Euphemism Use vs. Saying What You Really Mean

 

By Lilian H. Hill

 

Euphemisms are mild or indirect expressions that soften the harshness or bluntness of reality and often reflect cultural sensitivities and societal norms. While they can serve a compassionate role by helping to protect feelings or maintain social decorum, they are also used to conceal uncomfortable truths, obscure responsibility, or sanitize morally questionable actions. We often use this kind of language to be tactful, polite, and to reduce confrontation or negativity—cooperative strategies that are generally positive for communication. Avoiding a direct linguistic approach makes the language seem more neutral and objective, creating a sense of distance from personal involvement (Luu, 2020).

 

Unfortunately, euphemisms can be obfuscation tools in political, corporate, and everyday conversation. Governments might refer to civilian casualties as “collateral damage,” corporations may describe mass layoffs as “rightsizing,” and healthcare providers might call death a “negative health outcome.” These substitutions can distance the speaker and the audience from the emotional or ethical weight of what is being described, reducing the potential for public outrage, guilt, or resistance (Davis, 2025). One method of creating euphemisms is to use passive voice so that the actor is concealed. For example, passive constructions (e.g., “she was found dead from the gunfire,” “mistakes were made”) can obscure who is responsible, making actions seem as if they occur without human agency. Other linguistic strategies, like existential constructions (“there was a shooting”) or transforming active verbs into impersonal nominalizations (such as “incarceration”), similarly deflect attention from the actors involved. Euphemisms may be nebulous, long-winded, or employ non-specific comparisons. These techniques are common in technical jargon, often minimizing the perceived impact of the actions themselves (Luu, 2020).

 

Euphemisms can obscure racist intentions or actions, making them appear less overtly racist and, therefore, more palatable to a wider audience. Code words and euphemisms allow individuals to express racist ideas without explicitly using racist language, providing them with a degree of “plausible deniability.” The repeated use of euphemisms can normalize racist concepts, subtly reinforcing prejudiced attitudes and beliefs over time (Wexler, 2020). 

 

Euphemisms exist on a continuum: at one end, they are acts of empathy; at the other, acts of deception. Euphemisms can desensitize people or help authorities evade accountability by masking the real nature of events. The ethical tension lies in whether they are used to protect the vulnerable or to shield the powerful. Language can reshape our emotional, ethical, or political responses to serious issues. When euphemisms conceal, they don't simply reframe reality; they can fundamentally distort it. They create a linguistic buffer between action and consequence, potentially delaying necessary confrontation with injustice, failure, or harm. They can shape mentalities, societal values, and worldviews (Csathó, 2024). Over time, habitual euphemistic language can erode trust, making communication seem insincere or manipulative.

 

Influence of Euphemisms and Plain Language Compared

The following table compares the influence of euphemisms with plain language based on several aspects:

Words are powerful, and their impact has only grown as technological advancements make communication faster and more widespread.

 

Euphemism Use vs. Plain Language

Euphemisms are often used when speakers want to protect themselves from legal liability, political fallout, public anger, or to minimize emotional disturbance for listeners. The cost is that they can erode public trust, obscure facts, and delay justice or informed decision-making. The Plain Language Program, formally approved by the U.S. government in the Plain Writing Act of 2010, aims to strip away bureaucratic jargon and misleading terms to make communication accessible and truthful. The mandate emphasizes writing that is clear, concise, and well-organized; avoiding jargon and overly complex sentences; and bureaucratic terminology so that the intended audience can comprehend and act confidently based on the information. Underlying this initiative is a commitment to government transparency, accountability, and accessibility because democracy depends on informed participation. Government agencies are now required to train staff, maintain compliance, and regularly review communications to meet plain language standards.

 

Confronting Euphemistic Speech

Confronting euphemistic language involves recognizing when words are being used to obscure meaning and actively working to uncover and name realities more directly. Euphemisms often arise when the truth is uncomfortable (e.g., war, injustice, racial discrimination, corporate failures, or public health crises). While they can soften emotional blows, they frequently serve to minimize accountability, urgency, or harm (Luu, 2020). The Associated Press updated its guidance to promote a stronger approach by encouraging reporters to directly identify racism and provide context, helping readers understand why a statement or system is considered racist. Relying on euphemisms weakens the message and can be especially damaging when used to soften the portrayal of racist remarks made by those in power.

