Languages & Linguistics
Euphemism
A euphemism is a word or phrase used to replace a term that may be considered too harsh, blunt, or offensive. It is often used to soften the impact of a statement or to make it more socially acceptable. Euphemisms can be found in many areas of language, including politics, medicine, and everyday conversation.
Written by Perlego with AI-assistance
Related key terms
1 of 5
9 Key excerpts on "Euphemism"
- Meng Ji, Michael P. Oakes, Meng Ji, Michael P. Oakes(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
With regard to manifestations of Euphemism in discourse, one of the best-known and most-quoted definitions of Euphemism is provided by Allan and Burridge (1991), who described Euphemism “as an alternative to a dis-preferred expression” (p. 11) with the aim of preserving face. The authors emphasized the relative levels of politeness intended through the use of Euphemisms, concluding that this strategy of politeness has a pragmatic dimension and depends on the context. Allan and Burridge (1991) provided one of the first models that represents ways in which Euphemisms may be formed. They determined different types of euphemistic manifestations in discourse: remodeling, circumlocution, clipping, acronyms, abbreviation, omission, one-for-one substitution, general-for-specific, part-for-whole, learned terms, borrowing, hyperbole, understatement.In keeping with the overall approach of Allan and Burridge (1991), Casas Gómez (2009) reviewed different definitions of Euphemism and adopted a pragmatic approach as well, arguing that the euphemistic process is of a social nature with a contextual function. He described Euphemism as the conceptualization of a forbidden reality with a view to attenuate that reality or concept, or, to reinforce it (Casas Gómez, 2009).Among other definitions is Warren’s (1992). She described Euphemism as being structured around three main defining features; the sensitive connotation of the referent word, the soft aspect of the alternative word, and the awareness of interlocutors of the use of euphemistic mechanisms to avoid embarrassing words. Her approach helped us to understand the transfer of the connotative aspects in the referent and its alternative from the target-language perspective. The analysis presented led to a detailed classification of the ways in which Euphemisms can be constructed, enumerating main Euphemism formation ways, namely: (a) word formation devices; (b) phonemic modification; (c) loan words; and (d) semantic innovation.For the purpose of this study, the classifications proposed by Allan and Burridge (1991) and Warren (1992) were used as the point of departure for analyzing the corpora. They adopted a pragmatic approach toward Euphemism that is aligned with the purpose of the present study. These two classifications have some overlaps, but each has specific features which can complement one another. Examples of these two classifications were provided when analyzing doctors’ strategies in communication.
eBook - PDF- Keith Allan(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Elsevier Science(Publisher)
3. Accent on variety. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. 157–226. Wyld H C (1920). A history of modern colloquial English. Oxford: Blackwell. Taboo, Euphemism, and Political Correctness K Burridge , Monash University, Victoria, Australia ß 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Euphemism and Taboo Examples of Euphemism (Greek eu ‘good, well’ and phe ˆme ˆ ‘speaking’) are wide ranging: medieval Dutch physicians used to write of figs in the secret passage to denote ‘piles’; 19th-century Victorian moral code cre-ated ‘invisible’ words like inexpressibles, unmention-ables, and unhintables so that those in polite society could avoid uttering legs , trousers, or underclothing ; some people still say crumbs instead of Christ ; many newspapers still print c*** and f*** ; politicians speak of community charges , levies, or even voluntary con-tributions rather than of taxes or tolls ; prairie oysters, mountain oysters , and fry sound more appetizing than calf’s testicles ; lemon fish and flake far tastier than shark ; companies downsize, rightsize, or imple-ment an RIF ( ¼ reduction in force); 1998 was the ‘Year of the Older Person’ (not ‘The Year of the Old Person’); the push for nonsexist usage has rendered words like stewardess and actress taboo for some people, and so on. As these few examples illustrate, Euphemism is characterized by avoidance language and evasive expression. In contemporary Western society it is linked closely with social organization and is there-fore entwined with concepts of politeness and face. Generally social interaction is oriented toward behav-ior that is courteous and respectful, or at least inof-fensive. Participants have to consider whether what they are saying will maintain, enhance, or damage their own face, as well as be considerate of and look after the face needs of others.
