RESEARCH SPECTRUM (ISSN 0976-5964)

61

A PSYCHOLINGUISTIC STUDY OF EUPHEMISM, ITS

CLASSIFICATION AND DEVICES
Dr. Mohammad Shaukat Ansari, Dept. of English, M.L.S.M. College, (L.N. Mithila University),
Darbhanga, Bihar

Keywords: Rhetorical, roundabout expression, linguistic taboo, connotation, figurative expression, metaphorical
approach, substitution, analogy, metonymy, synechdoche, ellipsis, understatement, circumlocution, allusion,
semantics, avoidance
for instance, the garbage men become environmental
1. Introduction
Euphemism is defined in dictionaries as a engineer, and the sewage disposal plant is the waste
rhetorical device. In Concise Oxford Dictionary (1982) water treatment facility. It is the same yardstick on
Euphemism is defined as a "substitution of mild or which, in Britain, garbage collectors are called
vague or roundabout expression for harsh or blunt or dustmen, though dust is the least of the commodities
direct one". In Webster's Third New International in which they deal.
In the first case we have instances of linguistic
Dictionary (1961) it is defined with concrete meaning
as a "a polite, tactful, or less explicit term used to avoid taboo; in the second we have the employment of
the direct meaning of an unpleasant, painful, or euphemism so as to avoid mentioning certain matters
frightening reality". The Longman Dictionary of directly. Euphemisms conceal the things people fear the
Contemporary English (5th edition 2009) defines it as a most death the dead, the supernatural. The cover up of
polite word or expression that is used instead of a more the facts of life of sex and reproduction and excretion
direct one to avoid shocking or upsetting someone. which inevitably remind even the most refined people
Common examples o euphemism are 'pass away', that they are made of clay or worse. They are beloved
'intimacy', 'underprivileged, 'made redundant', black, by individuals who are anxious to present only
senior citizen, physically challenged, mentally handsomest possible images of themselves to the world.
retarded, gay and urban renewal as euphemisms And they are embedded so deeply in our language that
for 'die', 'sexual intercourse', 'poor', 'dismissed', Negro, few of us, even those who pride themselves on being
the old, handicapped, abnormal, homosexual and plain-spoken, even get through a day without using
slum clearance respectively. This means that them (Hugh Rawson 1998, p. 491). In other words, it
euphemism is a linguistic politeness strategy and coveys "categories what the user of language should avoid,
a social attitude and perception. This is also a fact that what he should not say or write" (Akhmanova 1976,
"the employment of euphemisms can be viewed p.99). Euphemisms are words with meanings or sounds
positively as the use of words of good omen, or thought somehow to be nicer, cleaner or more elevated
negatively as the avoidance of unlucky or inauspicious and so used as substitutes for words deemed unpleasant,
words (Burchfield 1985:13). Euphemistic words and crude or ugly in sound or sense (Kenneth G. Wilson:
expressions allow us to talk about unpleasant things and www.bratley.com).
The unpleasant connotations do not come from
disguise or neutralize the unpleasantness.. they also
allow us to give labels to unpleasant tasks and jobs in an the word itself but what it refers to. The process is
attempt to make them sound almost attractive. unending since it is the object and not the word that is
Euphemism is endemic: the glorification of the unpleasant (Palmer 1976, p.64). Hence, there are many
commonplace and the elevation of the trivial. The chief English euphemisms for lavatory including privy,
purpose of a euphemism is to present a situation, a water-closet (W.C.), toilet, cloakroom, restroom, and
person or an object in a more agreeable, more comfort station, bathroom, etc. Another example from
reassuring or politer than would be afforded by the hard the political field is the reference to backward or
glare of reality or by crude direct definition. It is undeveloped countries by developing countries, etc.
because of such approach to glorification or avoidance,

RESEARCH SPECTRUM (ISSN 0976-5964)

