While these terms on their own appear innocent enough and even mildly humorous given their more trivial and less offensive modern usage, in they denoted contemporary terms for classifying individuals with mental or intellectual disabilities.
As is the nature of the euphemism treadmill, new terms arose for classifying those with a low Intelligence Quotient once these terms became taboo.
In comparing these classifications, it is evident that the first set of words has acquired a more positive or neutral meaning over time amelioration and the second set has undergone an opposite process, becoming more negative over time pejoration. As the first set of classifications was constructed over 85 years ago, one could hypothesise that an explanation for their amelioration lies in their association with a bygone era; that their previous meanings are detached from present-day life with the words and not the concepts for which they previously stood therefore embodying a more novel meaning.
Further research is evidently required, given how tenuous these claims currently are. From the abovementioned studies and the speculative proposal, one can safely conclude that the cultural environment is a powerful force in shaping how euphemisms manifest in language. Like every element of a language that continues to change, the euphemism will persist as a phenomenon across all languages in motion.
For what is essentially a household linguistic concept, the euphemism and its role in society remains a potential hot topic for further investigation and research. Noha, one could argue that it unnecessarily stigmatizes certain groups. Thanks to the author for writing the post, it was quite necessary for me and liked it.
I will be happy if you read it and accept it. Thank you for your concern. The U. Federal Case, United States vs. Type and hit enter to search Search. The study has been conducted on two dialects which are used in Saudi Arabia; one is Hijazi which is used in Makkah while the other one is the Southern region dialect used in Alqunfudah. The purpose was to find out how these two dialect speakers use euphemism to speak about some taboo issues such as death, sex, body parts, and bodily functions.
It can be clearly stated, from what has been described in this paper, that people always manipulate language in order to avoid being harsh and direct. However, there are many aspects of euphemism which are also used in these dialects, for example, phonemic replacement, compounding, derivation, and deletion which need further investigation. International Researchers, 2, Forbidden Words.
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USA: Blackwell Publishers. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. International Education Studies, 5, Modern Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3, Euphemism in Saudi Arabic and British English. Journal of Pragmatics, 44, Almahthorat Alughaweah [Linguistic Taboos].
MakatabatAlanglo Almasreah. Home Journals Article. Khedir A. DOI: Abstract To communicate with other people, a person has to select the appropriate words as well as the appropriate speech strategy. Share and Cite:. Almoayidi, K. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics , 8 , Introduction The way people communicate with each other varies from one culture to another. Literature Review Before going deeply into the use of euphemism, it is essential to mention some previous works and studies which have tackled this strategy.
Euphemism in Arabic Studies This part of the paper will give a brief literature review of the use of euphemism in the Arabic language. The Purpose of Using Euphemism in the Arabic Language The Arabic language, like many other languages, has many communicative strategies which are used by speakers to convey a message. The Use of Euphemism in Modern Arabic Dialects This following part of the paper will deal with the use of euphemism in modern Arabic dialects.
Conclusion This paper has focused on how euphemism is used to avoid directness in certain situations. Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads.
Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Richard Nordquist. English and Rhetoric Professor. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks.
Updated October 04, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Nordquist, Richard. Why Do We Use Euphemisms? Definition and Examples of Dysphemisms in English.
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