into the "Incomplete List of Impolite Words", available in text and audio form, and contains hundreds of euphemisms and dysphemisms to genitalia, the act of having sex, various forms of sex, sexual orientations, etc. that have all become to pejorative for polite conversation, including such notables as "getting your pole varnished" and "eating the tuna taco". Carlin also does a bit on the uses of the word "fuck", originally only a dysphemism for the sex act but becoming an adverb, adjective, noun, etc. This "diversity" is also mentioned on in the movie The Boondock Saints after the main characters commit a mass murder of Russian mob bosses followed by a violent joke on a friend who is in the Mafia. The Boondock Saints is a 1999 action Crime drama film written and directed by Troy Duffy.

Euphemisms referring to profanity itself

In the Spanish language, words that mean "swear word" are used as exclamations in lieu of an actual swear word. The Spanish word maldición, literally meaning "curse" or "bad word", is occasionally used as an interjection of lament or anger, to replace any of several Spanish profanities that would otherwise be used in that same context. The same is true in Italian with the word maledizione, and in Canadian French with sacre. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy.

In Greek, the word κατάρα "curse" is found, and in English (especially British usage), an exclamation that is used in a similar style is curses. Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit The stereotyped "Perils of Pauline" silent film might have the villain tying his victim to a railroad track. When the hero rescues the heroine, the card might say, "Curses! Foiled again!" in place of whatever cursing the character presumably uttered.

Euphemisms for death

The English language contains numerous euphemisms related to dying, death, burial, and the people and places which deal with death. Death is the termination of the biological functions that define living Organisms It refers both to a specific Burial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground The practice of using euphemisms for death is likely to have originated with the magical belief that to speak the word "death" was to invite death; where to "draw Death's attention" is the ultimate bad fortune—a common theory holds that death is a taboo subject in most English-speaking cultures for precisely this reason. In Anthropology, Psychology, and Cognitive science, magical thinking is nonscientific causal reasoning that often includes such ideas as the ability of It may be said that one is not dying, but fading quickly because the end is near. People who have died are referred to as having passed away or passed or departed. Deceased is a euphemism for "dead", and sometimes the deceased is said to have gone to a better place, but this is used primarily among the religious with a concept of Heaven. Heaven may refer to the physical heavens the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the Universe beyond

Some Christians often use phrases such as gone to be with the Lord or called to higher service (this latter expression being particularly prevalent in the Salvation Army) to express their belief that physical death is not the end. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings The Salvation Army is a Christian charity and church that is internally organised like a military service.

There are many euphemisms for the dead body, some polite and some profane, as well as dysphemisms such as worm food, or dead meat. In Language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation" and cacophemism Modern rhyming slang contains the expression brown bread. Rhyming slang is a form of Slang in which a word is replaced either by another word or phrase that rhymes with it or by the first word of such a phrase in which The corpse was once referred to as the shroud (or house or tenement) of clay, and modern funerary workers use terms such as the loved one (title of a novel about Hollywood undertakers by Evelyn Waugh) or the dear departed. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story A funeral director (also known as a mortician or undertaker) is someone involved in the business of Funeral rites Arthur Evelyn St John Waugh (ˈiːvlɪn ˈwɔː (28 October 1903 &ndash 10 April 1966 was an English Writer, best known for such darkly humorous and (They themselves have given up the euphemism funeral director for grief therapist, and hold arrangement conferences with relatives. ) Among themselves, mortuary technicians often refer to the corpse as the client. A recently dead person may be referred to as "the late John Doe". The Name " John Doe " is used as a Placeholder name for a male party in a legal action case or discussion whose true identity is either unknown or The terms cemetery for "graveyard" and undertaking for "burial" are so well-established that most people do not even recognize them as euphemisms. In fact, undertaking has taken on a negative connotation, as undertakers have a devious reputation. A funeral director (also known as a mortician or undertaker) is someone involved in the business of Funeral rites