 

Confronting euphemistic speech effectively requires the following actions:

• Educate ourselves and others about the history and impact of euphemisms and coded language. 
• Identify the euphemism. Listen for vague or softened expressions that seem to sidestep who is responsible or what really happened.
• Ask clarifying questions. Push for concrete details: Who? What exactly? How much? When?
• Restate plainly. Translate euphemistic phrases into clear, direct language to expose the core reality.
• Name the stakes. Highlight why clarity matters for justice, public safety, informed decision-making, or ethical action.
• Directly naming and calling out racism when it occurs, without resorting to euphemisms. 
• Challenging and disrupting the normalization of racist ideas and language. 

 

Challenging euphemistic language is not just about semantics; it’s about reclaiming honest communication, promoting accountability, and ensuring serious issues are neither diluted nor ignored.

 

References

Csathó, Z. L. (2024, September 26). Euphemisms in everyday language: A linguistic perspective on their role in shaping thought, society, and therapeutic reframing. Medium. https://zitalucacsatho.medium.com/euphemisms-in-everyday-language-a-linguistic-perspective-on-their-role-in-shaping-thought-9f0d1b28653e

Davis, B. (2025, February 13). How to blur the lines: Euphemism and erosion. Democratic Erosion Consortium. https://democratic-erosion.org/2025/02/13/euphemism-and-erosion/

Luu, C. (2020, September 30). The ethical life of euphemisms. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/the-ethical-life-of-euphemisms/

Wexler, C. (2020, September 23). (Wexler, 2020). Mainstream media need to stop using euphemisms to describe Trump’s racism. Media Matters. https://www.mediamatters.org/new-york-times/mainstream-media-need-stop-using-euphemisms-describe-trumps-racism

 

 

 

Language and Culture

 

Image credit: Lilian Hill

By Lilian H. Hill

 

Some words are unique to regional culture, foods, and traditions. Language use can also be understood as an indicator of race, ethnicity, social class, and immigration status. While this can contribute to social disparities, the continuous integration of immigrants and their families contributes to a vibrant, ever-changing culture, and a varied lexicon or vocabulary (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015). The process of immigration takes time and can be considered a two-way street in that it offers benefits to immigrants and the people of the country.

 

People who come to the U.S. from other countries will have an accent as will people who move from one region of the U.S. to another. Keep in mind that it is easy to believe that the way you speak is “normal” and that only other people have accents. The truth is that we all will have an accent when away from home, and some people who learned a second, third, or fourth language after the age of 12-14 will always have an accent in the newly acquired language. If they remain away from their place of origin for a significant length of time, they may develop an accent in their first language, too, because our speech is influenced by where we live.

 

It can be very frustrating to be asked where you are from, when returning to where you feel is home! This can even happen within a single language. I have lived in the southeastern U.S. for more than 39 years, and when I return home to English-speaking parts of Canada I am often asked where I am from. However, I retain some Canadian speech habits so in the South I am also asked where I am from. People can overcome accents with intensive speech therapy and coaching; however, this choice tends to be made by people who are very self-conscious.

 

Different cultural traditions within the country will have specific vocabulary and habits of speaking. While it is easy to make negative judgments when you hear someone speaking differently than you; in fact, different speaking traditions have their own vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation. In other words, they are recognized as languages. Your employer will want you to speak, read, and write Standard English, even if you may speak very differently among your friends and family.

 

Unfortunately, because of racism and discrimination, only some people are asked to “code-switch” from one tradition of speaking at home to Standard English at college or work. Code-switching refers to altering your speech style including its volume, speed, vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar as a way of fitting in. This can be accompanied by changing appearance, clothing styles, expression, and even body language to make other people feel more comfortable, counter common stereotypes, and gain employment (McLuney et al., 2019).

 

Creating New Words

Everyone creates new words and phrases (Anderson, 2018; Boyle, 2019). Several processes are involved: 

• Loanwords: borrowing words from other languages.

• Compound words: combining words to make a new one (heart + broken = heartbroken; sand + castle - sandcastle).
  
  
• Formation: combining words but letting parts drop off (e.g., sleazy – y = sleaze; dork + adorable  = adorkable).
  
