WEBVTT - Euphemisms: Linguistic Transmutation 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:05.920 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:15.160 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:18.040 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick and Robert. 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.960 I want to talk about my favorite scene in the 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:26.119 movie bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Okay, well, 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:28.600 there's never a bad time to discuss, uh that that 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:32.400 particular interpretation of Dracula. It is a great one, isn't it. 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:35.559 It's like horrible, but it's also great. It has some 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.840 wonderful design in it. I love the suit of armor, 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:41.200 oh yeah, yeah, and I love some of the painted 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:44.040 backdrops and stuff. But there's a great scene where so 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.319 you know the basic story of Dracula. These characters are 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:51.200 in I think late Victorian England and Dracula, Count Dracula 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:55.400 comes to England from Transylvania and begins feeding on the 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:59.440 locals in England. And uh, there is the character Van Helsing, 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:02.520 the Van vampire slayer, a man of great wisdom. And 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:05.360 in the bram Stoker's Dracula France Ford couple of version, 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:09.080 he has played by Anthony Hopkins in a wonderfully weird, 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:13.800 hyperactive performance. Uh. And there's a scene where the main 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:17.720 character's friend Lucy has been turned into a vampire by 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:21.039 Count Dracula, and Van Helsing and his associates have just 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.320 come back from slaying the vampire version of their friend 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:27.679 Lucy and the character Mina Harker played in the movie 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.800 by win Owner writer. She asks how did Lucy die? 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:34.319 Was she in great pain? And Anthony Hopkins as Van 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:37.080 Helsing says, yes, she was in great pain. Then we 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:38.920 cut off our head, drove a stake through her heart 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:42.520 and then burned it. And then she found peace. And 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:44.759 I always love that because of the last line at 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:47.960 the end there and then she found peace. Yeah, everything 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:52.360 else is thoroughly non euphemistic. It's pretty straightforward. These are 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:56.360 the steps we took to to tear her corpse apart 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:02.400 to to kill her her undead uh unnatural life. Right, 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:04.680 But then you have to end it with a euphemism, 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:09.080 so they they have these terms ready at hand. She 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.760 found peace, she passed on, she went to a better place. 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:16.839 These are the the friendly terms for death. He could 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.280 have just finished as he began by saying and then 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:24.080 she died screaming, but instead he uses the euphemism and 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:27.560 then she found peace. And it's a great contrast. That's 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:30.839 it's why it's such a wonderful comic moment. But it 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:34.440 makes you aware of the absurdity of the euphemisms that 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.320 we use in everyday language. Yeah, I feel like in 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:39.720 researching this episode, we both had to do a lot 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:45.160 of self examination regarding our own use of euphemisms. Uh, 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:50.440 you know just how ubiquitous euphemistic language is. It's everywhere, 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:54.079 It's I bet it's half of all the talk you 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.520 do now. Of course, the concept of a euphemism is 0:02:57.840 --> 0:02:59.800 if you're not familiar with the word, it just means 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:04.680 using a friendlier or more acceptable term to express an 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:09.560 idea that, for some reason is taboo or uncomfortable. Yeah, 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.920 it's interesting thinking about it in terms of having a 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.240 four and a half year old in the house, because 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:18.720 he he does not have a really a great use 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:22.720 of euphemisms. Yet when he's very blunt, right when he'll 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:25.120 be eating dinner and he'll say I need to go poop, 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.320 I'll be right back. He'll he'll even lay out a 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:30.960 detailed plan. I'm gonna go poop and wash my hands, 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:32.760 and I'm gonna come back, and then I'm gonna fish 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:35.200 eater And wouldn't it be great if we could do 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:37.880 that during dinner party? Yeah? No, no, like if an 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.520 adult did that, you would just think they'd lost their 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:44.080 mind or just we're the most uncouth first and imaginable, right, 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.920 But but a child is completely free of this. But yeah, 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:51.800 we would use euphemism. We would say I need to 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.600 go use the restroom, I'm going to go make use 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:58.480 of the laboratory, or maybe we visit the water closet, yeah, like, 