eBook - PDFTransgressing Frontiers
Shifting Rhetorics in Linguistic and Literary Discourses
- Ngong Toh(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Langaa RPCIG(Publisher)
Neaman and Silver (1983: 4) report that by the early 1580s the author, George Blunt, used the term Euphemism in English, defining it as ‘a good or favourable interpretation of a bad word’. The word describes ‘a manner of speaking that leans towards indirectness in the service of pleasantness’ (1983:4). Therefore, people use Euphemisms to avoid unpleasantness and so as not to embarrass or shock their listeners. Neaman and Silver (1983) do not consider idioms and proverbs as language forms that can sometimes be euphemistic like the others. If we consider dictionary definitions of these terms (idioms and proverbs), we may not agree with these authors. The 3 rd edition of the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (CALD 714) says that an idiom is: ‘a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word understood on its own’, and the COED confirms this definition by saying that the word means: ‘a group of words whose meaning cannot be deduced from those of the individual words’ (COED 2003:553). These definitions are not restricted in terms of unpleasantness or offensiveness; therefore, idioms can be unpleasant and pleasant, offensive and inoffensive. Consequently, when they are pleasant and describe something for which an unpleasant or offensive terminology exists, they can be said to be euphemistic. The same argument can be considered to hold true for proverbs. A proverb is defined by the same dictionaries as: ‘a short saying stating a general truth or piece of advice’ (COED 2003:911), and ‘a short sentence, etc., usually known by many people, stating something commonly experienced or giving advice’ (CALD: 1143). The HARRAP’s 21 st Century Dictionary (soft copy) gives a more 211 elaborate definition of the word: ‘any of a body of well-known neatly-expressed sayings that give advice or express a supposed truth’. From these definitions, one may be tempted to say that proverbs cannot be euphemistic.
eBook - PDFSex in Language
Euphemistic and Dysphemistic Metaphors in Internet forums
- Eliecer Crespo-Fernández(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Bloomsbury Academic(Publisher)
This operation is considered in terms of the communicative functions that Euphemism and dysphemism perform and the contextual effects that the hearer may draw from them. In this vein, Herrero Ruiz (2009: 137) defines Euphemism and dysphemism as ‘meaning derivation processes whereby the hearer reinterprets the conceptual structure of an utterance or action … to fit the requirements of that cognitive environment … in order to produce certain contextual effects’. From this definition we can deduce two properties of these processes: first, there exists an intimate connection between human cognition, metaphorical language and Euphemism and dysphemism; second, there is an interplay between cognitive and pragmatic issues that should not be overlooked if we try to offer a full picture of X-phemistic metaphorical language. Closely related to the notion of contrast is that of displacement . McGlone, Beck and Pfiester (2006) claim that metaphor is a key strategy at the speaker’s disposal to achieve displacement in euphemistic units. This displacement, which acts as a kind of ‘camouflage’ (see 2.3.2), permits to reduce the commu-nicative discomfort associated with those topics which evoke negative affect. The displacement effect in euphemistic units is accomplished ‘by avoiding direct, literal reference to an event (e.g. he defecated , she died ) in favour of terms describing its consequences ( he relieved himself , she’s no longer with us ), related events ( he moved his bowels , she took her last breath ), metaphors ( he heeded Nature’s call , she jumped the last hurdle ), and other semantic associates of lower valence’ (2006: 276). The displacement of the taboo meaning ‘prostitute’ (see Figure 2.2) that is accomplished by the literal meaning of the phrase personal secretary permits to avoid using a label which designates the activity of prostitution in an undeviating way.