  
• Repurposing: Taking a word from one context and applying it to a different one. For example, the crane, a long-necked bird, lent its name to mean a large lifting machine.
  
  
• Conversion: changing a word’s function from one part of speech to another (having a friend [noun] but also friending [verb] someone on Facebook).
  
  
• Derivation: adding prefixes or suffixes, e.g., preteen, hyperlink.
  
  
• Eponyms, meaning a name or place becomes the common description, e.g., sandwich named for the Earl of Sandwich or Kleenex instead of facial tissue.
  
  
• Abbreviations and acronyms (e.g., ICYMI stands for “In case you missed it.”).
  
  
• Nonce words:  words taken out of the air (e.g., bling (source unknown), or “on fleek,” coined by celebrity Kayla Newman.

 

Sometimes the meaning of a word changes altogether. For example, the word “nice” was used between 1300-1600 to mean silly, foolish, or ignorant. Then it acquired the meaning of meticulous, attentive, or sharp, while since the 18^th century, it has been used to mean agreeable and pleasant (Herman, 2015).

 

It also means that you can create a word that may end up in a dictionary if enough other people start using your word.

 

1. Creating new words allows you to convey specific meaning and express your creativity. New words attract your listeners or readers’ attention and help them focus on your meaning. For your new word to become recognized, other people must adopt and use it, so that the new word spreads.
   
   
2. Some authors create new languages and when the books become extremely popular, some of that language enters common vocabulary. Think of the invented game called Quidditch from the Harry Potter books written by J. K. Rowling or the species called Orcs from Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.
   
   
3. New words are created to describe new experiences. Some of these experiences are the result of technological innovation. For example, the word telephone comes from tele, meaning far away, and phon, meaning sound. In other words, telephone is a compound word made up of two root words. Television, smartphones, and email are similar examples.
   
   
4. Our impatient world is always looking for speed and efficiency, so words are often shortened. So, phone is short for telephone, personal computers are called PCs or Apples, computer applications are known as apps, and so on.
   
   
5. To meet length limitations. For example, texting and tweets restrict the number of characters that can be used. This prompted the use of single characters used in place of words (R U ready?) and more extensive use of acronyms that then entered our spoken vocabulary.

 

 

This continual process of language reinvention will result in many new words being invented within our lifetime. Some other words will not be used as often and will fade away. 

 

References

Anderson, C. (2018). Essentials of linguistics. Retrieved from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/essentialsoflinguistics/chapter/6-6-creating-new-words/

Boyle, A. (2016, February 4). How new words are born. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2016/feb/04/english-neologisms-new-words 

Herman, J. (2015, December 22). 11 words with meanings that have changed drastically over time. Retrieved from https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/61876/11-words-meanings-have-changed-drastically-over-time

How Language Changes Over Time

 

Image credit: Andrew De Leon, Unsplash

By Lilian H. Hill

 

All languages change. The English we speak today is very different from the English of the past. The way words are pronounced and spelled can change. The meaning of some words has changed over time. New words are added to the language on a regular basis. For example,  among new words in 2023, The Oxford English Dictionary added “porch pirate,” “deepfake,” and “antigodlin” (meaning something that is diagonal or askew) (Gutoskey, 2023).

 

Borrowing Words from Other Cultures

One way that languages change is by exposure to other languages. When people speaking different languages come in contact, they often ‘borrow’ words from each other (Anderson, 2018; Boyle, 2019). Good examples include words in English that came from other languages including croissant from French, karaoke from Japanese, avatar from Sanskrit, and loot from Hindi. Likewise, English words are used by speakers of other languages. You may have listened to a conversation in a language you don’t know and been surprised when you recognize a word or two, and then realized the people having the conversation are mixing in English words. 

 

Now that we are a global economy, more frequent word borrowing is occurring and words from many other countries are being adopted in English, including words from China, Japan, Latin American countries, and African countries. Sometimes words go back and forth between cultures. For example, the word “anime” was coined in Japan, but was originally based on the English word animation. Now we use the word anime to describe hand-drawn and computer animation originating, or designed to look like it, from Japan. When a word is adopted into English the word may transform its sound, spelling, or meaning. 

