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Euphemisms: history, types and examples
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INTRODUCTION
The euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener,[1] or to make it less troublesome for the speaker, as in the case of doublespeak. The deployment of euphemisms is a central aspect within the public application of political correctness.
It may also substitute a description of something or someone to avoid revealing secret, holy, or sacred names to the uninitiated, or to obscure the identity of the subject of a conversation from potential eavesdroppers. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse.
CHAPTER 1. THE HISTORY OF EUPHEMISMS
1.1 Etymology
The word euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemo, meaning "auspicious/good/fortunate speech/kind" which in turn is derived from the Greek root-words eu (ευ), "good/well" + pheme (φήμη) "speech/speaking". The eupheme was originally a word or phrase used in place of a religious word or phrase that should not be spoken aloud; etymologically, the eupheme is the opposite of the blaspheme (evil-speaking). The primary example of taboo words requiring the use of a euphemism are the unspeakable names for a deity, such as Persephone, Hecate, or Nemesis. Euphemism was itself used as a euphemism by the ancient Greeks, meaning 'to keep a holy silence' (speaking well by not speaking at all).
Historical linguistics has revealed traces of taboo deformations in many languages. Several are known to have occurred in Indo-European languages, including the original Proto-Indo-European words for bear (*rtkos), wolf (*wlkwos), and deer (originally, hart; the deformation likely occurred to avoid confusion with heart). In different Indo-European languages, each of these words has a difficult etymology because of taboo deformations — a euphemism was substituted for the original, which no longer occurs in the language. An example is the Slavic root for bear — *medu-ed-, which means "honey eater". One example in English is "donkey" replacing the old Indo-European-derived word "ass". The word "dandelion" (lit., tooth of lion, referring to the shape of the leaves) is another example, being a substitute for pissenlit, meaning "wet the bed", a possible reference to the fact that dandelion was used as a diuretic.
In some languages of the Pacific, using the name of a deceased chief is taboo. Among indigenous Australians, it is forbidden to use the name, image, or audio-visual recording of the deceased, so that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation now publishes a warning to indigenous Australians when using names, images or audio-visual recordings of people who have died.[2]
Since people are often named after everyday things, this leads to the swift development of euphemisms. These languages have a very high rate of vocabulary change.[3]
In a similar manner, classical Chinese texts were expected to avoid using characters contained within the name of the currently ruling emperor as a sign of respect. In these instances, the relevant ideographs were replaced by synonyms. While this practice creates an additional wrinkle for anyone attempting to read or translate texts from the classical period, it does provide a fairly accurate means of dating the documents under consideration.
The common names of illicit drugs, and the plants used to obtain them, often undergo a process similar to taboo deformation, because new terms are devised in order to discuss them secretly in the presence of others. This process often occurs in English (e.g. speed or crank for meth). It occurs even more in Spanish, e.g. the deformation of names for cannabis: mota (lit., "something which moves" on the black market), replacing grifa (lit., "something coarse to the touch"), replacing marihuana (a female personal name, María Juana), replacing cañamo (the original Spanish name for the plant, derived from the Latin genus name Cannabis). All four of these names are still used in various parts of the Hispanophone world, although cañamo ironically has the least underworld connotation, and is often used to describe industrial hemp, or legitimate medically-prescribed cannabis.
1.2 History of euphemisms in English
A great number of euphemisms in English came from words with Latin roots. Farb (1974) writes that after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066: "the community began to make a distinction between a genteel and an obscene vocabulary, between the Latinate words of the upper class and the lusty Anglo-Saxon of the lower. That is why a duchess perspired and expectorated and menstruated--while a kitchen maid sweated and spat and bled."
In the "good 'old' (read over the hill, chronologically-gifted) days" of the English language, there was a dazzling amount of delightful doubletalk not to mention a smattering of simply hilarious handles as seen below:
"brandy" -- referred to as "French Cream" by time-enhanced tabbies and dowager duchesses who added it to their tea (scandal broth)
"breeches" -- bumfiddles, galligaskins, inexpressibles
"brewer" -- Brother of the Bung
"constable" -- bus-napper
"coachman" -- Brother of the Whip
"dealer in fruit" -- costard monger
"eggs" -- cackling farts
"foot boy" -- catch fart
"footman" -- bone picker
"fiddler" -- gut scraper or tormentor of cat gut
"indigent" -- Gentleman of Three Outs, i.e. without money, without wit, and without manners
"match-maker" -- buttock broker
"parson" -- autem bawler who conducts his affairs in an "autem cacle tub" (church meeting hall)
"pimp" -- Brother of the Gusset
"roundabout story or way" - circumbendibus
"salesman's shop" -- Bow-Wow Shop (because the servant barks and the master bites)
"Sargeant At Arms" -- Brother of the Coif
"schoolmaster" -- bum brusher
"shoe-making" -- the art of gentle craft
"tea" -- cat lap, scandal broth
"undertaker" -- embalming surgeon
"upholsterer" -- bug-hunter
"wife" -- comfortable importance
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