Euphemisms in English Everyday Discourse Eufemismy V anglickém jazykovém prostředí

AIDS
 was called AIDS, it was called 
gay cancer
.”
(Wright, 2006) 
“The cause of the disorder is unknown. Researchers call it 
A.I.D
., for acquired 
immunodeficiency disease, or 
GRID
, for gay-related immunodeficiency.”
(Altman, 1982)
Not only physical illnesses but also mental ones are treated with extreme 
caution. Since we live in an open and tolerant world, it is demanded to use 
politically correct and gentle terms when referring to people with this issue. Many 
of these euphemisms denote the problem quite directly since the expressions 
contain the word 
mental/mentally
. On the other hand, the alternatives are rather 
vague because they do not reveal the exact illness but they describe it rather 
generally. In addition, some euphemistic substitutions use words such as 
issue
or 
condition
, which are regarded as hypernyms and they might serve as camouflage 
terms in almost all realms of live. The function of the euphemisms below is to 
name the health problem in a softening and politically correct way, which is a 
result of the historical events when those ill people were excluded from the 
society.

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“Substandard care that 
mentally ill
 patients receive for physical health problems 
results in many of them repeatedly returning to A&E.”
(Campbell, 2017) 
“Homeless people are portrayed as alcoholics, drug users or 
mentally unsound
.”
(Allen, 2003)
“She experienced ongoing physical and 
mental health issues
throughout her 
adult life as a result of the procedure.”
(Young, 2013)
 “Poor physical health care lead directly to patients with