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:00.640 or even I'm going to step out it. Yeah, I'm 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:02.680 I'm gonna Well that that's a weird. I've never heard 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:04.880 anyone use that I'm gonna step out, Like, what are 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:08.000 you going to do if you're gonna step out? I 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:09.960 don't know. I mean obviously something you don't want to 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:13.440 talk about. Um, Yeah, I tend to fall back on 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:15.760 I'm gonna go visit the restroom or I'm gonna use 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:18.320 the restroom and I'll be right back visit like you're 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:20.640 gonna have some quality time. Well, I'm keeping it vague 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:21.880 as to what. I'm not going to give you the 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.800 particulars of what's going to happen. Maybe I'm just washing 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:26.640 my hands, maybe I need to blow my nose, might 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.320 just stare in the mirror without blinking. Yeah, but I'm 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.240 not gonna say I'm gonna go poop and then I 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:35.560 will return. I bet there's a lot of stuff when 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:37.080 you have a kid in the house that you have 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:40.960 to do euphemistically that you you're used to talking more bluntly, 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:44.520 maybe with your spouse or partner, but but once a 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:46.960 kid comes along, you can't say everything the way you 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:49.839 used to. Well, it's interesting. There's a lot of there's 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:52.160 a lot of back and forth too with kids regarding 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:59.120 especially euthanisms regarding the human body, because some parents will 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:02.760 we'll fall into this habit of using like cutes here 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:08.119 less uh less accurate terminology for parts of the body, 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:11.600 particularly genitalia, which I always find creepy when I hear 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:14.000 no offense to parents who do that. I'm not actually 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:17.159 judging you, and that's just my instinctual reaction hearing like 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:22.200 pp and stuff. It always sounds like, yeah, yeah, we 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.240 try not to do that in our household. I mean 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.000 that everyone everyone can, you know, do their own thing 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:30.560 by all means, but yeah, we try and say, all right, penis, testicles, 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:36.080 um et cetera. Because you know, I feel it's important 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.840 for them to have an accurate understanding of their body 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:42.880 and then to be able to describe their body, uh seriously, 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.640 to say, you know a physician. Yeah, if they needed 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:47.960 to talk to a doctor, they would need the correct terms. 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.760 But but that's an area where in parenting circles people 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:54.760 kind of go on your arguments on both sides. Do 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:57.400 you do you ever find yourself like wanting to curse 0:05:57.520 --> 0:05:59.800 in front of the child, but you have to find 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.680 an other word. Oh yeah, all the time. Sometimes I 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:07.040 don't find that other word. Um uh this morning, even 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:10.240 driving through traffic, and my son reminded me, said, they 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.760 can't hear you. I guess the other drivers cannot hear me. 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:16.800 That is a perceptive kid. Yeah, But but I try. 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.040 I do try and use certain euphemisms or just it's 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:21.800 almost easier for me to just come up with a 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:25.839 nonsense word, so referring to other drivers as dumbledoors or 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:29.200 calling them crab drivers or something like that. Crab drivers 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.760 good because they're kind of scuttling around back and forth 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:34.320 right a side and stead of going in straight lines. Uh. 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:37.560 Like I find that easier to do because sometimes it's 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:41.440 difficult to make a euphemism stick because if I'm if 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:45.480 I'm really irritated with another driver, my brain really wants 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:49.039 to use, uh, the the F word or or the 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:52.200 or the S word, or one of these more actually 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:56.520 profane words from a vocabulary, and there's something about a 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:00.400 watered down version of it just will not suit. Yeah, 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.279 it seems to to have a power, almost a magical power, 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:06.120 And I think maybe that goes back to some deeply 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.280 rooted part of the cursed tradition in our brains, where 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.560 you know, thousands of years ago, somebody issues a curse, 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:15.480 they think that that has power. I think it's actually 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.760 doing something. Gang is not gonna not gonna got not 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.080 gonna do. It's not gonna suit. Fudge is not gonna work. 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:26.400 So euphemisms in our house, Uh, my wife Rachel and 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.240 I get a lot of enjoyment out of talking about 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:34.440 our dog in un euphemistic terms when people normally would so. 