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Euphemism

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Euphemism 2006-5 Etymology of the word euphemism euphemize [1855-60; Gk euph m zein to use words of good omen] eu- a combining form meaning good ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Euphemism


1
Euphemism
  • 2006-5

2
Etymology of the word euphemism
  • euphemize 1855-60 Gk euphemízein to use words
    of good omen
  • eu- a combining form meaning good, well,
    occurring originally in loanwords from Greek
  • euphemism made up of three bound morphemes, all
    Greek in origin
  • eu (good) phem(voice) ism (act/result)

3
Etymology of the word euphemism
  • Examples
  • eulogy a statement of praise, esp. a set oration
    in honor of a deceased person -high praise ??
  • eulogize v, ??
  • euphony agreeableness of sound pleasing effect
    to the ear, esp. a pleasant sounding or
    harmonious combination or succession of words
  • euphonic adj.????
  • eugenic ??
  • eupeptic????? etc.

4
Etymology of the word euphemism
  • In the sixteenth century, the British aristocracy
    was developing its own elaborate court language.
    Characterized by circumlocutions and
    amplifications, or, in other words, beatings
    around the bush, runnings around in circles, and
    excessive verbiage, this courtly argot was known
    as euphuism and was given its name by the author
    John Lyly who employed it in a satirical work
    called Euphues (1578). By the early 1580s, the
    author George Blount used the term euphemism in
    English, defining it as a good or favorable
    interpretation of a bad word. Although the terms
    euphuism and euphemism do not have the same
    meaning, they both describe a manner of speaking
    that leans toward indirectness in the service of
    pleasantness.

5
Formation of euphemisms
  • Joseph M. Williams suggests five general
    semantic processes by means of which euphemisms
    are created.
  • borrowing words from other languages----terms
    that are less freighted with negative
    associations, e.g., halitosis (bad breath)lt Latin
    halitus for breath
  • widening----When a specific term becomes too
    painful or vivid, we move up in the ladder of
    abstraction. e.g., growth (cancer), foundation
    (girdle), solid human waste (feces)
  • semantic shift----the substitution of the whole,
    or a similar generality, for the specific part we
    do not choose to discuss. e.g., rear end (bottom)

6
Formation of euphemisms
  • metaphorical transfer----the comparison of things
    of one order to things of another. e.g. blossom
    (pimple)
  • phonetic distortion----When we encounter words
    that we dare not speak their names, we
    abbreviate, apocopate (shorten or omit the last
    syllable), initial, convert, backform and
    reduplicate them. e.g.
  • Abbreviation ladies lt ladies room
  • Apocopation vamp lt vampire (a seductive woman)
  • Initialing JC lt Jesus Christ
  • Backforming burgle (rob) lt burglar
  • Reduplication pee-pee lt piss
  • Phonetic distortion cripes lt Christ, Gad lt God

7
Formation of euphemisms
  • Examples of euphemism
  • 1.garbage man sanitation engineer
  • 2. old people senior citizen
  • 3. pregnant in the family
    way
  • 4. die pass away
  • 5. the dead the deceased /the
    late
  • 6. burier undertaker /
    mortician
  • 7. lunatic asylums mental
    institutions

8
Analysis of the organization of the text
  • Para. 1 A common definition euphemism has got
    a
  • bad name.
  • Para. 2 Change in names vs change in nature.
  • Para. 3 Euphemism -- a method of generating new
  • and useful ways of perception.
  • Para. 4 The neutral nature of the process of
  • euphemising
  • Para. 5 The cultural effect of euphemizing on
    language
  • Para. 6 Moral dimensions of euphemising
  • Para. 7 Summary of main idea

9
Language points
  • auspicious (fairly formal) favorable or
    glorified, raising the status of the person
    referred to, e.g. It was an auspicious start to
    their election campaign.
  • exalted uplifting
  • down-to-earth factual, telling what something
    actually is
  • partial showing special favor to one side,
    person, etc., esp. in an unfair way biased
  • partiality bias
  • e.g. Show no partiality in your
    decisions.
  • be partial to like very much, e.g,
  • Im very partial to sweet foods.???????
  • detestable hateful

10
Language points
  • operation (singular) used as part of a code name
    for military campaigns
  • expunge (formal) remove completely, e.g. from a
    piece of writing or from your memory, because it
    causes problems or bad feelings
  • e.g. He had tried to expunge memories of
    the failure.
  • his battle to expunge the clause from the
    contact
  • imagery the mental pictures that are created in
    your mind by poetic language used also of the
    words which create these pictures.
  • e.g. He argued that Shakespeares plays
    were patterns of imagery.

