👉Check out Tolentino Teaching's Teaching Resource Library :https://briantolentino.com/resource-library/ 👉If you found this resource helpful, please support the channel by buying me a cup of coffee! My goal is to provide hundreds of FREE videos and worksheets for English teachers. Your generous donation would help me realize this goal. Thanks! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TolentinoTeach 👨‍💻 LET'S CONNECT Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tolentinoteaching/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TolentinoTeach Facebook ELA Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/241115104094311 A Euphemism is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. For example, The use of “passed away” instead of “died “is a euphemism. Died sounds harsh to the ears. Therefore, in certain situations, it may be more polite and acceptable to say passed away. In fact, there are many euphemisms when it comes to death. This is because death is tragic, and euphemisms can be a way of respecting those who are no longer with us (see that is a euphemism). Here are some common euphemisms for death gone to heaven gone home rest in peace no longer with us And when we euthanize a pet, we. say put to sleep. Euphemisms are often a gentler and more polite way of saying things. Some Other euphemisms used in daily speech are Senior citizen instead of old person Sanitation worker instead of garbage man/woman Pre-owned instead of second-hand or used Person of interest instead of suspect Issues instead of emotional problems Capital punishment instead of the death penalty Between jobs instead of unemployed Euphemisms, however, can also be used to mislead the public or twist the truth. For example, WIlliam Zinsser in his book On Writing Well says “It was during George W. Bush’s presidency that “civilian casualties” in Iraq became “collateral damage.” Saying “collateral damage” sounds less harsh than “civilian casualties.” The term civilian casualties conjures images of innocent lives lost. Collateral damage, meanwhile, sounds mechanistic. It reduces human lives to damages. And if you are paying attention to the euphemism, you may forget that collateral damages means human lives. Another example of an euphemism is the CIA changing the term torture to “enhanced interrogration.” Torture sounds cruel and unjust. Enhanced interrogation sounds strategic and necessary. If you asked a random person on the street if we should torture enemy prisoners, many would say no. However, if you asked the same person should we commit enhanced interrogation techniques on our enemies, they would probably be more apt to say yes. Now that you have a better understanding of what a euphemism is, here is your task. Listen to the following paragraph and write down all the euphemisms you hear. Then guess which word these euphemisms are replacing. So last week I was (fired) let go from my job, and I am now between jobs (unemployed). And to make matters worse, I had to put my dog down (euthanized). Poor Charlie. Anyways, yesterday I went to the bank and passed gas (farted). It was embarrassing. However, I was feeling under the weather (sick) so I decided to go home and nap. On my way home, however, I saw pre-owned (used) cars on sale. I couldn’t resist. I know that I owe many people money and have negative cash flow (debt), but–hey–you only live once. I bought myself a camaro. Now it is time to find a job.

• published: 25 Sep 2022
• views: 10532