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.760 One example, when our dog's legs and jaws are jerking 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.040 in his sleep, you know he's having a little doggie dreams. 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:42.560 I think many dog owners would be inclined to say, oh, 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.800 he's dreaming about chasing something. But we would say, oh, 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:50.080 he's dreaming about killing, which he is. He's definitely dreaming 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:55.440 about killing little animals. Yeah, that's that's that, that's true. Yeah, 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:56.920 I guess I do a certain amount of that with 0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:59.320 our our our pet as well. I'll give one more 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:03.520 example though, about about raising a child and euphemisms, is 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:08.760 that sometimes you still do not succeed in really driving 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:13.840 home the names for things, and without the proper term, 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.600 sometimes the like the children's name for it is going 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:21.360 to be totally even more unsuitable. So I don't think 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:24.840 I drove home properly. You know what the anus is 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:28.080 to my son. And so one day we had some 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:30.760 people guests to the house and this is something he 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:33.040 hadn't even met before, but he walked outside, just got 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:37.080 it from the nap, and he probably announces, quote, uh, 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:40.480 it itches where poop comes out on my bum and uh. 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:42.840 And I think, arguably, like this, this is a more 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.439 uncouth statement. Grantedies four and a half, so nobody cares, 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:47.880 but still it would be more accurate to say my 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.520 anus itches. Right. But in a way what he said 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:53.760 was euphemism. Really it's an anti euphemism, and we'll get 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:56.360 into that in a in a bit the the euphemism 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:59.120 is actually cuter there in the situation where a kid 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.720 says it. If it's true the kid had said anus, 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.640 that might have been weirder. Yeah, But if an adult 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.040 had said it it itches on my bum where poop 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.160 comes out, then that, you know, you would call the 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:14.560 authorities exactly. Okay, So, uh, let's zoom in on the 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.920 concept of the euphemism and try to figure out what 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:21.000 it does, what is its role in language apart from 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:24.000 the obvious. Now we we did say that it's essentially 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.600 a nice word. It's a word that takes the place 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:32.480 of a word that, for some reason is inappropriate offensive. Uh, 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:34.920 something people don't want to say or think about. Maybe 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:38.120 that conjures up too concreteive an image. Yeah, I mean, 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:40.960 on the surface of things, it's don't say that, say this, 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:43.599 But of course it's it's more than that. A euphemism 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.040 has the power to alter the meaning of the word, 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:48.640 or at least the spirit and tone of the word. Right. 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:51.880 It's like a black and white image versus a colorized image. 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:57.680 Euphemisms allow us to colorize our our linguistic choices to 0:09:57.760 --> 0:09:59.959 a certain extent, and I think we can all think 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:03.640 of various examples where a euphemism simultaneously makes a word 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.720 less offensive and and yet creep here at the same time, 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.160 such as many of these genitalia euphemisms that we've been 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:14.600 discussing exactly yeah pp hearing an adult say it, it's creepy. 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:19.600 It even rhymes yeah. I would say most genitalia euphemisms, uh, 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:22.120 kind of sound like that they have this this this 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.320 vibe of being at one point that they're deflecting us 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.559 from the thing we're talking about, and yet colorize it 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:30.960 in a way that is distasteful. Okay, So there are 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:33.480 a bunch of different ways that you can come up 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:36.240 with the euphemism, right like you you can put it 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:39.160 together in several ways. There's a word that people have 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:43.560 instinctually felt somehow they want to start avoiding saying, but 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.040 they still need the concept in everyday language. You still 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:48.960 have to be able to refer to the thing the 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:52.040 word refers to somehow, So you've got to come up 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.480 with a different word. So where do these different words 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:56.959 come from? Well, you can of course really go down 0:10:56.960 --> 0:11:00.240 the rabbit hole figuring out what sort of euphemisms are 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:03.439 doing what. But here are some of the basic classifications 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:07.679 to consider. There's a term of foreign origin, okay, like 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:12.280 