EUPHEMISM

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

EUPHEMISM

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:42 pm

• euphemism •

Pronunciation: yu-fê-mi-zêmHear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: An inoffensive word or phrase that substitutes for an offensive or taboo word.

Notes: A euphemism replaces a word that refers to something that we don't like to mention aloud. There are many for die: pass away, depart, expire, kick the bucket. Lord, Creator, Almighty are euphemisms for God, a name many consider too holy to utter. Euphemisms help us avoid taking the Lord's name in vain, prohibited by the Ten Commandments. God as an expletive has been replaced by golly and gosh, while Jesus has become just gee whiz, later reduced to just gee. Darn and heck are polite surrogates for similar expletives.

In Play: Political correctness all too frequently takes refuge in euphemisms: postal carrier for postman, sanitation engineer for garbage collector. The airlines now use the euphemism water landings in preference to "crashing into the sea". We have invented many euphemistic terms for taboo terms referring to sex and lower bodily functions, which we need not parade before a readership as imaginative as ours. On a side note, the surname of the next (third) president of Russia, Dmitri Medvedev, is based on medved "a bear". Medved was originally a euphemism meaning "honey eater", used at a time when Russian bear hunters considered the name of their target a taboo word that would jinx the hunt.

Word History: Today's Good Word is a thinly disguised copy of Greek euphemismos. The Greek noun comes from the verb euphemizein "to use auspicious (lucky) words". Euphemismos was compounded from eu-s "good" + pheme "speech, saying" + the noun suffix -ism-os (the origin of the English suffix -ism). The word for "speech" in Greek shares its source with Latin fari "to speak". The present participle of fari is fan(t)s "speaking", the negative of which is infan(t)s "not speaking". Guess which English word came from this Latin term. ("Thank you" is no euphemism when we offer it to Ralph Mowrey for suggesting today's Good Word.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

melissa
Junior Lexiterian
Posts: 74
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2006 3:30 am

Postby melissa » Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:21 am

'Good word' indeed. I love Albee's line, "Martha, will you show her where we keep the, uh, euphemism?" ... but I wonder if most euphemisms in use now are intentional or just words that stuck after their intention was forgotten. Press secretaries are definitely full of it, as are ad men (redundancy check) but I can't think of many current expressions that aren't just evading filters or used in humor. Modern euphemisms, anyone?

bnjtokyo

Postby bnjtokyo » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:02 am

How about when someone asks "Where's the bathroom?" when they have no intention of taking a bath? I kindly offer them a towel and show them to the bathroom, which, as in most Japanese houses, has no connection with the toilet. ("Toilet" is also a euphemism in it's own right.)

sluggo
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:58 pm
Location: Carolinia Agrestícia: The Forest Primeval

Postby sluggo » Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:06 am

A fertile field we once you-know-whatted here
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!

User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Euphemisms for "fired"

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:17 am

How many of these can you think of: laid off, let go, released, . . . I have a list somewhere but can't find it now. Some are downright silly.
• The Good Dr. Goodword

sluggo
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:58 pm
Location: Carolinia Agrestícia: The Forest Primeval

Re: Euphemisms for "fired"

Postby sluggo » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:44 am

How many of these can you think of: laid off, let go, released, . . . I have a list somewhere but can't find it now. Some are downright silly.
Not as many as for dying, but

Sacked
given walking papers/pink slip/the Boot
terminated (!)
more to follow...

Must draw a distinction for laid off though- every time I've heard it, it means a separation, often finite, that happened through no fault of the layoffee.
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!

Bailey
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2114
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 7:51 pm

Postby Bailey » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:33 pm

or one of the best ones of all from across the pond... redundant, imagine thinking that of oneself when psych-types have spent decades assuring us we are all unique.

mb

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb









Stargzer
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2578
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
Location: Crownsville, MD

Postby Stargzer » Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:16 pm

You are unique, Mark, just like everyone else.
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

Bailey
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2114
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 7:51 pm

Postby Bailey » Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:42 pm

yeah, and don't that just water it down?

mb

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb









Perry
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2306
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:50 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Postby Perry » Sun Mar 30, 2008 12:42 pm

Downsized
Outplaced
Fired
Canned
Phased out
Axed
Also, in modern Hebrew, there is a single word for "asked to resign" התפוטר (heet poo tar). The word is formed by combining the past tense reflexive prefix with the verb "fired".
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
Anonymous

Bailey
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2114
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 7:51 pm

Postby Bailey » Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:08 pm

in modern Hebrew, there is a single word for "asked to resign" התפוטר (heet poo tar). The word is formed by combining the past tense reflexive prefix with the verb "fired".
If someone said that to me I'd not only resign, I'd run!

mb

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb









Stargzer
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2578
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
Location: Crownsville, MD

Postby Stargzer » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:40 pm

Yeah, I wouldn't want to heat any tarry-looking pooh either! Not even with full headgear and breathing apparatus!
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

sluggo
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:58 pm
Location: Carolinia Agrestícia: The Forest Primeval

Postby sluggo » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:40 pm

...
Also, in modern Hebrew, there is a single word for "asked to resign"...
Too many years ago to have retained any significant details, I remember reading of some rock musician who got himself "invited to leave" the band.
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Semrush [Bot] and 52 guests