What are some examples of euphemisms?

Answer 1

Euphemisms and Polite Terms

abattoir - slaughterhouse

adult beverages (beer and booze)

adult entertainment - pornography

big boned- fat

collateral damage (accidental deaths)

correctional facility - prison

custodian (janitor)

departed - deceased

developmentally challenged (disorders like autism)

differently abled (disabled or handicapped)

disabled - handicapped

domestic engineer (maid)

downsize (fire)

d-word (economic depression)

escort service (prostitution)

fender bender (auto accident)

furlough (fire)

hankie Pankie - sexual intercourse

husky (heavy)

lay-off (fire)

letting someone go (fire someone)

making love (sexual intercourse)

misinformation, untruths (lies)

nuclear deterrent (nuclear weapons)

number twos (faeces)

on the streets - homeless

overrun (higher cost than agreed)

overweight (fat)

partially proficient (unqualified, failed, or unsatisfactory)

passed away- died

pleasingly plump (overweight)

portly (fat)

powder one's nose (use restroom)

pregnancy termination (abortion)

pre-owned (used)

privates (genitals)

put to sleep (euthanise)

restroom- bathroom

sanitation engineer (garbage collector)

Scottish Play (Macbeth)

shaped (slowed internet connection speed.

sleep together (engage in sexual intercourse)

supervisor - boss

terminological inexactitude (lie)

r-word (economic recession)

under the weather (sick, ill)

undocumented worker (illegal alien)

unmotivated (lazy)

vertically-challenged (short)

A good example of a euphemism would be the use of the phrase "mobile community" instead of trailer park, or "assisted living facility" for a retirement home. generally a more pleasant name for something that might not have the best connotations.

Euphemisms are a polite way of describing something undesirable or unpleasant. Examples of euphemisms:

death = passed away or passed, departed, gone over to the other side, gone to your reward.

urinate = relieve oneself, go to the bathroom, answer nature's call.

innocent victims = collateral damage, unforeseen consequences

fired = being let go, downsized

• getting smashed or hammered instead of 'drinking' or 'being drunk'
• big, fluffy, full-figured or heavy-set instead of 'fat'
• lost their lives for 'were killed'
• wellness for benefits and treatments that tend to only be used in times of sickness
• restroom for toilet room in American English (the word toilet was itself originally a euphemism)
• a love of musical theatre, light in the loafers, good fashion sense or confirmed bachelor for male homosexuality
• woman in sensible shoes for lesbian
• acting like rabbits, making love to, getting it on, cheeky time, doing it, making the beast with two backs, or sleeping with for having sex with
• sanitary landfill for garbage dump (and a temporary garbage dump is a transfer station), also often called a Civic Amenity in the UK
• ill-advised for very poor or bad
• an intestinal release of pressure for fart
• pre-owned vehicles or even "pre-loved" for used cars
• motivation for bribe
• a student being held back a grade level for having failed or flunked the grade level
• correctional facility for prison
• peer homework help or comparing answers for cheating
• the north of Ireland for Northern Ireland, which is seen by many Irish people as a term imposed by the British and therefore a profanity; however, saying the north of Ireland may be primarily a way of identifying oneself with the Irish Nationalist cause, rather than a euphemism
• the big C for cancer(in addition, some people whisper the word when they say it in public, and doctors euphemistically use technical terminology when discussing cancer in front of patients, e.g., "c.a." or "neoplasia"/"neoplastic process", "carcinoma" for "tumor"); euphemisms for cancer are used even more so in the Netherlands, because the Dutch word for cancer can be used as a curse word
• bathroom tissue, t.p., or bath tissue for toilet paper (usually used by toilet paper manufacturers)
• custodian or caretaker for janitor (Also originally a euphemism - in Latin, it means doorman. In the British Secret Service, it may still carry the ancient meaning. It does in the novels of John le Carré.)
• sanitation worker (or, sarcastically, sanitation officer or sanitation engineer), or garbologist, for "bin man" or garbage man
• economically depressed neighborhood or culturally-deprived environment for ghetto or slum
• force, police action, peace process or conflict for war
• alcohol-related, single-car crash for drunk driver
• mature or been around the block for old or elderly
• haem or heme(Americanism) for blood, often used in medical settings ("severe heme loss").
• enhanced interrogation technique for torture
• persuasion for torture
• take legal action for sue
• fee for fine
• gaming for gambling
• specific about what one eatsfor being a picky eater
• intellectually challengedfor being mentally retarded
• Before that, mentally retarded for feeble minded
• Before that, feeble mindedfor halfwit
• adult entertainment, adult material, or erotica for pornography
• to have been paid for 'being fired from or by one's employer'
• to cut excesses (in a budget) for to fire employees
• legal capital for stated capital
• gravitationally challengedfor clumsy
• gender reassignment for sex change
• differently abled for disabled
• chemical dependency for drug addiction
• dual-diagnosed for having both mental illness and drug problems
• co-morbidity for simultaneous existence of related mental and physical health issues (a dysphemism, perhaps...)
• gentlemen's club for go-go bar or strip club
• fertility center for infertility center
• mental health center for mental illness center
• it's snowin' down south for your slip is showing
• vertically-challenged for short
• feeling no pain (and dozens of others) for drunk
• your fly is undone for your zip is down