This explains why some euphemistic expressions soon
get tarred and they are palliatives, not curse.
This
paper
aims
at
presenting
a
psycholinguistic view of euphemism and its
classification. The paper further explores the
significant devices through which euphemistic
expressions are better derived and got elaborated. In
addition, the paper sheds critical light on the
relevance of euphemistic expressions in written and
spoken English. Euphemism, if used properly, really
turns meaning and communication effective as well as
impressive.
2. Euphemisms and taboos
Euphemisms are used to express taboos, as we
feel that they keep us at safe distance form the taboo
itself. Euphemisms, as avoidance of taboos, are widely
employed in most languages since taboo words occur in
most languages. A taboo is a word that "is used for
something unpleasant is replaced by another and that
taboo is again replaced later" (Palmer 1976:12). It is the
prohibition or avoidance in any society of behavior
believed to be harmful to its members. Hence, English
had the terms privy, W.C., lavatory, toilet, bathroom,
etc (see Palmer 1976, p.12). "Taboo can be
characterized as being concerned with behaviour which
is believed to be supernaturally forbidden, or regarded
as immoral or improper (Peter Trudgill 2000)." 'Avoid
something horrible' and 'avoid something impolite' are
two psychological bases common to human minds for
euphemisms. Hence, euphemisms are created for
avoidance to taboos and for politeness (Li Guonan
1994). "The origins of euphemism, then, are to be
sought not in our complex civilization, but in those
conceptions of language which are common to men in
every stage of culture (Greenough and Kittredge 1907).
Euphemisms are the result of changes in. for example,
science, technology or the environment, but of changes
in the moral sense of society in areas where it has a
communal bad conscience or is afraid to talk about a
taboo subject. These areas have traditionally been the
human body, death, crime, sex, war, money and
government. Now they include racial and sexual
minorities, for example, non-white people, some of
whom want to be called African American, which has
replaced Afro American, which replaced the term
black, which replaced Negroes.

62
Human beings share common rules of taboos
such as being afraid of death and disease, shy of sex and
toilet habits, etc. Geoffrey Leech (1983) considers
death, disease, crime, punish, sex and the excretive
process of the body as the common subjects of
euphemisms. Other types of euphemistic subjects are
love, war, politics, birth, fornication, bodily functions
like excretion, reticence, social rank, and other social
relations (e.g. Neaman and Silver 1983 and (Burchfield
1985, p.28). Mazid (2004) maintains that the study of
euphemism concentrated on stereotypically sensitive
areas and this is why it has not received a lot of
academic attention. A speaker or writer of any
language can be subtly altered for better or worse if
he/she wishes. "A language without euphemism would
be a defective instrument of communication"
(Burchfield 1985, p.29).
Euphemisms for other euphemisms are as in
gays, fairies, pansies, homophiles, saturnians, uranians,
queers, queens, faggots, and flits for homosexuals.
These euphemisms have elements of derision and
contempt but they are not heavy expressions as
'catamite' 'sodomist' and 'pederast' (Adams 1985).
3. Classification of Euphemisms
On the broader basis of above discussion
euphemisms can be divided into two general types
positive and negative. The positive ones inflate and
magnify, making the euphemized items seem altogether
grander and more important than they really are.
Positive euphemisms, for instance, include the many
fancy occupational titles, which salve the egos of
workers by elevating their job status such as
exterminating engineer, environmental engineer,
mattress engineer, publicity engineer and so on.
Students are not failures but underachievers. Other
positive euphemisms may be seen into personal
honorifics such as colonel major and the honorable as
well as small business establishments such as
emporiums, parlors, salons shoppes etc. Negative
euphemisms deflate and diminish. They are defensive in
nature, offsetting the power of tabooed terms and
otherwise erasing from the language everything that
people prefer not to deal with directly and straightforwardly. Negative euphemisms are extremely. It was
the Greeks, for example, who transformed the Furies

RESEARCH SPECTRUM (ISSN 0976-5964)

into the Eumenides (the kindly Ones) (Gary Goshgarian
1997, p.492).
All euphemisms, whether positive or negative,
may be used either unconsciously or consciously.
Unconscious euphemisms are the words that were
developed as euphemisms, but so long ago that hardly
any one recall the origin motivation. A good example
under this category now -standard term cemetery (from
the Greek word for sleeping place, it replaced the
more deathly graveyard). Conscious euphemisms, on
the other hand, constitute a much more complex
category and it is hardly surprising. The meaning does
come across intelligibly, and the listener understands in
a figurative manner. For example, it is honest enough to
offer a woman condolences upon the loss of her
husband, where stands for death.
William Lutz (1990, p.18) classified 'the
euphemism' as the first kind of linguistic practice of
'double-speak' or 'double-talk'. Doublespeak is defined
by Lutz (1990, p.17) as "language which pretends to
communicate but really does not. It is a language tool
which makes the bad seem good, something negative
appear positive, and something unpleasant appear
attractive, or at least tolerable. It is a language which
avoids or shifts responsibility, a language which is at
variance with its real meaning." Lutz further added,
"When a euphemism is sued to mislead or deceive it
becomes doublespeak" (p.18). This shows that a
euphemism is doublespeak only when it is in the case of
misleading and deceiving. Lutz (1990, p.18) claimed
that "when a euphemism is used out of sensitivity for
the feeling of someone or out of concern for a social or
cultural taboo, it is not doublespeak." Lutz (p.18) gave
the following example, the grief expression of 'passed
away' 'functions not just to protect the feelings of
another person but to communicate also our concern
over that person's feelings during a period of
mourning." The euphemism in this paper is to
communicate not just a kind of doublespeak.
4. Linguistic Structural Devices of Euphemisms
Euphemism is considered a vital figure of
speech and it is achieved in different linguistic devices.
These linguistic devices of euphemistic purposes are the
following with examples from the English language:

