definition, types, and example about euphemism

What is Euphemism?

A Euphemism is a polite inoffensive expression words or phrases replaced for one considered offensive or hurtful that contrarily might be considered bitter, blunt or unpleasant to hear. In short, the term euphemism refers to courteous, unintended expressions which is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression that replace words and phrases considered harsh and disrespectful or which suggest something unpleasant. When the aim is not to offend or hurt someone with honest intentions.

Possibly there is no other word in English for which there are more euphemisms than for the verb “to die.” When someone dies, we say he passed away, passed on or simply passed. Or he is in a better place now, gone on to his heavenly reward or as the doctor may have said just as the patient breathed his last breath. “She expired.”

Lets consider a few more Examples:

Collateral damage instead of accidental deaths
Use the rest room instead of go to the bathroom
Between jobs instead of unemployed
Domestic engineer instead of maid

Types of Euphemisms

To Soften an Expression - Some euphemisms are used to make a blunt or obnoxious truth seem less hard.
Examples:

Passed away instead of died
Differently-abled instead of handicapped or disabled
Relocation center instead of prison camp
Letting someone go instead of firing someone
On the streets instead of homeless

Euphemisms to be Polite - Some euphemisms are used to take the place of words or phrases one might not want to say in polite circle.
Examples:

Adult beverages instead of beer or liquor
Big-boned instead of heavy or overweight
Vertically-challenged instead of short
Economical with the truth instead of liar
Between jobs instead of unemployed

Euphemisms to be Impolite - euphemisms are intentionally a callous or insensitive way of saying something. These euphemisms are usually used when being sarcastic or trying to make light of a serious subject or make it seem less serious.
Example:

Bit the dust instead of died
Blow chunks instead of vomited
Bit the farm instead of died

Examples of Euphemisms

Euphemism is frequently used in everyday life. Let us look at some common euphemism examples:

Retarded - mentally challenged
Blind - Visually challenged
Crippled - Differently abled
Bald - follicularly challenged
Poor - economically marginalized
Fat - gravitationally challenged, Overweight
Lazy - motivationally deficient
beggar - panhandler, homeless person
coffin - casket
old age - golden age, golden years
criminal (adj) - illegal
confinement - detention
lawyer - attorney
sick - indisposed, ill, under the weather
toilet - john, WC, men's room, restroom, bathroom, washroom, lavatory

Euphemism in sentences:

He is always tired and emotional (drunk). He is a special child (disabled or retarded).
You are becoming a little thin on top (bald).
Our teacher is in the family way (pregnant).
We do not hire mentally challenged (stupid) people.
The individual was accused of appropriating funds.
Joey isn’t broke, he is having temporary negative cash flow.
Sam isn't buying a used car, he is purchasing a pre-enjoyed or pre-loved vehicle.
Dian's supervisor laid him off because he was unmotivated.
Politicians don't commit crimes, they 'make mistakes.'
I don't care if you keep smoking, you'll be the one pushing up the daisies at the age of 40, not me!
Putting stray dogs to sleep is the most humane thing to do.

Lets consider Euphemisms for death and dying as an example:

a race well run	definitely done dancing	in a better place	feeling no pain	go west
departed	finished	at room temperature	get a one-way ticket	out of his/her misery
cross the bar	asleep	join the majority	bite the dust	kick the bucket
living-impaired	resting in peace	check out	pass away	no longer with us
meet his/her maker	wearing a toe tag	yield up the ghost	kick the oxygen habit	pushing up the daisies
six feet under	with the angels	terminated	call home	final curtain call

Techniques for Creating Euphemism

Euphemism masks a rude or impolite expression but conveys the concept clearly and politely. Several techniques are employed to create euphemism.

It may be in the form of abbreviations e.g. B.O. (body odor), W.C. (toilet) etc.
Foreign words may be used to replace an impolite expression e.g. faux (fake), or faux pas (foolish error) etc.
Sometimes, they are abstractions e.g. before I go (before I die).
They may also be indirect expressions replacing direct ones which may sound offensive e.g. rear-end, unmentionables etc.
Using longer words or phrases can also mask unpleasant words e.g. flatulence for farting, perspiration for sweat, mentally challenged for stupid etc.
Using technical terms may reduce the rudeness exhibited by words e.g. gluteus maximus.
Deliberately mispronouncing an offensive word may reduce its severity e.g. darn, shoot etc.

