How Often We Use Euphemisms, And Why? by Charlene Lacandazo
in Society / Culture (submitted 2011-01-11)
Are you sure that every single word that you utter is the original word for something that you want to explain? Or is it just a concerted line to keep an illegal or unethical act from being made public? Human language has many phrases and words that help to prevent disclosure or recognition what society worries about or disapproves, such as the fears, awkwardness, and painful emotions caused by consciousness or shame. Because of this, most often people often resort to euphemisms.
A euphemism is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. The English language offers us a great variety of ways of saying things. There are many situations where, if we use the most straightforward words and phrases to relate them, would cause amazement, offense or other strong negative reactions from the listener, not (primarily) because of the actual message, but because of the form of the message. In public relations or politics, for example, euphemism is very widespread. Euphemisms often take the shape of a metaphor, in which the meaning of a word or a phrase is stretched to describe a related kind of object or idea.
Euphemisms can affect children, because they are the most prone to their negative effects. Euphemisms quietly and easily spread through the media, through watching movies for example. This is one of the ways that children may be affected by euphemisms.
People classify euphemism in different ways. There are different classifications of euphemism, such as negative euphemisms and positive euphemisms and semantic - based classifications. Positive euphemisms are stylistic euphemisms or a euphemism of exaggeration. Thus for example, the normal word for "beautician", which is a positive euphemism, would be "hairdresser". Negative euphemism is the traditional or narrowing euphemism and it is usually connected with taboos, like gee for Jesus.
Frequent a semantic - based euphemisms, relate to naming death, like, he's "gone to meet his maker". A second one is naming poverty, like for example I cannot come with you to the restaurant, I am "financially embarrassed today". Another one is naming disability, like for example, "sight impaired" for blind. Naming some acts or conditions from the sphere of physiology, like "pay a call" for going to the toilet and naming sexual acts, like, "sleep with" for sexual intercourse. Sometimes terms of foreign or technical origin can be used, like "perspire" and "urinate". In addition, there are abbreviations, like LOL "for laughing out loud", abstractions like the words "go" and "it", indirections like the words go to the bathroom and finally , mispronunciations like "freakin" for freaking.
Therefore, it is obvious that we use euphemism very often in a day, everywhere and in all kinds of situations, without actually noticing it. I use euphemisms while I talk with my friends, like when I talk about going to see "John" when I refer to going to the bathroom. Euphemisms are not only used to avoid offense or to create funny lines, but in addition, they can give us satisfaction or gratification about choosing what we consider to be exactly the right word to express ourselves to other people.
