Dangerous Euphemisms and The English Language
Read on…
It’s all around us.
And we use them in everyday conversations without thinking twice.
A few of them come to mind:
The final solution to the Jewish question.
Dealing with the problems at its source.
Man dies after incident with the police.
A local skirmish.
Kicked the Bucket.
Draining the swamp
What does these phrases have in common?
They are all euphemisms.
According to the greatest repository of knowledge, euphemism is defined as follows:
is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes to downplay. Euphemisms may be used to mask profanity or refer to topics some consider taboo such as disability, sex, excretion, or death in a polite way
My view is that euphemisms have too much power over the English language and the twentieth century is a perfect case in point.