Euphemism Examples in Everyday Life

Euphemism is frequently used in everyday life. Let us look at some common euphemism examples:

You are becoming a little thin on top (bald).
Our teacher is in the family way (pregnant).
He is always tired and emotional (drunk).
We do not hire mentally challenged (stupid) people.
He is a special child (disabled or retarded).

Examples of Euphemism in Literature

Example #1

Examples of euphemism referring to sex are found in William Shakespeare’s “Othello” and “Antony and Cleopatra”. In “Othello”, Act 1 Scene 1, Iago tells Brabantio:

“I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.”

Here, the expression “making the beast with two backs” refers to the act of having sex.
Similarly, we notice Shakespeare using euphemism for sexual intercourse in his play “Antony and Cleopatra”. In Act 2 Scene 2, Agrippa says about Cleopatra:

“Royal wench!
She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed.
He plowed her, and she cropped.”

The word “plowed” refers to the act of sexual intercourse and the word “cropped” is a euphemism for becoming pregnant.

Example #2

John Donne in his poem “The Flea” employs euphemism. He says:

“Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou denies me is;
It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
Thou know’st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead;
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pamper’d swells with one blood made of two;
And this, alas! is more than we would do.”

In order to persuade his beloved to sleep with him, the speaker in the poem tells her how a flea bit both of them and their blood got mixed in it. This is a euphemism.

Example #3

“The Squealer”, a character in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, uses euphemisms to help “the pigs” achieve their political ends. To announce the reduction of food to the animals of the farm, Orwell quotes him saying:

“For the time being,” he explains, “it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations.”

Substituting the word “reduction” with “readjustment” was an attempt to suppress the complaints of other animals about hunger. It works because reduction means “cutting” food supply while readjustment implies changing the current amount of food.

Function of Euphemism

Euphemism helps writers to convey those ideas which have become a social taboo and are too embarrassing to mention directly. Writers skillfully choose appropriate words to refer to and discuss a subject indirectly which otherwise are not published due to strict social censorship e.g. religious fanaticism, political theories, sexuality, death etc. Thus, euphemism is a useful tool that allows writers to write figuratively about the libelous issues.

Here are some particularly amusing examples, except where downright offensive.

1. If you are offered a career change or an early retirement opportunity, a career or employee transition, or you are being involuntarily separated, or if personnel is being realigned or there is a surplus reduction in personnel, or the staff is being re-engineered or right sized, or if there is a workforce imbalance correction then: You’re fired!

(Cartoon by Kipper Williams)

2. You aren’t poor, you are economically disadvantaged.
3. You aren’t broke, you have temporary negative cash flow.
4. You do not live in a slum but in substandard housing, or in an economically depressed neighborhood, or culturally deprived environment.
5. If you are managing company stakeholders, that means you are lobbying, which is really the same as bribing.
6. When you get an unwanted phone call just as you are sitting down to dinner from a representative of the Republican party (and you are a Democrat) or vice versa, this is called a courtesy call. Only courtesy has nothing to do with it, it’s just freaking annoying.

7. In light of the recent demise of Osama bin Laden, several politicians have stressed that it was the enhanced interrogation methods which caused the informants to squeal and give up the nickname of the courier, which we then followed around until he led us to the compound of OBL. This is one of my personal favorites, not the process it refers to of course, but the absolute ludicrousness of this particular phrase. The ultimate of euphemism. It’s torture, folks! Torture, and you can’t sugarcoat it, and you can’t make it sound nice. Torture.
8. Since we’ve been involved in two wars for ten years, stuff happens, stuff that we don’t want to happen. When you come into a country and break it, for a variety of good reasons, you might cause some collateral damage, which are really deaths of civilians. Women and children and old people. Accidental death. Accidental – but you can’t quite escape the “death” part.
9. When a geographical area is neutralized or depopulated that means the CIA killed people, just because.