eBook - PDFSpeaking of Emotions
Conceptualisation and Expression
- Angeliki Athanasiadou, Elzbieta Tabakowska, Angeliki Athanasiadou, Elzbieta Tabakowska(Authors)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter Mouton(Publisher)
Vagueness as a euphemistic strategy Stefan Grondelaers and Dirk Geeraerts 1. Introduction As far as the relation between language and emotion is concerned, there are two research perspectives the linguist can adopt. On the one hand, he can investigate the language about emotion, in which case emotions are studied as the denotation of linguistic expressions. On the other hand, however, the linguist can investigate language as emo-tion, concentrating on emotive values as the connotation (non-referential meaning) of linguistic expressions which are not primarily designed to denote emotions. The first perspective constitutes a highly productive research domain 1 in Cognitive Linguistics, whose main representatives are Lakoff and Johnson 1980, Lakoff 1987 and Kövesces 1990. 2 In the work of these scholars, the linguistic nature of emotion terms is investigated by concentrating on the conceptual models which motivate their use. By emphasising the conceptual im-portance of the first perspective, however, Cognitive Linguistics has at the same time neglected the communicative importance of the second. It is precisely from this communicative perspective that the present paper will address the following questions: how can we determine lexical emotive values of linguistic expressions which are not primar-ily coined to denote emotion? How do these emotive values determine lexical choice? The emotive value we will investigate in this paper is Euphemism and the linguistic strategy whose euphemistic connotation we attempt to determine is vagueness. 2. Vagueness as Euphemism We will use the term Euphemism to refer to an avoidance strategy of an onomasiological nature, viz. using an emotionally neutral or posi- 358 Stefan Grondelaers and Dirk Geeraerts tive word such as adult video instead of a negatively connotated one such as porno video. Euphemism evidently prevails in the context of reference to distasteful or taboo matters.
eBook - ePubAmerican Taboo
The Forbidden Words, Unspoken Rules, and Secret Morality of Popular Culture
- Lauren Rosewarne(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Praeger(Publisher)
being vulgar. Charlotte’s efforts to use language to manage her façade highlight another rationale for sex-themed Euphemism: psychology.Euphemism AND PSYCHOLOGY
A central motivation for Euphemism use is to put space between oneself and an idea. There are numerous psychological reasons why this might be done; two that I propose in this section relate to (1) putting distance between the self and something considered too horrible to speak about explicitly and (2) self-esteem rationales. Both of these reasons have notable applicability to a discussion of sex.Euphemism and Dissociation
While news reports readily use Euphemisms to discuss rape—indecent assault, carnal knowledge, attack, and abuse, for example—the use of Euphemism by victims is particularly relevant for this section, highlighting some of the psychological underpinnings of Euphemism use. When linguistic anthropologist Shonna Trinch undertook research with women who had experienced domestic violence, she noted that 80 percent who had experienced marital rape had used Euphemisms in their descriptions.9 Psychologists Judith Parker and Deborah Mahlstedt, in their work on rape, similarly noted that victims “use a variety of linguistic resources to manage their (un)willingness to acknowledge their sexual assault.”10 By using Euphemisms, a distance can be established between the victim and the word rape
eBook - PDFMetonymy
Hidden Shortcuts in Language, Thought and Communication
- Jeannette Littlemore(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
In this chapter, I use data from written and spoken language, as well as other modes of communication, to demonstrate the role of metonymy in supporting these important communicative strategies and func- tions. I show how the fact that metonymy involves indirectness means that it underlies a great deal of Euphemism, hedging and vague language. I consider the evaluative functions of metonymy and the role it plays in positioning, and explore the potential that metonymy offers for ‘language play’, showing how it is used creatively to convey humour and irony (Brône and Feyaerts, 2003). Finally, I show how metonymy is used creatively in other forms of expression besides language and discuss how a more explicit, conceptual focus on the role of metonymy in different forms of expression can contribute to existing work in semiotics. 92 5.2 Metonymy and Euphemism There has been some work indicating the role that metaphor can play in the understanding of Euphemism (Pfaff et al., 1997) but there has not yet been any discussion of the part played by metonymy. This is somewhat surprising, given that the basic reason for employing Euphemism is to find an indirect way of talking about topics that may be embarrassing or face-threatening, and meton- ymy is the perfect trope for expressing indirectness (Allan and Burridge, 1991). For example, the following are both Euphemisms for going to the toilet: He needs to use the restroom. (Webcorp) ‘Us girls,’ she said, ‘are going to spend a penny’. (Webcorp) Each of these refers to an aspect of ‘going to the toilet’ that is tangential to the actual process of what one does when one gets there. They rely respectively on a place for event metonymy and a sub-event for whole event metonymy.
