Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Americans and Euphemisms

There are sharks in Florida biting surfers in these days, and I saw a tv
report showing a warning sign that reads "warning! Dangerous marine life
has been spotted in the area" or something along that line.
That reminded me again of the curious, and inexplicable to me, infatuation
that Americans seem to have with euphemisms. Why not putting up a sign
with "Warning! Sharks have been spotted in the area"? Would that be too
scary? Will sharks be renamed 'Dangerous Marine Life', to be synthesized
with a DML?
I would put that together with the "people with negative cash flow", the
"vertically challenged" , "economically disadvantaged", "people with 
learning disorder" and hundreds of other ridiculous, reality-hiding expressions
devised with the sole purpose of bullshitting people; and people are
happy recipients, too.
Do I have a politeness disorder if I point out these things?
 
+--
I know you can't speak, I know you can't sign
So cry right here on the dotted line

happy recipients, too.
I don't think the purpose is to BS people.  I think that, as time goes by,
certain words take on a "negative" connotation and when that happens there is a
tendency to try to avoid those terms.  "Debt" for example, is not a welcome
word.  So, to express that concept we use "negative cash flow".  Some people
may feel offended if referred to as "short" or "poor".  Sometimes these
euphemisms are used in jest, but many times they are used in order to be
"politically correct"
I remember  when in the 60s "Black was beautiful".  Now the word "Black" is no
longer used in reference to people and it has been replaced by
"African-American".
As far as the shark bit is concerned, well, I am not sure  why they couldn't 
have written  "Sharks in water".  Sometimes they try to choose  words that 
will be understood by as many people as possible.  As you well know, a very
high %  of California residents speak English as a second language and many may
not know the word "shark".  If I am not mistaken (and don't quote me on this)
that is the reason why they changed from "speed limit" to "maximum speed". 
ciao
Arianna

>From: 
yeah....@earthlink.net
  (Lupo Buono)
Your screen name reminded me of a story I posted many moons ago.  Here it is
again:
The Maligned Wolf
The forest was my home.  I lived there, and I cared about it.  I tried to keep
it neat and clean. Then one sunny day, while I was cleaning up some garbage a
camper had left behind, I heard footsteps.  I leaped behind a tree and saw a
little girl coming down the trail carrying a basket.  I was suspicious of this
little girl right away because she was dressed funny_ all in red, and her head
covered up as if she didn’t want people to know who she was.  Naturally, I
stopped to check her out.  I asked who she was, where she was going, where she
had come from, and all that.  She gave me a song and dance about going to her
grandmother’s house with a basket of lunch.  She appeared to be a basically
honest person, but she was in my forest, and she certainly looked suspicious
with that strange getup of hers.  So I decided to teach her just how serious it
is to prance through the forest unannounced and dressed funny.   
I let her go on her way, but I ran ahead to her grandmother’s house.  When I
saw that nice old woman, I explained my problem and she agreed that her
granddaughter needed to learn a lesson all right.  The old woman agreed to stay
of sight until I called her.  Actually, she hid under the bed. 
When the girl arrived, I invited her into the bedroom where I was in the bed,
dressed like the grandmother.  The girl came in all rosy checked and said
something nasty about my big ears.  I’ve been insulted before so I made the
best of it by suggesting that my big ears would help me hear better.  Now, what
I meant was that I liked her and wanted to pay close attention to what she was
saying.  But she made another insulting crack about my bulging eyes.  Now you
can see how I was beginning to feel about this girl who put on such a nice
front, but was apparently a very nasty person.  Still, I’ve made it a policy
to turn the other cheek, so I told her that my big eyes helped me to see her
better. 
Her next insult really got to me.  I’ve got this problem with having big
teeth, and that little girl made an insulting crack about them.  I know that I
should have had better control, but I leaped up from that bed and growled that
my teeth would help me to eat her better. 
             Now let’s face it _ no wolf would ever eat a little girl_
everyone knows that_ but that crazy girl started running around the house
screaming _ me chasing her to calm her down.  I’d taken off the grandmother
clothes, but that only seemed to make it worse.  All of a sudden the door came
crashing open, and a big lumberjack is standing there with this axe.  I looked
at him and all of a sudden it became clear that I was in trouble.  There was an
open window behind me and out I went. 
I’d like to say that was the end of it.  But that Grandmother character never
did tell my side of the story.  Before long the word got around that I was a
mean, nasty guy.  Everybody started avoiding me.  I don’t know about that
little girl with the funny red outfit, but I didn’t live happily ever after. 
 

