NTC's Dictionary of Euphemisms

Összefoglaló

Euphemisms are entertaining because they reveal how people design words and expressions in order to avoid being direct, obvious, or literal. NTC's Dictionary of Euphemisms includes examples of the most widespread and widely celebrated categories of euphemism, such as death, drunkenness, and pregnancy, as well as a few terms for the downstairs body parts and noisier body processes. It focuses not only on taboos but also on "politically correct" words and phrases and other innocent expressions people use to avoid provoking negative reactions from their listeners. This new and updated collection includes more than 2,000 attention-getting euphemisms, example sentences for each entry that illustrate the use of the euphemism in everyday language, and an index that allows the reader to place a euphemism in various thematic categories. This practical guide to unraveling euphemisms will be especially useful for those studying English and for writers, sociologists, and psychologists, as well as anyone interested in words or the English language in general.