Course paper

2.2 Effective ways to work with euphemisms in the classroom
Have you been offered a career change? An early retirement opportunity? Well, I’m sorry but I think you have been fired. But saying the first two sounds harsh or too straightforward, doesn’t it?

A euphemism, also called doublespeak, “makes the bad seem good, the negative seem positive, the unnatural seem natural, the unpleasant seem attractive, or at least tolerable”. So how are our pupils going to understand such nuanced language?

Most languages have euphemistic expressions. They might not be used in the same contexts, for the same terms or expressed similarly. However, we can understand why they are used. The problem comes when our students try to make sense out of them. Euphemisms are mostly idiomatic expressions or those obscure phrasal verbs our students just love!

Students might have mastered a decent repertoire of words after they have achieved a certain proficiency level. There are many quizzes online that test how good your vocabulary is. Nonetheless, when students encounter authentic material or speak to native speakers, they hear expressions such as “pass away”, the “ladies room”… that bring weird images to their minds. It’s true that learners become very skillful at guessing from context but it won’t do any harm if we work with them in the classroom first.

MEMORY GAME

After having worked with a few euphemisms in context, now they will have to work out their meanings. Choose 10 euphemisms and their meanings (see reference list at the end of the page). Put them on cards. Make enough copies for every pair .

Pupils work in pairs (Pupil A, Pupil B), with the cards facing down. They mix up the cards and one student turns two cards over. If those cards match, they can keep them. If not, they turn them back over. The game is over when all cards have been matched. You might substitute the words for pictures to make the task a bit harder.

STORY WRITING

Secondly, get all pupil As together and form pairs. They will write a story using 5 of those euphemisms. Limit the number of words. Example: My uncle from West Virginia was a miner in the 60s. Now they live in a small house in Fairmont with their cousins. They don’t have much money so they have bought a pre-enjoyed car so that they can go to the market once a week.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Back to original pairs and the cards from the memory game, PB listens to PA reading the story (maybe they could learn it and recite it?). While PB is listening, they need to grab the cards that match the euphemisms that PA is reading out from the story.

You can try this same activity the other way around: Students write the story using the common words and their partner will grab their euphemistic match.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

After that, SB shows their cards to SA and says what they mean. Example: You said ‘pre-enjoyed car’ for ‘used car’, ‘passed away’ for ‘died’, etc.

ALTERNATIVE 2 (caution: fun ahead)

In groups of three, SA reads the story out loud. SB will hide behind their desk, with only their head visible. When SA is reading the story, SB will have to act out the story with facial expressions (exaggerating). PC will shoot the scene (

Then, students can upload their videos to the class cloud or a padlet.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

With the cards from the memory game, students watch the previous videos (with the sound off) and raise / point to the euphemism they think that person is trying to convey with their facial expression. After that, they can play the video with the sound on to check answers.

 Begin the lesson by explaining that English, like all languages, has subjects that can be difficult to talk about, because the original words for these subjects can offend, disturb, or embarrass the person one is addressing. State that for these subjects we use words called euphemisms, which are "softer" words than the original words. For example, mention that death is often talked about with euphemisms such as pass away, pass on, go to heaven, etc.

Write on the board poor, fat, and old and state that these words are often euphemized in English. Ask students if they know any euphemisms for them. (Possible answers might be, respectively, low-income, working class, modest; overweight, stout, portly, husky; senior, mature, traditional.) As students offer euphemisms, write them on the board.

Continue by pointing out that euphemisms are often difficult to understand on purely linguistic terms. To illustrate this, write the following sentences (or similar ones) on the board (this may be done in advance). Tell students to "translate" each sentence into clear, straightforward English. Provide photocopies of the glossary in this article for reference. (Note: as the glossary is organized by original word, not by euphemism, students will need to guess the meaning of the euphemisms by context.)

• His grandfather passed away.

• My father is between jobs but has two interviews today.

• The peace officer apprehended the sanitation man for speeding.

• The sales associate answered in the affirmative when the judge asked him if he had ever been incarcerated.

• The manager complained to his administrative assistant of inventory shrinkage.

• Our son is a special child.

• Dan's supervisor laid him off because he was unmotivated.

• American football is a physical game, and has disabled many players.

