Euphemisms

Culture is defined as a complex whole in which belief, knowledge, art, morals, law, custom, and other capabilities acquired by people as members of society are included. The British expelling from the Indian subcontinent was not the slightest bit disguised that the traditions they presented would blur away. This is particularly valid among the well-off, who have simple access to TV and different types of electronic media, Western items, and sustenance. Westernization has been a piece of the modernization procedure, which in no sense can be viewed as destructive. Then again, it is essential to look at the West's effect since, in the event that we are not watchful, it could affect our general public, and lead to the interruption of social qualities and traditions.

This paper proposes a set of translation strategies for euphemisms, strategies that can, arguably, be applied to any pair of source-target languages. These strategies are based on Mona Baker's strategies for translating idioms, and also on Mona Arhire's view on translation universals. The study goes on to apply the translation strategies to a number of 40 English euphemisms into Romanian, using an online corpus of amateur translations and subtitles. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results shows to what extent and by what means Romanian translators manage to convey the complete euphemistic message through, and what are the most common mistakes they make.

This text aims at drawing a panorama of studies about euphemism, from a more traditional approach found in grammars to linguistic perspectives that deal with its discursive functioning. In order to do so, it shows the need for treating subjects such as social taboos and its verbal representation, dysphemism. Because of this double approach, the text argues that euphemism is a relevant phenomenon to understand issues such as (im)politeness, verbal violence, and politically correct language. As it is a mechanism related to social taboos, its study may contribute to the understanding of the relationship between language and culture from perspectives that describe its linguistic and discursive functioning in the activities of the speakers.

Euphemisms arise from the need to maintain tact in conversations. Igbo language, like every other language, makes use of euphemisms to refer to certain taboo, touchy and controversial subjects. The prevalent euphemisms in Igbo language are negative euphemisms. Based on the topics they apply to, Igbo language has disease euphemisms, death euphemisms, sex-related euphemisms and character euphemisms.

The current ethnographic study sought to investigate the discourse strategies that Arab interlocutors employ to euphemize tabooed subjects raised in interaction. The objective was threefold: a) to identify topics deemed as tabooed by Arabs, b) to find out the strategies used to euphemize tabooed topics and c) to account for the reasons behind the strategies employed. The data were gathered using ethnography and observations done on a period of two years by the researcher himself in the Arab community in Khuzestan, Iran. The observations demonstrated that such issues as sex, death, health and diseases, politics, religion, possessions, talents, abilities and family relations are construed as tabooed by Arab interlocutors. The findings also indicated that interlocutors sought recourse in such strategies as: a) use of euphemistic terms and expressions, b) silence c) change of tone, prosody and eye contact, d) criticism of the interlocutor to deal with taboo. Furthermore, taboo topics were mostly raised by male interlocutors and only occasionally by female interlocutors and while males hardly ignored or euphemized such topics, females did so very frequently. It is concluded that taboo, euphemism and (im)politeness are highly intertwined and considerably influenced by such factors as age, gender, social distance and so on.

Resumen Este estudio etnográfico se propone investigar las estrategias de discurso que los interlocutores árabes usan para tratar eufemísticamente temas tabú surgidos en interacción. El objetivo es triple: a) identificar temas considerados como tabú por los árabes, b) conocer las estrategias utilizadas para tratar eufemísticamente temas tabú y c) explicar las razones que motivan las estrategias empleadas. Los datos fueron recopilados por el propio investigador usando la etnografía y las observaciones realizadas en un período de dos años en la comunidad árabe en Khuzestan, Irán. Las observaciones demuestran que cuestiones como el sexo, la muerte, la salud y las enfermedades, la política, la religión, las posesiones, los talentos, las capacidades y las relaciones familiares son interpretadas como tabúes por interlocutores árabes. El estudio también indicaba que los interlocutores usaban como recurso estrategias tales como: a) el uso de términos y expresiones eufemísticas, b) el silencio c) el cambio de tono, la prosodia y el contacto visual, d) la crítica al interlocutor para tratar el tabú. Además, los temas tabú fueron en su mayoría planteados por los interlocutores masculinos y sólo ocasionalmente por las mujeres interlocutoras y mientras que los hombres apenas ignoraban o trataban eufemísticamente tales temas, las mujeres lo hacían con mucha más frecuencia. La conclusión es que el tabú, el eufemismo y la (des)cortesía están altamente entrelazados e influenciados considerablemente por factores como la edad, el género, la distancia social, etc.
Palabras clave Árabe, estrategias del discurso, eufemismo, cortesía, tabú

Euphemisms are often used to “soften the blow” in the process of dismissal, especially in recent years characterised by massive lay-offs due to the impact of the global financial crisis and the need to mask the harshness of losing a job. In this
paper we analyse euphemisms for dismissal in English, focusing particularly on figurative euphemisms which are the result of such cognitive instruments as metaphor or metonymy. The framework used will be both of Cognitive Linguistics and
the theory of euphemism and dysphemism as developed and elaborated by Allan and Burridge (1991). Such an approach will hopefully enable us to demonstrate “the mitigating capacity” of metaphor and metonymy used as a powerful source for euphemistic reference thanks to their ability to hide negative or undesirable aspects of the target domain.

