Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A euphemism (/ ˈ juː f ə m ɪ z əm / YOO-fə-miz-əm) is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. [1] Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes to downplay.
For example, the phrase, "John, my best friend" uses the scheme known as apposition. Tropes (from Greek trepein, 'to turn') change the general meaning of words. An example of a trope is irony, which is the use of words to convey the opposite of their usual meaning ("For Brutus is an honorable man; / So are they all, all honorable men").
The process of pejoration leads to words that were once considered euphemisms to now be considered dysphemisms. In American culture, words like "colored" were once considered euphemisms, [12] but have since been replaced by terms like "Black" and "African American". Sometimes slight modifications of dysphemisms can make them acceptable: while ...
Flipping, used as a euphemism for fucking, is a slang term first recorded 1911 by DH Lawrence in The White Peacock. A popular combination with heck to make Flipping Heck, serves as a minced oath of the phrase Fucking Hell. Norman Mailer's novel The Naked and the Dead [6] uses "fug" in place of "fuck" throughout. [7] [8] [9]
Paradiastole, in a trope sense, (from Greek παραδιαστολή from παρά para "next to, alongside", and διαστολή diastole "separation, distinction") is the reframing of a vice as a virtue, often with the use of euphemism, [1] for example, "Yes, I know it does not work all the time, but that is what makes it interesting."
For example, if a salesperson wants to sell an item for $100 but the public is only willing to pay $50, the salesperson first offers the item at a higher price (e.g., $200) and subsequently reduces the price to $100 to make it seem like a good deal. Dysphemism A dysphemism is an expression with a negative connotation. It is the opposite of a ...
Circumlocution is often used by people with aphasia and people learning a new language, where simple terms can be paraphrased to aid learning or communication (for example, paraphrasing the word "grandfather" as "the father of one's father"). Among other usages, circumlocution can be used to construct euphemisms, innuendos, and equivocations.
They include a short example of euphemism by John Lyly, and continue with a mixture of famous and less famous writers, the latter including Thomas Carew, Richard Crashaw and Charles Churchill. The final poem in this section is "Leisure", by W. H. Davies: "What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare." The sonnet