The word snoop - Ursula Dubosarsky 2009

Euphemisms
Hmm i wonder what you’re really saying

Dear Aunt Martha,

Thank you for the remarkable sweater. It will be just the right size in three years time. And what an unusual color—I’m sure that nobody else will ever put it in their bag at school and take it home by accident.

As always, I appreciate you thinking of me in such an unexpected way.

Your nephew,

Alfred

I wonder, do you think Alfred really liked the present that Aunt Martha sent him? Have a good look at what he’s written. What can you discover about the sweater? That it’s too big, that it’s a color nobody else would like . . . Why doesn’t he just say so? Well, it can be hard to say that sort of thing directly. At times like this, we often use something called euphemisms.

A euphemism is the name given to the ways we find to say things that people don’t really want to hear or that make them feel uncomfortable. The word euphemism comes from the ancient Greek words eu,meaning “good,” and pheme,meaning “something spoken.”

One of the earliest euphemisms was the name the Greeks gave to some of their goddesses called the Furies. The Furies were not very pleasant—they had hair made of snakes and drove people to their deaths. (Urgh!) Understandably, they made the Greeks feel a bit nervous, so instead of calling them “the Furies,” they called them by the euphemism “the Kindly Ones”! Maybe they thought they might forget to be furious and become kind instead. (It was worth a try . . .)

Most euphemisms are used for things people find embarrassing to say out loud. For example, in restaurants the toilets are often called restrooms—and let’s face it, you’re not going to lie down and have a little sleep in there, are you? (Are you?)

Funnily enough, the word toilet itself was originally a euphemism. It’s from a French word toile,a piece of cloth you used to put around your neck while washing, or on your dressing table. It started to be used as a euphemism for the . . . you know, the . . . Anyway, now we think even the word toilet is not quite polite!

Once you start listening or looking, you’ll find euphemisms everywhere. It might not be a particular expression, but a way of saying something indirectly, like Alfred’s letter. It’s pretty handy when you have to break some bad news. Like:

“Hey, have you ever thought of getting

a pet mouse?”

(Translation: Your guinea pig just escaped from

its cage and ran off down the street.)

Or: “Luckily, you won’t have to leave room

for dessert tonight.”

(Translation: I just finished all the chocolate

mousse and now there’s none left.)