will be understood by as many people as possible.  
May be, but that is debatable; I think the chances of 'dangerous marine life' being
better understood than sharks are little. I tend to believe that bureaucrats are 
so obsessed with the so called political correctness that they are afraid of stating
what is going on, and that is far more dangerous than the sharks in the water.
Stay away from euphemisms; there are ugly, bad  and sad things around, that is a fact,
and we can't make them go away by giving them aseptyc names.



Well, I guess that if Red Hood had been so smart  to use euphemisms instead
of being so explicit, may be there would not have been all those troubles... :)))
Unfortunately I can't remember exactly what was the real point of that story,
but I remember reading an essay (wow, do computer programmers read
essays?) where the story was explained, from a psychological point of view,
as being a metaphore of the loss of the virginity, and every element of the story
was actually a symbol for something else. I can't comment on that, though.


 a fact, and we can't make them go away by giving them aseptyc names.
I've often wondered how many other ways there are to say "incinta" in Italian.
Do you think they may be an ineffectual method of birth control?
Ciao,
Ron
USA
PS: By the way, it certainly is ridiculous not to post "Warning, sharks" but as
usual there is probably a money issue behind the decision. Is the beach
privately owned rather than controlled by the government? I expect that someone
with a financial interest in the beach does not want it associated with the word
"sharks," as it would be for many years to come if such a sign were posted.

 "sharks," as it would be for many years to come if such a sign were posted.
Yeah maybe, but I would say the money issue goes more like this:
"Warning, sharks have been spotted in the water."
hmmm, ok, I'll take my chances.
Yoooww, jelly fish!!!   They didn't warn me about that, I'm suing!


"Jaws" docet.


 want to tell a lady, of course.
Erny:
-------
Lupo Buono forgot to name: * aspetta un bambino* ( she is waiting for a
child ).
Somebody says *è gravida * too, but it is not very polite: it should be used
only talking about animals.
Ciao
Erny
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 there is a tendency to try to avoid those terms.  
 [snip]
Right, euphemisms in fact! "the substitition of an agreeable or
inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something
unpleasant."
Has euphemism itself fallen prey to this tendency? How sad.
Not to forget that some of these euphemisms are solely for the
purpose of removing meaning and impact from words, like 'collateral
damage' for killing
friends by military action. (or foes, I can't remember, that's how
meaningless it is.)
Cheers,
Loki
-- 
  Brevity is the soul of wit.    W.Shakespeare


That is what they tell you. The real point of that disgusting expression
and many similar others is to hide reality. If a friend of yours were
killed in a bombing, you wouldn't call it a 'collateral damage', would you?
You'd probably say that he was fucking murdered, while the other party
will comfortably hide behind the 'collateral damage' so the people at 
home watching the news don't have to feel guilty.


 home watching the news don't have to feel guilty.
Le parole sono le cose possenti. E la realità è una percezione. È un'arte dire
qualcosa con precizione e è un arte dire qualcosa con ambiguità. Ci sono i lupi
buoni e i lupi cattivi e tutti provano a practicare l'arte in un modo
d'ávvantaggirsi. Non sono in disaccordo con te che qualche eufemismo è
pericoloso. Ma dire che tutto è inutile mi sembra insensibile, perche le
connotazioni delle parole sono importanti e hanno un effetto sulla percezione e
sull'amor proprio. E anche associare gli eufemismi alla cultura americana mi
sembra come ingenuità. Non sono un nazionalista ma, secondo me, è pericoloso
quando si associa un carrattere a una cultura invece d'alla natura umana.
Quindi, non si vede le stesse cose nella sua vita propria. Negli Stati Uniti
l'arte è sola piú avvanzata. Aspetta, i politici europei assumono già i
spindoctor statunitensi.
Ciao,
Ron
USA