a dairy air or copulation urination, you're using a more 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:17.120 elegant and uh and in foreign term for what you're 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:20.680 talking about. In English. A lot of times the euphemisms 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.719 kind of come from Latin constructions more so than from 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:28.280 the Anglo Saxon constructions, where the the short straightforward word 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:32.040 sounds kind of rude and concrete, and that the Latin 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.880 origin words sounds more abstract and less like it less 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:41.000 it's less likely to conjure an image. Another example is abbreviations, 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.400 for instance, s O B or food bar. These are 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:49.960 both examples where we we simply abbreviate a A a 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:53.360 phrase that would otherwise be offensive to some right, and 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:55.680 I guess in most cases you would still consider the 0:11:55.720 --> 0:12:00.600 abbreviation somewhat offensive, but maybe less so. Yeah. Uh. The 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:02.440 one I like you made the note of this, but 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:06.360 I like the idea of using really vague abstractions such 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:11.960 as doing it, doing it or um. The source I 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.480 was looking at mentioned like situation, like just referring to 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:19.280 the such and such situation. One that always has annoyed 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:23.560 me is the situation the situation room, like what what 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:26.720 situation is the room for? Is it a war room? 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:28.560 Because if it's a war room, let's call it a 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.480 war room. Is it an emergency room? Is it let's 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:33.920 let's call it what it is? The situation room could 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:37.440 be about anything, Okay. There would also be the concept 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:40.280 of just saying that you don't want to say a thing, 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:44.920 essentially like unmentionables. Yes, he who should not be named 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:50.000 right lord Voldemort? Uh? And then there of course mispronunciations 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:53.920 like freaking or god. I guess is gosh darn it? 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:57.360 One is replacing God with gosh? Does that work? I 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:01.400 guess it could be like go old? Aren't gold? Aren't? 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:05.680 That would be one? Yeah? And then their plays on abbreviation, 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:10.600 which I really hadn't thought much of, but bull roar 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:13.360 is one that we actually used recently in talking about 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:18.880 BS or just to go ahead and bleet meum a bullet, right, 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:21.559 But I don't think I've ever used barbecue sauce. I 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:23.880 saw that one listed as well. Where did you see that? 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:25.920 It was? In one of the papers so that we 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:27.760 were looking at they mentioned barbecue. So I would like 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:29.679 to hear from anyone who who says, oh, that's just 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.319 a load of barbecue sauce. Barbecue, I've never heard that. 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.480 It must be a regional, regional thing. What kind of 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:39.840 barbecue sauce, especially if it's regional North Carolina, South Carolina, 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:42.800 I don't know. Or beasting. Beasting would be a good one. 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.480 Oh is that actually used? No? I just made that up. 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:47.360 I was trying to think, what what, what could you 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.560 that's even that even has some of the same consonants 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.760 in it? Yeah? Um, how about malarkey or maybe malarkey? 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:57.920 Is malarkey actually more offensive in in its origin? And 0:13:58.000 --> 0:13:59.640 we're just it's one of these things where we don't 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:01.840 know what it means anymore. I have no idea where 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:03.960 it comes from. It would be horrible to go look 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:07.400 that up later and find out it's a deeply offensive term. Yeah, 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.040 and you know, I feel like that happens a time 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:12.120 or two as well. We we have something we think 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.520 is is a euphemism, but in reality we're just using 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:19.360 a far more offensive term than not that fewer people 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:23.080 are familiar with. Okay, But so when you use euphemisms, 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.680 how however you form the new phrase or the new word, 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:31.160 you're essentially doing maybe three different kinds of things, right, Yeah, 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:34.520 when you bust out euphemism, you may be employing what 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:38.880 is called circumlocution to to speak around that which cannot 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:42.280 be said. Yeah, circumlocution, And that's something we often use 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:45.360 in a non euphemistic way to like we use it 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:47.880 when we're speaking a language we're not very familiar with. 