Euphemisms in English Everyday Discourse Eufemismy V anglickém jazykovém prostředí

winkie
 which is quite a good word for a penis.”
(Barbieri, 
2009)
“If a boy’s 
willy
 is called a penis, what’s a girl’s thing called?”
(Barbieri, 2009)
2.1.3 Naming the Act of Sex
Since the topic of sex used to be a subject of the censorship lots of 
euphemistic substitutions have developed in the course of time. Even nowadays 
this taboo occurs in our society and we do not speak about it openly, although a 
certain step forward is apparent. There are some terms such as 
copulating
or 
coition
that are rather technical and primarily used when talking about animals’ 
reproduction, but we can come across them in some articles. They are considered 
to be formal words of Latin origin and they maintained their neutral colouring. 

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These terms, do not soften the meaning, but refer to it rather in a technical way.
However, not only the act of sex itself, but also other sexual practices were given 
Latin names because it sounds more sophisticated and it provides certain distance 
between the speaker and the content of his speech. 
 “Crawley couple caught 
copulating
 on common.”
(Hartley-Parkinson, 2015) 
“Not to mention that the act of 
coition
on demand, with lights on and cameras 
rolling, is not a skill every man is capable of.”
(Theroux, 2012) 
 
“So- is 
cunnilingus
 inherently riskier than 
fellatio
?”
(Ball, 2013) 
One of the most common words when referring to the sex is 
intercourse
. It 
is of the Latin origin and its meaning has changed in the course of time. It used to 
be a synonym for conversation and later on it received another connotation and 
thus the sexual one. It might be pre-modified by adjectives like sexual or vaginal 
and it is understood as a formal term with rather neutral colouring. Since it is not 
too technical and also not too colloquial this euphemistic alternative is frequently 
used in press or in written documents. The reason for the use is mainly the 
avoidance of direct naming rather than the softening or concealing meaning.
“Throughout our relationship, he has struggled to reach climax through vaginal 
intercourse
.”
(Conolly, 2016) 
Another euphemistic alternative that is frequently used in newspaper 
articles is 
carnal knowledge
, which is rather a legal term. The combination of the 
words is not transparent. Although we can understand the words separately the 
meaning of the sequence cannot be guessed. The function of this euphemism is to 

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evade the direct naming and thus it is used mainly in a legal realm, it sounds more 
sophisticated, technical and at the same time it puts the whole act mildly.
“The charge against the former accused was that on August2, 2007, in the County 
of Demerara, he had