Euphemisms in English: Telling it How it Isn’t (With Exercises!)

Los utilizamos para decir conceptos incómodos sin pronunciarlos realmente. Cada cultura e idioma tiene los suyos propios. Estos son los eufemismos en inglés más populares (y ejercicios para mejorar tu inglés)

Actualizado a

Eufemismos en inglés

Escucha este articulo

Glossary Imprimir

Glossary

+ topics: temas + displaying challenging behaviour: mostrando un comportamiento "difícil" + naughty: desobediente + prudish: puritano + freshen up: refrescarme + to piss: hacer pipí + to make out: besarse, "besuquearse" + whichever: cualquiera + to head to: dirigirse hacia + pregnancy: embarazo + to have a bun in the oven: literalmente, tener un bollo en el horno + To have had a few: haberse tomado algunas + powder their nose: empolvarse la nariz + rolled-up banknote: billete enrollado + makeup brush: brocha de maquillaje + downsizing: redimensionando + let you go: dejarte ir + don’t be deceived: no te dejes engañar + to switch: cambiar + enhanced interrogation techniques: técnicas de interrogatorio mejoradas + WMDs: (weapons of mass destruction), armas de destrucción masiva + doable: factible

They’re used as a way of avoiding taboos or sensitive topics + topics: temas , and English is full of them. If someone has ‘passed away’, what we really mean is that they’ve died. It’s just a less direct way of sharing the bad news. To say a child is ‘displaying challenging behaviour + displaying challenging behaviour: mostrando un comportamiento "difícil" ’ is a less judgmental alternative to saying they’re naughty + naughty: desobediente . Euphemisms are also employed to be polite (some people might say ‘prudish + prudish: puritano ’) about how the body works. “I’m just going to freshen up + freshen up: refrescarme ” probably means, “I’m just going to piss + to piss: hacer pipí ” but without actually saying that.

Too sexy

The more taboo the issue, the more euphemisms there are to describe it, so death and bodily functions are obviously high on the list. But let’s not forget intimacy and sex. Imagine two American teenagers meet at a party, they get on well and end up making out + to make out: besarse, "besuquearse" . In Britain a similar couple might ‘get off with each other’. But whichever + whichever: cualquiera euphemistic phrasal verb you prefer, the essence is the same – not quite sex but possibly heading + to head to: dirigirse hacia in that direction.

And of course asking, “Did you sleep together?” would not be a question about sleeping at all, in fact exactly the opposite. The potentially taboo topic of pregnancy + pregnancy: embarazo can be avoided using all kinds of euphemisms too, from the simple, ‘to be expecting’, to the wonderfully evocative ‘to have a bun in the oven + to have a bun in the oven: literalmente, tener un bollo en el horno ’!

Drink and drugs

The consumption of alcohol and drugs has inspired so many euphemisms that it’s hard to know where to begin. ‘To have had a few + To have had a few: haberse tomado algunas ’ is a particularly common one (translation: to be pretty drunk.) And as the level of drunkenness increases, some people prefer to describe themselves euphemistically as being ‘tired and emotional.’ There are of course other less respectable slang terms for the same thing including: ‘smashed’, ‘trashed’, ‘wrecked’ and ‘hammered’. Regarding drugs, if you’re in a bar and someone goes out to ‘powder their nose + powder their nose: empolvarse la nariz ’, be aware that the powder is much more likely to reach their nose via a rolled-up banknote + rolled-up banknote: billete enrollado than a makeup brush + makeup brush: brocha de maquillaje .

Corporate code

The workplace is famously full of euphemistic expressions, mostly designed to make the employees’ situation sound better than it is. When a CEO says that the company is ‘downsizing + downsizing: redimensionando ’, what they mean is cutting jobs. So if your boss then invites you into her office and tells you: “We’re going to have to ‘let you go + let you go: dejarte ir ’,” don’t be deceived + don’t be deceived: no te dejes engañar . You’re not being offered extra holidays… you’re being fired.

Ooh la la!

