Euphemism

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Euphemism

• 2006-5

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Etymology of the word euphemism

• euphemize 1855-60 Gk euphemízein to use words
  of good omen
• eu- a combining form meaning good, well,
  occurring originally in loanwords from Greek
• euphemism made up of three bound morphemes, all
  Greek in origin
• eu (good) phem(voice) ism (act/result)

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Etymology of the word euphemism

• Examples
• eulogy a statement of praise, esp. a set oration
  in honor of a deceased person -high praise ??
• eulogize v, ??
• euphony agreeableness of sound pleasing effect
  to the ear, esp. a pleasant sounding or
  harmonious combination or succession of words
• euphonic adj.????
• eugenic ??
• eupeptic????? etc.

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Etymology of the word euphemism

• In the sixteenth century, the British aristocracy
  was developing its own elaborate court language.
  Characterized by circumlocutions and
  amplifications, or, in other words, beatings
  around the bush, runnings around in circles, and
  excessive verbiage, this courtly argot was known
  as euphuism and was given its name by the author
  John Lyly who employed it in a satirical work
  called Euphues (1578). By the early 1580s, the
  author George Blount used the term euphemism in
  English, defining it as a good or favorable
  interpretation of a bad word. Although the terms
  euphuism and euphemism do not have the same
  meaning, they both describe a manner of speaking
  that leans toward indirectness in the service of
  pleasantness.

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Formation of euphemisms

• Joseph M. Williams suggests five general
  semantic processes by means of which euphemisms
  are created.
• borrowing words from other languages----terms
  that are less freighted with negative
  associations, e.g., halitosis (bad breath)lt Latin
  halitus for breath
• widening----When a specific term becomes too
  painful or vivid, we move up in the ladder of
  abstraction. e.g., growth (cancer), foundation
  (girdle), solid human waste (feces)
• semantic shift----the substitution of the whole,
  or a similar generality, for the specific part we
  do not choose to discuss. e.g., rear end (bottom)

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Formation of euphemisms

• metaphorical transfer----the comparison of things
  of one order to things of another. e.g. blossom
  (pimple)
• phonetic distortion----When we encounter words
  that we dare not speak their names, we
  abbreviate, apocopate (shorten or omit the last
  syllable), initial, convert, backform and
  reduplicate them. e.g.
• Abbreviation ladies lt ladies room
• Apocopation vamp lt vampire (a seductive woman)
• Initialing JC lt Jesus Christ
• Backforming burgle (rob) lt burglar
• Reduplication pee-pee lt piss
• Phonetic distortion cripes lt Christ, Gad lt God

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Formation of euphemisms

• Examples of euphemism
• 1.garbage man sanitation engineer
• 2. old people senior citizen
• 3. pregnant in the family
  way
• 4. die pass away
• 5. the dead the deceased /the
  late
• 6. burier undertaker /
  mortician
• 7. lunatic asylums mental
  institutions

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Analysis of the organization of the text

• Para. 1 A common definition euphemism has got
  a
• bad name.
• Para. 2 Change in names vs change in nature.
• Para. 3 Euphemism -- a method of generating new
  
• and useful ways of perception.
• Para. 4 The neutral nature of the process of
• euphemising
• Para. 5 The cultural effect of euphemizing on
  language
• Para. 6 Moral dimensions of euphemising
• Para. 7 Summary of main idea

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Language points

• auspicious (fairly formal) favorable or
  glorified, raising the status of the person
  referred to, e.g. It was an auspicious start to
  their election campaign.
• exalted uplifting
• down-to-earth factual, telling what something
  actually is
• partial showing special favor to one side,
  person, etc., esp. in an unfair way biased
• partiality bias
• e.g. Show no partiality in your
  decisions.
• be partial to like very much, e.g,
• Im very partial to sweet foods.???????
• detestable hateful

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Language points

• operation (singular) used as part of a code name
  for military campaigns
• expunge (formal) remove completely, e.g. from a
  piece of writing or from your memory, because it
  causes problems or bad feelings
• e.g. He had tried to expunge memories of
  the failure.
• his battle to expunge the clause from the
  contact
• imagery the mental pictures that are created in
  your mind by poetic language used also of the
  words which create these pictures.
• e.g. He argued that Shakespeares plays
  were patterns of imagery.

