euphemisms: lets just keep it real. euphemism: a vague, mild expression that symbolizes something...
TRANSCRIPT
Acceptance Death: Sleeping with Jesus
Gone to a better place
To be politically correct Prisoner: Convict
Detainee
Hide from Reality Venereal Disease:
Social Disease
To Mislead Unemployed:
Between jobs
Taking time off
The euphemism treadmill is a term coined
By Steven Pinker a linguist and professor
at Harvard University.
Euphemism Treadmill
Death penalty/ Capital punishment
Genocide/ Ethnic cleansing Jail/ Secure facility Killing of innocents/ Collateral
damage Police officer/ Peace officer
Bad Euphemisms
Euphemisms cause problems in communication and desensitizes us to normal human emotions. Its okay to feel sad about a death and its okay to admit that you’re not in between jobs but just plain old unemployed. Sometimes the ugly truth is better than a pretty lie.
Conclusion
Green, N (September 30, 2009) Bad Euphemisms, Political Correctness and Censorship. 500 Words on Words Retrieved February 2, 2011 from http://500wordsonwords.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/bad-euphemisms-political-correctness-and-censorship
Burk, D.( June 3, 2009) Damning Euphemisms, A commentary on theology, politics, and culture. Retrieved February 15, 2011 from http://www.dennyburk.com/damning-euphemisms/
Alkire, S. (May 2002) Introducing Euphemisms to Language Learners. Retrieved February 10, 2011 from http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Alkire-Euphemisms.html
Floyd, K. (2009) Interpersonal Communication The Whole Story. Retrieved February 10, 2011
Photobucket. Retrieved February 20, 2011 from http://photobucket.com
Resources