There are a couple of specific techniques for creating a euphemism that we should mention here. One is to switch + to switch: cambiar language when you arrive at the uncomfortable part of the sentence. Using the French word ‘faux’ instead of the English ‘fake’ is softer; ‘au contraire’ is less aggressive than ‘you’re wrong.’

Doublespeak

So euphemisms are used to be sensitive, to avoid taboo topics, to make things sound better than they are. But what about when politicians use euphemisms? Is the use of indirect language in fact a dangerous attempt by politicians to hide or distort the truth? Writer George Orwell certainly thought so. In his 1946 essay Politics and the English Language he condemns vague political language as, “designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.”

The term ‘doublespeak’ is now commonly used for this manipulative use of euphemistic language in political discourse. Politicians regularly talk of prisoners being subjected to ‘enhanced interrogation techniques + enhanced interrogation techniques: técnicas de interrogatorio mejoradas .’ To most of us it sounds like torture. Neutralizing a foreign regime’s WMDs + WMDs: (weapons of mass destruction), armas de destrucción masiva sounds much more doable + doable: factible and less terrifying than engaging with their weapons of mass destruction. No political leader wants to admit that their army has killed or wounded civilians. To say instead that there has been ‘collateral damage’ isn’t exactly lying but it’s certainly not telling the truth either. Politicians might say – euphemistically – that it’s just ‘being economical with the truth.’ 

Exercises

1. Match these words used in the report to their synonyms

Essence
Technique
Alternative

a) procedure
b) option
c) method
d) possibility
e) core
f) substance
g) choice
h) system
i) fundamentals

2. Write the correct word in the gaps. The first letter and a description are given in brackets to help you.

a) Euphemisms are often used to (a) ______ (escape from) taboos or sensitive topics.

b) Usually the more taboo the (i) ______ (topic), the more euphemisms there are to describe it.

c) Euphemisms are also (e) ______ (used) to be polite about bodily functions.

d) The use of indirect language is a dangerous (a) ______ (effort) to hide the truth.

e) Euphemistic expressions are (d) ______ (devised) to make a situation look better than it is.

f) Sometimes politicians use indirect language to (d) ______ (misrepresent) the truth.

3. Unscramble the letters to create words used in the report. The first letter of  the word is given to help you.

a) cyntiiam 

i___________

b) lorewkacp

w___________

c) oonmtncsuip

c___________

d) ioepesxrns

e___________

e) ypeeemol

e___________

f) nsnruesdnke

d___________

Answers:

  1. Essence: e, f, i;
    Technique: a, c, h;
    Alternative: b, d, g.
  2. a) avoid, b) issue, c) employed, d) attempt, e) designed, f) distort.
  3. a) intimacy, b) workplace, c) consumption, d) expression, e) employee, f) drunkenness.

Este contenido es exclusivo para suscriptores.

Suscríbete por solo 1€/mes + Regalo.

Consigue acceso ilimitado a todos los artículos y audios en la web y en la app.

START NOW!

More in C1 Advanced

A Short Story: Frost Fair

Fiction

A Short Story: Frost Fair

El espectáculo del Támesis helado transforma Londres en un escenario único, donde una historia de amistad inicialmente maravillosa se convierte rápidamente en una pesadilla.

Rachel Roberts

Oxford v. Cambridge: The Boat Race

Culture

Oxford v. Cambridge: The Boat Race

Durante siglos, Oxford y Cambridge han sido modelos de excelencia académica, pero su rivalidad deportiva es igual de legendaria. Nos lanzamos al agua para conocer de cerca cómo se preparan para la célebre regata anual en el Támesis.

Melita Cameron-Wood

More in Explore

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

A Short Story: Frost Fair

Fiction

A Short Story: Frost Fair

El espectáculo del Támesis helado transforma Londres en un escenario único, donde una historia de amistad inicialmente maravillosa se convierte rápidamente en una pesadilla.

Rachel Roberts

Suscríbete y mejora tu inglés por solo 1€/mes ¡Es el momento! Mejora tu nivel de inglés con un método sencillo que se adapta a ti. Cancela cuando quieras.