Euphemism

Lee Sang SoonJo Min Ki

Intro

Taboo and Euphemism

• Some words undergo pejo-ration because of a taboo against talking about the things they name.

• The replacement for a taboo term is a eu-phemism.

• Euphemism is from Greek word meaning ‘good sounding’.

Taboo and Euphemism

• Louise Pound, the first woman president of the Modern Lan-guage Association<American Euphemism for Dy-ing, Death and Burial>“One of mankind’s gravest prob-lems is to avoid a straight for-ward mention of dying for burial.”

• Euphemism is especially fre-quent when we must come face to face with the less happy facts of our existence.

Example - Death

• Alleviated for the survivor by call-ing it by some other name.

e.g. Death – the final sleep Die – go to sleep go on a journey pass away

• The notion of death is made more tolerable to human consciousness

Example - Decency

• Idea of decency profoundly affect language.

• During the Victorian era, ladies and gentlemen were very sensitive about using the word ‘leg’

• Captain Frederick Marryant’s diary in America – American taboo on this word.e.g. leg – limb

• Similar taboo was placed on ‘belly’e.g. Belly – stomach, tummy, breadbasket

• They cause sexual humiliation

Example - Disease

• Euphemism is likewise resorted to in reference to certain disease.

• Words for diseases are doubtless rooted in anxiety and superstition.

• An ailment of almost any sort is of-ten referred to as a condition.e.g. heart condition, kidney condi-tion, etc

• Referring instead to those who born under ’Cancer’ as ‘Moon Children’.

• ‘Leprosy’ is replaced by the color-less ‘Hansen disease’.

Example – Sentimental Equalitarianism

• Attempt to dignify occupation by giving them high-sounding titles.e.g. Janitor – custodian

garbage man – sanitary engineer

rat catcher – extermina-tion engineer

• One of the great concerns of the progressive age.

• Nobody’s feeling shall ever be hurt- at least not by words. (political correctness)

Is the Euphemism always desirable?

Problem - Glamorization

• “We are not at war with Cuba, We are in a state of armed conflict.”  

• “It was after a New Year’s Eve party at which both had too much to drink, he testified, and he got physical trying to get her out of the room.”

• the War department → the De-partment of Defense

• “Real GDP decreases.” → negative growth

Problem - Inefficiency

• Shell shock/Combat fatigue/Post-traumatic stress disorder

• “You are fired.” → “I’m afraid you should make a career realign-ment.”

Problem – Conflict

• Positive discrimination(Affirmative action)→ Another kind of “Discrimina-tion”?

(e.g. Reverse discrimina-tion)

• Euthanasia vs. Mercy Killing→ Is there a “right to die”? Mercy killing is just “killing(=murder).”

Conclusion

• Euphemism is adouble-edge sword.Replacement for a Taboo /Conflict maker

• Moderate use is neces-sary.However, it is hard to achieve.

End