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:50.560 If you've ever tried to speak another language, you often 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:54.880 don't have the word for a thing, so instead you circumlocute, 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:57.760 You say a bunch of things that are sort of 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:01.000 explaining the concept of the word to try to get 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.520 to it. But this would be a case where you 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:05.880 do the same thing, not because you don't have the word, 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:08.480 but because you don't want to use the word. Yeah. 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:12.400 And another example would be a taboo deformation. So we're 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.480 just we're altering the spelling or pronunciation of of that 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.360 which cannot be said. So go fudge yourself, um you 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.280 mother effort. That would be an example of of the 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:27.040 use of taboo defamation or gold arn't, Yeah, gold arn't. 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.600 We're just take like thinking, think of the obscenity as 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:32.840 this clay object, and we're just wrenching it into a 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:36.320 less profane shape. But we still know what its original 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:40.200 shape was it's still it's still echoes that form enough 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:43.760 for us to use it, albeit in a blunted form. Yeah, 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.240 and I guess the other main thing would be sort 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.360 of robbing the word of its power to conjure imagery. Yeah, 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:55.400 double speak, right, Uh, making neutral the awful. I think 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.240 one of the best examples of this is to say, uh, 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:02.160 the enemy combatant was new traalized, which sounds far nicer 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.520 than we We shot Rolf to death and his his 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.760 family will be without him. Now. You know, Rolf was 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:14.320 hit with an explosive that resulted in complete body de defragmentation, 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.160 which I guess is that'd be sort of that's kind 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:20.800 of a euphanism as well, right, but defragmentation, what would 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.680 it be? Rolf was hit by an explosion that severed 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:28.800 many arteries. Yes, but you know it's not that funny. 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:30.240 I don't know why I'm laugh No, no, but it's 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:32.760 kind of getting it as we try to to dance 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:36.280 around Rolf's death, and he even discussed more accurately what 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:40.120 happened to Rolf. Are some things in life almost like 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.280 too dreadful, Like there's there's no way that language, at 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:49.360 least brief language can accurately describe something that is that horrible. 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:51.880 I don't know. I mean, it's interesting to look at 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.720 the general categories of things that we have euphemisms for. 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:58.280 It's not just arbitrary. It's like, it's not like we 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:02.040 just have euphemisms for any thing. We have euphemisms usually 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:06.320 for terms having to do with the inevitable processes of 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:11.679 the human body, like like elimination of waste, uh, sex 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:14.840 and death. Those those are the big things that you 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:19.359 have euphemisms for, but also for culturally sensitive issues like 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.880 you know, for names of marginalized groups that are discriminated 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:28.159 against or something like that. Yeah, and uh, you know, 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:30.920 as well as the way these things are shadowed. And 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:35.000 certainly as there's a whole area of business euphemism to 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.640 discussed as discussed as well. Oh absolutely, Yeah, of course, 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.720 we have a number of different euphemisms to to to 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:44.440 refer to firing someone, which is kind of the the 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:48.080 workplace version of death. Right. Yeah, we have. For instance, 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:53.160 you may have heard about layoffs, downsizing, right, sizing, that's 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:56.400 like that's a euphemism on top of a euphemism like downsizing. 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:58.960 That's you know, we're not downsizing, we're right sizing. We're 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.639 just we're just making the organization the correct size for 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:06.280 what we're doing here. Head count adjustment or head count 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:11.920 reduction uh an r I F or reduction enforce a realignment. 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:16.800 These are also so fabulous, wonderful terms that allow UH 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:20.840 management to do horrible things to people's lives. The wordout 0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:24.440 feeling bad about it. The worst is let go. It's 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.760 like you're free. Oh yeah, we we had we had 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:29.200 to let we had to let you go. You should 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:33.160 be thinking us, I think, maybe more than anywhere else 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.040 I go in in my life, the business world is 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:40.920 absolutely built out of euphemism. So I think a reason 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:44.600 for this might be that the business relationship is essentially 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:48.959 a cutthroat relationship most of the time. If employers can 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:52.320 scam customers or employees out of another nickel and get 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:54.480 away with it and keep making money, they will do 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.359 it most of the time, and vice versa. You know, 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.600 every everybody in the business relationship is is trying to 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:03.800 get an extra nickel and and give as little as 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:07.320 they can for it. But at the same time, customers 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.800 and employers and employees interact with one another all the time. 