When a company fires employees, we hear about “strategic cuts in business planning. “If there is an absurd increase in the price of gasoline, we learn that “there has been an adjustment in the price of fuel. “Do these examples show how we are surrounded by terms?euphemisms?which cover social realities that it is better not to call by their original name.
In this way, we find different concepts that we try to avoid, words that can cause harm, that are inappropriate or sound bad, that make our vocabulary full of euphemistic terms that we are often not even aware of.
This article will study the euphemisms: what they are, what their origin is, their uses and their uses.
The word euphemism comes from the Greek verb ????????????:? Saying good words ????, in Greek means “good” and ????, “talking. “
Thus, euphemisms are terms that are used to replace something we mean, but that can be harsh or sound bad, and are used to soften or reduce negative, pejorative or offensive connotations.
The use of euphemisms is linked to taboo issues, such as sexual, physiological, eschatological and vulgar realities, and to discourse on the politically correct, such as racial or ethnic, age, social or disability issues. to speak well.
For a word to function as a euphemism, its interpretation must be ambiguous to the listener, who will interpret it in its literal or euphemistic sense.
Moreover, a euphemism cannot be replaced by another term and fully preserve the same cognitive, social and stylistic effects.
As the use of euphemism spreads, it begins to behave more as synonymous with the original term than as euphemism; it is the knowledge, social uses and beliefs of the interlocutors that determine the proper use of euphemism in each context.
Dysemism is the anonymity of euphemism. Sarcasm is a type of sarcasm in which derogatory and negative expressions are used to describe objects, events, or people.
Dysphemism and euphemism are figures of style, a particular type of metaphor studied in the analysis of discourse.
The philologist and director of the Royal Spanish Academy, Lázaro Carreter, says that “euphemism always denounces a fear of reality, an embarrassing desire to hide it, a mask of language imposed on his true face and, ultimately, the will to annihilate there. But what exists doesn’t fade with words. I would like this to be possible in the case of abominable acts, terrorism for example, disguised as murderers and spokesmen in armed struggle ?.
A vision with which one can disagree and which denies the use of euphemisms, since euphemisms cannot change the reality to which we refer.
On the other hand, we find those who argue that, while it is obvious that the use of other terms will not change the benchmark, it is necessary to use euphemisms.
For example, avoiding calling someone? Don’t lose weight, it’s a way to show respect, courtesy and decorum, so it is argued that the use of euphemisms is part of language, since it is a social activity.
Politics is one of the spaces in which euphemisms are most common, using a euphemism a politician can, for example, hide an unpopular decision and present his proposals as something more tolerable for society.
In the face of increased taxes to combat the crisis, for example, we hear the need to “make a fiscal adjustment to ensure growth. “
Another very common example in politics occurs in war conflicts, such as the use of “collateral damage” to soften the idea of innocent deaths. Or the term “operation” when referring to an “invasion” during an international crisis.