Telling it like it is: avoiding euphemisms

Euphemisms are substitute words or terms we sometimes use to replace other words or terms. Why? Perhaps we are trying to be delicate, to avoid a touchy subject, or perhaps to disguise an awful reality. No matter the purpose, euphemisms should be recognized when other writers use them but strictly avoided in our own writing.

Sometimes the impetus for using a euphemism is simply politeness. Consider the terms “passing” or “passed away” for “death” or “died.” We sometimes use the former terms in order to take the sting out of a traumatic occurrence. So while “passing” or “passed away” is okay in a sympathy card to a friend, go with straightforward words like “death” or “died” when writing an essay

Advertising is riddled with euphemisms. Here’s one I’ve noticed in recent years. When I was younger and wanted to buy a car that was not brand new, I went to a place called the used car lot and purchased a used car. Nowadays, however, dealerships have fallen in love with the term “pre-owned” to describe such vehicles. Why the change in terminology? I guess it just sounds better (and somehow more hygienic) to take possession of a “pre-owned” car versus a car that’s been used and abused and now belongs to you! But let’s not kid ourselves. A pre-owned vehicle is still just a used car.

Have you ever eaten a chicken “drumstick”? That term is also a euphemism. It was coined during the Victorian era of the late 1800s. The notoriously uptight Victorians thought that chicken parts with names like thigh and leg and breast were far too suggestive, and so they invented prudish alternative terms like drumstick to hide their embarrassment.

While the examples of “pre-owned” and “drumstick” border on silliness, euphemisms sometimes derive from more devious motives. Take the term “collateral damage.” When a Pentagon spokesperson announces that a U.S. bombing mission created “collateral damage,” we gather that our bombs blew up buildings (schools? hospitals?) we didn’t mean to blow up and killed people (civilians? children?) we didn’t mean to kill. But the sterile, antiseptic term “collateral damage” bleaches out the visceral horror of what really happened. This type of language abuse is disturbingly reminiscent of George Orwell’s “Newspeak” from 1984.

As a reader, it is important to recognize when others use euphemisms, but when it comes to your own writing, don’t use them. Always mean exactly what you say, and say exactly what you mean!

© 2014 Bob Dial.  All rights reserved.