reviews-euphemania

***** 5 stars A great title for a well researched (check the complete bibliography) and enjoyable book that, anyone who likes language, and the way it evolves will read in a day. Keyes draws almost all of his examples from the anglo-saxon culture, switching from England to the USA. He mentions a few Spanish words …

**** 4 stars If you are a word freak like me, you are going to love this book. Euphemania explains where we get common turns of phrase like “pushing up daisies” and other obscure references. The book is very entertaining and gives insight to historical references. I really enjoyed reading this one and it would …

***** 5 stars Before I picked up Ralph Keyes’ latest book, Euphemania: Our Love Affair with Euphemisms, I admit, my understanding and appreciation of the role and breadth of euphemisms in our society and language was merely skin deep. As someone interested in the intricacies and nuances of language, I wanted to dig deeper. Keyes, …

***** 5 stars ‘Unmentionables’ is an analysis of the use of euphenism in our language. The days are long gone when we can use straightforward language to describe everyday events. Instead we must dress our concepts with ever refreshed new clothes so that they are fit for polite society and change those clothes when the …

When you can’t call a spade a spade To cover our ears when we say what we simply must not say, we constantly coin instead words that are more muted and polite. Thus underdeveloped countries became developing ones, a little bastard is a lovechild and the stock market collapse is an equity retreat. We are …

**** 4 stars Ralph Keyes is well known in the US for producing books featuring both analyses of social trends, and a knack for writing well and entertainingly about them. This book focuses on euphemisms and how they are used, tracing their development in Europe and North America as a response to changing social pressures …