Favorite Euphemisms

[Gormongous]

Okay, so I was rereading one of the Culture novels because Iain M. Banks is dead. In these books, the titular space-faring civilization has a military that is called "Contact." You know, because that's really what a military does. Part of Contact is an intelligence and covert ops division that is called "Special Circumstances." At one point, someone disappears and everyone is told that they can't attend because of special circumstances. It is literally the best thing ever.

 

But euphemisms are a big part of how I talk in daily life, too. With half a mind, they add color to any given concept or action. I tell people all the time that I'm going to "hit the high notes" or something and only decide after the fact what that's a euphemism for.

 

Is anyone else like this? It might be mostly a Southern thing in the US, but I don't know how it is in the rest of the world.

[TychoCelchuuu]

"Hit the high notes" isn't a euphemism, is it? It's just a figure of speech. Unless I don't understand quite how you're using it.

[Gormongous]

"Hit the high notes" isn't a euphemism, is it? It's just a figure of speech. Unless I don't understand quite how you're using it.

 

That's what I mean. I just use it for peeing or something. It's fun!

[dibs]

I tend to try not to use euphuism much, unless there is immediate comedy value. (And then I will embrace one gladly) I'm always fascinated by the lengths people will go to to avoid simply saying a person died.

[Gormongous]

I'm always fascinated by the lengths people will go to to avoid simply saying a person died.

 

Right? I also love that, etymologically, there is no word or phrase in English for vomiting that is not a euphemism. They are either euphemisms for the action ("throw up," "spit up," "vomit") or for the onomatopoeia ("barf," "puke").

[shammack]

Huh? How is "vomit" a euphemism for vomiting?

[melmer]

Wizards sleeve

[Zeusthecat]

One of my favorite euphemisms is when mentally handicapped people are referred to as "special". Especially when you then have to explain to a child why little Timmy is special and they aren't.

[Gormongous]

Huh? How is "vomit" a euphemism for vomiting?

 

Because it's Latin for "spit out." A lot of fancier English words come from Latin or French euphemisms.

 

One of my favorite euphemisms is when mentally handicapped people are referred to as "special". Especially when you then have to explain to a child why little Timmy is special and they aren't.

 

Yeah, racists and sexists aside, it's odd when people rail against the "having an opinion" crowd, because the latter have given us some of the best novel usages in our magnificent bastard tongue.

[shammack]

 

Because it's Latin for "spit out." A lot of fancier English words come from Latin or French euphemisms.

So what's the real, non-euphemistic Latin for vomit?

[dibs]

'The meal that keeps on giving'

(I agree though)

Aka 'a visit from Hughie'.

Update. It appears to be vomitus, a word I always assumed was an arcane synonym for vomit.

[Ucantalas]

Vomit, puke, barf, woof, negative chug, technicolor burp, to hug the porcelain, to kneel before the throne, vector spew, inverted digestive action, empty the bucket, play the porcelain tuba.   

[Dewar]

worship the porcelain god?

[Gormongous]

Kiss those cold, pale lips.

[Maveree]

worship the porcelain god?

 

Mine's pretty similar to this - "Praying to the porcelain gods".

[clyde]

Kiss those cold, pale lips.

Gross.

but really funny.

[osmosisch]

Kotsen

[James]

Because it's Latin for "spit out." A lot of fancier English words come from Latin or French euphemisms.

By that logic, how many words aren't some sort of euphemism? I'm no linguist, but it seems to me that an awful lot of words have at some point in their etymological history been constructed from words for simpler, more fundamental concepts (perhaps that's the wrong way of describing it – I'm not sure "spitting out" is a simpler or more fundamental concept than "vomiting" – but hopefully my meaning is clear enough).

[Merus]

While Australian English is (famously) idiomatic, we really don't go in for euphemisms. It took me a while to think of some.

 

"Kangaroos in the top paddock" and "toys in the attic" basically mean the same thing: they be loco crazy, man.

 

An internet hangout I used to attend liked 'double meat' as a euphemism for sex, derived from a story one regular told about a Subway employee that kept giving him free double meat on his subs for some reason.

[brkl]

By that logic, how many words aren't some sort of euphemism? I'm no linguist, but it seems to me that an awful lot of words have at some point in their etymological history been constructed from words for simpler, more fundamental concepts (perhaps that's the wrong way of describing it – I'm not sure "spitting out" is a simpler or more fundamental concept than "vomiting" – but hopefully my meaning is clear enough).

 

That, and onomatopoeia are not euphemisms either. I'd say they're more literal than most words... 

 

What fascinates me about euphemisms is when they become taboo enough to require euphemisms of their own. Like the various names for the toilet in the English language. A 'bathroom' is already pretty damn euphemistic, but it's not enough in all circles. A 'restroom' is ridiculous to me. 

[TheLastBaron]

Stop being so vulgar, it's called a water closet.

[SecretAsianMan]

After reading Lysistrata in high school, a few friends and I started using "Lioness on the cheese grater" to describe a number of things.