Learning a foreign language has always been a little complicated due to its diverse idiomatic, figures of speech, slang and euphemistic language. Take English as a foreign language; it seems that a non-native speaker needs to learn the usual current English hand in hand with extra language styles with some special irregular expressions and vocabulary.

          Learners of English as a foreign language might know the sentence, “My uncle died yesterday”, but how would they infer what, “My uncle bit the dust yesterday” mean? When they use Google translation, things get worse. They’ll get some funny word for word translation, and they will go astray.

The early 1990s saw the proposal of " people-first " language when referring to people with disabilities, which implied that premodified nouns (disabled people) needed to be replaced by postmodified nouns (people with disabilities) (Burris 1992; APA 1994). In addition to adhering to the proposed syntactic change, these changes also often included a shift in the field of lexical euphemisms (halmari 2011: 829). This usage was first implemented in the fields of education and psychology, only to be widely accepted throughout the world during the first decade of the 21st century (Fox 2007: 321–322). The aim of this paper is to ascertain the extent to which these prescribed guidelines for talking about people with disabilities were adopted in the Serbian press during a period of nine years. This will be achieved by investigating their distribution in the online archives of the " Politika " newspaper between 2007 and 2015, well after the " people-first " proposition was introduced. The starting hypothesis is that the newspaper archives will contain a larger proportion of the politically correct " people-first " expressions coupled with non-offensive lexical euphemisms, as well as that the progress of time will coincide with the increase in " people-first " terminology in the newspaper texts.

This article investigates some methodological issues in research on euphemisms (resulting from taboo language) in textual variants of Ukrainian obscene folk songs. In the Polish scholarly literature, it has been suggested that euphemisms can be identified by comparing texts recorded in different territories and time. It is argued in this paper, on the basis of a comparative analysis of texts published in two collections of obscene songs, that using this method does not allow to determine the direction of changes in the texts. One cannot tell for sure whether the phrases became vulgarized or euphemized. The conclusions contain a suggestion to investigate euphemisms in obscene songs by applying the method in question to original manuscripts or parallel variants of songs known to a single performer or community, e.g. the inhabitants of one village. In order to achieve the latter aim it would be necessary to carry out fieldwork.

The present paper discusses the distribution of the two most common Mediaeval English euphemisms of Satan, ie fiend and enemy, in religious prose. We focus on the rivalry between the foreign word and the native word, comparing the contexts in which the two words tended to occur, and attempting to determine the semantic status of the French word
enemy in relation to the sense originally denoted by fiend. The data come from the Middle English period, when French loanwords began to compete semantically with native words.

“Ornamental and euphemistic periphrases in the press” -

The article presents ornamental and euphemistic periphrases, that occurred in the press after the death of John Paul II. Metaphors of the Holy Father decorated the texts and created the spirit of community between journalists and bereaved people deeply experiencing the loss. The ambiguity of poetic periphrases stimulated the interest of readers. Euphemistic metaphors of death, imposed by linguistic taboo, were the expression of a great respect for the feelings of  the readers. The content analysis of Polish opinion weekly magazines and nationwide dailies issued in the “Papal week” shows that poetic periphrases helped to express the atmosphere of mourning in the first days of April 2005. The periphrases contributed to the evaluation of people and events described, influencing the readers’ way of viewing the world, the Pope and themselves. 
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Artykuł prezentuje ornamentacyjne i eufemizacyjne peryfrazy, które na początku kwietnia 2005 roku pomagały dziennikarzom wyrazić emocje Polaków opłakujących śmierć Jana Pawła II. Metaforyczne określenia Papieża ozdabiały teksty prasowe, tworzyły poczucie bliskości z czytelnikami, intrygowały swoją zagadkowością. Eufemistyczne peryfrazy śmierci, podyktowane przez tabu językowe, były wyrazem szacunku dla uczuć czytelników. Poetyckie omówienia w publikacjach z „papieskiego tygodnia” pozwalały oddać atmosferę żałoby, wartościowały osoby i zdarzenia, wpływając tym samym na sposób, w jaki czytelnicy postrzegali świat, Papieża i samych siebie.

