Euphemism

A euphemism is a less offensive word or expression that replaces another in bad taste that may offend or suggest something unpleasant or pejorative to the listener. It can also be the word or expression that replaces secret or sacred names to avoid revealing these to the uninitiated. Some euphemisms are intended to be comical. It occurs when it is intended to use harmless words or expressions to disorient, evade, or avoid making us aware of a harsh and unpleasant reality. Often the euphemism itself becomes vulgar over time only to be substituted again. It should be noted that euphemisms do not always replace slang words in a language, but often replace words accepted in normal use, but which for some reason are considered taboo, or at least that can be rejected or bothered by part of the population. audience.

Euphemisms are widely used in politically correct language to avoid possible offenses to groups of individuals, or as a language manipulation tool to make it easier for the "mass" of ideologies that, expressed in another way, would be reprehensible. Euphemisms are also used to soften profanity: in French we have parbleu instead of par Dieu. In Spanish we have diantre instead of devil and diez or sos replacing Dios in various beautiful expressions. The opposite of a euphemism is a dysphemism.

Etymology

The word euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemia (εὐφημία), from the Greek roots eu (εὗ), " good/fine" + pheme (φήμί) "habla(r)". Eupheme was originally a word or phrase used in place of a religious word or phrase that was not to be spoken aloud; Etymologically, it is the opposite of dysphemism or deliberately offensive or insulting expression that replaces another neutral one, or blasphemy (insult or insult towards God). The first example of taboo words that require the use of a euphemism are the unsayable names of some deities, such as Persephone, Hecate, or Nemesis.

Examples

Examples of euphemisms would be:

Eupheism	Meaning
"interrogating physically"	torture
«... completed his life cycle in peace... »	making public the death of a person through a skeleton, avoiding implicit or explicitly allusion to any religious or mystical conception

Characteristics and lexicalization

According to the Dictionary of the Spanish language, a euphemism is a "soft or decorous manifestation of ideas whose straight or frank expression would be harsh or rude". That is, it is a more elegant voice, vague or ambiguous that replaces another whose name is inopportune, offensive, vulgar or hurtful in a certain communicative situation. This type of lexical substitution was already frequent in primitive societies in which the mention of taboo words ˗˗socioculturally prohibited terms˗˗ was completely avoided, especially those of a religious nature (God, demon). Although this belief-based mentality has changed markedly through education and increased cultural level, this linguistic concern still exists in some civilized societies. In the Renaissance, on the other hand, other types of euphemistic substitutes were developed, such as: supplement of the sun (for lamp), the counselor of graces (for mirror), interior bathroom (for glass of water), the throne of modesty (for cheeks), etc. However, this prohibition of an aesthetic nature culminated in the French preciosity of the 17th century.

As Chamizo Domínguez points out, "from the synchronic point of view, the interpretation of a euphemism must remain ambiguous." This implies that the euphemism loses its cognitive effect if it is replaced by another word, another euphemism or another taboo word. In addition, the understanding of the euphemism depends on the context of the communicative act and on the fact that the speaker and listener share certain social uses and certain conventions.

Diachronically, a euphemism goes through different stages: in a first introduction, the euphemism is novel when it is created ad hoc, without belonging to a certain cognitive network and without being predictable, however, the listener it is able to understand its meaning thanks to the context in which it was created; in a second phase we find those euphemisms in common use, well known by speakers and listeners, but which still retain both their euphemistic sense and their literal sense (semi-exicalized euphemism); finally, there are the euphemisms whose euphemistic origin has been lost; these are dead or lexicalized euphemisms because the original literal meaning of the word has been lost. As Armenta Moreno points out, the relativity of euphemisms (and also of dysphemisms) makes them changeable, that is, they undergo a process of wear and tear. This wear means that, once recognized as such, they begin a process of weakening in which they will demand another substitute that fulfills their attenuating or debasing function, respectively. By depending on the pragmatic variables of the time and society in which they are born, they present great instability. Euphemisms generate a transformation in the perception of reality, not in reality itself.

By being lexicalized, the euphemism loses its ambiguity; Sometimes it happens that the same euphemism becomes a taboo word, so a new euphemism would have to be found to name that reality. Other times it may happen that this lexicalized euphemism is "recycled" and used for other things.

Euphemism as a social phenomenon

Being a speech act, the meaning of the euphemism will not depend on the word itself but on the meaning that speakers and listeners want to give it in a given context as well as on the intentions of the speaker. In these circumstances, the barrier between euphemism and dysphemism is blurred and it may happen that there is an alternation between them, that is, that the euphemism becomes dysphemism and vice versa, as proposed by Chamizo Domínguez.

As previously explained, euphemisms play the main role of replacing those socially offensive or unacceptable voices in a given communicative situation with other more "elegant" ones; However, this is not its only purpose since, as the author Pedro J. Chamizo Domínguez points out, the euphemism serves other secondary functions. In this way, we use euphemisms as a mechanism of courtesy (my lord husband for husband, or my lady wife for my wife), to elevate the dignity of a profession or trade (sanitary technical assistant instead of nurse, cemetery operator for undertaker, executive assistant for secretary, "expert in solid urban waste disposal" for dumpster, footwear clinic for shoe shop or bread boutique for bakery), to dignify people suffering from illnesses or disabilities or go through difficult circumstances (third age instead of old people, blind for blind, "incentivized leave& #34; for dismissal), to be politically correct (third world to refer to poor countries, people at risk of social exclusion to refer to the poor, elderly or elderly by old men , or inmates or inmates by prisoners , etc.), to soften the evocation of a painful or sad situation (passing on to a better life, not being with us or resting in the Lord for dying, or take a walk to shoot). Chamizo Domínguez also points to the use of the euphemism as a way to "manipulate objects ideologically." Thus, we can use embryo instead of fetus and say voluntary termination of pregnancy instead of abortion . The euphemism is also used as a mechanism to avoid offenses of an ethnic or sexual nature (gay instead of homosexual man or lesbian for woman homosexual, African-American for black, Caucasian for white).

Classification of euphemisms

Several classifications have been proposed about its formation process: some elaborated from linguistic criteria and others based on the extra-linguistic causes that generate it. Among them, it is worth highlighting the one proposed by Albelda Marco:

Paralinguistic level

• The intonation and gestures:
  • An insult like asshole! or You bastard! emitted in a loving tone or outlined with a smile.

Phonetic level

• The modification in some fonema of the word you wish to avoid: ♪ (joder).
• The reduction of the term or expression: Narco (narco-trafficking).
• Paronymic substitution (replacement by another word phonetically rely on the softening): joroba (joder).

Morphological level

• The derivation through suffixes or prefixes: bastard.
• The composition: Third world (poor countries).
• The bending gender change: go cognac or being a bird.

Syntactic level

• Omission and ellipsis: go to the m (shits)
• Euphemistic Formulas and Ritualized Appositions: It's a chariot..
• Syntagmatic grouping of words: shift friend (prostituted).

Lexical level

• Aliens: doping (drug consumption).
• Cults: Beodo (bomb).
• Technicalisms and hierarchy: Dipsoman (bombing) commercial (vendor), Horse (heroin).

Semantic level

• Metáfora: loss or rest (death).
• Metonimia and synecdoque: collateral damage (civil victims).
• Antonomasia: be a little Hitler (tirean).
• Antifrasis: Peaceful army or Humanitarian war.
• Litotes: without papers (immigrants).
• Perifrasis and circumloquium: precarious housing settlements (chabolas; in Argentina, misery villas).
• Generic terms: foreign (immigrant) action (attack or bombing).