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:13.560 You have to see your employer on a regular basis. 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.520 I mean most people do. Uh. So they want to 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:19.119 have pleasant relationships with the people they interact with. So 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.679 you kind of live in this state of denial about 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:27.560 the heartless, cutthroat principle at the foundation of your work relationships. 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:30.680 And it's weird trying to be friendly with your boss 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:32.560 when you're thinking about the fact that your boss could 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:34.920 fire you at any time, and in some places, for 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.800 any reason. So we we sort of pack our business 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:43.200 lives with euphemisms to avoid thinking about this cutthroat reality. 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.480 In addition to the euphemisms for firing. One thing I 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:48.840 was thinking about was, Robert, have you ever noticed that, 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:51.840 at least in my experience, maybe in years two, businesses 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:57.160 seem to never want to talk about quote money. Yeah, 0:19:57.400 --> 0:19:59.920 so maybe I'm imagining this, but it seems like money 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:04.000 it's always removed to one higher level of abstraction, like 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:08.880 revenue or returns or something like that. Uh. And it's 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.840 as if talking about money directly would reveal that the 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:16.159 whole enterprise is kind of tacky at its core, or 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:20.960 you know, not only revenue but rev rev share, Like 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:22.840 that's the term that is thrown around a lot in 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:25.600 our industry. Now, and yet you talk about rev share, 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:27.560 then it's just an item on on a sheet. But 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:29.760 if you say I want you to give me more 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:31.480 of some of the money that you're getting for the 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:33.479 thing that I'm making for you so that you can 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:37.119 make money, uh, then it gets a little less tidy. Right. 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:41.000 It's like, why are you making it like that? It's 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:44.200 like you said something really mean when you're just saying 0:20:44.560 --> 0:20:47.840 in direct terms what you're talking about. Yeah, I often 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:52.200 think about you know, we we've already studies in terms 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:56.520 of businesses where corporations are essentially psychopaths. I often, and 0:20:56.600 --> 0:20:58.760 I often think of it in terms of like artificial 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:04.399 intelligence UM beings, then various cyberpunk stories. So a corporation 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:08.000 is essentially this, this demon, and this demon is bound 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:12.800 by whatever chains of law and UH and policy and 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:15.680 regulations that we can muster to keep it in check. 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:19.440 And then we we sort of handle it with specialized gloves, 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:22.920 often you know, composed of euphemisms that allow us to 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:27.000 handle it and benefit from its presence. But there's no 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:31.920 denying that it's it's horrible demonic nature. A nice analogy, 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:34.679 it's it comes from I guess I read one too 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:38.240 many Warhammer book and in my time, Oh, they have 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:41.320 demon gloves for the corporations. Um, well know they have 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:43.920 actual demons sometimes and they're chained up and they serve 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:48.359 the who is it the witch hunters? Yeah, excellent, Well, 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:49.959 I think we should take a quick break and when 0:21:50.000 --> 0:21:52.080 we come back, we're going to talk about some of 0:21:52.280 --> 0:22:01.280 the cultural implications of euphemisms. So, yeah, we're talking about 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:05.960 language here. We have multiple languages throughout the world. Every 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:10.040 culture is it kind of emerges from its own linguistic world, 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:13.280 and therefore we have we have different uses of euphemism 0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:17.159 in in different languages. We have different uses of euphemism 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:21.240 in just different versions of different languages, different dialects British 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:23.959 English versus American English, and so a lot of our 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:26.480 reference points are going to be English, but uh, it 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:29.600 is worth looking into the use of euphemisms maybe in 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:34.000 other languages too. Yeah, two great examples I think come 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:38.200 from British English and Mandarin Chinese. So the the Economists 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:42.959 ran a great and naturally unattributed article back in um 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:46.680 titled making Murder Respectable, and it runs through a number 0:22:46.840 --> 0:22:51.000