Death is a taboo in Western civilization. Even healthcare fields, which are strongly familiar with the end of life, cannot avoid the tendency to soften the im- pact caused by talking or writing about death. Like anyone else, healthcare professionals who publish clinical case reports (CCR) tend to use euphemisms. They also have the option to use a technical lexicon that could be perceived as a range of euphemistic expressions. In this chapter we review the place of death in this professional genre. We also compare several aspects of the rhetoric of death in CCR and clinical tales. The latter, though frequently written by medical authors, are intended for a non-specialized public and have a literary communicative purpose.

Exploring the use of euphemisms and taboos in literary discourse has become a significant issue in both literary criticism and sociolinguistic studies, although these areas have been dismissed from academic scholarship especially from the Arab side. Hence, the purpose of this research work is to explore the use of euphemistic expressions and politeness strategies in relation to the socio-cultural background of the Moroccan society. To this effect, a thorough examination of Ben Jelloun's translated Laylet el Qadr was made. Data were extracts collected from the novel through the use of qualitative methods. As such, the findings arising from this research work demonstrate that there is a high degree of euphemistic usage although the novel is an erotic masterpiece. The results also reveal that Ben Jelloun does not give much importance to the use of polite forms except some terms of address.

Euphemisms are something of a lexicographical challenge: the euphemistic meaning of a word depends on its context and may fade over time. Nevertheless, euphemisms are marked as such in the vast majority of dictionaries. This article provides an insight into the way they tackle the difficulties. It starts by presenting the main motives for using euphemisms: veneration and fear, shame and tact of which political correctness is the latest upshot as well as expedience and self-interest. Depending on the motive, different semantic areas are dominant. The analysis of the terms identified as euphemisms in Petit Robert shows how these fields are represented on a lexicographical level, and provides an insight into the heterogeneity of lexicographical judgements.

This article aims at presenting an analysis of a selection of the synonyms of prostitute from the pragmaphilological or sociophilological perspective. The major problem that the onomasiological perspective undertaken in Duda (2014) faced was the difficulty in the determination of the illocutionary force of the synonyms analysed in an objective manner. The euphemism-dysphemism disambiguation desired has turned out to be almost unattainable with the help of various lexicographic sources, which simply fail to include (in the majority of cases) any information about the emotional load (or, in other words, illocutionary force) attached to a given lexical item. Hence, the contextual approach in the study of synonyms of prostitute has been incorporated with a view to disambiguating the euphemism-dysphemism potential of as many synonyms as possible. The analytical aim is to compare qualitatively the illocutionary force of the synonyms of prostitute from the period between the mid-17 th and mid-18 th centuries, based on four selected comedy dramas extracted from the Corpus of English Dialogues 1560-1760

Why is 'wiif' ('wife') the most terrible Frisian word?
Presentation foar online lecture with the same name in the series Academia Franekerensis, published by Frisian news website itnijs.nl. (10 January 2017)
Online version of the talk: https://www.itnijs.frl/2017/02/werom-wiif-ferskriklikste-fryske-wurd-fideo/

Abstract: The present paper on euphemisms on body effluvia in Kikuyu language aims at identifying the semantic and lexical processes involved in euphemism formation from taboo words on body effluvia in Kikuyu. This aim of study is necessitated by the fact that Kikuyu is a language characterized by linguistic taboos. For this reason, taboo words in Kikuyu have to be euphemized by use of emotional colourings that are different from what the words literally refer to. This study paper concludes that taboo words and their euphemized versions on body effluvia in Kikuyu provoke different responses among the Kikuyu language speakers. Using Politeness theory, the paper is significant in that it’s findings is of great importance to parents, teachers, court interpreters, media practitioners, counselors and sex educators using Kikuyu language. Data for the study was obtained from archival records, the internet and through interviews.

Recent scientific developments and changes in mentality in the last few decades have caused a change and redefinition of the traditional notion of family, and hence an evolution of assisted reproduction treatments. One of these rising methods is surrogacy or “surrogate mother”, an issue as controversial as it is taboo, around which there is a heated debate on whether or not it should be legalized, as it raises ethical and moral problems. This situation is also clearly reflected in the linguistic domain. While such a procedure is widely known as “surrogate mother”, other names come up, with a clear euphemistic aim, to facilitate disguise and social acceptance. Thus, aware of the power of language, less aggressive terms emerge, such as surrogacy, which seem to dignify others like surrogate mother. In this paper we will analyze all these euphemisms and their different associations, as the choice of one or the other term responds to a very conscious desire of the user.

