Culture · 6 pages · 12 min
How euphemism wears out
A softer word takes on the old sting, and then a new softer word is recruited.
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From the opening
Euphemism wears out because the mild word is tied, by use, to the same charged thing the harsh word named, and the charge moves onto the mild word; speakers then need a fresher substitute. The softness was never in the letters alone; it was in the distance the new word still had from the thing. The opening covers the mild word becomes the plain name, the charge follows the referent, and room names are the familiar sequence.
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Inside
- The mild word becomes the plain name
- The charge follows the referent
- Room names are the familiar sequence
- Jargon can stall the cycle
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- The euphemism treadmill
- Successive polite names for the same referent