Contemporary euphemisms and dysphemisms for death tend to be quite colorful, and someone who has died is said to have passed away, passed on, checked out, bit the big one, kicked the bucket, bitten the dust, popped their clogs, pegged it, carked it, turned their toes up, bought the farm (comes from the G. I. Insurance Policy as the amount of money the next of kin would receive was enough to buy a farm). , cashed in their chips, croaked, given up the ghost (originally a more respectful term, cf. the death of Jesus as translated in the King James Version of the Bible Mark 15:37), gone south, gone west, shuffled off this mortal coil (from William Shakespeare's Hamlet), Run down the curtain and joined the Choir Invisible, or assumed room temperature (actually a dysphemism in use among mortuary technicians). Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Content Authorship The gospel itself is anonymous but as early as Papias in the early 2nd century a text was attributed to Mark, a cousin William Shakespeare ( baptised Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 When buried, they may be said to be pushing up daisies, sleeping the big sleep, taking a dirt nap, checking out the grass from underneath or six feet under. There are hundreds of such expressions in use. (Old Burma-Shave jingle: "If daisies are your favorite flower, keep pushin’ up those miles per hour!") In Edwin Muir's 'The Horses' a euphemism is used to show the elimination of the human race 'The seven days war that put the world to sleep. Burma-Shave was an American brand of brushless Shaving cream, famous for its advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small consecutive highway billboard '

"Euthanasia" also attracts euphemisms. Euthanasia (literally "good death" in Ancient Greek) refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner One may put one out of one’s misery, put one to sleep, or have one put down, the latter two phrases being used primarily with dogs and cats who have made their final visit to the veterinarian. A veterinarian ( American English) or a Veterinary surgeon ( British English) often shortened to vet, is a Physician (These terms are not usually applied to humans, because both medical ethics and civil law deprecate euthanasia. ) In fact, Dr. Bernard Nathanson has pointed out that the word "euthanasia" itself is a euphemism, being Greek for "good death". Bernard Nathanson (born July 31, 1926, in New York) is an American Medical doctor and Pro-life activist from New York.

There are a few euphemisms for killing which are neither respectful nor playful, but rather clinical and detached. Some examples of this type are terminate, wet work, to take care of one or to take them for a ride, to do them in, to off, to take them out, to snuff them out, frag, smoke, lace, whack or waste someone. To cut loose or open up on someone or something means "to shoot at with every available weapon".

There are also many dysphemisms, especially for death, which are euphemisms or dysphemisms for other unpleasant events and thus are unpleasant in their literal meaning, used to generalize a bad event. "Having your ass handed to you", "left for the rats", "toasted", "roasted", "burned", "pounded", "bent over the barrel", "screwed over" or other terms commonly describe death or the state of imminent death, but also are common in describing defeat of any kind such as a humiliating loss in a sport or video game, being unfairly treated or cast aside in business affairs, being badly beaten in a fight, and similar.

To terminate with prejudice generally means to end one's employment without possibility of rehire (as opposed to lay off, where the person can expect rehire if business picks up), but the related term to terminate with extreme prejudice now usually means to kill. The adjective extreme may occasionally be omitted. In a famous line from the movie Apocalypse Now, Captain Willard is told to terminate Colonel Kurtz’s commission "with extreme prejudice". An acronym, TWEP has been coined from this phrase, which can be used as a verb: "He was TWEPed/TWEPped. Acronyms, initialisms, and alphabetisms are Abbreviations that are formed using the initial components in a phrase or name "