eBook - PDFMorphopragmatics
Diminutives and Intensifiers in Italian, German, and Other Languages
- Wolfgang U. Dressler, Lavinia M. Barbaresi(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter Mouton(Publisher)
Note that the evoking of a child-centered speech situation is excluded here. In contemporary enlightened Western speech-communities, polite-ness may be the most important reason for Euphemism. As a result, lack of formal politeness in familiar, informal speech situations may lessen the need for Euphemism, such as in example (180) in 3.5.8.6 ( mutand-ine 346 for mutande ). But since tabus and Euphemisms relate integrally to cul-ture-specific beliefs and practices in religion or magic, decorum, and so-cial control (Saville-Troike 1989: 215), other cultures (including more traditional, e.g., earlier, European ones) may rank other tabus higher than those based on politeness, and therefore other Euphemisms may be called for. Examples with diminutives are given by Sieberer (1950: 111), under the heading Sprachtabu, in reference to things which have to be named with special caution because of their dangerous and fearful char-acter. One example is, at least in its earlier interpretation, Swiss German Wetter-li 'thunderstorm-DIM' (and similar expressions enumerated in 3.5.2.5); for Latvian examples see Rüke-Dravina (1959: 88, 141). Nieuwenhuis (1985: 82) assigns to Euphemism the task of playing down a serious matter and cites, as illustration, the expression by a British politician a little temporary problem at the other side of town (for a very serious miners' strike). But this example may not be a euphe-mism, but rather mere understatement, which leads us to our next topics. 3.5.13.4. A central area of meiosis is the expression of modesty, Staver-man's (1953) diminutivum modestum , 347 From the hearer's point of view, Grice's concept of implicature (cf. 1.7.6) is relevant here, since the hearer must reject the default interpretation of the utterance by recognizing an apparent flouting of the Gricean maxim of quantity and/or manner (more in 3.5.14.1).
- Thomas Gamerschlag, Doris Gerland, Rainer Osswald, Wiebke Petersen, Thomas Gamerschlag, Doris Gerland, Rainer Osswald, Wiebke Petersen(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Düsseldorf University Press(Publisher)
2008. Sex-related Euphemism and dysphemism: An analysis in terms of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Journal of the Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies 30 (2). 95–110. Cruse, A. 2004. Meaning in language: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cum laude. 2005–2007. In Brockhaus – die Enzyklopädie in 30 Bänden (21st fully revised ed.). Mannheim: F. A. Brockhaus. Davies, M. 2008–. The corpus of contemporary American English (COCA). Retrieved March 29, 2014 from http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/ Farghal, M. 1995. Euphemism in Arabic: A Gricean interpretation. Anthropological Linguistics 37 (3). 366–378. Forschungsstipendien für promovierte Nachwuchswissenschaftler (Postdoc-Pro- gramm). (n. d.). Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst. Retrieved March 29, 2014 from http://tinyurl.com/cdkgtan Friend. 2014. WordNet: A lexical database for English. Princeton: Cognitive Science Laboratory of Princeton University. Retrieved March 29, 2014 from http:// wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=friend&sub=Search+WordNet&o2 =&o0=1&o8=1&o1=1&o7=&o5=&o9=&o6=&o3=&o4=&h= Halmari, H. 2011. Political correctness, Euphemism, and language change: The case of ‘people rst.’ Journal of Pragmatic 43. 828–840. Holder, R. W. 2008. Oxford dictionary of Euphemisms: How not to say what you mean (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. How to make your woman reach an orgasm fast! 2012, February 29. Retrieved March 29, 2014 from http://www.articletrader.com/society/sexuality/how-to -make-your-woman-reach-an-orgasm-fast.html Kövecses, Z. 2006. Language, mind, and culture: A practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kövecses, Z., & Radden, G. 1998. Metonymy: developing a cognitive linguistic view. Cognitive Linguistics 9 (1). 37–77. Lako , G., & Johnson, M. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 262 References Lako , G., & Turner, M. 1989. More than cool reason: A eld guide to poetic metaphor.
Index pages curate the most relevant extracts from our library of academic textbooks. They’ve been created using an in-house natural language model (NLM), each adding context and meaning to key research topics.
