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In the beginning there was the word… you just couldn’t say it. That’s right, euphemisms can be traced all the way back to the Bible, to the Ten Commandments, to be more exact, where the Hebrews were specifically instructed not to take their Lord’s name in vain.
The Greeks, too, were forbidden to say the name of some of their gods and goddess, though generally the ones who ruled the darker world, like Hecate, goddess of sorcery and witchcraft, who later went on to become Trivia to the Romans. (How’s that for some trivia for you?)
But the Jews took the idea of leaving out the Lord’s name a step further and not only developed euphemisms like Ha’shem (literally “the name”) and YHVH or Yahweh, adding in the missing vowels, but started writing the word “god” like this: G-d. Likewise, many people think Christians started saying “Gee whiz” in place of the name Jesus.
A euphemism, or “good speech” in Greek, is the opposite of blaspheme, or “not so good speech,” and is generally used these days to talk around uncomfortable subjects, otherwise known as circumlocution.
Whether we’re talking war-related deaths, sorry, “casualties,” or toxic pollution, er, “runoff,” variations on euphemisms, like doublespeak and wordplay, often save people a lot of embarrassment. Mental hospitals are “Acorn Academies,” an unwanted child is “an accident,” and menstruation is sometimes referred to as a “visit from Aunt Flo.”
Shakespeare was a big fan of them, especially when it came to talking about the biggest taboo of all, copulation. One of my favorites is “to line” and comes from the play As You Like It (hilarious title, given the subject at hand!):
Winter garments must be lined, So must slender Rosaline.
Then there are all those modern-day *wink* *wink*ers for sex, like “hide the salami,” or “throw the leg.” And a pantload for what we do in the bathroom, like “dropping the kids off at the pool.”
As always, we’d love to hear your personal favs on politics, death, and sure, why not, sex.
Comments (9)
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To nitpick, Webster’s defines “casualty” in the wartime sense as “a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action.” So technically, “casualty” is not just a euphemism for someone killed in a war. B.D. in “Doonesbury” is a casualty of the war in Iraq, for example.
posted by Paul on 9-22-2006 at 11:30 am
In my family an unplanned pregnancy is called “a change of life baby”. I also really have an Aunt Flo, which has caused great confusion amongst my friends.
posted by Michelle on 9-22-2006 at 12:11 pm
I thought that “dropping a deuce” was a very common euphamism, yet a guy I know who spent time in college, the military AND prison (all three ripe places for the development of euphamisms) had never heard of it. When I began to tell a few others of it, they hadn’t heard of this term either.
Many euphamisms are generational, and i wonder if this is one that is dying off in our more frank talking younger generation.
posted by Pat on 9-23-2006 at 5:53 pm
That’s funny… I recently put on my own blog a suggestion for using veriations on “mental_floss” as a euphemism:
http://www.wendellwit.com/archives/372
“I want these mental_flossing snakes off this mental_flossing plane!”
“Samuel L. Jackson is the baddest mental_flosser in the movies!”
It works because it fits the meter of the profanity it’s replacing very well.
Other euphemisms I use include “Conducting a Symphony” for having an attack of diarrhea, since both involve several movements.
posted by Wendell Wittler on 9-23-2006 at 8:28 pm
If it makes you feel any better, Pat, I’ve heard of dropping a deuce, and I agree that they are sometimes generational. Certainly “to line” isn’t in fashion any longer.
Wendell: We’re honored you’ve thought of us! And by the way, “euphemism” can be a euphemism, as well. Edward Albee, among others, used the word to mean skivvies, I believe.
posted by David on 9-23-2006 at 8:44 pm
My brother’s friend euphemism for sex is “the push-push.”
posted by Rachel on 9-24-2006 at 2:08 pm
There must be thousands of euphamisms for the toilet and its use. There are especially lots of very polite ones like restroom, girls/boys room, the loo, even bathroom. And to your point David, the word “euphamism” is also used as a euphamism for using the toilet as in “Excuse me while I go to the euphamism.”
posted by Marcy on 9-25-2006 at 11:34 am
Relations. My girlfriend and I don’t have sex. We have re-LAY-tions.
There was an animated (Dr. Seuss) TV-movie years ago where a youngster named Eukariah had to brave a winter storm to go outside “to use the euphemism.”
Let’s not forget the congressional page’s line in the movie 1776: “Rhode Island’s out visiting the ‘necessary’!”
posted by John on 9-25-2006 at 6:11 pm
There’s also a scene in the film “Best in Show” where John Michael Higgins’s character refers to his gay partner as his “euphemism”. “Oh, and this is my euphemism, Stefan”.
posted by Megan Romer on 10-16-2006 at 3:42 am