Euphemism Examples

Playing around with words is a talent. When dark and morbid concepts masquerade as pretty sounding words, the clever statement or orator is most definitely capitalizing on the popular literary tool known as euphemism. Euphemisms take time to sink in and are very subtle in nature. Inappropriate words or terms are wisely cloaked under the veil of ambiguity. What happens when we wish to pass a comment but hold back in fear of being too offensive or explicit? We exploit the beauty of euphemism! We take the explicitly nasty material and substitute it with an innocuous term which ironically might sound sweet! Euphemistic phrases were conjured up at the time of media’s prominence where certain offensive words had to be disguised. People that wish to hide explicit content from their children often resort to euphemism to sustain the moral duty of concealing what could corrupt a young mind. Moreover, euphemism enhances good prose and poetry, and manages to convey valid messages without offending certain sections of the readers. Listed below are a few euphemisms that will give you a better understanding of this popular figure of speech.

 

Examples Of Euphemism 

A euphemism that we use on a regular basis without doubt is “passed away” which is a pleasant way of conveying the death of an individual. Similarly, blatantly referring to sexual intercourse as “having sex” sparks negative connotations among children audiences. Thus, “sleeping with” serves as a relatively less explicit substitute to describe such a case scenario. Euphemism is a magical device that so ingeniously masks the distasteful meaning transmitted by a word or phrase. Euphemism opened up a priceless avenue to all prose and poetic ventures, many of which are highly acclaimed masterpieces. Listed below is a glossary of the common euphemisms prevalent in English Literature along with their explicit indications.

 

Euphemism	True Meaning
Direct mail	Junk mail
Bun in the oven/ Expecting	Pregnant
Batting for the other side	Gay/Homosexual
Disinformation	Lie
House of ill repute	Brothel
Pre-Owned Vehicle	Secondhand/Used Vehicle
Surreptitious entry	Breaking In/ Burglary
Shooting blanks	Plunging Drop In Semen Flow
Take A Dump/ Do Your Business	Defecate/ Shit
Comfort Women	Give Into Prostitution
Character line	Wrinkle
Freedom fighters	Rebels/ Warriors
Lose Calories/ Revisiting Lunch	Vomit / Puke
Furlough employees	Fire employees
Knocked Her Up	Impregnate
Adult entertainment	Pornography
Halitosis	Bad Stinking Breath
Correctional facility	Prison
Call of nature	A Strong Urge To urinate or defecate
Spanking The Monkey	Masturbate/ Shag
Pregnancy Termination	Abortion
Laughing All Over Your Shoes/ Clearing Your Tonsils	Barf/Spew/Vomit
Choking The Chicken/ Beating The Bishop	Masturbate
In Between jobs	Unemployed
Revenue enhancement	Taxes
John	Customer Of A Prostitute/Whore
Collateral damage	Civilian casualties
Full bodied	Obese
Inventory leakage	Theft
Stretch the truth	Lie
Comfort Station/Amenity Center	Public Toilet
Physical Persuasion	Torture
Armed intervention	War
Hand To Gland Combat	Masturbation
Remains	Dead body

 

Now you must have got a good understanding of what euphemisms are and why they are relevant not only in literature but also in day to day conversation. Some things are indeed a tad bit too inappropriate to use directly. Fortunately, we can always rely on euphemisms to salvage dilemmas of that sort.