 

How Words Enter Dictionaries

Lexicographers, people who create dictionaries, pay attention to how people use words. Their job is not to decide on the meaning of words or to decide which words are “good” or “bad.” Instead, they continually learn about new words by observing the ways that people employ language. When a new word usage becomes common, it can be added to the dictionary. Likewise, briefly popular words that fall out of common use may be removed in future editions (Anderson, 2018; Boyle, 2019). 

 

Dictionaries are not an authority that exists outside of human control. Rather, they are created by human beings just like us. That means dictionaries have flaws and that they can change in response to how people use language daily. Like many other processes, online dictionaries are now in common use, and we are less likely to purchase them in printed form.

 

Regional Variations and Dialects

Even within the same language, there are variations in pronunciation and meaning of words used by people living in different times. If you studied a Shakespeare play, Beowulf, or read Chaucer (2023) in the original language during college you will be familiar with how different the language was in the past. For example, “Ful wys is he that kan himselven knowe” (from The Monk's Tale, one of 24 stories in Canterbury Tales published between 1387–1400) can be translated to “A wise person knows himself.” (Gender-neutral language was clearly not used during Chaucer’s time). You can guess some of the words in this quotation, but the spelling and even the sentence structure are unfamiliar today. 

 

 

Language also varies by location. Think of how differently English sounds in Canada, Britain, Australia, the U.S., India or Africa. There are regional differences in the ways that English is used in different locations of the U.S. such as New York City, Boston, and Atlanta. There are even variations used within single cities or regions. The accents in each city are distinctive and they are different dialects of the same language. You may be able to detect what part of a city someone comes from by the way they speak. A dialect is a regional variation of a language that has distinct pronunciations, grammar, and vocabulary. Instead of a single way to speak, write, and read English called American Standard English, linguists now recognize multiple dialects and ways of speaking (McWhorter, 2016). 

 

One reason for this variation is that people in these locations have different experiences and need words that describe them. When I moved from Canada to Florida, I was given a small humor book titled, How to Speak Southern by Steve Mitchell (1976). Some words are unique to the South, such as “fixin to,” (meaning planning to do something) or “mash the button” (meaning to push a button). Other words were explanations of pronunciations that differ from the way things are said in another region and some were words that are run together in pronunciations. For example, “jeet yet?” is a way of saying did you eat yet? There are other regional books of this nature. 

 

People speaking different dialects of the same language can usually understand each other and converse. Therefore, it is tempting to define the difference between a single language language and multiple dialects as being rooted in mutual intelligibility. Yet, there are dialects of English I’ve encountered that were very difficult to understand. Another point of clarification may revolve around the written form. We expect to see standard English used in books, journals, magazines, and government communications. In contrast, regional variations, when they do make it in print, are often found in quotation marks. Despite the difficulty of differentiating language and dialect, it is clear that there is a need for both terms so they will persist over time (McWhorter, 2016).

 

References

Anderson, C. (2018). Essentials of linguistics. Retrieved from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/essentialsoflinguistics/chapter/6-6-creating-new-words/

  Boyle, A. (2016, February 4). How new words are born. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2016/feb/04/english-neologisms-new-words

Chaucer, G. (2023). The Monk’s Tale. Harvard’s Geoffrey Chaucer Website. Harvard University. Retrieved from https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/monks-prologue-and-tale 

Gutoskey, E. (2023, March 21). 17 Terms That Just Got Added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Mental Floss. Retrieved from https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/oxford-english-dictionary-new-words-spring-2023 

McWhorter, J. (2016, January ). What’s a Language, Anyway? The realities of speech are much more complicated than the words used to describe it. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/01/difference-between-language-dialect/424704/

Mitchell, S. (1976). How to speak Southern. Random House. 

McLuney, C. L., Robotham, K., Lee, S., & Smith, R. (2019, November 15). The costs of code-switching. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-costs-of-codeswitching 

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2015). The Integration of Immigrants into American Society. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/21746.

Relationship Between Information Literacy and Plain Language

 

By Lilian H. Hill

It is important to use simple language to help people comprehend information of all types. Plain language is one way to communicate information that is easily accessible to people with a variety of educational levels. The U.S. PLAIN Language Guidelines recognize the importance of clear written communication. PLAIN stands for Plain Language Action and Information Network, a group of federal employees who believed that citizens deserve to receive clear communications from their government. The guidelines are based on three principles: citizens should be able to “find what they need, understand what they find; and use what they find to meet their needs” in any document published by the government (Federal Plain Language Guidelines, 2011, p. 1).

