Last month I
posted an article about idioms and clichés, some popular examples and their
origins. Today I am following up with examples of euphemisms.
Euphemisms
are used as a polite expression in place of words or phrases that might be
considered too strong, harsh or unpleasant. Using a euphemism is a mild or indirect way to
say something that might be too sensitive or uncomfortable to say straight away
using the literal version. I might add,
that in this day and age, euphemisms are used to be “politically correct.” Also,
some euphemisms are intentionally sarcastic or make light of a serious subject.
In any case, euphemisms are used regularly and in everyday language. To me, idioms
and euphemisms are often similar.
Below are a few
different categories of euphemisms commonly used in place of the actual words
that are too objectionable to say; a few are used in place of swear or curse
words; in many cases, the ones I like are expressed to bring humor to the subject.
Bodily
Functions & getting old:
Powder
your nose (go to toilet)
Visit
the ladies’ room (toilet)
Break
wind (fart)
Over
the hill (Old)
Q-tips
(Old with white hair)
Death
and dying:
Supreme
sacrifice
Passed
away
Dearly
departed
Put
to sleep (euthanize)
Bought
the farm
Bit
the dust
Croaked
Cashed
in his chips
Gave
up the ghost
Employment:
Letting
someone go (fired)
On
the streets (homeless)
Correctional
facility (jail)
Between
jobs (unemployed)
Economical
(cheap)
Negative
cash flow (broke)
Sexual
activity: These days with movies, books and TV sexually explicit, many people don’t avoid “sex talk.” However, here’s
some polite euphemisms.
Turn
a trick (prostitution)
Au
natural (naked)
In
the buff (naked)
In
your birthday suit (naked)
Birds
and bees (sex)
Making
whoopee (sex)
Hankie
pankie (sex)
Go
all the way (sex)
Making
whoopie (sex)
Roll
in the hay (sex)
Swear-Word
Alternatives: some are vintage, many provide a good chuckle, but there were
some that I still found too offensive to list!
Balderdash!
Dagnabbit!
Holy
cow!
Holy
mackerel!
Holy
smokes!
Holy
guacamole!
Sugar!
Sufferin’
succotash! (remember Bugs Bunny?)
Phooey!
Great
Scott!
Heavens
to Betsy!
Leapin’lizards!
Flippin’!
Shut
the front door!
Gee
Willikers!
Son
of a gun!
Egad!
Gadzooks!
Jeepers!
Good
grief!
Yikes!
Golly!
For
Pete’s sake
Malarkey!
Darn!
Heck!
OMG!
Oh,
my gosh!
I’m sure
you recognize and have used some of these popular how-not-to-say-what-you-mean euphemisms
in your everyday dialogue. There are, of course, thousands of them.
A great web
site I use when wanting to find a phrase is The Phrase Finder, www.phrases.org.uk. It’s interesting and
very informative. Even though the origins of many English words and phrases
come from England, check out the list of 161 Phrases Coined in the U.S.A. on
the web site.
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Epic Historical
Western Romance
Wheels of
Destiny Trilogy
Book 3,
Yesteryear's Destiny (2020)
What a fun post and thanks for the "phrase" website.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it, Gini! On the website, you'll find it interesting that many popular phrases came from Shakespeare!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and a little funny, I enjoyed reading this post, thanks for writing it. Lots of words I use, now some of the alternative swear words I use, I didn't really know they were used for alternative swear words, oops, but now I know. Thank you I enjoyed reading this and learning from it. God Bless you.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you stopped in, Alicia. Yes, we all use a lot of those words on a regular basis, don't we?!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the list and the urls.
ReplyDeleteHi Caroline, good to "see" you - have a great weekend!
ReplyDelete