The Dead Parrot Sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus contains an extensive list of euphemisms for death, referring to the deceased parrot that the character played by John Cleese purchases. The Dead Parrot sketch, alternatively and originally known as Pet Shop sketch or Parrot Sketch, is a popular sketch from Monty Python's Flying Monty Python’s Flying Circus (also known as Flying Circus or during the final series just Monty Python) is a BBC Sketch comedy John Marwood Cleese (ˈkliːz born 27 October, 1939) is a British Actor, Comedian, Writer, Film producer The popularity of the sketch has itself increased the popularity of some of these euphemisms — an example of back-formation; indeed, it has introduced another euphemism for death — "pining for the fjords" — although in the sketch that phrase was used by the shop owner to assert that the parrot was not dead, but was merely quiet and contemplative. In Etymology, back-formation refers to the process of creating a new Lexeme (less precisely a new "word" by removing actual or supposed Affixes

A similar passage occurs near the beginning of The Twelve Chairs, where Bezenchuk, the undertaker, astonishes Vorobyaninov with his classification of people by the euphemisms used to speak of their deaths. The Twelve Chairs ( Двенадцать стульев) (1928 is a classic satirical novel by the Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov. The game Dungeon Siege contains many euphemisms for death as well. Dungeon Siege is a Computer role-playing game developed by Gas Powered Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios.

Also, a scene in the film Patch Adams features Patch (Robin Williams) dressed in an angel costume, reading out various synonyms and euphemisms for the phrase "to die" to a man dying of cancer. Patch Adams is a 1998 Comedy-drama Film directed by Tom Shadyac and based on the true life story of Hunter "Patch" Robin McLaurim Williams (born July 21 1951 or 1952 is an American television stage and film actor and Comedian who has won an Academy Award for his performance This evolves into a contest between the two men to see who can come up with more, and better, euphemisms, ending when Patch comes up with "and if we bury you ass up, we'll have a place to park my bike. "

The name of the village of Ban Grong Greng in Thailand is a euphemism for Death Village. Ban Grong Greng (บ้านโกรงเกรง is a rural village in the northwest portion of the Nakhon Pa Mak subdistrict of Bang Krathum District of The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj It literally means the Village of the Dreaded Gong. It is so named because it is the home to Wat Grong Greng (temple of the dreaded gong) at which the burning of bodies at funerals is proceeded by the beating of a gong.

Euphemisms in job titles

Euphemisms are common in job titles; some jobs have complicated titles that make them sound more impressive than the common names would imply. Many of these euphemisms may include words such as engineer, though in fact the people who do the job are not accredited in engineering. Extreme cases, such as sanitation engineer for janitor, or 'transparent-wall maintenance officer' for window cleaner, are cited humorously more often than they are used seriously. Another example is Henny Youngman's joke that his brother-in-law claimed to be a "diamond cutter" - his job was to mow the lawn at Yankee Stadium. Henry "Henny" Youngman ( March 16, 1906 – February 24, 1998) was a British -born American Comedian and violinist The original Yankee Stadium is a Stadium located in The Bronx in New York City. Less extreme cases, such as custodian for janitor or administrative assistant for secretary, are considered more terms of respect than euphemisms.

Doublespeak

Main article: Doublespeak

Doublespeak is language deliberately constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. Doublespeak (sometimes double talk) is language constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. This article is about meaning as it is studied in the discipline of linguistics In Communications and Linguistics, bypassing refers to the misunderstanding which develops when the recipient of a Message infers a different meaning What distinguishes doublespeak from other euphemisms is its deliberate usage. Doublespeak may be in the form of bald euphemisms such as "downsizing" or "rightsizing" for "firing of many employees"; or deliberately ambiguous phrases such as "wet work" for "assassination" and "take out" for "destroy".

Common examples

Other common euphemisms include:

These lists might suggest that most euphemisms are well-known expressions. Often euphemisms can be somewhat situational; what might be used as a euphemism in a conversation between two friends might make no sense to a third person. In this case, the euphemism is being used as a type of innuendo. An innuendo (also called insinuation) is a remark or question typically disparaging that works obliquely by Allusion. At other times, the euphemism is common in some circles (such as the medical field) but not others, becoming a type of jargon. For Wikipedia jargon see WikipediaGlossary. For hacker slang see Jargon File. One such example is the line "put him in bed with the captain's daughter" from the popular sea shanty Drunken Sailor. Drunken Sailor is a famous traditional Sea shanty also known as What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?. Although this line may sound more like a reward for getting drunk to non-seamen, the phrase "captain's daughter" was actually a euphemism used among sailors for the cat o' nine tails (itself a euphemism for a kind of whip). The cat o' nine tails, commonly shortened to 'the cat' is a type of multi-tailed whipping device that originated as an implement for severe Physical punishment

