Euphemism Gone Too Far

959 Words4 Pages
Language has powerful means of communication and is varied and enriched. People use language to communicate with each other and represent their characteristics and personality. From the day taboo language was formed, we have overused it and created endless euphemism to avoid the negative connotation of a word. We considered certain words are too blunt when it is referred to something unpleasant or embarrassing such as death, intelligence or laziness. The concept of politically correct language becomes more and more common in people's daily lives. Politically correct language as well euphemisms perhaps have gone too far. They have gone to the stage where euphemisms have stuck and manipulated our minds. Unfortunately, it has become a tradition or natural tendencies for people to scream politically correct language casually and abandon the original term. Did the occurrence of taboo language stimulate the invention of euphemism? When will we finally begin to take action and stop overuse those euphemism? In my culture, there is a tendency to soften words, so they are more pleasant to listen to. The older generation considered Vietnam as the “polite society" because vulgar vocabularies are somewhat too direct and tough. In Vietnamese people’s daily communication euphemism are utilized to avoid controversy. One example of euphemism in the Vietnamese language is the term “death”, since, death is such a heartbreaking yet unforgettable incident, in this society it is disrespectful to mention someone who are no longer present. Thus, Vietnamese people tend to use euphemism to avoid and not talk about it directly in front of others. Furthermore, Vietnamese are always polite towards their loved ones and they would go to great lengths using “departing” not “dying”. When my great grandmother died, the doctor notified my family that she “passed away" because it is less agonizing
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