Widespread of

Euphemisms

Presentation made by
Sokov Peter (31a9n)
Definition of Euphemisms
The term euphemism refers
to polite, indirect expressions
that replace words and
phrases considered harsh
and impolite, or which
suggest something
unpleasant. Euphemism is an
idiomatic expression, which
loses its literal meanings and
refers to something else, in
order to hide its
unpleasantness.
Purposes (why do we need them?)
Euphemism masks a
rude or impolite
expression, but
conveys the concept
clearly and politely.

Avoidance
Mitigation
Rhetoric
Euphemisms in politics.
Euphemism is a very important form
of communication for politics.
Beating around the bush and never
quite answering the questions,
politics often use euphemisms as a
tool of distraction or way to cover
the truth. The Government often
hide the truth with euphemisms to
manipulate the standardized society
we live in. In contrary politicians
uses euphemisms to convince his or
her audience their political beliefs,
and how they would be important to
the audience.
Political correctness
‘’Passed away.’’ ‘’Unemployed.’’
‘’Collateral damage.’’ These phrases are
euphemisms used to give light to a
situation or some may say they are just
more “politically correct”. “Political
correctness” is the process of speaking
without offending anyone. One of the
most commonly stated goals of political
correctness is the elimination of verbal
discrimination and negative
stereotyping. The demand for political
correctness is often controversial and
becomes the source of criticism and
satire.
The most common examples

Third world countries – emerging nations


Sort people – vertically challenged people


Illiterate – print challenged


Fat people – horizontally challenged people


Homeless - residentially flexible


Blind - visually challenged
Euphemisms in professions
Euphemisms are often used to refer to
describing of low-demand professions. The
most common professions, first of all, are
considered to be the professions of a janitor
and a cleaner. To highlight and denote the
responsibility of people for the cleanliness of
streets and premises, in English, the
expression garbage collector (cleaner) is often
replaced by the expression sanitation man, or
sanitation engineer, or garbologist; also,
replace the word road-sweeper (street
sweeper) with street orderly, the word janitor
is replaced with the expressions
environmental hygienist (or custodian) or
building engineer.
Euphemisms are also often used to
replace words related to the description of
positions working in non-government
organizations. For example, the position
of filing clerk in English is replaced by the
expression information retrieval
administrator; the position of Secretary is
replaced by personal assistant or
administrative assistant, and so on. And
teachers, as researches have shown, have
turned into educators / classroom
managers / learning facilitators, or even
childminders!

They’ve got the head of Mafia family in

this list as well, but he’d rather be
happy with his new name – Godfather.
 To sum up
Euphemisms are represented in
political discourse in significant
numbers. They touch on various
problems of the modern world. There is
also a process of euphemization of the
private life of politicians and public
figures (euphemisms describing natural
needs), which is a modern trend in the
English language, speaking about the
convergence of the political institution
of government and citizens of the
country.