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, in his controversial speech that triggered the 2006 anti-government protests, used a number of vulgar phrases that were translated euphemistically by the media as "screwed up" and "did not bother. (ˈfɛrɛnts ˈɟurtʃaːɲ born in Pápa, June 4, 1961) is the Prime Minister of Hungary. Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány gave a May 2006 closed meeting speech in Balatonőszöd to the MSZP (Hungarian The 2006 protests in Hungary are a series of Anti-government protests triggered by the release of Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány 's The original meaning of the adjective profane (from the Latin for "in front of or outside the Temple " was to refer to items not belonging to the church "

The word euphemism itself can be used as a euphemism. In the animated short It's Grinch Night (See Dr. Seuss), a child asks to go to the euphemism, where euphemism is being used as a euphemism for outhouse. Theodor Seuss Geisel (ˈsɔɪs ˈɡaɪzəl March 2 1904 – September 24 1991 was an American Writer and Cartoonist, better known by his pen name An outhouse, usually refers to a type of Toilet in a small structure separate from the main building which does not have a flush or sewer attached This euphemistic use of "euphemism" also occurred in the play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? where a character requests, "Martha, will you show her where we keep the, uh, euphemism?" It is analogous to the 19th-century use of unmentionables for underpants. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13,

See also

References

  1. ^ Euphemism Webster's Online Dictionary
  2. ^ Cultural Protocol - Death in a community Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  3. ^ Gould, S. In Language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation" and cacophemism This article is about the concept generally for its meaning specific to politics see Dog-whistle politics. Not to be confused with Puns which employ multiple phrases A double entendre is a Figure of speech similar to the Pun, in A frame in Social theory consists of a schema of interpretation, that is a collection of Stereotypes that individuals rely on to understand and respond In Rhetoric, litotes is a Figure of speech in which rather than making a certain statement directly a speaker expresses it even more effectively or achieves emphasis A minced oath, also known as a pseudo-profanity, is an expression based on a Profanity that has been altered to reduce or remove the disagreeable or objectionable Newspeak is a Fictional language in George Orwell 's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. A pun (or paronomasia) is a Phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding Words for humorous or Rhetorical Pejorative usage Slurs are used to refer to members of a given sexual Minority, Gender, Sex, or Sexual orientation in a In Public relations, spin is a usually Pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one's own favor of an event or situation it is a Euphemism Thomas Bowdler ( IPA /ˈbaʊdlə/ ( July 11, 1754 &ndash February 24, 1825) was an English Physician who published Word play is a Literary technique in which the nature of the words that are used become the main subject of the work J. , The Mismeasure of Man, W. W. Norton & Co, New York, 1996, pp. 188--189
  4. ^ American Heritage Dictionary definition of "retarded" via answers.com
  5. ^ George Carlin, They're Only Words, Track 14 on Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics, Atlantic/Wea audio CD, 1990.
  6. ^ Random House.com
  7. ^ The Age.com
  8. ^ McCool, W. C. (1957-02-06), Return of Rongelapese to their Home Island - Note by the Secretary, United States Atomic Energy Commission, <http://worf.eh.doe.gov/ihp/chron/A43.PDF>. The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control Retrieved on 7 November 2007 
  9. ^ Snopes.com, "Buy the Farm"

Dictionary

euphemism

-noun

  1. (uncountable) The use of a word or phrase to replace another and that is considered less offensive or less vulgar than the word or phrase it replaces.
  2. (countable) (rhetoric) A word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way.
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