Euphemisms - Topic

Euphemism, and its flip-side, dysphemism, is a rather common linguistic phenomenon. Like the passive voice, it has been derided by many, but used by more. Some seem to think that it was created by a cabal of the politcally correct, when it is simply a part of the language we all speak.

There's a good book on the subject: Euphemism and Dysphemism: Language Used as a Shield and a Weapon, 1991, by Keith Allan and Kate Burridge, two Australian linguists.

quote:
The form of language that a person uses can cause offense to other human beings and to gods—even to dangerous animals. The result of misusing language can be dire: according to Leviticus (24:16) God told Moses "He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord shall be put to death." To shield a speaker from the consequences of giving offence, all languages have euphemisms. Euphemistic expressions trade on illusion: the bluntly profane (and therefore in some eyes blasphemous) "Jesus Christ!" is euphemistically transmuted into "Jeepers Creepers!" but the same person is referred to by both, and if the former is profane, even blasphemous, so should the latter be, too. Similarly, the euphemistic "Your dog went to the bathroom in my driveway!" describes an event that is equally well captured by "Your dog shat in my driveway!" Euphemisms have existed throughout recorded history; they are used among preliterate peoples, and have probably been around ever since recognizably human language developed. Likewise has offensive language, what we call "dysphemism."

How are euphemism and dysphemism to be defined? Is euphemism necessarily tied to taboo? What topics are taboo? Why are women's bodies so strongly tabooed? Do euphemism and dysphemism reflect the intrinsic conflict between intellect and body within human geings? What sorts of euphemisms are there? Where do conventional euphemisms and dysphemisms come from? How are euphemism and dysphemism related to one another? How are they related to neutral terms, if there are such things? Why is it that the euphemism of yesteryear (e.g., "toilet") is replaced by a new one ("bathroom")? How do euphemism and dysphemism related to slang and jargons? What makes people swear? How many euphemisms are there in English for the genital organs? All these questions and many more are broached in this book.

[I apologize, in advance, if the style of this quotation and the book itself are in an impenetrable academese.]

—Ceci n'est pas un seing.

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Ignored post by zmježd posted September 22, 2006 09:21

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posted September 22, 2006 10:26

I find the style to be quite acceptable and appropriate - far easier to comprehend than the piece we were discussing a couple of weeks ago.

Richard English

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Ignored post by Richard English posted September 22, 2006 10:26

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posted September 22, 2006 20:54

Oh, Richard, you know I love Geoffrey Pullum (not in the biblical sense of course.

).

I hadn't heard of "right-sizing" and "decruitment." I do rather like "Director of First Impressions;" I wonder if that one really exists. CW, would you like to be called an "Information Architect?"

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Ignored post by Kalleh posted September 22, 2006 20:54

goofy

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posted September 22, 2006 20:59

I work for a telecommunications company, and in my office "information artichect" wouldn't sound so weird. It would be something like a system administrator.

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Ignored post by goofy posted September 22, 2006 20:59

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posted September 23, 2006 01:29

quote:
Oh, Richard, you know I love Geoffrey Pullum (not in the biblical sense of course.

I have never heard of the Biblical sense of "love". I have heard of the Biblical sense of "know", though.

Richard English

Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK

Ignored post by Richard English posted September 23, 2006 01:29

wordmatic

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posted September 23, 2006 05:41

I had heard of "right-sizing" but not "decruitment." "Right-sizing" is right up there with "Work smarter, not harder" on the Employee Blood Pressure Monitor. Fast becoming a Pullam fan myself. The Allan-Burridge quote was not inpenetrable at all--sounds like one for the reading list. How ignorant I was: I had never heard of "dysphemism" either. Good thing I found you people when I did.

Wordmatic

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Ignored post by wordmatic posted September 23, 2006 05:41

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posted September 23, 2006 18:47

quote:
I work for a telecommunications company, and in my office "information artichect" wouldn't sound so weird.

Gooofy, I mentioned that because CW is a librarian.

Richard, I see that I had written "biblical" and you wrote "Biblical." Should it be capitalized? A physician once told me that he loved his secretary...he then looked at me and realized that could be taken the wrong way so he added, "But not in the biblical sense!" That's how we use it.

Yes, we are glad you found us, too, wordmatic.

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Ignored post by Kalleh posted September 23, 2006 18:47

neveu

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posted September 23, 2006 20:29

I've heard that in classical Greek literature a commonly used euphemism for sexual intercourse was "he removed her belt [or girdle]" meaning the tie holding her robe closed. Hence the ninth labor of Hercules, retrieving the Girdle of Hippolyta, was meant to imply that the task was actually to have sex with Hippolyta rather than just nick one of her wardrobe accessories.

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Ignored post by neveu posted September 23, 2006 20:29

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posted September 24, 2006 01:32

quote:
Richard, I see that I had written "biblical" and you wrote "Biblical." Should it be capitalized?

The COED has:

biblical (also Biblical) so either rendition would seem correct.

I have never heard of "loving" someone in the Biblical sense; the euphemism for sexual intercourse was "knowing". As I recall, in the Authorised version of the New Testament appears the sentence about Joseph and Mary: "Before he knew her she was with child".

In later versions the meaning is spelt out. Whether that was a euphemism common in England at the time of King James or whether that was the term used in the original, I don't know.

Richard English

Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK

Ignored post by Richard English posted September 24, 2006 01:32

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posted September 24, 2006 19:53

You apparently are right. Here is a good explanation of it (scroll down to "Lovemaking"). I suspect that use of it has evolved, at least here in the U.S.

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Ignored post by Kalleh posted September 24, 2006 19:53

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posted September 24, 2006 22:35

Interesting. So the euphemism was originally Hebrew and the scholars who translated it all those years ago were accurate.

I wonder whether the euphemisms cited were ever common in the UK? Interestingly the expression "to lie with" is physically more accurate and less ambigious than "to know". The UK's popular euphemism these days is "to sleep with" - which always amuses me, since sleeping is generally the last thing on any couple's mind!

Richard English

Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK

Ignored post by Richard English posted September 24, 2006 22:35

arnie

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posted September 25, 2006 10:58

I was amused by the remark in parentheses in the piece cited by Kalleh:

quote:
A newly married man, however, was given a year off from war and other work, to stay home and "cheer up his wife" [Deut. 24:5].

Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

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Ignored post by arnie posted September 25, 2006 10:58

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posted October 20, 2006 21:18

I read a good one today. Instead of "shit," they said something like, "the stuff the matador steps in." Geez!

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Ignored post by Kalleh posted October 20, 2006 21:18

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posted October 21, 2006 01:30

quote:
the stuff the matador steps in

His or the bull's, I wonder?

Richard English

Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK

Ignored post by Richard English posted October 21, 2006 01:30