What is the difference between cacologia and aeschrofemismus?
(in Russian)
Одна замечательная коллега спросила своих друзей в фейсбуке, как те теперь понимают «злословие». Дескать, в старое время было все понятно: слово «злословие» – калька с греческого κακολογία, которое употреблялось в двух основных значениях. Первое – охуление достойного человека злым словом. Второе – клевета. Ясное дело, клевета вовсе не обязательно выглядит как хула: здесь важно, что распространяется ложь о человеке. Можно высказаться о человеке и вполне мягко, без всякой брани, но ложь сделает злословием и доброе на вид слово.

Some twenty years after the war life goes on in Sarajevo in a quasi-normal way. People are left with memories, explicit or silent. The vision of the war has not changed much. Has it evolved? It is hard to say. Rightly or wrongly collective memory perceives and interprets certain facts as military ones, some others as treason, for the wounds are still fresh and open. The memories of the French people with regard to Germans can still be easily awakened because of the multiple wars between the two nations, despite all the efforts of the pacifists (Cf. TV channel Arte).
The Bosnian slang words used to talk about the war have their euphemisms, taboos, avoidances, universals, but they are also different from the war slang in other languages  because a three-year siege is not the same as a war of trenches. In the latest war in Bosnia the “others” were multiple, both the enemies and the traitors. This situation generates a number of slang expressions. In the present paper we try to clarify it through a historical analysis of the terrain necessary for a semantic analysis of the slang lexemes created during this war.

Keywords: slang, siege of Sarajevo, intensification, euphemisms, linguistic taboo, reversal of realities

Using two cases of neologization created by way of semantic sliding in the recent discourse in the French press, this reflection proposes to analyze the mechanisms of semantic evolution and the process of euphemization that underlies them by their functioning in discourse. One, “tax optimization” arises from the political sphere and being commented on afterwards in the media. The other one, “neighborhoods” emanates from the press and corresponds to the euphemistic designation of certain suburbs without using adjectives such as “popular,” “difficult,” or “disadvantaged.” Although the enunciative source, the recipient, and the medium play leading roles in this pragmatic-enunciative orientation, we shall especially attempt to show that it is the dynamics of movement that induces specific meaning effects.

Whatever the reasons why a term disappears, because of disuse or « besoin néologique » (neological necessity) [Dury, 2012], the renewal of job titles is a recognized fact. A fad or concern about political correctness? It seems as if the origin of this terminological boom lay in the combination of several factors. Professions specialise, evolve and give rise to new names or modify the already existing ones. Current job titles are more technical, more complex, more neutral and more flattering, thus showing that marketing is part of the labour market. In this study, we analyse the reasons that lie behind the appearance of these new terms and, in particular, we concentrate on euphemistic neologisms, which illustrate up to what point employers use a language formatted to attract candidates. Syntagmatic compounds, acronyms, and loans are useful mechanisms used for this purpose.

THE SEARCH FOR A THEORY OF CONNOTATION FROM A TRANSLATOR’S PERSPECTIVE

The subject of the article are the means by which connotations are conveyed in translation. By applying the system of opposition as proposed by the Danish linguist Viggo Brøndal, one is able to differentiate three stances in translation criticism: “for” (+), “against” (−) and “for and against” (+/− ). A fourth option does not come into play because “indifferent” (0) translations, which are of no interest to researchers, are consequently not discussed by them.
Those traces and features which have been left by the translator in the translation itself are considered negative; features which could have been avoided for they completely change the meaning of the original. The translator’s intention cannot dominate over the intentions of the author. Connotation understood as meaning that is culturally motivated requires interdisciplinary research combining various perspectives including the linguistic and cultural as well as investigation drawn from translation studies. This would require a number of monographic studies. The problems in creating a theory of connotation in general, and a theory of connotation from the translator’s perspective in particular, result from the complexity and diversity of the phenomenon itself.

Citation (formatted-apa)
Szczerbowski, T. (2020). W poszukiwaniu teorii konotacji z perspektywy tłumacza. Slavica Wratislaviensia, 171, 39–46.

A pre-academic article of mine, suggesting a reading of acollection of narratives about euphemisms in Bavli Pesahim. My reading points out the function of language and other means of expressions, such as non verbal communication in uncovering hidden intentions and identities.

מאמר מוקדם שלי, בו אני מנתח את קובץ סיפורי הלשון הנקיה מבבלי פסחים ג ב - ד א ורואה בו עיסוק מהותי בשאלת טיבה של השפה ואמצעי הבאה אחרים לא מילוליים לחשיפת כוונותיו, מגמותו וזהותו של האדם.

The article is an attempt to reconstruct the metaphorical structure of the media discourse in the so called "Papal Week" in Poland in April 2005. After the death of John Paul II journalists used biblical metaphors and euphemistic periphrases to tell about the unusual events that went down in history. The article presents euphemisms of death and metaphors of people, linguistic means that helped to express the atmosphere of Polish April and the time "when the world held its breath".