63
A. Metaphor
Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a term
or phrase is applied to something to which it is not
literally applicable, in order to suggest a resemblance,
as: She is the flower of life. Metaphor is "a word
appears to have both a literal meaning and one or more
'transferred meanings" (Palmer 1976: 66). It is,
however, no easier to determine conveyed meaning of
literal sentences and no clear-cut line between the
literal and the metaphorical actually exists.
Euphemisms are typically couched in
metaphors since they are serviceable for those occasions
when we want to avoid saying, and perhaps thinking,
what we really mean.. The Western people compare the
need for urination and defecation to 'the call of nature'
and the lady may declare in public with humor 'my
friend has come (referring to her monthly period
(menstruation cycle). The euphemism to spend a
penny to urinate is still in frequent use today
(Learning English / BBC World Service / Internet
2009). Some other examples are petticoat government,
milk of humanism and security beefed up.
Metaphor is energetic to poetic expression. For
example, in Thomas Campions poem Cherry-ripe:
There is a garden in her face
Where roses and lilies blow;
A heavenly paradise is that place
Where in all pleasant fruits do grow;
Let us look at another example from W.B. Yeats
Sailing to Byzantium:
An aged man is but a paltry thing
A tattered coat upon a stick
B. Substitution
Euphemistic substitution is a way to suppress
explicitness. Some taboo words are substituted by
pronouns such as private parts by it, that, what, etc.
Other substitutes are proper names without any
justification such as Jack, John, Jane or Mrs. Jones for
the lavatory and Dickens for the devil. Sometimes, the
substitutes are loan words. English borrow from French
and Latin in particular for the purpose of euphemism.
This is due to the fact that both languages are somewhat
remote from the basic, Anglo-Saxon layers of
vocabulary. Two examples are given down for the two
languages successively:

RESEARCH SPECTRUM (ISSN 0976-5964)

Liaison
Brassiere
Halitosis
Cinerarium

'illicit sexual intercourse'

' a bra'
' bad breath'
' a place for keeping the ashes
of the cremated dead'
Euphemistic substitutions may include symbols
like asterisks or dashes replacing, for example, an
explicit sexual word. Such a word can be induced for
the context (Burchfield 1985:19). Circumlocution is
also a type of euphemistic substitutions as in the case
for parts of the anatomy (Burchfield 1985: 19).
Euphemistic substitution uses the linguistic
term 'synonymy' which is the equivalence in meaning
and the use of synonyms in discourse for emphasis or
rhetorical amplification. As a result of social attitudes
changed, prostitution became cloaked in new synonymy
as in: call girl, fallen woman, hostess, lady of easy
virtue, model, moll, pick-up, street-walker, and woman
of the town (Burchfield 1985: 23). The department of
prison is now department of corrections.
C. Analogy
Analogy is agreement or likeness between
things or processes in some circumstances or effects. In
other words, it is conformity' parallelism; likeness.
Many low occupations have got nice titles by analogy.
The titles become grand and very pleasant to the ear.
The following list show how some low occupations
have been promoted:
Garbageman
sanitation engineer
Gardener
landscape architect
Barber
tonsorial artist
Typist
secretary
Jailer
prison officer
Shoe repairman
shoe rebuilder
Butcher
meat technologist
Hairdresser
cosmetician
Policeman
law enforcement officer
Servant
domestic engineer
Housewife
house maker
Deaf man
`hearing-impaired
Garbage men
sanitation men
D. Metonymy
Metonymy is a figure by which one word is
substituted for another on account of some actual
relation between the things signified. Euphemisms may
be created through metonymy by which the name of a