At first, the guidelines were used to provide guidance for government employees writing documents for the public. The guidelines were designed to promote the social benefits of clear communications including improving access to justice and enabling consumers to make more informed decisions. Later they were adopted by many commercial, medical, accounting, and legal companies for similar reasons. They are now spreading worldwide.  

The PLAIN Language guidelines provide useful guidance about writing that anyone can use. The document includes information about sentence and paragraph structure, punctuation, organization, tables and graphs, and vocabulary. They stated that: “Words matter. They are the most basic building blocks of written and spoken communication. Choose your words carefully – be precise and concise” (Federal Plain Language Guidelines, 2011, p. 18). You can read the guidelines for yourself.

Why can’t writers just say things plainly? 

The best writing is designed to communicate to a specific audience. Effective writers study their audience and use vocabulary they know the audience will understand. They don’t use complicated words just to show off their impressive vocabulary. Famous writer Mark Twain said, “Don't use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do” (Simons, 2016). In other words, writing is meant to communicate and not to intimidate readers. Stephen King, author of 73 suspense, fantasy, horror, and science fiction books, commented, 

One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed” (King, 2000, pp. 117-118).  

 

Dog Wearing Tuxedo

 

One of the main reasons for using more complex vocabulary is that it communicates precise and specific meanings. They are used when there is a need to clearly distinguish between one idea or another. For example, figure skaters execute several complicated jumps on ice. The skaters, coaches, and competition judges need specialized words to describe the different jumps to communicate with each other. For example, the salchow (a jump from the skate blade’s edge), the lutz (a toe jump), and the axel (an edge jump) are some of the different jumps that skaters use. Most sports have their own terminology that you will learn because you are playing the sport or because you love to follow your favorite players or teams playing the sport. 

Different professions develop their own sets of terms. For example, physicians will diagnose a child with otitis media, but then tell the parent that it’s an ear infection because they know that most parents will understand the latter diagnosis. Otitis media refers to an infection of the middle ear, the air-filled space behind the eardrum that contains the tiny vibrating bones of the ear. Doctors use this specific term with other medical professionals because infections occur in other locations in and near the ear and treatments may need to be tailored to that. This is only one example of medical terms that are specific. Many of the terms used are based in Latin. 

Latin words to describe species

Latin words are also used in biology where new species names are named with words based in Latin. For example, Aleiodes shakirae is a species of parasitic wasp belonging to the family Braconidae. The species is named after Shakira, the singer/songwriter known for her song Hips Don’t Lie. Aleiodes is the family name for a type of wasp. After the wasp injects its egg into a caterpillar, the caterpillar will shake and wiggle uncontrollably. While the term is used to refer to the specific type of wasp described here, it is also clear that scientists like to have a little fun when naming new species. The scientific convention is that when someone discovers a new species, they can name it after themselves. Sometimes, they bestow the honor on someone else. So, Agaporomorphus colberti is a beetle named after Stephen Colbert, Aleiodes gaga is a wasp named after Lady Gaga, and Aptostichus barackobamai is a spider named after Barack Obama. You can view many other examples of organisms named after famous people.

 

 

Novel writers use of descriptive vocabulary

Novel writers tend to use a lot of descriptive vocabulary to give readers a sense of where and when the events in their book take place. They also use vocabulary to provide a lot of detail about their characters’ experiences and their feelings. The vocabulary they use makes the story more vivid so that readers can visualize what happens in the book.  

Writers may also use complex vocabulary to insert variety in their writing because it can make reading more interesting. Reading the same words over and over can make a reading seem boring. However, authors can go too far and make their writing more difficult to read for many people. 

 

References

Federal Plain Language Guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.plainlanguage.gov/media/FederalPLGuidelines.pdf  

King, S. (2000). On writing: A memoir of the craft. Scribner. 

Simons, T. (2016). Mark Twain's secret to success: "Use Better Words." Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organisms_named_after_famous_people_(born_1950%E2%80%93present) 

Wikipedia. (2023). List of organisms named after famous people (born 1950–present). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organisms_named_after_famous_people_(born_1950%E2%80%93present)