EUPHEMISMS:

Lets Just Keep It Real.

Euphemism: A vague, mild expression that symbolizes something more blunt or harsh (Floyd, 2009)

To Help:Acceptance

Politically Correctness

Hide from Reality

To Mislead

Why we use euphemisms

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

How euphemisms cause cultural complications in communication

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