64
referent is replaced by the name of an attribute, or of an
entity related in some semantic way. For instance, 'hello
dearie' the typical greeting of the prostitute, represents
the prostitute herself. A lady of evening, a call girl, a
light woman, a fancy woman are also in use as
euphemisms for prostitute. Shakespeare represents his
works in the following sentence 'I enjoyed Shakespeare
immensely'.
Collateral damage is unintended
damage and civilian casualties and deaths caused by the
dropping of bombs in the course of a military operation.
The term is of US origin and was first used to describe
deaths in the Vietnam War, then in the Gulf War, then
in the action (euphemism!) in Serbia at the end of
1990s and most recently in Afghanistan (BBC World
Service / Learning English). Pass away, expire, breath
ones last, leave for heavenly abode are euphemisms of
die.
E. Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a
part images the whole or the whole a part, the special
the general or the general the special, as 'a fleet of ten
sail' for 'ships,' or 'to eat of the tree' for 'fruit' (the
Lexicon Webster Dictionary). Referring for the whole
by the part or the part by the whole (Palmer 1976: 11) is
used for euphemistic purposes. For instance, 'the upper
frontal superstructure' refers to 'women breasts' and 'an
old hand' stands for 'an old prisoner' in Australian
English. They have a hand in it; one must keep ones
head. The act of transferring meaning is quite is quite
candid in this kind of non-literal form of expression. It
is the meaning of the word hand or head that
determines and also justifies its selection.
F. Ellipsis
Ellipsis emphasizes reliance on contextual
factors as providing and completing meaning. The
hearer / reader derives and completes the intended
meaning from the context which may be a single
sentence or a larger composition where the context is
tailored by more than one sentence. Omission from
sentences of required elements capable of being
understood in the context of their use is called ellipsis.
Ellipsis creates acceptable, but nonetheless
grammatically incomplete sentences (Noel BurtonRoberts 1987: P.101).
The omission from any syntactical construction
of one or more words or elements which the hearer or

RESEARCH SPECTRUM (ISSN 0976-5964)

reader may easily supply as: He took the red apple not
the yellow (the yellow apple understood). In printing,
marks such as (--- or **** or ) denote the omission.
Something may be omitted since it is considered
offensive, unpleasant or inappropriate to be mentioned.
For example, 'she is expecting', the direct question
'What is she expecting?, of course the answer is she is
expecting a baby. In question-answer dialogues ellipsis
of clause is often seen. For instance: Have you taken
your meal? Yes (It means I have taken meal)
G. Vague Expressions
When a specific term is too painful or vivid,
native speakers move up in the ladder of abstraction.
This process is called 'widening' in semantics and it is
used by euphemisms (Neaman and Silver 1983).
'Social disease' was used for syphilis and gonorrhea and
is now used for horrible AIDS. To 'pass away' or to 'be
no more' or to depart are for death. Thats a value
judgment, when thrown as a reply to a heckler, means
Im not interested in your criticism and Im certainly
not going to argue with you.
H. Understatement
Trying to state something as it were not so
serious as it should be. A 'thief' does not steal, but takes
things without permission. Similarly a 'liar' does not
tell a lie, but makes no accurate things. Renaming a
slum an inner city and revenue enhancement as a
guise for tax increases are some other citations under
this umbrella of euphemism.
I. Periphrasis/circumlocution
Euphemistic circumlocution is the use of more
words than are necessary to express an idea. In other
words, it is to speak in a roundabout, tactful way.
'Stupid students' are expressed with 'to be able to do
better work with help'. Toilet expressions are formed
with phrases such as 'to spend a penny', 'to wash one's
hand', and 'to powder one's nose'. President Reagan
titled MX missile as 'The Peacekeeper' to obscure the
fact that is an awesomely destructive weapon (Adams
1985). The expression where can I wash my hands?
stands for where is the toilet? Another expression
in the family way signifies the fact of pregnancy.
In this way, periphrasis encompasses saying
more than is expected. In ordinary communicative
situation this is considered violation of the general
principle of economy. However, it is a commonly

