internet-euphemania

Scoffery Have you ever wondered just why we as people have such a terrible issue with plain speaking? It seems that we are always looking for ways to express ourselves in the unclearest of ways, whether it be with irony, sarcasm or the most beloved euphemism. Ralph Keyes has done the research for us and …

A Book About Why We Speak As We Do We tend to read a lot of fiction here at the Brazen Broads Book Bash, so it’s always nice to get our hands on some good nonfiction books almost as a way to cleanse our palettes sometimes.  Ralph Keyes book, Euphemania,  is the perfect mix of …

Fritinancy In his new book Euphemania: Our Love Affair with Euphemisms2  Ralph Keyes devotes two pages to the language of US workplace firings: Discharging employees is one of the leading occasions for euphemistic discourse in the workplace. No one is fired, of course, or sacked, though they might be furloughed (or, more likely, placed on …

As the Page Turns I love learning where certain words and phrases come from and this book was a pleasure to read. We all rely on euphemisms to tiptoe around what makes us uneasy, and have done so for most of recorded history. The word “eupheme” comes from the Greek meaning “good speaking”. Even Shakespeare …

CMash Loves to Read Just in time for the holidays. This book is informative, filled with trivia and a fun read. I found it to be quite interesting as to where and how certain terms came in to being such as “a loose cannon” (pg 193), “bookworm”(pg 228) “under the weather”(pg 124) and so many …

Minding Spot A euphemism is a substitution for an expression that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the receiver, using instead an agreeable or less offensive expression,[1] or to make it less troublesome for the speaker, as in the case of doublespeak. We all do it.  Bit the Big One. Bun in the Oven.  …