• The individual was accused of appropriating funds.

• The correctional facility has 220 inmates, five of whom are facing capital punishment.

Discussion

When the students are finished, call on some to read their "translations." The idea is for them to understand the softening and/or misleading nature of euphemisms. If you wish to expand the lesson, ask: When is the use of euphemisms "good" and when is it "bad"? Do news reporters--whose mission it is to report the news--ever use euphemisms? When? Should they use them?

Homework

Each student finds a newspaper article that uses at least five euphemisms and replaces them with more direct English words. The students bring in the original article (perhaps taped or pasted to a sheet of paper) with the euphemisms underlined and their "translations" written on the paper. (To complete the assignment the students will need to refer to the glossary in this article and/or a good dictionary.)

Follow-up to Homework

Have different students come to the board and write a sentence with a euphemism from their articles. Then have each student write his or her "translation" below it. After a few sentences have been written on the board, ask the class to speculate on why the euphemisms were used in each instance.

CONCLUSION
The word euphemism itself can be used as a euphemism. In the animated short It’s Grinch Night (See Dr. Seuss), a child asks to go to the euphemism, where euphemism is being used as a euphemism for outhouse. This euphemistic use of “euphemism” also occurred in the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Where a character requests, “Martha, will you show her where we keep the, uh, euphemism? It is analogous to the 19^th century use of unmentionables for underpants.

Euphemisms are substitutes for their synonyms. Their use and very existence are caused either by social conventions or by certain psychological factors. Most of them have stylistic connotations in their semantic structures. One can also assume that there is a special euphemistic connotation that can be singled out in the semantic structure of each such word. Let me point out, too, that euphemistic connotations in formal euphemisms are different in “flavour” from those in slang euphemistic substitutes. In the first case they are solemn and delicately evasive, and in the second rough and somewhat cynical, reflecting an attempt to laugh off an unpleasant fact.

Euphemisms always tend to be a source of new formations because after a short period of use the new term becomes so closely connected with the notion that it turns a word as obnoxious as earlier synonym.

And as linguistic phenomenon euphemism is needed to be investigated in many aspects: in comparison with other languages, definition of the time and reason of their appearance, determination of usage in literary and scientific books. It helps us to get information of the world people.

There are stable euphemisms, and are depending on situations. If constant is a constant synonym of the certain concept situational depends on the contents which at it is put or a context in which it is used.

It is possible to allocate also types euphemism behind features of construction. Is one-worded – synonyms – «features – crafty», is two-worded and an adjective – «evil spirit».

As a result of distribution and influences of mass media and different psychological levers on language presently constructing type euphemism will intensively penetrate into all spheres colloquial and a literary language. Were especially strongly distributed tendencies in the English language in the USA where advertising and business really without any restriction «break» language on the order. Not surprisingly because some American linguists even suggest to distinguish two languages: «language of the facts» (fact language) and «language of ideas» (іdea language).

For the translator it is very important to know about features of the use euphemism in language correctly to estimate a role of implied sense, it is especial while translating publicist materials or fiction.

Our objective conceptual world is realized through our local conceptual world. It is reflected with the help of different language means. The choice of words that we exchange in the intercourse depends much on the specific situation, our up-bringing, social position, education, cultural traditions, gender, age. Many euphemisms are so funny that many people laugh at them. They sometimes are called “white washing device”, because every euphemisms calls up a definite synonym in the mind of the reader or listener.

Euphemisms have very serious reasons for being, because they conceal the things people fear the most – death, the supernatural. Thus, euphemisms are society’s basic language.

Euphemisms are beloved by individuals and institutions who are anxious to present only the possible images of themselves to the world. A euphemisms may acquire unpleasant associations.

When a phrase is used as a euphemism it becomes a metaphor whose literal meaning is dropped. They are used to hide disturbing ideas even when the literal term for them isn’t necessary offensive.

The type of euphemisms used in public relations and politics is called doublespeak.

Sometimes using euphemisms is equaled to politeness.

We use euphemisms to express taboos as we feel on the instinctual level that the euphemism keeps us at safe distance from the taboo itself.

Another use of euphemisms is to elevateу the status of something , we use euphemisms to express what is socially difficult to express in direct forms.

Bybliography

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