65
employed mode in poetry, especially lengthy poems,
where the poet needs to refer to the same thing in
different fashions. Robert Frost, an eminent American
poet portrays death in the last stanza of the poem,
The Woods as:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep
Sleep is here a euphemism of die. The repetition of
sleep is intended to emphasise the stark reality that the
final destination of life is nothing but death.
Talking of the 18th century linguistic practices,
we turn to William Collins whose The Passions An Ode
for Music contains these lines:
O Music! Sphere descended maid,
Friend of Pleasure, Wisdoms aid!
Why, goddess, why, to us denied,
Layst thou thy ancient lyre aside?
The poet here emphasizes those aspects of music that
matter to him, creating a series of periphrastic
utterances. In a similar vein Thomas Gray writes in his
poem The Progress of Poesy:
Awake, Aeolian lyre awake
O Sovereign of the willing soul,
Parent of sweet and solemn breathing airs
Enchanting shell !
Periphrasis thus provides a means of building
the appropriate poetic tone and evoking various facets
of the dominant idea, emotion or theme. They give a
heightened imaginative appreciation of the object
described.
J. Allusion
It is the act of alluding or speaking about
something indirectly. 'To go to one's Maker' is
connected with death. Stores in America seem to vie
with one another in seeking euphemistic variations on
the blunt old No Smoking Sign. Please try not to
smoke is one plaintive formula; Thank you for not
smoking assumes one has already obeyed instructions
he has not yet received. It is euphemism of sorts when
the price of a product is pegged at $9.99 under ten
dollars as the commercials will say.
5. Euphemisms and ELT
The field of English language teaching (ELT) is
experiencing a struggle over finding euphemistic

RESEARCH SPECTRUM (ISSN 0976-5964)

terminology. An example in this regard is that we have
not yet reached a consensus on what we should call our
learners of English. We started with ESL (English as a
second language). Some people are unhappy with the
term ESL students because this implies that English is
the first foreign language that nonnative speakers
should learn. And in any case, they say, English might
be the learners third or fourth language. These people
prefer to use the term EAL learners i.e. English as
additional language learners. In America over the past
few years the term LEP (limited English proficient)
students has become popular. However there is now a
backlash from people who feel that this term is too
negative, and they suggest calling such students PEPs
(potentially English proficient). The latest acronym,
however, seems to be ELL (English language learner)
or recently added acronym by the Cambridge
University, ESOL (English for the speakers of other
language). No doubt this will remain popular till a new
term is coined! Some other terms of English language
teaching are
L1 = Language 1 = the students native (primary
or first acquired) language.

L2 = Language 2 = the language being learned

or studied
TEFL = Teaching English as a Foreign Language
TESL = Teaching English as a Second Language
TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages (It is also the name of an association,

66
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages, Inc.)
5. Conclusion
It is now established that euphemisms are an
important part of every language, especially English
since a language without euphemisms would be a
defective instrument of communication (Burchfield,
29). It is also clear that English has an ever-growing
number of them. English Euphemisms in the past were
distinguishable. "Euphemism (Greek: 'well speaking') is
the practice of referring to something offensive or
indelicate in terms that makes it sound more pleasant or
becoming than it really is (Leech 1983:45)". The
euphemism is a technique of replacing a word, which
has offensive connotation, with another expression,
which makes no overt reference to that unpleasant
thing. With euphemism, people try to purge the subject
of its damaging affective association, which makes it
possible to live with and talk about things or subjects
that would otherwise shock or disturb them. Certain
things are not said, not because they can not be, but
because people dont talk about those things; or if
those things are talked about, they are talked about in
very roundabout ways. My final contention is that
Euphemisms as the spice of language assume
significant place in both written and spoken English
and they have potential to generate interests in
language students as well.

References:
Adams, R. M. (1985). Soft Soap and the Nitty-Gritty. In Enright, D. J. Fair of Speech: the Uses of Euphemism. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Akhmanova, O. (1976). Linguostylistics: theory and method. Paris: Mouton.
BBC World Service / Learning English: Internet (2006)
Burton-Roberts, Noel (1987). Analysing sentences, an introduction to English syntax. London.
Burchfield, R. (1985). An outline history of euphemisms in English. In Enright, D. J. (ed.), Fair of Speech: the Uses of Euphemism.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gramley, S & Patzold, K. M. (1992). A Survey of Modern English, Routledge, New York.
Greenough, J. B. and Kittredge, G. L. (1907). Words and their Ways. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.
Leech, Geoffrey. (1983). Semantics. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd.
Lutz, William (1990). Notes Towards a Description of Doublespeak (Revised). In Doublespeak: A brief history, definition, and
bibliography.
Mazin, B (2004). Euphemism and Dyphemism in the War on Iraq Discourse. IJAES 5: 171-181
Palmer, F.R. (1976). Semantics: a New Outline. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Ramjiwale, S. (2001). Elements of General Linguistics. New Delhi: Rama Brothers Publication
Rawson, H. (1998). Euphemism. In Ghoshgarian, Gray (ed) Exploring language. USA: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc.
Trudgill, P. (2000). Sociolinguistics: an Introduction to Language and Society. (4th ed). London: Penguine Books ltd.
Wilson, Kenneth G. (1993). The Columbia guide to standard American English. www.bratley.com