"gravida" is a medical term which is be used for women as well.  Here are some
links where you will find that term:
http://www-aids.med.unibo.it/congressi/AIDS_e_donna.htm
http://www.gravidanzaonline.it/malattie/sifilide.html
http://www.aldozecca.net/alimentazione/aliment_in_gravidanza.htm
ciao
Arianna


Certo. Ogni tanto mi lascio trasportare un po' dalle emozioni; certi eufemismi
sono innocui e perfettamente adeguati, quelli che non sopporto sono quelli
relativi allo stato sociale e quelli usati nei linguaggi burocratici e politici.
Il thread era iniziato con "Americans and euphemisms" solo perche' vedo
che nell'American English gli eufemismi sono usati moltissimo perche' e' di
moda essere politicamente corretti. Con questo non intendo certo associarli 
esclusivamente agli americani. Li usano pure in Italia, anche se forse in misura 
minore, ma non ho alcun dubbio che verranno usati sempre di piu', e sempre
piu' a sproposito.


 USA
Erny:
-------
Ti sbagli Ron, abbiamo fatto grandi passi avanti anche noi.
E' da tempo che i Italia non abbiamo più spazzini ma solo *operatori
ecologici*, non abbiamo più ciechi ma solo *non vedenti*.
E soprattutto non abbiamo nemmeno un disoccupato in Italia; però abbiamo
alcuni milioni di lavoratori in mobilità
Anche la prostituzione è in forte declino: solo le ragazze africane e le
slave fanno le puttane. Le italiane invece sono  *massaggiatrici*, *
hostess*, * escort-girl,* etc.
Saluti  da un italiano,oops... scusa, volevo dire, da un *non americano*.
:>)))))
Erny
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 home watching the news don't have to feel guilty.
Then again, 'fucking murdered,' is emotive and emotion can hide
reality too.


 ha scritto nel messaggio
news:64Dg7.3254$423.1...@news.infostrada.it...

You can also say e' in maternita' when you refer to the period of time -
established by law, a woman does not work because of her pregnancy
Ciao,
Stefania

 the woman, for the others, or both.
È anche interessante che in aggiunta alla pillola, c`è ora il pillolo.
Ciao,
Ron
USA

 and many similar others is to hide reality.
Not so much hiding reality as manipulating it, as it were.
Let's stick to Oldspeak. Year 2050 is not that far into
the future after all.
Ciao
Matteo B.

 They mean two different things. You can be rich and have a negative cash
flow.
Would 'skint' give a fairly man-in-the-street, non-PC idea
of one's cash flow bearing the consequences of a nasty
drought? I wouldn't recommend mentioning this word
when asking for a loan, though.
Ciao
Matteo B.

 when asking for a loan, though.
"Skint" is British slang. Although cosmopolitan Americans like myself know the
meaning, Uncle Bob in Georgia might react with a wide stare. The most common
American slang word for "essere al verde" is "to be broke." Incidently, in
American English, "green" has connotations of having money because of the color
of the US dollar.
Ciao,
Ron
USA

 of the US dollar.
s'funny, I always think of them as grey and black and hard to tell
apart.
But then I'm used to blues, oranges,  greens and various technicolour
notes (when I get my hands on them, that is...)


 American slang word for "essere al verde" is "to be broke."
'Broke' is widely used by Limeys as well, as far as I know.
Ciao
Matteo B.

'Broke' is widely used by Limeys as well, as far as I know.
Sì, ma che io sappia 'skint' è decisamente più comune.
Nota anche la frase, 'I haven't got two pennies to rub
together.' Forse diventerà 'two Euros' fra qualche anno.
J

 together.' Forse diventerà 'two Euros' fra qualche anno.
Speriamo di no (quegli accorati appelli che il Telegraph lancia
con una certa frequenza e regolarità alla fine hanno mosso a
compassione anche me).
BTW, if Britain does join the single currency, I expect that old
saying 'penny wise and pound foolish' will have to be brought
up to date and rephrased accordingly. Then how would the
relation between the two words, 'euro' and 'foolish', be
viewed? :-)
Ciao
Matteo B.

 reality too.
no... if you are the corpse ;)

 Le parole sono le cose possenti. E la realità è una percezione.
[snippone]
impressive
you're certainly not a beginner any more with the our language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 you're certainly not a beginner any more with the our
language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
^^^^^^
distrazione
perdonate perdonate