Euphemisms

For some reason I enjoy hearing examples of euphemisms. There’s something comedic about hearing them. I think it’s the irony of something that sounds good, but in actuality isn't considered to be. I think that euphemisms can be effective in not offending anyone, but sometimes they are unnecessary and are used to try to hide from the truth. Our language shapes the way we view the world. Euphemisms that are doublespeak can be used to manipulate people, especially in politics. For example, saying “freedom fighters” instead of “soldiers”. Or saying “aggressive negotiation techniques” instead of torture. These words have a way of watering down the reality of war. Also, euphemisms can be used in intrapersonal communication to mislead oneself from a truth. For example, when we say, “passing away” instead of “dying”.

Words in general fascinate me. It’s interesting how, in euphemisms, two words can be pointing towards the same thing--but just the phonetics of the words can change our perception of it. An important lesson to take from euphemisms is that words are symbols. I try to see things for as they are rather than all the associations and expectations I have tried to the word. For example, I grew up with the perception of “tests” (the word) being something that is stressful, risky, boring, and time consuming. Now I see tests as what they are; an examination of how much I have learned. It’s so easy to hear a word and get caught up in associations you have with it and not understand that the word is a symbol for something that can be good or bad depending on how you see it. Going back to my example with the word “test”, objectively speaking, a test might be a bad thing that results in failure of a class, or instead an opportunity to assess how much I am learning. Tying this back in with euphemisms, when I hear the words “aggressive negotiation techniques” I try to see it for what it is rather than the tame assumptions I have tied to the words “aggressive”, “negotiation”, and “techniques”.