11
Language points
  • amiss wrong, inadequate
  • (sth.) not come/go amiss it would be very
    welcome and useful
  • e.g. A little calm and detachment wouldnt
    come amiss.
  • vein style or mood
  • e.g. - John Gielgud can also be heard in much
    lighter vein on Radio Four
  • - The letter continued in this vein for
    several pages.
  • generate (formal) cause (a situation or feeling)
    to begin, esp. when it then continues to exist or
    develop by itself
  • e.g. - Technology by itself does not generate
    new ideas
  • -This book will continue to generate
    excitement for a long time
  • - Tourism will generate new jobs.

12
Language points
  • attend to deal with (e.g. a problem), see to
  • e.g. - I had two items of business to attend
    to before I could relax.
  • - If we do not attend to the problem, it
    will certainly grow.
  • divert cause to be used for a different purpose
    of activity
  • e.g. -We feel it desirable to divert funds
    from armaments to health and education.
  • - If you dont use it, you can divert the
    money into savings.
  • alienatefrom emotionally or intellectually
    separate from, estrange, isolate
  • e.g. - We live in an age in which people have
    been alienated from their roots.
  • - The leadership must never become alienated
    from the ordinary members.
  • - I felt alienated, angry and alone.
  • - the growing feeling of despair and
    alienation

13
Language points
  • frame of mind the mood that someone is in, which
    causes him to have a particular attitude to
    something humour
  • e.g. Im not the right frame of mind for
    riddles.
  • authentic (painting, a piece of writing, etc.)
    genuine rather than being an imitation real
    bona fide
  • e.g. - They inserted among the authentic
    documents several that had been forged.
  • - It is an authentic Air Force jacket
  • incongruous strange for not fitting properly
    into the rest of the event or situation
  • e.g.- He was an incongruous figure among
    the tourists.
  • -The sound of the horn hung in the air,
    lonely and incongruous.
  • -I was struck by the glaring incongruity of
    the scene. There I was, my face dirty, my clothes
    torn and there he was, immaculate as usual.

14
Language points
  • amount to have particular worth or importance
    be worth
  • e.g. - It is unlikely that the forthcoming
    talks will amount to very much.
  • - What do these rumors amount to?
  • priorities a set of problems, considerations, or
    courses of action, which need dealing with in a
    particular order because some are more important
    than others.
  • e.g. - There is little attempt to find out
    the priorities of the public.
  • - The policeman had his priorities right.

15
Language points
  • categorically positively
  • e.g. - The government have stated quite
    categorically that were going to see a change in
    priorities.
  • - be categorical about completely certain
    about positive
  • e.g. On this point we can be clear and
    categorical.
  • propriety (formal) correctness of behaviour in
    terms of what is considered socially or morally
    acceptable
  • e.g. - What is questionable is the propriety of
    diluting truth for the sake of a good story.
  • - I always try to write with propriety.

16
Organization and development of the text II
Clutter
  • Para. 1 Introducing the topic - fighting clutter
    is like fighting weeds the writer is always
    slightly behind. The simile hints at the
    difficulty involved in fighting clutter.
  • Para 210 Various forms that clutter may take
  • -- Prepositions that are draped onto verbs
  • -- adjectives that do not really qualify the
    noun
  • -- laborious phrases

17
Organization and development of the text II
Clutter
  • Para 2-10 various forms that clutter may take
  • -- ponderous euphemisms
  • -- language of business companies
  • -- language of the interoffice memo
  • -- language of the Pentagon
  • -- language of government officials

18
Organization and development of the text II
Clutter
  • Para. 11 Re-asserting the point Clutter is the
    enemy, whatever form it takes.
  • Para. 12 14 Illustrating with examples of long
    words that are no better than their shorter
    synonyms
  • Paras. 15-18 Citing personal experience in
    fighting

19
Thank you for your attention!
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