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Language points

• amiss wrong, inadequate
• (sth.) not come/go amiss it would be very
  welcome and useful
• e.g. A little calm and detachment wouldnt
  come amiss.
• vein style or mood
• e.g. - John Gielgud can also be heard in much
  lighter vein on Radio Four
• - The letter continued in this vein for
  several pages.
• generate (formal) cause (a situation or feeling)
  to begin, esp. when it then continues to exist or
  develop by itself
• e.g. - Technology by itself does not generate
  new ideas
• -This book will continue to generate
  excitement for a long time
• - Tourism will generate new jobs.

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Language points

• attend to deal with (e.g. a problem), see to
• e.g. - I had two items of business to attend
  to before I could relax.
• - If we do not attend to the problem, it
  will certainly grow.
• divert cause to be used for a different purpose
  of activity
• e.g. -We feel it desirable to divert funds
  from armaments to health and education.
• - If you dont use it, you can divert the
  money into savings.
• alienatefrom emotionally or intellectually
  separate from, estrange, isolate
• e.g. - We live in an age in which people have
  been alienated from their roots.
• - The leadership must never become alienated
  from the ordinary members.
• - I felt alienated, angry and alone.
• - the growing feeling of despair and
  alienation

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Language points

• frame of mind the mood that someone is in, which
  causes him to have a particular attitude to
  something humour
• e.g. Im not the right frame of mind for
  riddles.
• authentic (painting, a piece of writing, etc.)
  genuine rather than being an imitation real
  bona fide
• e.g. - They inserted among the authentic
  documents several that had been forged.
• - It is an authentic Air Force jacket
• incongruous strange for not fitting properly
  into the rest of the event or situation
• e.g.- He was an incongruous figure among
  the tourists.
• -The sound of the horn hung in the air,
  lonely and incongruous.
• -I was struck by the glaring incongruity of
  the scene. There I was, my face dirty, my clothes
  torn and there he was, immaculate as usual.

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Language points

• amount to have particular worth or importance
  be worth
• e.g. - It is unlikely that the forthcoming
  talks will amount to very much.
• - What do these rumors amount to?
• priorities a set of problems, considerations, or
  courses of action, which need dealing with in a
  particular order because some are more important
  than others.
• e.g. - There is little attempt to find out
  the priorities of the public.
• - The policeman had his priorities right.

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Language points

• categorically positively
• e.g. - The government have stated quite
  categorically that were going to see a change in
  priorities.
• - be categorical about completely certain
  about positive
• e.g. On this point we can be clear and
  categorical.
• propriety (formal) correctness of behaviour in
  terms of what is considered socially or morally
  acceptable
• e.g. - What is questionable is the propriety of
  diluting truth for the sake of a good story.
• - I always try to write with propriety.

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Organization and development of the text II
Clutter

• Para. 1 Introducing the topic - fighting clutter
  is like fighting weeds the writer is always
  slightly behind. The simile hints at the
  difficulty involved in fighting clutter.
• Para 210 Various forms that clutter may take
• -- Prepositions that are draped onto verbs
• -- adjectives that do not really qualify the
  noun
• -- laborious phrases

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Organization and development of the text II
Clutter

• Para 2-10 various forms that clutter may take
• -- ponderous euphemisms
• -- language of business companies
• -- language of the interoffice memo
• -- language of the Pentagon
• -- language of government officials

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Organization and development of the text II
Clutter

• Para. 11 Re-asserting the point Clutter is the
  enemy, whatever form it takes.
• Para. 12 14 Illustrating with examples of long
  words that are no better than their shorter
  synonyms
• Paras. 15-18 Citing personal experience in
  fighting

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Thank you for your attention!